Episode summary
Two Cents of 4/11 - Oil Prices & CPI; Unemployment Rate; Do You Hate Paying Taxes?
The Dentist Money Show
· · 40 min · Hosts: Jake, Rabih Powell
Summary
Oil prices and the latest CPI print were the main inflation story: headline CPI moved up from 2.4% to 3.3%, but the spike was driven mostly by energy, not a broad-based acceleration. Food inflation stayed roughly steady and core inflation excluding food and energy remained near 2.6%, suggesting the larger economy is still contained even as gasoline and oil weigh on consumers’ mood.
The unemployment picture looked strong on the surface at 4.3%, but the host argued that stability is being helped by a falling labor force participation rate, which recently slipped to 61.9%. The guest said that means fewer people are actively seeking work, while firms are not adding many jobs either. They also tied the upbeat labor market to the long run of unemployment below 5% since 2015, aside from the pandemic blip.
The episode closed with a tax lesson: higher tax brackets do not mean all income is taxed at that rate, and making decisions purely to avoid taxes can backfire. The host argued that earning more is still better even if it pushes income into a higher bracket, while deductions and charitable giving should be treated as trade-offs, not free money. They highlighted 401(k)s as one of the few places where you can get a deduction while keeping the asset.
Key takeaways
- Headline CPI rose to 3.3%, but the guest said the move was mostly an oil-and-gas story rather than broad inflation.
- The guest said unemployment at 4.3% is being held down partly by a labor force participation rate that fell to 61.9%.
- The host argued that higher tax brackets do not punish all income at the top rate, so earning more is still beneficial.
- The host said tax-driven purchases like trucks or donations usually reduce taxes but leave you with less cash overall.
- The guest called 401(k)s one of the rare tax wins because they can deliver both a deduction and retained ownership of the money.
Notable quotes
“the broad CPI, that number that you see on the news, that same number that a couple of years ago reached 9.1, right”
“there has been from this March to the previous March a 12.5% increase in the price of oil”
“we are now sitting if we exclude CO okay and I know that's some people may say that's a big caveat”
“There is never a point in our whole tax system where making an extra dollar is not worth it”
How the episode opens
On today's show, three questions. Number one, what did the CPI show? Number two, what is the unemployment rate?
And number three, do you hate paying taxes? Consult an adviser or conduct your own due diligence when making financial decisions. General principles discussed during this program do not constitute personal advice.
This program is furnished by Dennis Advisors, a registered investment adviser. Welcome to Dentist Money's Two Cents, where we help dentists navigate all the noise. My name is Jake and I'm Robbie.
There we go, Robbie. What is up, everybody? Stoked to be here with you today.
All of the Matt is out on spring break today. Same with all the other adviserss. So, it's just me and you.
We're the only ones working keeping the company afloat.
So much power right now. We can choose not to work and tumble this whole organization down. It is great. We're happy people are enjoying their vacation. How about you, Robbie? How you feeling? How's your spring going? — It's It's good. Spring is good. Uh I am enjoying that the weather got warmer, but I also have seasonal allergies. So, it's it's a trade-off like everything else in life. Yeah,
I've never had to deal with allergies, luckily enough. It's been So, spring is nothing but good stuff for me. For those who listen or may know me, I'm a big golfer. And as we're recording this, and this will come out too during Mast's week, Mast's weekend. True.
Um, which is a big deal. Always like we had, again, I'm a sport guy. We had March Madness a couple of weekends ago, but the Masters really is one of my favorite things there. I hope for people watching this, I hope that Jordan Spe or not watching or listening.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- oil prices
- cpi
- unemployment
- consumer pessimism
- tax myths
Watch the episode
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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The Dentist Money Show, this episode and its artwork belong to Dentist Advisors - Financial Planning and Investment Management. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
