Why hello, money nerds! Welcome to another day of Apex Money.
As you read this, I in a recording studio for the very first time in my life. No, I’m not laying down music tracks — nobody wants that — but I’m recording my five-hour “intro to FIRE” course for Audible. Very excited to see this come to fruition.
While I’m hard at work, here are some great recent money stories I think you might enjoy.
“We’re doing well but my wife constantly feels like we’re headed toward financial ruin. Help!” [/r/relationshipadvice on Reddit] — “My wife and I have been running a successful online business from home for five years. We bring in over six figures, live far below our means, all of our money goes into savings and investments, no debt…I’m proud of how well we’ve managed money, but she has an insane amount of anxiety around it. She constantly feels like it’s all going to be taken away in the blink of an eye.”
Inside the weird, get-rich-quick world of dropshipping. [Wired UK] — “When an order is received, the dropshipper purchases the item through AliExpress, and has it shipped directly to the buyer, pocketing their mark-up minus marketing spend. At no point does a dropshipper hold stock: they are simply the middleman in a globalised supply chain.” This article is l-o-n-g but interesting.
Berkshire Hathaway 2019 Annual Report [Berkshire Hathaway PDF] — I don’t read any other annual reports, but I always look forward to the Berkshire Hathaway document every year. Warren Buffett always sprinkles little nuggets of wisdom among the financial details of the companies he owns. This year, Buffett’s topics include the importance of retained earnings and the future of his company (since he and his business partner are statistically approaching the ends of their lives). Interesting stuff. [Addendum: Jonathan at My Money Blog posted an overview of the 2020 Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting, which was held virtually this year (as all things are right now).]
To wrap things up today, here’s the Wall Street Journal video review for the new iPhone SE. Everyone loves Joanna Stern’s video reviews, and it’s easy to see why. She loves tech, but she doesn’t take it (or herself) too seriously. This is fun.
Okay, that’s a wrap. I’ll be back tomorrow morning with more great money stories. See you then.