All language subtitles for Going From Broke s01e06 3 Jobs and Going Nowhere.eng

My name's Amanda Kochey.

I'm 23- years- old.

I'm a bartender and
office manager living

in Los Angeles, California.

I have a lovely girlfriend.

Her name is Kat.

We've been together for
a year and a half now,

and she is the most
amazing person.

I grew up in
Sicklerville, New Jersey.

So I graduated from
Emerson College

and moved across the
country eight months ago,

and my degree was in
theater performance.

This was only I had grown
up my whole life doing.

I told myself as a kid,
Amanda, you're an actor, heck

yeah you're going to do it.

I feel like I need to be
accomplishing all the things

that I went to college for.

Only problem is I'm broke.

DAN ROSENSWEIG (VOICEOVER):
Here are the facts:

the numbers are massive.

44 million people have
borrowed over $1.5 trillion

in student loan debt,
and it doesn't end there.

My name is Dan
Rosenzweig and I'm

the CEO of the multi-billion
dollar company Chegg.

This is my mission:
with the help

of my financial
expert, Denaetha Doe,

we're going to
help young people--

The loans are closing in.

Yeah.

DAN ROSENSWEIG
(VOICEOVER): --who

are drowning in extreme debt--

How many credit cards?

10, 11, 12--

12.

DAN ROSENSWEIG (VOICEOVER):
--to build a life

of financial independence.

I just want to get out of
debt and I want your help.

When the world is pushing
down on you, it's very hard.

DAN ROSENSWEIG (VOICEOVER):
This is an economic crisis

of epic proportions--

I don't use that much.

DAN ROSENSWEIG (VOICEOVER):
--and we have to fix it.

No, come on!

Aah!

DAN ROSENSWEIG (VOICEOVER):
They're going to hate it,

but when we're done they're
going to be on the road

to financial freedom.

You feel good about
what we've done so far?

I do, thank you.

DAN ROSENSWEIG (VOICEOVER):
This is "Going From Broke."

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Well,
it's another day,

another dollar somebody owes.

So who we seeing today?

We're off to see Amanda today.

She's a 23-year-old
bartender, moved

across country after graduating
from Emerson College--

Great school.

Great school.

She decided to pack
up all her things.

Drive across country
to LA without a plan.

All right.

And has $216,000
in student loan debt.

Wow.

Is this just another
kid with her head

in the clouds and no plan?

She's actually working
really, really hard.

She works over 70 hours a week.

How did she get the loans?

It's a Parent PLUS Loan--

Oh.

Exactly

Who co-signed?

DENAETHA DOE: Her mom.

And what'd they put
up for collateral?

Her house.

Her mom's house.

Wow.

So this kid probably
feels like if she doesn't

make the payments every
month, that her mom

could lose her house.

This is a great
kid who's putting

in the time and the energy,
but isn't getting anywhere.

This one really upsets me.

She's out of money
and pretty soon

she's going to run out of gas.

I think we can help her.

DENAETHA DOE: Let's do this.

AMANDA: Hi.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Good morning.

How are you guys?

Good, thank you.

Great.

Thanks for having
us at your workplace.

All right, let's get
down to business.

Why are we here for you?

I want to--

I guess be less of
a grown up and be

able to live my life
instead of work and work

and never do anything
but pay my loans

and then not have any money
at the end of the month.

Right now I have three jobs.

I am a bartender
five days a week,

I'm an office manager
five days a week,

and then any time I have
free time I walk dogs.

It's not an amazing
gig, but it's

that extra money where
I'm like oh, maybe I

can use this for
groceries or something.

I am so much in debt and
I work all of the time,

and it doesn't feel like
I'm paying it off at all,

and I don't get to
see my girlfriend

as often as I'd like at all,
and it's kind of sucking.

You're a very interesting
situation for us, which is--

you have a tremendous
work ethic.

Yeah.

You seem to have taken
responsibility for the fact

that you borrowed a lot
to invest in your future.

Yeah.

Normally, the difficult
part of the conversation

is getting people to
acknowledge they owe money.

No, I'm broke.

[LAUGH]

Well, but you're
actually making progress.

You're actually
making progress

and you're actually taking
the steps necessary to get

yourself out of it.

However, the path that
you're on is unsustainable,

and right now you're not
able to live your life.

You're going to
burn yourself out.

I'm sure you're probably
already feeling some of this.

Yeah.

DENAETHA DOE: Let's
go over your numbers

so we can get a clear picture
of your debt to income ratio.

All right.

DENAETHA DOE: So you're
bringing in $4,000 per month.

Is that accurate?

Yeah.

By the way, congratulations.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Yeah.

You're 23-years-old, and you're
bringing in $50,000 a year

and you're busting
your hump to do it.

That's very impressive.

Yeah.

DENAETHA DOE: Paying the
minimum on her Parent PLUS Loan

and personal loan plus
other monthly expenses,

Amanda spends about $3,500.

But with all of her hard
work, she's bringing in $4,000

each month, so she's actually
ahead $500 every month.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: By the
way, have you ever done

an exercise like this before?

I've never done an
exercise like this before.

And what did it reveal
to you about your life?

I think that my priorities
have been my loans.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Yeah.

It's what I spend
the most money on.

And you should
be proud of that.

Yeah.

Growing up, there were a lot
of moments where like, oh,

this bill didn't
get paid this month?

Crap, we have to
pay this one again.

And it kind of would always
come up and sneak up on us,

a lot of times after
something had been canceled.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Why the
loans in particular, though.

It's my mom.

DAN ROSENSWEIG:
You love your mom?

I love my mom, yeah.

So somebody who
had problems paying

her bills mortgaged her
entire future on you,

and that's got to feel painful.

Yeah.

DENAETHA DOE: The majority
of Amanda's student loans

is a Parent PLUS Loan, and
how a Parent PLUS Loan works

is that it's usually
offered to parents who

have poor credit that
want to be able to help

their child with schooling.

And in order to get
this loan they usually

put up something for
collateral, and that collateral

is usually a home.

In my perspective,
these are typically

very predatory because
they are intentionally

going after people
who have poor credit,

likely don't know a lot
about how the student loan

system works, and therefore
they charge an incredibly

high interest rate and
put them in a situation

where they are paying this loan
for the rest of their life.

AMANDA: I think I just feel
really guilty about it.

I want to pay the
loans back, because I

want to pay her
back for everything

that she has done for me.

And I don't want to
be this disappointment

child that she took
this really big risk on

and it didn't pay back.

The only way that the banks
or the credit card companies

or frankly the
government thinks they're

going to make
their money back is

by having high interest
rates, which they claim

is a result of your bad credit,
or the risk that we take,

and the fact that so many people
are unable to pay them back.

Do you have any
idea how much you're

actually paying them back?

I don't, yeah.

Yeah, this is what I think
you need to understand.

Yeah.

The goal of the
bank is for you never

to be able to pay off
more than your interest

into your principal, because
they make a lot more money.

And so Parent PLUS loans
and other kinds of loans

are actually worse than
you think they are.

The path you're on right now
would mean that you wouldn't be

able to finish paying that
off for another 20 years,

and the total amount of money
that you'll end up paying on

that $200,000 loan is $372,000.

Wow, that's almost double.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Yeah.

Exactly.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: So recognizing
that we have this obligation,

we're going to
sign some homework.

You need to consolidate
your loans to a lower rate.

There may be a better
loan, lower interest rates.

We're going to take a
look at the kinds of jobs

that a student like you
should be eligible for,

and then last is
reduce expenses.

AMANDA: OK.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Well, listen.

We're going to come back in a
week, if you do the work we're

all in with you, and we're going
to try to put you on a path

towards greater fulfillment.

This was really about
an investment in you.

Yeah.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: That's
what mom invested in.

We have great confidence in you.

AMANDA: So here we are.

I just finished my
morning job for the day,

and I'm about to go in and
clock in for my night job

bartending tonight, but I
got some homework done today.

I called a couple of
refinancing companies.

One of them said they couldn't
help me out with my situation,

but then the other one said
that they can refinance Parent

PLUS loans under my name.

So that's super exciting.

I should be able to get
the weight off of my mom,

can't wait.

But they are going to
need a co-signer for me

and my mom hasn't been able
to co-sign for my loans

in the past so we'll have her
fill it out, see how it goes,

but until then, fingers crossed!

So I've been working
on refinancing my loans

and my mom did not get
approved to be my co-signer

for my last loan
that I submitted,

and a lot of the other loan
refinance companies either

don't refinance
Parent PLUS loans

or don't refinance
loans of my size,

and a lot of the loan
places have a problem

with how much I make per year.

So I'm kind of like a stuck,
little place right now.

I'm hoping that I can
find something soon

or someone to help me out.

AMANDA (VOICEOVER): I decided to
move in with my girlfriend Kat

to save a little
money, but the process

of moving in and
working 70 hours a week

leaves me with no
time to do anything.

Are you the guy from Handy?

I am.

Oh my god, thank god, come in.

It's supposed to be a table.

I'll take care of this.

Awesome, a thank
you so much, dude!

I'll get started.

So I tried to put
everything together myself

and ultimately ended up checking
out this really cool service

called Handy, and I was
able to make a booking

right from the website.

And they showed me exactly
how much it would cost,

and it all was so easy to do.

Have a good one.

Yeah, you too,
thank you so much.

AMANDA (VOICEOVER): I'm
ecstatic with my new desk.

He put it together so quickly,
and it looks really good.

Today I'm meeting Denaetha
regarding my loans

and refinancing them, and I'm
hoping she has some answers

and solutions for me.

DENAETHA DOE: So we
gave you some homework.

Yeah!

DENAETHA DOE: How's that going?

So I'm cutting a
bunch of money out.

OK!

I'm moving in
with my girlfriend--

DENAETHA DOE: OK.

So I've cut out
like $600 a month.

Oh great!
AMANDA: Yeah.

DENAETHA DOE: And
then the next item

we had-- consolidating or
refinancing your loans.

Yeah.

I tried really, really hard,
and everywhere I sort of

turned I hit either not
qualifying or requiring

a co-signer and
they're not having

my co-signer get approved.

They gave me the
really small loan

and it didn't cover my
entire loan balance.

Let's take a few minutes to
talk about your loan situation.

OK, yeah.

DENAETHA DOE (VOICEOVER):
For Amanda this

isn't about falling
further into debt,

this is about finding
work life balance.

She's working 80 hours,
maybe more every week,

doing three different jobs,
trying to stay afloat,

and she's going to
burn herself out.

And honestly, she's too young
to be putting in this much work.

So unfortunately
Parent PLUS loans,

they're notoriously hard to
consolidate or refinance.

For Amanda it's
about finding a way

to work smarter, so that she
can enjoy life while still also

being financially responsible.

Remind me of the
total balance you have?

$148,000.

Going through
those programs to try

to consolidate or refinance--

AMANDA: Yeah,

DENAETHA DOE: --they only will
look at your personal loans.

What was the total on that?

I have two different
personal loans.

One of them $36,000,
roughly, and then I

have a government
loan for $23,000.

So you went through
the refinancing program.

This is what they were willing
to offer you to refinance,

this $59,000.

They'll only look
at the ones where

they feel will be a
lower risk and likely

be able to be paid back.

What was the offer
that they gave you?

They offered me five
and a half years at 5.12%.

DENAETHA DOE: Your
monthly payment

would have been $1,134 per
month just on that loan--

AMANDA: Right.

--which doesn't
include the $900.

Basically $1,000,
yeah, that I'm paying.

DENAETHA DOE: They gave you
an offer of slightly lowering

your interest rate and
effectively doubling the amount

of money you would have
to pay each month, which

is a terrible deal.

[LAUGHING] And everyone's
got a different approach.

I mean, if you really
want to be aggressive

and knock this out in
five and a half years,

you know, by all means.

When I think about this, I
feel like it's like a weight

on my back or something.

Like I can't do anything else
until it's taken care of.

Believe me, I completely
understand wanting to--

Just get out of it!

DENAETHA DOE: Get out
of it, absolutely.

You doubling the amount of
cash that's going out each

and every month just
towards your loans

is going to put you in a
really vulnerable situation.

That's cash that could
either be accruing

interest in your savings,
in a mutual fund, in a CD.

You can invest that
into business classes

to increase your skills so
that you can make more money.

Can you come up with
that $1,100 per month?

I think I could.

My recommendation would be to
stick with the current payment

plan that you have.

There's a balance
that has to be struck,

where we can create a plan where
you have a clear, defined path

to knocking out one of your
loans as quickly as possible

while also making sure that
you're protecting yourself

and not putting yourself
in a vulnerable situation.

Let's have a balance
where we split that $1,000

so that you're putting
an additional $500

payment towards this loan.

So it's like $850 every month?

DENAETHA DOE: Mhm.

The other $500 is going
towards your savings.

OK.

Having cash in the bank gives
you a little bit of confidence.

AMANDA (VOICEOVER): After
talking with Denaetha,

I am really excited
because she set

up a really good plan for me.

It is something that
is both reasonable

and helps me find my goal.

Thanks for coming in, Amanda,
it was so good to see you.

Thank you so much.

All right!

A lot of parents take out
Parent PLUS loans as a way

to help their kids
through college.

This can be a really
risky type of loan.

Interest rate can
be pretty high.

Second, it's usually
tied to collateral.

So if you miss a payment,
your house can be at risk.

Make sure you're making
those bills on time,

you're not missing out.

Because when you do, the
interest rate escalates and you

could be in debt perpetually.

While you're paying
your bills on time,

you're building your
credit and this can now

qualify you to refinance
that Parent PLUS Loan

something a lot more feasible.

Another one of my tasks
was to cut spending.

So I put some stuff together
in my finances spreadsheet

and I want to show them to you.

Now what I typically
spend is $1,982 a month.

I'm moving in with
my girlfriend,

so I'll go from paying $875
a month to $600 a month,

which is a nice chunk.

My girlfriend has offered to pay
the internet for where we live,

since she's already paying it.

So that's going to
go down to zero.

And my lovely
girlfriend has also

agreed to pay the utilities.

It means that I'll go from
paying $1982 to paying $1543.

This is like an
extra almost $1,000

I'll get to play around with,
which is really, really cool,

but will probably
go to my loans.

AMANDA (VOICEOVER): The
day job that I'm at right

now is really, really great.

They talked about
moving me to full time.

It's a company I can see myself
growing in and moving through

and I just really
enjoy being part of.

If i did start working
full time there,

it would clear up
some hours in my life.

Avoid being in debt
longer, but being happier

would be worth it.

I don't know.

Because can I be
happier if debt is

still consuming my entire life?

So I've had my
workshop with Denaetha.

I'm really excited for
Dan to come over today,

he's going to see my new
place, living with Kat,

and we're going to sort
of get to talk about how

things are going from here.

Let me grab you some tea.

Beautiful, thanks.

Nice place.

AMANDA: Isn't it?

It's amazing.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Yeah.

So catch me up.

So now that I've
moved in with Kat,

I'm saving a little
bit of money.

I'm going to be paying off
one of them a little faster

and putting a little bit
of money into savings.

Really?

So I have sort
of a safety net.

Which is great.

Yeah!

DAN ROSENSWEIG: And so what I
want to do is let mom hug you,

but let me kick you a little
bit and say what's the new plan?

Because otherwise your
life's not going to change.

Here's what's going to happen.

You're going to pay
off your loan faster,

thanks to your
conversation with Denaetha,

but you're still
going to be unhappy

because you're still
going to be working

three jobs with no changes.

That's the part that's
left, which is, how do we

bring joy back into your life?

And maybe you wake
up one day and you

don't have to be a bartender.

What would happen for you
if you made more money,

had benefits, and had
your nights to yourself?

At least right now as the
dream fricking come true.

It's time for us to
get serious about looking

for the potential
for a full time job,

because what I
don't want you to do

is be content that you've
made steps because you

haven't finished them yet.

So right now I
work at a really

great digital marketing agency.

I work there in the mornings.

I'm part time right now.

They have a really big client
services department as well.

I've had a few
discussions with my boss,

our Director of Operations,
about putting me on full time.

Wow, and how did that go?

It is something we're going to
talk about in my one year mark.

When's your one year mark?

AMANDA: My one year mark is
still about six months away.

If you're six
months in and there's

room for you to be
full time, then it's

time for them to consider it.

But in that next
six months you need

to be making sure
that you have a backup

in case they don't do it.

It sounds great.

Then let's go do that.

AMANDA: Yeah!

Let's go meet with my team.

We will work with you on
resume, on communication,

on setting up those meetings.

You want to do that?

I'd love to nail
that down, get it done.

Check, check.

I'm incredibly proud of you.

You're continuing to do
all the right things,

but now we want to do
some right things for you.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Come on in.

Meet John.

Hi, I'm John Fabello.

Let's sit down and see
if we can't get you a job.

All right.

So John, take it away.

JOHN FABELLO: We've actually
put together some jobs

that you'd be qualified for.

We'd like to take
you through those

and see if you'd be
interested in some of them.

Awesome.
DAN ROSENSWEIG: Great.

JOHN FABELLO: The
first role, you'd

start off at a salary
of approximately

anywhere between $45,000
to $50,000 a year.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: To put
that in perspective,

you're earning about that now.

Yeah.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: However, you
have three different jobs.

It's taking up almost
your entire day, including

a lot of nights, and they
don't come with benefits

and they don't come with
a future, necessarily.

Point here is you can earn as
much as you're earning doing

one job, freeing up
tremendous amount of time

for you to invest in
the rest of your life.

Right.

JOHN FABELLO: Next role is
a production associate role.

You're going to be setting
up concert timings,

you're going to have the ability
to create that crew schedule.

So again, you're going to
be able to have an impact.

AMANDA: The idea of
working both in interviews

and management of
schedule, that's something

I have experience with.

It sounds pretty perfect for me.

It sounds really cool.

All right, let's apply.

You ready?

Yeah.

Let's do it.

AMANDA (VOICEOVER): This
session was amazing.

They really showed
me a lot of things

that I am really qualified
for, and that I could be making

the same amount of money I'm
making now, working a lot less

hard and investing in myself.

It puts me in a
place to be making

more money in the next
five, 10, or 15 years.

Congratulations.

Yeah, thank you so much.

My pleasure.

It's just a step, but
it's an important step

and I couldn't be more proud.

All right.

Congratulations.

DAN ROSENSWEIG (VOICEOVER):
You know, the thing about life

is it's not a straight line.

It's a lifelong commitment
to dealing with the situation

as it's presented and being
able to pivot and adjust.

AMANDA: Since talking
with Dan and Danaetha,

I have a lot going for me.

I have a plan to not
only pay off my loans

but save a little
money so that I

know my mom won't be in any
trouble no matter what happens.

I have a plan to get a better,
more secure job that leaves me

with more time for me to
either invest in myself

or spend with my
girlfriend and just

really start living my life.

[THEME MUSIC]

To find more
resources to empower

your own journey of
financial freedom,

visit goingfrombroke.info.

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