Latest / The Financial Exchange Show / Honoring our disabled veterans is the most patriotic thing you can do this weekend
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: The Financial Exchange is produced by Money Matters Radio and
- 0:03is hosted by employees of the Armstrong Advisory Group, a
- 0:05registered investment advisor. All opinions expressed are solely those of
- 0:09the hosts. Do not reflect the opinions of Armstrong Advisory
- 0:11or anyone else. Investments can lose money. This program does
- 0:14not offer any specific financial or investment advice. Please consult
- 0:17your own financial, tax, and estate planning advisors before making
- 0:20any investment decisions. Armstrong Advisory and the advertisers heard on
- 0:23this program do not endorse each other or their services.
- 0:26Armstrong and Money Matters Radio do not compensate each other
- 0:28for referrals and are not affiliated. This is The Financial
- 0:35Exchange with Chuck Zada and Mike Armstrong, your exclusive look
- 0:39at business and financial news affecting your day, your city,
- 0:43your world. Stay informed and up to date about economic
- 0:46and market trends plus breaking business news every day. The
- 0:50Financial Exchange is a pround partner of the Disabled American
- 0:54Veterans Department of Massachusetts. Help us support our great American
- 0:58heroes by visiting DAV five dot Boston and making a
- 1:01donation today. The DAV five K Boston is presented by
- 1:05Veterans Development Corporation. This is the Financial Exchange with Chuck
- 1:09Zada and Mike Armstrong.
- 1:13Speaker 2: Chuck, Mike and Tucker with you here on a Friday,
- 1:18and today we are participating in a radiothon for one
- 1:24of our affiliates. WRKO in Massachusetts is part of the
- 1:29dav Department of Massachusetts radiothon that is happening all day
- 1:34today in order to raise money for the dav Department
- 1:38of Massachusetts in advance of Veterans Day on Monday. This
- 1:42is something that we participate in every year, and it's
- 1:45one of my favorite shows that we do every year,
- 1:48quite honestly, just because, look, I know that a lot
- 1:52of times we get caught up in our day to
- 1:55day lives and whatever might be going on in them, good, bad, ugly,
- 1:59whatever it is. But this is one where I think
- 2:04it's important to be able to take some time to
- 2:08not just recognize the veterans that have made our lives possible,
- 2:14but also to you know, really focus on supporting them financially.
- 2:21Quite honestly, you know, it's not enough to simply say
- 2:25thank you for your service. It's something where we have
- 2:29to do more than that. Because this is a group
- 2:32of people that has done more for us. It's a
- 2:36group that sacrifice their time, their money, their family life.
- 2:42Like they spend so much time and effort, you know,
- 2:46making sure that we are able to do what we
- 2:49do on a daily basis. I mean, I'm hosting a
- 2:53freaking radio show here, like it's what I am doing
- 2:59is great for me. But ultimately what they do and
- 3:03what they will continue to do and have done, is
- 3:05great for our country and for all of us. And
- 3:08for that we are incredibly thankful and happy to participate
- 3:13in the DAV Department of Massachusetts radiothon. To make a donation,
- 3:18we'll be given this number out over the course of
- 3:19the day, but as we'll get started early. To make
- 3:23a donation, you call nine seven eight six three two
- 3:27one nine eight five, or you can visit DAV five
- 3:31K dot Boston. That number again is nine seven eight
- 3:35six three two one nine eight five, or you can
- 3:39visit DAV five k dot Boston. We'll be given that
- 3:42number out all day today. Uh So again, if you
- 3:45didn't catch it on those two I'll say it one
- 3:47more time right now. Nine seven eight six three two
- 3:51one nine eight five, or visit DAV five k dot Boston, Mike,
- 3:55any thoughts on your end before we do cover a
- 3:57couple stories before we get into some interviews with veterans
- 4:00and folks associated with the DAV.
- 4:02Speaker 3: Yeah, I think the big thing here is one to
- 4:06lay out the show. We've got five awesome interviews coming
- 4:09up with veterans and folks that work with the DAV
- 4:13in some way, shape or form, and you're gonna hear
- 4:15a lot of awesome stories today. If you're not familiar
- 4:18with the DAV, or maybe you don't live in Masters,
- 4:20we have plenty of listeners I know across the country
- 4:23listening from different places. There are Disabled American Veterans Departments
- 4:26in almost every state, if not every single state across
- 4:29the country.
- 4:30Speaker 4: They do great work. You're gonna learn a lot about
- 4:32what it is they do.
- 4:33Speaker 3: And I would just urge you if you're not familiar
- 4:37with the work that the DAV does, now's the opportunity
- 4:39to learn quite a lot. I did not know a
- 4:42lot about them a decade ago. I've learned a ton
- 4:44of been really impressed. I've spoken to people you know
- 4:47that work in different areas that are somewhat connected to
- 4:51the military to retirement and for folks that have made
- 4:55that transition.
- 4:56Speaker 4: The DAV has played a huge.
- 4:58Speaker 3: Role for a lot of the so you know, tune
- 5:01in if nothing else, you can learn a lot about
- 5:02the great work that they do. Today we'll be talking
- 5:04to a lot of different people from a lot of
- 5:06different backgrounds, and I'm excited about it and.
- 5:08Speaker 5: The things that they do.
- 5:09Speaker 2: Just like again rattling off kind of a list if
- 5:12you are, if you're a disabled veteran that's looking to
- 5:15figure out, you know, how to access different benefits and
- 5:18file claims. They provide free counseling and assistance to those
- 5:21veterans in their families. They provide transportation to medical appointments
- 5:25for disabled veterans, food clothing, those types of pantry services
- 5:30to veterans, housing opportunities. They help veterans with those all
- 5:34kinds of different things, just to help those who have
- 5:38again sacrificed a lot to maintain our way of life
- 5:43and need a little bit of help now that they're
- 5:46back here.
- 5:46Speaker 5: So I think this is a hugely.
- 5:48Speaker 2: Important mission and again to donate, that number is nine
- 5:52seven eight six three two one nine eight five, or
- 5:56you can.
- 5:56Speaker 5: Visit DAV five k dot Boston.
- 6:00Speaker 2: Mike should we cover a little bit from the FED
- 6:04yesterday before we get to our first interview, the.
- 6:06Speaker 4: Least watched Federal Reserve meeting of the year.
- 6:08Speaker 2: You mean, yeah, so we'll spend literally five minutes on it,
- 6:11because honestly, most uneventful meeting as far as policy goes.
- 6:16There's one thing I do want to note in here,
- 6:19because policy wise, let's just summarize it. They cut a
- 6:22quarter percent. They signaled we're probably gonna cut in December.
- 6:26After that, we're not entirely sure because we need to
- 6:28see what policies come in from the new administration. I
- 6:32don't think there was anything surprising there particularly noteworthy.
- 6:34Speaker 3: Correct, correct, very very boring, which, by the way, I know,
- 6:38you know it's our job to talk about these things
- 6:40and make them exciting for entertainment and purposes of our show,
- 6:44But you want the FED meetings to be boring. If
- 6:46they're boring, it means you don't have to pay attention
- 6:48to them, which means that what they're doing is not
- 6:50all that impactful to your daily life, which has not
- 6:52been the case over the last four years.
- 6:54Speaker 5: So this was good.
- 6:55Speaker 2: One part that was exciting to me and interesting. J
- 7:00Powell about half hour into his press conference, gets asked
- 7:04the question, Hey, we've you know, had some rumblings from
- 7:08the Trump campaign that you know, if he wins, which
- 7:11he has now, he might ask you to step down
- 7:15from office.
- 7:16Speaker 6: Will do you want the audio?
- 7:18Speaker 5: If you haven't that great? Yes, here you go.
- 7:22Speaker 7: Some of the president's ALECX advisors have suggested that you
- 7:26should resign if he asked you to leave?
- 7:28Speaker 5: Would you go no?
- 7:32Speaker 7: Can you follow up on it? Do you think that
- 7:35legally you're not required to leave? No?
- 7:40Speaker 2: Now, j Powell has never answered a question with fewer
- 7:44than eighty words in a sentence, and ten sentences in
- 7:46a paragraph like his answers are long and and circuitous,
- 7:51and for him to just go no, And then later Tucker,
- 7:55do you have the audio of the second time he
- 7:56was asked by the other reporter or no.
- 7:59Speaker 6: I'd oh, jeez, stupid, Mike, I don't have that.
- 8:02Speaker 7: No.
- 8:03Speaker 2: So he was asked five minutes later by another reporter, Hey,
- 8:06just getting back to that, you know, has the Fed
- 8:08done any research to you know, indicate what this might like,
- 8:12if this is even possible, And he just answers four
- 8:14words not permitted under law, and the guys the reporter
- 8:19goes excuse me, and he goes not permitted under law,
- 8:26And again J Powell never really I don't think he
- 8:30really tries to ruffle any feathers generally. But this is
- 8:34the equivalent of Powell basically being like, I'm gonna be
- 8:37my own dude. If the president wants to try to
- 8:42come after me, He's more than welcome to, you know,
- 8:44try to job own me all that he wants. But
- 8:47I am signaling my independence from the president in about
- 8:52as strong of a way as I can. Because Powell
- 8:55never does this.
- 8:57Speaker 4: Yeah, he always softens his words.
- 8:59Speaker 3: This is the I can't think of a single question
- 9:01he's been asked where the answer was yes or no.
- 9:04Speaker 2: He always equivocates. Not this time, and so this, I
- 9:07think if you're looking for something that's going to be interesting. J.
- 9:10Powell's term doesn't expire until twenty twenty six. He's got
- 9:12about a year and a half left. How does this
- 9:15play out over the next year and a half in
- 9:17terms of, you know, the relationship between him and President
- 9:21elect Trump. I think that's going to be a real
- 9:24interesting question. And I think, look, he obviously has worked
- 9:29with him before. Trump was the one who first put
- 9:31him in charge of the FED. So they do have
- 9:34a working relationship. It's not something where he's sitting there like,
- 9:37oh gee, I don't even know this guy, Like, no,
- 9:40it's not that, But it's gonna be How has the
- 9:44relationship evolved since Trump's first term and is different this time?
- 9:48And I think this is going to be fascinating and
- 9:50really important also in terms of determining where things go
- 9:55for the US from both a monetary and on a
- 9:58related note, from a fiscal perspective. No day, So this
- 10:01will be interesting. Let's take a quick break here. When
- 10:04we come back, we're gonna be joined by Bill Mawoy.
- 10:07He's a US Navy veteran and legislative advocate for the
- 10:10dav Bill joins us right after this.
- 10:14Speaker 1: Wall Street watch a full update on the markets performance
- 10:17todate weekdays at ten thirty only here on the Financial
- 10:20Exchange Radio Network. The Ultimate Boston Sports Option to benefit
- 10:25the Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts is underway. You
- 10:28could win two tickets to see the Patriots take on
- 10:31the La Rams on November seventeenth. Two tickets to see
- 10:34the world champion Celtics against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday,
- 10:37November nineteenth, two tickets to see the Bruins against the
- 10:40Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday, January seventh, and four tickets to
- 10:44a twenty twenty five Red Sox home game. All that
- 10:47plus autographs merch from all four teams. To place your bid,
- 10:50call eight eight eight two oh five two two sixty three.
- 10:53That's eight eight eight two oh five two two six three.
- 11:00Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 11:00Speaker 6: As you heard, the current bid for the Ultimate Boston
- 11:03Sports Auction is five thousand dollars, and if you'd like
- 11:07to increase that amount and take home these four incredible
- 11:10auction items, call the bidline right now at eight eight
- 11:13A two zero five two two sixty three. That's eight
- 11:15eight A two zero five two two sixty three. All
- 11:18proceeds will benefit the disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts.
- 11:22Now's your chance to support our great American heroes. Call
- 11:25now to bid eight eight eight two zero five two
- 11:28two sixty three, and that bidline will be open through
- 11:32eleven forty five this morning.
- 11:35Speaker 2: As promised. We're now joined by Bill Maloyd. Bill is
- 11:38a US Navy veteran and legislative advocate for the Davy
- 11:43of Massachusetts.
- 11:45Speaker 5: Bill.
- 11:45Speaker 8: How are you today, Good Jack, good morning. Great to
- 11:49be on the show.
- 11:50Speaker 2: Absolutely, it's fantastic to have you here. And again, I'm
- 11:53just so excited about this event. It's it's one of
- 11:55my favorite days each year to actually do this show.
- 11:59Can you tell tell us a little bit about your
- 12:01long career with the Navy and just how meaningful it
- 12:04was for you?
- 12:07Speaker 8: Sure, Ken. I mean, I'm a guy that grew up
- 12:09in Situate, mass but raised my family nearby and nowell
- 12:14Or I lived for twenty eight years and now I
- 12:16live in Boston. I'm retired Navy captain with time in
- 12:20both the active reserve branches of the Navy, a total
- 12:23of thirty five years total travel in the world. For
- 12:27a little kid growing up and its situates, The Navy
- 12:31took me to thirty five different countries in thirty five years.
- 12:35It's easy to remember that just because how many countries
- 12:37it is. It's so I got a chance to really
- 12:41to learn more about, you know, not just myself, but
- 12:46also about different cultures, different countries. It was a heck
- 12:50of an opportunity.
- 12:51Speaker 2: When you look at your thirty five years of service,
- 12:55what are the certain programs or things that helped you stand,
- 12:59they kind of stood out to you and kind of
- 13:01helped to really shape who you are today.
- 13:05Speaker 8: Well, I think every sailor probably has a personal story
- 13:09to tell. In mine is that I was fortunate enough
- 13:12to have a very good sailor buddy who told me
- 13:15before I left active service to copy my entire medical record.
- 13:20And I'm like, really, he goes, yeah, believe me, You'll
- 13:23you're going to thank me. So I did, and I
- 13:26copied it, and that was the best advice I could
- 13:28have ever received from anybody. I did copy my entire
- 13:32medical record before I left active duty, and when I left,
- 13:37I had trouble flyling claims. I had a right knee
- 13:40problem I fell on the ship, and I also had
- 13:43some hearing loss from being the officer deck of the
- 13:46ship firing the guns and the missiles all the times
- 13:49that we did, and just so happens. In Boston, I
- 13:51bumped into Dan Stack, who at that time was the
- 13:55State Adjutant, and told him of my plight, and he said,
- 13:59we can help. So I joined the DAV and I've
- 14:03never looked back. The DAV has been there for me
- 14:06personally every step of the way. They helped me file
- 14:09the claims for my right knee and the hearing loss,
- 14:13and since I had a copy of my medical records,
- 14:16they also looked through them and found a few other
- 14:18things I was totally unaware of. So you know, since
- 14:22that time, I've had my right knee replaced when there
- 14:24was no other option, and I we're hearing aids that
- 14:27I used constantly right now. And I never could have
- 14:30done this by myself. So it was the DAV was
- 14:34truly key and instrumental in me trying to straighten out
- 14:38and get the filing the claims and get just compensate
- 14:43compensation that I was due.
- 14:46Speaker 2: Can you talk a little bit about your legislative advocacy
- 14:49work and how that helps you to give back to
- 14:51the DAV.
- 14:51Speaker 8: Now, sure? I mean I was fortunate enough. My dad
- 14:56was a lobbyist on Beacon Hill. He was actually one
- 14:59of the first ones s guard back about nineteen fifty,
- 15:02so I kind of grew up at his knee, so
- 15:05to speak, listening and meeting a lot of different politicians.
- 15:10A lot of times it was on the golf course
- 15:12because I was caddying for many notable politicians like Tip
- 15:17O'Neil and Joe Moakley and a few others. So I
- 15:21got a chance to see the interaction of my dad
- 15:25and how a politician reacts to a lobbyist and so forth.
- 15:32So after my time on active duty and my dad
- 15:35asked me to join him, I did. And it was
- 15:41that background and experience that watching my dad interact, that
- 15:45I was able to capitalize that and take that over
- 15:48to try and help the veterans, like the DAV in particular,
- 15:54and help them pursue funds that were needed to they
- 15:58have three homes out and Gardner and in Leminster, to
- 16:02get funds to do the things they need to do
- 16:05to accomplish their mission.
- 16:07Speaker 2: If you had to, you know, say anything to any
- 16:10veterans who might be listening now who might have questions
- 16:12about the DAV and how they could potentially help them,
- 16:15what would you say about, you know, how the DAV
- 16:18has helped you, and why do you, you know, kind
- 16:21of choose them out of all the different places that
- 16:24you could have gotten assistance from.
- 16:27Speaker 8: Sure, I mean you've heard my personal story, like I said,
- 16:30and many sailors have their own personal story and soldiers
- 16:34and airmen as well, of course, but the DAV deserves
- 16:37our financial support to be able to continue those services,
- 16:41to offer those services to fellow veterans like they did
- 16:44for me. So I'm asking all veterans out there and
- 16:48friends of the veterans, the police get jibbed generously so
- 16:53that the dav can continue their mission and supporting our
- 16:56veterans during this telethon, and you're helping to protect the
- 16:59promise that was made long ago to always take care
- 17:02of our veterans.
- 17:04Speaker 2: Bill, I want to thank you for taking the time
- 17:06to speak with us today, also obviously for your service
- 17:09and for your continued support of the dav U. I
- 17:12know there are plenty of people out there who appreciate that,
- 17:15and so thank you so much for everything that you
- 17:18have done and are continuing to do today.
- 17:20Speaker 5: We certainly appreciate it.
- 17:23Speaker 8: Thanks very much, Chuck.
- 17:25Speaker 2: That is Bill malloy, a US Navy veteran and legislative
- 17:28advocate for the dav of Massachusetts. Remember if you'd like
- 17:32to support Disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts call nine
- 17:36seven eight six three to two one nine eight five.
- 17:40That number again is nine seven eight six three two
- 17:46one nine eight five, or you can visit DAV five
- 17:49K dot Boston. Don't forget the Ultimate Boston Sports Auction
- 17:53as well. Talk there any changes in the top bid
- 17:56on that right now.
- 17:57Speaker 6: Current bid is at five thousand dollars in the bidline
- 18:00is open through eleven forty five today.
- 18:03Speaker 2: Perfect and that bidline is eight eight eight two zero
- 18:06five two two six three and again that number if
- 18:09you'd like to make a donation to the dav Department
- 18:12of Massachusetts is nine seven eight six three two one
- 18:17nine eight five, Or you can visit DAV five K
- 18:22dot Boston. Mike, we've got about a minute before we
- 18:26have to wrap up this segment here. What story do
- 18:29you want to cover in a minute?
- 18:30Speaker 4: Uh, the DAV five K that's happening tomorrow morning. It's
- 18:35a good one. I'm gonna be there as will I.
- 18:37Speaker 3: I think we've got maybe a dozen folks from Armstrong
- 18:40who are going to attend, and it's sold out quite
- 18:44a time ago. But uh, the event is held at
- 18:47Castle Island in Boston. Every year it's been I don't know,
- 18:53I'm sure we'll hear just how long it's been going on,
- 18:55but an incredible event. One hundreds of people run in
- 18:57the five K, some folks walking as well. There's boots
- 19:00set up as food there's yeah, just a just an
- 19:03incredible event every single year. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna
- 19:07have the worst time for the five k amongst our group,
- 19:10but excited nonetheless. And if you haven't been to it,
- 19:14even if you're not registered and you want to go,
- 19:16you know, check it out and attend.
- 19:18Speaker 5: Come hang out.
- 19:19Speaker 3: It's a it's a really fun place to be for
- 19:22the day. So it looks like we're gonna get good
- 19:23weather too, which I'm excited about.
- 19:25Speaker 2: I'm gonna take a quick break here when we come back.
- 19:27We're gonna be joined by Charlene Vancott. She's a dav
- 19:30case manager and service operator and a decorated vetgan with
- 19:33veteran with two tours to Afghanistan. She'll be joining us
- 19:36in studio after this.
- 19:41Speaker 1: Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. Act
- 19:44TFE show breaking business news is always first right here
- 19:49on the Financial Exchange Radio Network. Time now for Wall Street.
- 19:54Watch a complete look at what's moving market so far
- 19:57today right here on the Financial Exchange Radio Network.
- 20:01Speaker 6: Well, markets aren't positive Territory To wrap up the week,
- 20:03one day after the FED slash interest rates by a
- 20:06quarter point as expected, marking its second straight meeting of
- 20:09cutting rates. Right now, the Dow is up by two
- 20:12hundred and forty seven points, or just over half a percent,
- 20:15SMP five hundreds up by a third of a percent,
- 20:18and the Nasdaq is mostly flat edging higher. Russell two
- 20:21thousand is up nearly a quarter of a percent, ten
- 20:24year Treasureel down by six basis points at four point
- 20:27two seven percent, and crude oil down nearly three percent,
- 20:31trading just above seventy dollars a barrel. Nvidia Insure Williams
- 20:34officially joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average this morning, replacing
- 20:38Intel in chemicals company Dow. Meanwhile, shares in social media
- 20:43company Pinterest down by fourteen percent after a beach street
- 20:46expectations for the third quarter. However, it warned of higher
- 20:50operating expenses, and Airbnb posted mixed quarterly results with higher
- 20:54quarterly revenue as travel demand improved in North America. However,
- 20:58earnings came up just of estimates that stock down by
- 21:02nine percent. I'm Tucker Silvan, that's Wall Street Watch.
- 21:06Speaker 3: So once again this year we are really proud to
- 21:08support our Boston affiliate WRKO and the radiothon they're doing
- 21:12to benefit the disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts. If
- 21:17you would like to make your donation, you can call
- 21:19the DAV five k dot. You can go to DAV
- 21:22five k dot Boston, or you can call at nine
- 21:25to seven eight six three two. Is that nineteen eighty
- 21:29five or fourteen eighty five? Tucker can't read the writing
- 21:33nineteen eighty five, nineteen eighty five read that. I can't
- 21:37tell if it's a nine or four. I'm sorry, I
- 21:39want to make sure it's right.
- 21:40Speaker 6: Is that my chicken scratch?
- 21:41Speaker 5: Yeah? Okay, yeah, yeah, sorry.
- 21:43Speaker 3: In any case, we are now joined by Charlene Vancott.
- 21:47She is a DAV care coordinator, service officer, and decorated
- 21:52veteran with two tours of Afghanistan. Your military career, Charlene,
- 21:57it began back in twenty twelve. You served in our
- 22:00and during Freedom with two deployments in Afghanistan, and now
- 22:04join a relatively small group, right. I mean, I was
- 22:08trying to research what percentage of American veterans are female,
- 22:12and I came up with about ten percent. So you're
- 22:14in a fairly unique group of US veterans. Talk to
- 22:18us about your time in the military and specifically you know,
- 22:22serving as a female.
- 22:24Speaker 7: Yeah, thank you for that. So it is a unique
- 22:27opportunity to have. On my first deployment to Afghanistan, I
- 22:30was twenty thirteen, so middle of you know, the conflict
- 22:34over there and working with the Afghan National Army as
- 22:39a female. You can imagine, based upon their cultural rules expectations,
- 22:44some were not so open to having a female counterpart,
- 22:47whereas there were others who would actually invite me to
- 22:51sit down and partake in chai with them. So it
- 22:54was very eye opening to understand that I would be
- 22:56part of the changing of their culture and how it
- 23:00is they want to move forward integrating females as respected
- 23:04members of their society.
- 23:08Speaker 3: When did you leave the military and can you talk
- 23:10to me a little bit about that transition out of
- 23:13the military and into civilian life.
- 23:15Speaker 7: So I actually haven't transitioned yet. I am still actually
- 23:18a drilling reservist. I just crested over fourteen years, just
- 23:23got promoted to staff sergeant back in July. So careers
- 23:26where I'm you know, where I'm looking to take forward,
- 23:29looking for that twenty years, I'll probably do twenty one,
- 23:32only to make sure I give them that full twenty
- 23:34that they learn right might take back some, but yeah,
- 23:36it's a great opportunity. I work for the training Battalion
- 23:40out at Fort DEVNS. I'm an instructor. So what that
- 23:43does is, you know, after two combat tours, thirteen years
- 23:47of service, your body gets a little broken, but my
- 23:50mind isn't. And so being able to take my knowledge
- 23:53and my experience and pass that along to these upcoming
- 23:56new soldiers that they can take forward. It really is
- 24:01that reach backpoll one forward philosophy.
- 24:03Speaker 3: So let's move forward here and talk about the dav
- 24:07How did you first hear about the disabled American veterans
- 24:09of Massachusetts.
- 24:10Speaker 7: So after my first deployment, I was wounded and I
- 24:14spent fifteen months at the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Fort Drum,
- 24:17New York, rehabilitating. They were attempting to medically retire me
- 24:21from the army, but I was too stubborn to let
- 24:24that happen. I wanted to prove that broken crayons can
- 24:27in fact still color. So I was able to prove
- 24:31that I was still fully deployable, still mission capable. Returned
- 24:34back home as a reservist, and in talking to members
- 24:37of my community, someone said, you know, the troubles that
- 24:41I had experienced and receiving the benefits and such. They said,
- 24:44why don't you go over to DAV. You know, they're
- 24:47behind the college and they'll help you out there.
- 24:49Speaker 4: Had you even heard of them prior to that?
- 24:51Speaker 5: Not really.
- 24:53Speaker 7: You know, everybody always talks about the American Legion and
- 24:55the PFW, which are great veterans service organizations, you know,
- 24:58but I think DAV is of the best kept secrets
- 25:01of the veteran service community.
- 25:02Speaker 4: Well, let's not keep it a secret.
- 25:04Speaker 3: So you are now working through the DAV in addition
- 25:07to being active duty to the military, right now, talk
- 25:09to me about that. Well, I'm sure you're busy first
- 25:13and foremost, but talk to me about your role within
- 25:15the DAV and how you help folks out.
- 25:17Speaker 7: Yeah, so it's actually one of those blessings in disguise.
- 25:20So when I did go to DAV, I walked in
- 25:22and Mike was the claims officer who helped me, and
- 25:25we kind of looked at each other and realized that
- 25:27we actually knew each other from high school. And then
- 25:30subsequently he was like, hey, come.
- 25:31Speaker 4: You know, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Shirley.
- 25:34It was a great thing. It really truly was.
- 25:35Speaker 7: It kind of you know, brought back, you know, memories
- 25:38of knowing who I was and how far I've come
- 25:40in my adult life and career, to which then you know,
- 25:45they offered me a position as a case manager, and
- 25:48I was like, I don't really think that's my jam.
- 25:49You know, I'm a I'm a firefighter, I'm a paramedic,
- 25:52I'm a police officer. Like that's that's not really you know,
- 25:55my thing. So last year, Kayla, the director reached out
- 26:00and was like, hey, you know, I could really utilize
- 26:02your medical background in our housing program. A lot of
- 26:06these veterans don't really understand what they're being told medically,
- 26:09you know, can you bridge that gap for me? To
- 26:12which I came on board in a part time capacity
- 26:14helping with that, and then as of August, you know,
- 26:18I jokingly say that I drank the Kila juice and
- 26:22really the Kala kool aid and really just embodied, you know,
- 26:26being able to serve my fellow veterans because as someone
- 26:30who faced the trials and the tribulations and coming home
- 26:34with moral injury and PTSD and working through all that
- 26:38and not having someone there to help me, I think
- 26:42it's being able to be that person that I didn't
- 26:45have for someone else.
- 26:47Speaker 4: That's really fantastic.
- 26:48Speaker 5: Charlene.
- 26:49Speaker 3: I want to I want to leave with one other
- 26:51item because we touched on it, but I think it
- 26:54deserves a little bit more. Everyone out there has seen
- 26:57different veterans service organizations, disabled veteran organizations. I've personally, you know,
- 27:04looked at other ones, donate to other ones. You know,
- 27:05it's been a part of other ones as well. And
- 27:08I know you have too, And I would like your
- 27:10perspective on that, because I know you belong to several
- 27:14of these and are active in many of them. What
- 27:17do you find so unique about the DAV and and
- 27:21you know, again, if you can compare and contrast here
- 27:23and exactly why it is so beneficial for funds to
- 27:27go to DAV, that'd be great.
- 27:29Speaker 7: So, as you mentioned, I do belong to several other
- 27:32veteran service organizations, Combat Veteran Motorcycle Association, which is great.
- 27:36I get to ride my motorcycle with other combat veterans
- 27:38and veterans as a whole, and we get to raise
- 27:41funds to give to organizations like the DAV American Legion VFW.
- 27:46I belong to those because I think it is important
- 27:48to have those institutions still remain. What separates the DAV
- 27:52Department of Massachusetts from anyone else, I think is our
- 27:56housing program. You know, we participate in the VA Transportation
- 27:59Now work providing free rides to and from VA medical
- 28:03appointments or VA directed medical appointments, which is nationwide. It's
- 28:06a great feature to be able to offer veterans. But
- 28:10our housing program, we're the only DAV in the country
- 28:13that has this housing program. And what we're able to
- 28:16do is we're able to take these veterans and sometimes
- 28:18veterans with families or veterans with children who are otherwise
- 28:21housing insecure or homeless, living in their cars, living and
- 28:28stick built shacks in the woods, and we're able to
- 28:31take them in and say, hey, this is your opportunity
- 28:34to take a knee, drink some water. We got you,
- 28:38and we're going to help you, and we're going to
- 28:39give you the resources, and we're going to give you
- 28:40the tools to rebuild your life and be able to
- 28:44move forward from this program to have the life that
- 28:48you want and that you deserve. You gave your time
- 28:51and of yourself to this country, so the least that
- 28:54we can do as an organization is give our time
- 28:57to help further that.
- 28:59Speaker 3: It's fantastic, it's something you should truly be proud of
- 29:03and a continued great career. So Charlene, thank you so
- 29:06much for joining us. Again, that's Charlene Vancott. She is
- 29:10a DAV care coordinator, service officer and decorated active duty
- 29:16Army member as well and speaking with us today about
- 29:20her experience with the DAV. If that doesn't inspire you,
- 29:24then I don't know what does. But again, we are
- 29:27supporting the DAV all day to day alongside WRKO, and
- 29:31if you would like to make your contribution or just
- 29:34learn more, go.
- 29:35Speaker 4: To DAV five k dot Boston. Again.
- 29:38Speaker 3: That's DAV five k dot Boston and will be continuing
- 29:43for the next hour and a little bit our conversations
- 29:46with other members of the DAV and other folks with
- 29:49experience with them. So thanks so much, Charlene, appreciate you
- 29:51joining us. Let's take a quick break and we'll be
- 29:53write back with more.
- 29:55Speaker 1: The Financial Exchange streams live on YouTube. Like our page
- 29:59and stay up to date on breaking business news all
- 30:02morning long. This is the Financial Exchange Radio Network. Now's
- 30:06your chance to support the disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts.
- 30:10By bidding in our Ultimate Boston Sports Auction. You could
- 30:13win two tickets to see the Patriots take on the
- 30:15La Rams on November seventeen, two tickets to see the
- 30:18world champion Celtics against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday November nineteenth,
- 30:22two tickets to see the Bruins against the Edmonton Oilers
- 30:25on Tuesday, January seventh, and four tickets to a twenty
- 30:28twenty five Red Sox home game. All that plus autographed
- 30:32merch from all four teams. Bidding ends this Friday, so
- 30:35call now eight eight eight two oh five two two
- 30:37sixty three. That's eight eight eight two oh five two
- 30:40two six three.
- 30:44Speaker 6: As you heard, the Ultimate Boston Sports Auction still ongoing.
- 30:48We get another hour to go, and the current bid
- 30:51for all of that listed is five thousand dollars. And
- 30:55if you'd like to increase that amount and take home
- 30:57all of these incredible prizes, call the bidline right now
- 31:00at eight eight a two zero five two two sixty three.
- 31:03That's eight eight eight two zero five two two sixty three.
- 31:06All proceeds will benefit the disabled American Veterans Department of Massachusetts.
- 31:12Now's your chance to support our great American heroes. Call
- 31:15now to bid eight eight A two zero five two
- 31:18two six three and the again. The auction is open
- 31:21for another hour and the current bid is at five
- 31:24thousand dollars.
- 31:25Speaker 5: Let's go.
- 31:25Speaker 1: Let's get that number up.
- 31:26Speaker 6: We're supposed to be the best fans in the country, right,
- 31:28let's go.
- 31:30Speaker 2: Let's talk a little bit about the FED moves yesterday
- 31:34and how they impact individuals. So, Mike, the FED cut
- 31:38interest rates by a quarter percent yesterday, and in terms
- 31:43of what this is going to actually, you know, impact on,
- 31:48you know, how this will work across different types of loans.
- 31:51Let's start with credit cards, because this one's pretty easy.
- 31:54Most credit card interest rates are tied either to the
- 31:57FED funds rate or to an interest rate that's.
- 31:59Speaker 5: Based off it.
- 32:00Speaker 2: So what you should see is that credit card rates
- 32:03should drop by a quarter percent pretty basically effective immediately, yep, okay,
- 32:09or you know, depending on the contract I might say,
- 32:11like the next billing statement or whatever.
- 32:14Speaker 5: But that's something that you should see pretty quickly. There.
- 32:17Speaker 2: When we talk about adjustable rate mortgages, if you have
- 32:22an adjustable rate mortgage today. In some cases that adjust
- 32:27rate might be based off of the FED funds rate.
- 32:30It might be based off of the sofa rate or
- 32:34something else like similar to that prime rate is crime rate.
- 32:37And so again, those when they come up for their adjustment,
- 32:40if they're coming up, you know in the next month
- 32:42or two, they should be adjusting a quarter point lower
- 32:45than they would have been. Otherwise, they still may be
- 32:47adjusting higher than they were a year ago or seven
- 32:50years ago, or whenever you took out the loaner, you know,
- 32:52wherever you are in that contract.
- 32:54Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 32:54Speaker 3: So, for example, I've got a home equity line of
- 32:56credit based on prime, and yesterday prime moved down by
- 32:59a quarter of a It's still sitting at seven point
- 33:01seven five percent, so still.
- 33:04Speaker 4: Considerably higher than it was a few years ago.
- 33:06Speaker 3: But if you have one of those types of adjusting
- 33:09rates out there, then yeah, you're you're seeing that immediately
- 33:13upon the FED moving.
- 33:14Speaker 2: If you are looking for a mortgage right now, let's
- 33:17say that you're in the market for a home or
- 33:19maybe you're considering refinancing. The FED move yesterday does not
- 33:24impact the rates that companies charge four mortgages in any
- 33:31direct way. It has the potential to impact them directly.
- 33:34But what we've seen thus far is since the FED
- 33:38began cutting interest rates on September nineteenth, the national average
- 33:43for the thirty year fixed rate mortgage, according to Mortgage
- 33:46News Daily, has gone from let's see, we were at
- 33:50about six point two then it's currently as of yesterday,
- 33:54at six point nine to eight. So even though the
- 33:56Fed is cut interest rates by three quarters of a percent,
- 34:00the average thirty year fixed rate mortgage in that time
- 34:02is actually up three.
- 34:03Speaker 5: Quarters of a percent. Kind of a nice symmetry at least, right.
- 34:07Speaker 4: Yeah.
- 34:07Speaker 3: I was actually speaking with somebody yesterday who has an
- 34:12outstanding line of credit and is also considering refinancing that,
- 34:17and it's like, hmm, you see rates coming down, it's
- 34:20moving down that rate on your line of credit that
- 34:23you have sitting out there. Do you actually move over
- 34:26to that fixed rate loan? What's that difference going to be?
- 34:28How much is it going to be?
- 34:29Speaker 5: In closed?
- 34:30Speaker 3: It's a trickier conversation because what we've seen recently has been, Yeah,
- 34:34equity line of credits, for example, have gotten cheaper, fixed
- 34:38rate mortgages have gotten more expensive.
- 34:41Speaker 2: So that's what we're seeing on the mortgage rate side
- 34:44of things. Auto loans. Auto loans have been coming down
- 34:48to touch over the course of this year. Here's the
- 34:51thing with auto loans, it really depends credit quality. It's
- 34:56credit quality and also the type of car that you're buying.
- 34:59Used car loans are typically at a higher interest rate
- 35:02than new car loans. And the other thing that you
- 35:04got to keep an eye out for with new car loans, uh,
- 35:07depending on the model. If companies have models that they
- 35:11have excess inventory of, they typically offer pretty good financing incentives.
- 35:17Even now, you can see if if you're in the
- 35:19market for an EV SUV as an example, Oh yeah,
- 35:24you're finding like there is if you've got good credit. Again,
- 35:27like I'm not saying that you like you got to
- 35:29qualify and everything. I'm seeing everything from like two percent
- 35:33financing all the way down to zero point nine percent
- 35:36financing depending on the particular vehicle. But those are if
- 35:39you want an EV SUV. It's not if you want
- 35:43a toy Unique Shopper or a Toyota Rev four or
- 35:47a you know four f one fifty. You're not seeing
- 35:51those kinds of deals because they can move that inventory.
- 35:54Speaker 3: Indeed, yeah, I did see somebod again at zero percent
- 35:57financing deal on a new car recently. So it does
- 36:00still exist out there. You just got to find the
- 36:02cars that nobody else wants at the moment.
- 36:04Speaker 2: Savings accounts not let's move away from borrowing instead talk
- 36:07about what you get paid on your deposits. Savings accounts.
- 36:11Typically the rates on those drop pretty quickly once the
- 36:14FED cuts rates.
- 36:15Speaker 5: Yeah.
- 36:15Speaker 3: I had somebody that was surprised about this, like, you know,
- 36:18I was, you know, with this bank, and you know,
- 36:20FED cut rates and they immediately cut the rate on
- 36:22the savings account. I was like, yeah, that's that's exactly
- 36:25how that works. This is this is not a CD.
- 36:27You have no contract with them. I know you're impressed
- 36:30with their advertisements getting you in there at the five
- 36:33percent interest, but that is going to immediately come down
- 36:35when the FED lowers rates. That that will not take
- 36:38very long.
- 36:39Speaker 5: So that's anything else that I didn't touch it. Oh,
- 36:43student loans.
- 36:44Speaker 2: Uh So student loans, when we talk about federal loans,
- 36:48those interest rates are typically fixed for.
- 36:51Speaker 5: The life of the loan.
- 36:53Speaker 2: Uh if you are if you have a private student loan,
- 36:57those rates can be fixed, in which case, look with
- 36:59the Fed it doesn't change it, or they could potentially
- 37:02be variable and so this may impact it. They're you know,
- 37:06depending on when you took them out. Maybe you have
- 37:08opportunities to refinance if your rates are lower now. But again,
- 37:13for most people with student loans, the FED interest rate
- 37:18move not making a change in the rate that is
- 37:22charged on those at the moment.
- 37:24Speaker 3: And by the way, you know, I know this sounds surprising,
- 37:27but I'm out here, you know, doing a little bit
- 37:29of research on you know, this is source from bank rate.
- 37:32You are still seeing FDIC insured bank accounts paying over
- 37:36four point seventy five percent interest. It's few and far between,
- 37:41and I suspect that those are going to be moving down,
- 37:43but those offers are still out there.
- 37:45Speaker 5: Believe it or not.
- 37:46Speaker 3: You just have to be very comfortable with the bank
- 37:48that you will never meet anybody that works for them
- 37:51because it's going to be entirely online.
- 37:54Speaker 2: So that's what we are seeing out there in consumer
- 37:57products as a result of the FED rate cut yesterday.
- 38:01And again I feel like this is quite literally the
- 38:04least followed FED meeting at least since I've been doing this,
- 38:08so at least, you know, the last twelve thirteen years.
- 38:10Let's take a quick break here. When we come back,
- 38:14we got our two coming up for the dav Radio
- 38:18fon again to donate called nine seven eight six three
- 38:21two nineteen eighty five.