There is no need to mention what kind of year 2020 was for many of us. On the Jake of All Trades Show Jake Rivas and his sidekick Kirk Barbera tried to keep upbeat and positive by not only discussing topics of interest to you, but by giving practical advice aimed at benefiting your wallets both now and in the future. 

Below are the top five episodes that you all seemed to love this year. We hope that we could provide you with good actionable advice while tickling your intellect.

1. Coming in at number one is the reaction video Jake and Kirk did of Peter Schiff and Joe Rogan on student loans. 
On this episode Jake and Kirk react to a Joe Rogan Experience podcast clip. In this one Peter Schiff and Joe discuss the causes of the outrageous student loan expenses. Jake and Kirk give their commentary, including some interesting disagreements of Maestro Schiff.

2. Next up is a great two part episode where Jake and Kirk discuss financial truths no matter who won the election. This was before all the controversy. However, if you missed the episode, the financial truths are just as true today now that we know who won the election as they were pre-election.

Many of us believe this presidential election may be the world’s last. Doom and gloom are everywhere on our feeds these days. One of the dangers of acting out of emotion is making financial mistakes that can harm us long into the future. On this episode, Jake and Kirk go through a presentation of 10 truths, (with graphs) to prove that things won’t be so bad no matter who wins the 2020 election.

​3. It seems people were very interested in learning about Multi-Level-Marketing companies, ponzi schemes and pyramid schemes. 

After High School Kirk worked for an MLM (Multi-level-marketing) company called “Vector Marketing.” Often, legitimate MLMs like Vector (they sold Cutco Knives) and Mary Kay are presumed to be pyramid schemes. In this episode Jake and Kirk discuss how to tell these different “money making” methods, and how to know if someone is asking you to do something wrong. Many of us are looking for ways to make extra money from home, and these forms of money-making endeavors can be good ways to do that, but you have to know what you are looking for.

4. One of the important political issues of 2021 will be student loans. What will happen next? In this episode Jake and Kirk discuss the entire system of government student loans and whether they think it should be abolished or reformed.

On this episode Jake and Kirk discuss a Wall Street Journal opinion piece that pits two different opinions on this issue. One side claims that the whole system of student loans is broken and thus should be forgiven, the other says that the system is not perfect, but it works and loans should not be forgiven. You won’t be disappointed by the interesting discussion between the two hosts! 

https://www.wsj.com/articles/should-we-forgive-all-federal-student-loan-debt-11590525387

5.  Last but not least, it would seem, based on stats, that many Americans are moving. Though it is popular to talk about the California exodus, in reality, people are moving from many parts of America.

Kirk is moving (Again!) and it turns out so is a large portion of America. On this episode Jake and Kirk discuss pew research showing that 22% of adults have moved due to covid19. There is a time-honored tradition of “Go-West Young Man” to find the opportunity elsewhere. That is America on the Move.

On this episode Jake and Kirk react to a video of Dave Ramsey explaining his secrets of the rich. While there are some aspects in which Jake agrees with Dave, there are many areas of disagreements. Most notably, the ways in which Dave Ramsey obscures the truth. Tune in for a fun reaction video!

On this episode Jake and Kirk react to a Joe Rogan Experience podcast clip. In this one Peter Schiff and Joe discuss the causes of the outrageous student loan expenses. Jake and Kirk give their commentary, including some interesting disagreements of Maestro Schiff.

In this two part episode Jake and Kirk go through a recent Wall Street Journal article that presents 30 pieces of advice given by financial experts from various professions, each explaining a unique mistake people make during a recession. The article has CEOs, CFOs, financial analysts, CFPs and everything in between. Jake and Kirk read each piece of advice and give you their take on each one.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-biggest-money-mistakes-people-make-in-a-recession-11600009201
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In this two part episode Jake and Kirk go through a recent Wall Street Journal article that presents 30 pieces of advice given by financial experts from various professions, each explaining a unique mistake people make during a recession. The article has CEOs, CFOs, financial analysts, CFPs and everything in between. Jake and Kirk read each piece of advice and give you their take on each one.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-biggest-money-mistakes-people-make-in-a-recession-11600009201

In this episode Jake and Kirk discuss an article in The Economist about the art and science of bubbles. Today, with the advent of day-trading apps like Robinhood, bubbles have become more prevalent and harder to identify. In this show we discuss what a bubble is and is not and why they are important to understand for our financial future. Here is the article:
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https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2020/08/19/bubble-hunting-has-become-more-art-than-science

In this episode Jake and Kirk investigate (or try to wrap their heads around) the executive order to defer payroll taxes. Defer till when you say? Well you’ll have to listen to the show! (ok we don’t know either). What is this order supposed to accomplish? What is it really all about? What’s President Trump’s agenda? Check out this episode to find out our thoughts on this order. And visit us on Facebook @jakestwocents to tell us your thoughts on this political move.

In this episode Jake and Kirk discuss the Robinhood app, a new global phenomenon where millions of people can trade in individual stocks with just a few dollars. Jake discusses how to think about using this app in your financial portfolio, and whether or not it is healthy to use it as an important investment tool.
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