Happy Saturday Besties,

Tried to be a hero and fry your turkey? Call 1-800-BUTTERBALL — Butterball’s Turkey Hotline. Butterball is the largest turkey brand in America (1 outta 5 birds is a Butterball). And for 42 yrs, these poultry pros have hosted a turkey cooking hotline, a 911 for white meat.

Last Turkey Day, 200K people called (that’s 50% of what 911 gets) — It was the 2nd most called number in country. They’re still talking about the guy who thawed a turkey in a warm bath with his kids… call social services.

Scroll to the bottom for our Black Friday trickshots.

Money Talk on Turkey Day?

Forget Emily Post's old advice about avoiding money talk at dinner… We think Thanksgiving weekend is the perfect time to discuss money with family…

According to Merrill Lynch, this weekend is when America’s 1% discuss family finances. Bill Gates, Logan Roy, and Nicole Kidman are teaching their kids about money and making it not awkward.

They're not just passing the turkey—they're passing down generational wealth strategies… but the tips and the Takeaway is applicable to families of every tax bracket.

Get-Outta-Tax-Free Cards

💰 The $18,000 Tax-free Gift: Many families don't know, but you can gift up to $18,000 annually to a family member completely tax-free. Any gift you receive above that gets taxed.

• How to make it count: If ya need help with a $30,000 down payment on your house (and are in the super fortunate position where family can help), they should make 2 separate gifts of $15,000 over 2 years… avoiding that gift tax.

💰 529 Education Plans: The government wants to help you save for education. So any parents, friends, or family can setup a 529 account so that savings for college can grow in the stock market tax-free. Got little Nancy Nvidia shares 10 years ago in her 529? Sell today without paying a capital gains tax, as long as you spend it on education.

• Make $1k turn into $52k: Invest $1,000 per year until they’re 18. With historical 10%/year gains in the stock market, by the time she’s off to college, that 529’s value is $52,000. The Key: All those gains are completely tax-free.

The Takeaway: The greatest gift you can give your family isn't money. It's the open conversation about money. 🗣️ The real hot gift this season…. is Financial Transparency.

• This is Nick, and last year I chatted with my parents about a 529 plan for our newborn - that led to an incredible and positive convo about wills and the legacy my parents want to leave. It wasn’t somber, it was special. Plus, they told me where they stash their passwords — an important thing for a loving child to know.

👀 Btw, this Quartz article has other big $$ convos.

Thanksgiving Trickshots 🦃 

Food-Related trickshot? Name cards. Make ‘em… make ‘em fun. No one likes the awkward “who’s-sitting-where” pre-dinner dance. There’s a strategy to who to pair up (and whom not to pair) and it can make-or-break a dinner. Take 10 minutes to prep the names on a card, write a trivia Q underneath, and you’ll get dinner convo ROI.

Gratitude-Related trickshot? There’s probably something about this weekend you think you have to do. Someday, we bet you’ll actually want to do that thing. But gratitude nirvana is when you realize you get to do it.  

Game related trickshot? Jack here: My go-to dinner table game is what I call “the 50 states of movies”. Go around the table naming movies that take place in a certain state. First person says “The Departed” — Now Massachusetts is now off the board. Go around until no states remain. If you can’t think of one, you’re out. One other person must be able to verify your movie/state or else you’re out. Good luck with Idaho.

Leftovers related trickshot? Desserts last longer in the fridge than turkey.

Solo Thanksgiving? Turkey Trot > Wicked > Thai food.

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, gifting trickshot? Wrap it with newspaper - Looks cooler, costs less, reuses the Times.

Bonus Trickshot: Full Disclosure: We have not found a perfect one yet… but AI chatbots to help you find deals? They’re here.

Tell a Bestie

And you can sandwich the money talk with some of these…

• 🐔 KFC & Build-A-Bear is the wildest new collab of 2024

• 🥩 NYC’s Meatpacking District is losing its last meatpacker

• 🍝 Chemists made the world’s thinnest spaghetti… for medical treatments.

• 🎈 Macy’s discovered 1 employee intentionally hid $154M of costs.

• 🤤 Rachel Bilsson flies Delta for the food… it’s the Cup Holder effect.

• 📸 NatGeo picked its 2024 Photos of the Year.

The Best Idea Yet 🛀 

Did ya know the Jacuzzi was invented by 7 Italian immigrant brothers who actually built an airplane before pivoting to the hot tub? And they made that pivot in order to save their 2-year old kid’s life?

• It’s all in the new episode of “The Best Idea Yet”: The Untold Story of Jacuzzi.

45-minute episodes drop every Tuesday: The untold origin stories of the products you’re obsessed. Listen to The Best Idea Yet this weekend.

Hint for next episode: The founder of this company was the role model for Steve Jobs.

And one more thing. For the holiday, Nick just had a wild pre-Thanksgiving dinner out at Bad Roman in NYC w/ his high school teacher (get the fried salami), before flying to Nantucket. It’s 6am and Jack’s already built a fire at his ski Chalet in Vermont, where he’s strategizing which maple tree to tap 1st (life philosophy: It’s always S’mores season. No one turns down a melted marshmallow).

We get to do the best jobs in the world — talk about news, business, and culture with our best friend on the mic. And we couldn’t have any of it without you, our listeners/readers. Happy Thanksgiving. We’ll talk to you Monday.

— Nick & Jack