All language subtitles for Going From Broke s01e10 The King of Failed Investments.eng

[MUSIC PLAYING]

BRANDON PFELTZ: My
name is Brandon Pfeltz.

I am 28 years old, and I live
in Los Angeles, California.

I was born and raised
in Baltimore, Maryland,

kind of humble upbringing.

Money was always really
tight growing up.

I didn't have a lot of things.

And I moved to New York
City when I was 18,

went to Pace University, got
a BA in acting and directing.

And I was making great
money right out of college.

That kind of really
kick started it all off.

And now I own my
own theater company,

and I'm working in
social and digital film

and television marketing.

There is only one problem.

I'm broke.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN ROSENSWEIG:
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
Rosensweig, and I'm

the CEO of the multi-billion
dollar company, Chegg.

This is my mission.

With the help of my financial
expert, Danetha Doe,

we're going to
help young people.

The walls are closing in.

Yeah.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Who are
drowning in extreme debt.

How many credit cards?

11, 12, 12.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: To build a
life of financial independence.

I just want to get out of
debt, and I want you to help.

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

DAN ROSENSWEIG: This
is an economic crisis

of epic proportions.

I don't use that much.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: And
we have to fix it.

No, come on.

Ah!

DAN ROSENSWEIG: 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: This
is Going from Broke.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

It's another day, and another
dollar that somebody owes.

DANETHA DOE: So we're off
to see Brandon Pfeltz today.

DAN ROSENSWEIG:
Tell me about him.

DANETHA DOE: Really smart
kid, got an awesome job right

after school.

He's a social media coordinator
for an entertainment company.

The problem is Brandon is in
a ton of debt, over $130,000.

He's paying a portion of
his student loan payment.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: That means he's
accruing additional interest.

DANETHA DOE: Yes.

He also has debt
from payday loans.

A payday loan?

That payday loan had
148% interest rate on it.

That's ridiculous.
I mean--

DANETHA DOE: It's criminal.
- What's the matter?

It is criminal.

I mean, we've got to get
rid of that one first.

DANETHA DOE: And I would usually
agree with you because that is

an incredibly high interest
rate, except Brandon has also

borrowed from a loan shark.

No, wait a minute.

If he borrowed from a loan
shark, that's scary stuff.

So Brandon is
borrowing more money

at a higher rate than the money
that he already owes from more

and more dangerous people.

He needs to get rid of this one
right away because honestly,

he might actually be in danger.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

BRANDON PFELTZ: Hello.

Hey, how are you?

Come on in.

DANETHA DOE: Thanks
for having us.

BRANDON PFELTZ: I
wish we could have

met under better circumstances,
but that is life.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: There's a
lot I want to understand.

You owe everybody money.

Yeah.

You're going into
places that nobody

should go to go get that money.

Mmm-hmm, yeah.

I mean, it's possible
that somebody can

knock the door down right now.

Yeah.

The loan shark, in
the classic sense,

is somebody that is
going to loan you money

for a very high interest rate.

And if you don't
give that money back,

they will break your legs.

It's literally what dominates
my mind, day and night.

If I don't get a
hold of my life,

I will either wind up dead in
a gutter or living on a gutter.

I don't know what
the heck you're doing.

BRANDON PFELTZ:
Well, essentially, I

have gotten to this
point in my life

where there are a lot of things
that are very out of control.

And it is a very vicious
cycle that I have gotten

myself into at this point.

And it's entirely
of my own doing.

I have a real problem
with impulse buying.

If I want something,
I will buy it.

I love to buy weird shit.

This ring was made
in 100 AD in Rome.

I bought it from
an antiques dealer.

I like tech.

I have an Oculus Go headset that
I love because virtual reality

is the future.

I've spent a lot of money
on business ventures.

I put about $300 into
underwater sea exploration.

I'm the king of failed business
ventures and stupid decisions.

DANETHA DOE: Walk us
through your thought process

when it came to your car loans.

BRANDON PFELTZ: When I moved
here from New York City,

my car broke down.

So I needed to get another
car from that point.

And where is that car now?

That car is currently
sitting in a garage

in my old apartment.

I still owe money.

The car is non-working.

Then why don't
you give it back?

I-- well, that's the thing.

I don't know how.

You know what I
mean because it's--

DANETHA DOE: Have
you called them?

BRANDON PFELTZ: Well, it's been
sold to a different company.

They've sold off the debt.

Did you call that company?

No.

Stop, just stop.

You're spiraling out of control.

Mm-hmm.

You have a car.

It doesn't work that you
could have given back.

Instead, you hid it, right?

BRANDON PFELTZ: Well, it's
not it's not hiding, though.

That-- because hiding
implies that I--

Did they try to
take your car back?

BRANDON PFELTZ: I don't know.

That's the thing is I
have so many people.

I don't want to
answer phone calls

from numbers that I don't know.

But why didn't you
give the car back?

I-- I don't know.

There's very simple
things in my life

that would, for a normal person,
would be very simple to do.

And for me, they're not.

That has been one of
my biggest issues.

You owe car people money.

You owe the IRS money.

Can I just take a minute?

BRANDON PFELTZ: Yeah, sure.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Well, I'm nervous for you.

Let me explain something to you.

I needed to take a moment
because I'm a parent.

And I hear your pain.

I feel it.

Calling us is a sign that
you're looking for help.

But it doesn't mean
you hit rock bottom.

What is your ambition?

If we have something
to go to, maybe we can

get out of the hole we're in.

I had gone to
school for theater.

I love theater.

It's ultimately
what I want to do.

It is something that I
take very very seriously.

And so that's fantastic.

Then everything that we need
to be doing is focusing on that

and creating other
revenue opportunities

with your free time
so that you can

build confidence in yourself,
reclaim your own path.

What do you think is driving
the situation you're in?

I was very, very unhappy.

You know, I had gotten to
this point where I-- my life

just in many ways, felt
like it was breaking down.

There's a lot of issues
in my family life.

My brother, homeless on
the streets of Baltimore,

actually in prison now.

So I was at this very low
point where I struggled

with very serious depression.

So I think that's probably one
of the main factors behind it.

I was going through
a lot of of very

deep serious depression issues.

But then you get to this point
where you kind of wake up.

You go, what have I been
doing for the past four years

because now my head's
coming out of a cloud.

And now I'm looking at all the
shambles of a life around me.

I can empathize
with all of those.

So we have to find ways to
reduce the stress, which will

reduce the negative inputs.

If you don't make the
necessary changes,

how does this play
out one year from now?

I don't know.

You do know.

You want to write theater.

How does your character end if
you don't change your behavior?

Is it a Greek tragedy?

There's no way
about it but tragedy.

If this thing isn't fixed now,
then this is the beginning

of the ultimate end.

That is not
already preordained.

You're still able to
write your own story.

All hope is not lost.

No.

Are you willing to
do whatever it takes

so that this isn't the end?

Yes.

Let's go through some of
the numbers for a minute

and see a path out of this.

And maybe with a little
bit of discipline,

that'll be enough for
you to stick to it.

Right.

Oftentimes, people
will say they're

going to make a lot of changes.

And when you add up the
value of all those changes,

they don't change anything.

I'm-- I'm not paying
anything besides what

the government is garnishing.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Only once you
have the full set of facts can

you make a better decision.

Danetha, take it away.

DANETHA DOE: All
right, Brandon's

spending $3,700 every month,
but bringing in $2,200 per month

every month.

That means he's
going over his budget

$1,500 each and
every month, leading

him to take out risky
payday loans in order

to cover his expenses.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Write down
some homework assignments.

First, you need
to make a journal.

Yeah.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: You're going to
document every dime you spend.

We're going to look for at least
$1,500 of reduced expenses.

That means car payments.

That means rent.

That means your
streaming service.

The next one is to find
out who now owns the car

and giving them a call.

Get them to lay out what it is
they're asking for it and why.

OK.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: And then the
last is what else are you going

to do earning additional money?

You think you can
do these things

by the next time we come?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Absolutely.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: My
hope is that you're

going to take these actions.

We believe if you do, that your
life will get better every day.

Yeah, thank you both so much.

I really appreciate it.

Thank you, thank you.

Thanks again.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

OK, so it has been two days
since my meeting with Dan.

I'm feeling very
determined at this point.

I want to show people that this
is something that, you know,

I can do.

And I know it's something that
I should have done in the past.

So I've gone through, I've
canceled a ton of streaming

services, Playstation,
Netflix, Hulu, Amazon

Prime, Starz, Showtime, Audible,
Sling, Game Play, Apple Music.

I have been searching
out all of my creditors,

understanding all of the
financials behind everything

that I owe everywhere.

If I wasn't paying those
god awful payday loans,

I would be well on
track, and this would all

feel achievable and possible.

So I'm going to
call these people,

try to negotiate a very,
very low monthly payment,

see what they can do for me.

So that is where I
am on everything.

I'm making I think
pretty good progress,

and I'm very determined to keep
making progress, so thanks.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

If your loans are in
default or severely overdue,

I recommend working
directly with the creditors

to figure out or negotiate
some sort of payment plan.

Creditors would rather
receive some money

than no money at all.

If you can offer a
lump sum payment,

you're in a much stronger
negotiation position.

When negotiating these
options with creditors,

ensure that you get
everything in writing.

For some more ideas
and more options

on how to manage your debt, be
sure to check out Grow By Acorns.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

BRANDON PFELTZ:
So Dan and Danetha

told me that I needed to get
this car situation figured out.

Basically, I had this broken
down car in my garage,

been there for
over a year that I

have not made
payments on because it

is a death trap of a vehicle.

And I started the process of
finally getting rid of it.

It was really,
really difficult. I

called the company
that owned the car,

and they wouldn't take it back.

It was a really
frustrating process.

So I went around, I called to
about six different places,

but finally, I was able to find
this company on Craigslist.

I feel like we need to do like a
slow clap cause it's, you know,

going away.

They gave me 50 bucks for
the car and towed it away.

Still owe about 3,500 on it,
but that's a little dent.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

This for me right now is not
even just about the finances

anymore.

It's about becoming
more mentally stable

because ultimately, you show
yourself at the end of the day

like if you really,
really assert yourself,

you can do these things.

You can rise above to
actually accomplish

and achieve something.

And plus I just wanted
to have results for when

Dan and Danetha came
back because I do have

an extreme amount of
motivation, but that motivation

often gets covered by mental
illness unfortunately.

I just kind of have to
rise against these feelings

that I go through constantly.

We are now about a week into
the start of the process,

and I have made some progress.

I still need to make
additional income.

I have a list of
opportunities that I'm

currently considering pursuing.

Right now, I feel OK.

I'm not feeling
totally depressed,

even though I have gone
through a lot of that very,

very severely over the
past week because I

think the reality
of the situation

kind of hit me really hard.

You know, hopefully, I keep
some amount of motivation

because it's very,
very important

to me that by the
next time we meet up,

everything is on track.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Hey, hey, how's it going?

Good.
How are you?

Welcome to Game Room.

Is there anything I can
help you with today?

Yes, I read that you guys
buy games and equipment.

So I wanted to see if you were
interested in buying any--

Definitely.
What do we have here?

It's a VR headset.

Oh, nice.

BRANDON PFELTZ: It's worth
about $200 brand new,

so I'm hoping I can get
around $120, $130, $140.

I just wanted to see how
much I can get for it

if they're willing to take it.

It's kind of a struggle to sell
it because I really love it,

but I think ultimately,
Dan and Danetha

gave me this homework to kind
of create new revenue streams.

And I'm hoping this
is one way to do it.

I kind of figured at
the end of the day

that instead of living
in virtual reality,

I should be facing reality, so--

[LAUGHS]

OK, it looks like everything
is in good condition.

I know this cooks
for about $200.

Unfortunately, I do have to
sell this for at a used price.

And something like this,
I end up paying $50 for.

OK, $50 is a lot less than
what I was hoping for for it.

Could you do $100?

$100 is the absolute
lowest that I could go.

$100?

I do want it in
the store, so I'm

going to go ahead and do $100.

BRANDON PFELTZ: $100?
- $100.

Awesome.

Sweet.

MAN: OK, I just need your ID, so
I can add you into the system.

And then we can go
ahead and process it.

BRANDON PFELTZ: Great.

I'm happy that I was
able to get $100.

It's a nice relief to have
that extra money in my pocket

right now and to be able to
walk out here and know, oh, hey,

I can afford to actually
start paying something off

because I'm getting
rid of these things

that I don't need in my life.

Well, sweet, thank you so much.

Ah, no, thank you
for coming in, Brandon.

Yeah, no worries, man.

Thanks again.

I'll be back.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

DAN ROSENSWEIG:
All right, we want

to go through and
see what progress

you have and haven't made.

Sure.

I never feel like I have
made enough progress.

So I'm really, really worried to
see what they're going to say.

So let's start with the
loan from the loan shark.

Where are we at with that?

BRANDON PFELTZ: I can
pay off the loan early.

And therefore,
you can eliminate

all that extra interest.

So that's the first one.

Let's talk about the
payday loan next.

BRANDON PFELTZ: So I've paid
$1026.55 from the total finance

charge of $5,987.64.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: And
that's a victory.

Now you've learned.

We should rid ourselves
of these immediately.

BRANDON PFELTZ: Right.

OK, so let's keep going.

DANETHA DOE: The next task was
looking at your car situation.

BRANDON PFELTZ: Sure.

So I sold the car,
very difficult to do.

So it was a towing company for
a junkyard that offered to--

Right, demolotion.

Awful money, gave
me 50 bucks for it.

But I needed to get it out.

But at least now we know
it's not getting worse.

BRANDON PFELTZ: Right.

So we've stopped
that bleeding.

Right.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Now we
were looking for you

to reduce $1,500 in expenses.

Right.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: How did we do?

BRANDON PFELTZ: I
went through, canceled

every streaming service.

So the total of all
of that is $175.

I spent $684.27 eating out.

So I can reduce this
to $250 a month.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: So we're
cutting out $400 in food.

Plus there's more.

I actually went through to
all my bills and had them

all shifted so that I
can align them totally

to my paychecks, which was a big
problem because I was borrowing

money to pay for bills.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: So now
there was working capital.

That is really smart.

Understanding what your
working capital needs are

are very important.

It's the amount of
capital you need

to make sure that you can keep
your business or your life

running.

This allowed him to no
longer have to borrow money

from payday loan
providers and loan

sharks, which saved
him a fortune,

as well as saved
him a lot of stress.

Is it reasonable to say
saves you about $350 a month?

I would say that's
probably reasonable.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: So
let's put down $350.

Yeah.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: And the second
thing is the side hustle.

So how are we going
to make more money?

I do a lot of
copywriting at work.

So I would love to do
freelance copywriting.

OK, where do we go
to get freelance work?

Well, I signed up for
a website called Upwork.

DANETHA DOE: Fantastic.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Yeah, fantastic.

The fact that you now
know you can at least pay

a certain number of your
bills without having to borrow

more money is a very big thing.

I mean, you know
the truth is is

that I never feel like
I've made enough progress.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Mental health
is clearly a contributor

to your situation.

So one of the things
that we proposed

was finding out if
your company has

an employee assistance program.

The EAP program
is very valuable.

It stands for employee
assistance program.

It allows you to confidentially
work through your HR department

to find somebody to help you
with very specific and personal

problems that you may have.

And by doing so,
you're able to create

the stability necessary to
deal with the challenges

in your life.

And in Brandon's case, to deal
with his anxiety and his stress

and put ourselves on a
path with Brandon to deal

with the financial issues.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

Avoid payday loans
like the plague.

They're really expensive.

You show up at the payday
office, you take out a loan,

and then when your loan
is due, they actually

will take money out of
your paycheck at a very,

very high interest rate, 148%.

You're constantly
paying back this loan.

Instead, you can call up
your lenders and your billers

and ask them to adjust your
billing due dates to fall

after you receive a paycheck.

And that gives you
more breathing room.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: Do you realize
because of student debt,

the level of depression,
anxiety, suicide

has all gone up in this country?

There is no embarrassment
in asking for help.

We also acknowledge
that what we offer

isn't the complete set
of needs that you have.

But there are people that do.

And this one's available to
you, guess what, at no charge.

I'll do it today.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: I'm going
to call you tomorrow.

OK.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: But do
you realize in one month,

we have the opportunity to
say that's the first month

since you've been
an adult that you

didn't go further into debt?

First, I had not thought of
that perspective whatsoever.

And that's a great
thing to think about.

This is doable now.

There's only one way out
of this That's if we get

up the next day, and we do it.

We're going all
the way to the top.

DAN ROSENSWEIG:
We are, my friend.

All right.

BRANDON PFELTZ: All
the way to the top.

After my final meeting
with Dan and Danetha,

I was finally ready to
start talking to someone

and start learning some tools
that could to help me overcome

some of my personal obstacles
so that I didn't fall back

into old habits and kind of
just erase all this progress

that I've made so far.

Hi.
BRANDON PFELTZ: Hello.

- Welcome.
- Thank you.

Yeah, my name is Dr. Diep,
and I'm the psychologist that's

been assigned to your case.

DANETHA DOE: Brandon has shared
with us that over the years,

he has suffered from
mental health issues.

And when you combine that
with financial struggles,

it can really compound
the situation.

And sometimes those
feed into each other.

BRANDON PFELTZ:
For years, I've--

I've struggled with
very heavy depression,

and a lot of anxiety as well.

And that has kind of contributed
a lot to me and my problems

financially.

Struggling with
mental health issues,

it can affect the way
you manage your finances

and the way you manage
your finances further

exacerbates your
mental health issues.

So it's a vicious cycle.

I think with
everyone, in some way,

our personal finances
are very entwined

with our mental health.

And for me personally,
I feel like I

finally have an outlet to keep
my anxiety and my depression

at bay.

Well, thank you so much.

This has been very helpful.

I feel better than
when I came in.

It's been wonderful.

DR. DIEP: Sure, I'm
glad to hear that.

BRANDON PFELTZ: Appreciate it.

Thanks.

DAN ROSENSWEIG:
Brandon, how are you?

I just wanted to
catch up and see

if you actually had a chance
to meet with somebody,

how you're feeling and--

BRANDON PFELTZ: Right
now, I'm feeling

pretty great I-- you
know, as of two days ago,

just got a nice big promotion.

I'm now officially a
producer at my company,

and things are going well.

And I've been seeing a
doctor out in North Hills,

which has been great, you know.

For me, actually I've fallen in
this like relatively good place

right now.

DAN ROSENSWEIG: First,
let me congratulate you

on reinvesting in yourself
and beginning to build

confidence in yourself again.

And the fact that you
went and you saw somebody

and that you feel that
that's benefiting you

makes me so proud
and so happy for you.

Well, thank you so much.

I-- you know, I
love hearing that.

I want to welcome you to
your financial future, one

of independence,
one of confidence,

one where you're in control.

This is a great day.

Brandon has made real progress.

He has the skills to
get out of this mess.

We have a real
chance for this kid

to go on and do great things.

This is the very
first rehearsal.

So I thank you guys for coming.

Performing with my
theater company now

feels fantastic because
before, it's like I

couldn't even be present.

I was just sitting there
thinking about other things,

thinking about awful
things, whereas now,

it's not like that.

It's what it should be.

It's fun.

There were some major hurdles
that I was facing in my life,

but at least now, those hurdles
feel a lot more manageable.

That doesn't mean it
was an easy process,

but that just makes it
all the more rewarding.

When you can go
through something

that's very, very hard and
come out feeling triumphant,

and I feel for once in
my life, that I actually

have some sort of
foundation to build upon

rather than just
kind of flailing

myself against the wind.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

We know that having
debt can pose challenges

in all areas of your life.

For more resources
and information

on how to manage your debt,
visit goingfrombroke.info.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

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