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We just left the sixth season of the stress test personal finance podcast with a look at how young adults are being affected by recent developments in the housing market.
The Stress Test resonates with listeners – we recently reached number five on Apple’s list of the best business podcasts. But there is also sad news. Zahra Hozema, our Ace Chase producer, has taken on a new job as an associate producer for two National Observer podcasts, Hot Politics and Maxed Out.
For the past few seasons, Zahra has led our efforts to find the real people who share their stories on Stress Test. She’s the one who found Youssef, who in a Season Six episode of Dating in the Age of Inflation told us about a date who ordered four main courses. And that was their first meeting.
Zahra is 26, which means she is part of the stress test’s target audience of young people. To mark her departure, I asked her to send a Q&A email about what she’s learned about personal finance and stress testing. Here’s our exchange, including some comments about the idea of home ownership:
Q: What were the topics we covered in the stress test that resonated the most with you personally as a Gen Z?
A: You know that feeling when you learn a new word and it starts following you? Well, the stress test subjects worked similarly. In season 4, we started going into inflation. I had just moved out, so I tracked every grocery purchase and bubble tea splurge in an Excel budget sheet to make sure I had enough for rent at the end of each month. I still feel the theme resonates today as we continue to deal with it in Season 6 with the rising cost of rent, especially in big cities like Toronto.
Q: You’ve done a tremendous job finding real people to talk to about their financial challenges. How raw did some of the conversations get?
A: Personal finance is personal. It always amazes me how open and honest people are when they share details of their lives with journalists. Often within the first five minutes of a phone call, people felt comfortable telling us how much they earn, the amount of debt they have, or even the large sums of money they’ve lost to things like crypto scams. The two interviews that really stand out are Irina talking to me about being ashamed of money and Lamies talking about delaying having children as everything is getting more expensive. Irina described what it was like to deal with her husband’s financial abuse, which added to the money trauma she had already experienced growing up. Lamees was an amazing storyteller who gave me goosebumps when he talked about how much he wanted children. She said she feels she can’t have them now because she can’t give them the perfect life she wants for them.
Question: What do you and your friends talk about when you talk about money?
A: Right now, my friends are most concerned about their jobs—everything from asking for a raise to finding something better. With the holidays (which can get expensive) and the odd fog of recession on the horizon, they want to know they’ll be able to pay the bills.
Q: What was your favorite stress test interview?
A: Anyone who can make me laugh is a favorite in my book. The cost of the dating episode really stands out here. Youssef told us that one of his dates ordered FOUR main courses on their first date and my jaw dropped to the floor. Another interview for the same episode was with Paula, who I found on TikTok. She was talking about her date texting her a refund for Putin. I had to mute myself during the call because I couldn’t stop laughing. Everyone should listen to it.
Q: What are your personal financial goals for the next few years?
A: My partner and I want to take a year off and move to Chile. We rent and don’t have kids, so we can just pack up and go. Although we plan to work there on a local basis, it may take some time to find one. Our goal is to save about $70,000 by 2024. This will help support the lives of the families we support here, provide us with food and shelter for a few months in Chile, and give us a rental pillow when we return to Canada .
Q: Is home ownership on your radar?
A: Me, no. My partner, who I married during the stress test, yes. I’ve lived in a rental all my life. The feeling of owning a home makes my stomach churn. We’ve interviewed so many people on the stress test who have crazy mortgages or sudden repair costs or the headache of collecting a down payment – I just don’t want to put myself through that. On the other hand, my partner really believes in the Canadian dream of home ownership. He wants extra space to buy bulk paper towels and large jars of mayonnaise. He wants an investment he can call his own. We talk (mostly argue) about it all the time. Only time will tell who will move.
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Today’s financial instrument
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I recently spent a lot of time in an airport waiting for a delayed flight, but it was okay because I had a great book to read. Case Harbor by Colson Whitehead. About a teenager on vacation in Sag Harbor, New York, a community where black families gather to spend the summer. Captures teenage awkwardness with humor and grace.
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Mark Goodfield, from the Blunt Bean Counter blog. Clear, useful treatment of accounting issues of interest to everyone.
What I wrote about
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