Welcome to Friday, folks. Time for our last edition of Apex Money for the week.
What to do in retirement. [Retirement Researcher] — “Think back to the other big milestones in your life – graduating college, or getting married, or getting that big promotion. None of those were the end. They were certainly the end of one phase of your life, but they were really a transition into the next stage of life. And that’s exactly what retirement is.”
“Am I as rich as I think?” [Can I Retire Yet?] — “If you haven’t felt the pain of inflation the last three years, congratulations. Either you have money to burn or, as a cave dweller, your cost of living isn’t measured in currency.” [Related: How does inflation impact retirement?]
What comes after money? [Physician on Fire] — “What is the trifecta of wealth? It’s the three main forms of capital we depend upon for a life well lived. Financial assets, time to achieve our goals and a body that holds up while we put in the hard work. It’s as simple as that. But how important are they when compared to each other?”
That’s all I have for you this week. Jim will be back on Monday with more great stuff. I’ll see you later this month. Take care, everyone!
Hey hey, friends. Welcome back to Apex Money and another batch of interesting stories about personal finance. Here’s what I have for you today.
I particularly like our first article today. Although the author never uses the term “social capital”, the piece is all about social capital — one of my favorite subjects.
We live in a society. [Money with Katie] — “The financialization of our every move strips us of our humanity and weakens our ties, while Little Favors create trust and common ground. The beauty in asking for what you need is not just in the straightforward receiving of it, but in allowing other people to give it to you. We glorify individual ability and self-sufficiency, which are great—but to be human is to need. So, too, is to give.”
Cal Newport, the man who never procrastinates. [El País] — “My job isn’t to convince people of something that they don’t think is true or have never heard of…I’m just helping people better understand what they already believe. Being able to put a name to something changes the way you categorize and understand it.”
how to fight shrinkflation at the grocery store. [NPR] — “With all these package sizes — and changes to package sizes — it might seem like we’re destined to be on the losing end of intricate packaging strategies that enable companies to extract more money from us. But, luckily, there’s a relatively simple way to see through the fog of packaging gimmicks and spot the best deal: pay attention to unit prices!”
That’s it. Short and sweet! I’m on the Oregon Coast taking yet another art class, so don’t have much time to look at videos and/or provide fun life updates. See you all tomorrow!
Well, it’s Wednesday, money nerds. You know what that means: More stories about money!
Our first story today is from one of my favorite sites (Bitches Get Riches) and was inspired by a YouTube personality I only recently discovered (Jenny Nicholson). I may have only recently discovered Jenny, but I’ve already devoured most of her backlog. She’s hilarious. And insightful.
Anyhow…
The classist myth of unskilled labor. [Bitches Get Riches] — “The Star Wars hotel failed because it was a creative idea built upon a business framework. The experience’s core goal was to make money by drawing a new demographic (people who love Star Wars) to Disney’s parks. They wanted to capture these people, and siphon the greatest possible percentage of their total vacation budget into the Disney machine…By contrast, Disney’s most successful ideas are business ideas built upon creative frameworks.”
How does high inflation impact retirement spending? [Of Dollars and Data] — “While we can’t control how much things will cost in the future, if you find yourself battling against inflation, there is one tool always at your disposal—how much money you spend. Unlike the retirement scenarios above, you can adjust your spending over time.”
How to take the high road. [Psyche] — “Substituting kind curiosity for the threat-driven urges to judge and react can set you up to understand the people in your life more compassionately. This can help you respond to challenging interactions in ways that fit with the person you aspire to be.”
Greetings, friends! It’s J.D. here with another week of Apex Money. Today’s first story doesn’t really have anything to do with money, but it’s damn interesting. It’s long, but I read the whole thing in one sitting and was never bored.
Fields of fortune: The crash of United Airlines flight 232. [Admiral Cloudberg] — “There are a handful of air disasters that have passed into the realm of legend due to the pilots’ extraordinary heroism in the face of impossible odds. United Airlines flight 232 is one of these. On a summer day high over Iowa, 296 lives hung in the balance as four pilots fought to control an uncontrollable airplane, forced to learn a whole new method of flying in a desperate attempt to survive…This is the story of their finest hour.”
The psychology of retirement income: From saving to spending. [Morningstar] — “Although most retirees’ stories aren’t as dramatic as Scrooge’s, it’s not uncommon for retirees to have more than enough to live comfortably for the rest of their lives but still think a vacation is out of the question. In fact, a number of retirees actually experience a sharp decrease in spending and increase in savings in retirement.”
Well, we’ve reached the end of the week. Time to make the most of early summer, folks! Before you go, though, here are a few things I’ve gathered to share with you all.
I’m going to start things off with an article that really hit home for me — probably one of my favorite articles of the past month or two (at one of my current favorite blogs).
Accumulation is living in the future. [Money with Katie] — “Accumulation is the magic of ‘one day’. Decumulation is the pressure of ‘right now’. To continue to accumulate is to reject the reality that the future you’ve saved for is already here. To contend with your lifelong approach to money is to contend with your own mortality.”
If you want to develop self-worth, do things that give you self-worth. [Becoming Minimalist] — “We fall into a trap when we think we need to feel good about ourselves before we can start doing something worthwhile. Because actually, the opposite is true. Action results in better thinking—not the other way around. You don’t have to wait until everything is perfect before taking a step in the direction of the change you want to see in your life. Take that step—and watch your circumstances change around you.”
The problem with a Forever Home mindset. [Retire Before Dad] — “I’ve watched neighbors and family members stay in what they thought would be their forever homes for too long. The longer that belief holds, the more difficult it is to rectify housing deficiencies when needed. Unfortunately, injury, disability, or other health issues can hasten the need to move. Homes can suddenly become unlivable, leading to accelerated timelines, rushed decisions, and limited housing choices…A better plan is to assume you’ll need to move and start planning as early as possible.”
I love everything about this video — especially the camera work. Glenn’s athleticism is exhilarating, just like Rodrigo’s song. Kind of makes me wish that we had the winter Olympics coming up, not the summer Olympics…
Okay, that’s all for this week. Jim will be back on Monday with more great stuff for you.
Good morning. Today is Thursday, and this is still Apex Money. Every weekday, Jim and I gather our favorite stories about money (and more). Here are some recent finds.
How useful is historical data in predicting future returns? [Retirement Researcher] — “If the world is significantly different from the world where we saw a lot of these historical returns, why look at them? To a certain extent, because that’s what we have. There’s really no other way to estimate what future returns will look like. Even the fancy models that they gush over on CNBC (and which are usually wrong) are, at root, based on historical data. But how we use the historical data is incredibly important.” This is one of the key concepts I try to get across when I write/teach about investing: Historical data is the best tool we have — but it’s not a great tool
The dos and don’ts of lending money. [NPR] — “The experts we spoke to agreed on this point: Don’t lend money to people. If you have the funds and want to help out, give it to them as a gift instead. That way, you don’t have to worry about the borrower paying you back or what to do if they don’t.”
Choosing an offline life. [Our Next Life] — “At least for now, I changed my relationship with the internet. I decided that the relationship I want in this season of life isn’t two-way. I’m not yearning for page views and likes and proof of engagement, as I often have in the past, rewards the internet sends my way because I’ve put enough of myself out there to earn those things. I want a relationship that’s only one-way. The internet gives me information when I want it, and I give nothing in return.”
I very much love that last piece, although I realize there aren’t a whole lot of takeaways for most people. You see, Tanja and I have been on sort of parallel paths in recent years. In fact, one of the highlights of each year is the hour or so that I get to chat with her at Fincon. We share thoughts on art and art supplies, talk about the classes we’re taking, and generally nerd out. I feel like we would have been good friends had we met in high school or college.
Anyhow, we’ve both been gradually disengaging from the internet, and it’s helped us rediscover ourselves and come more alive. That’s a good thing. (Also, you should check out Tanja’s art. She does good work!)
Over the past few weeks, I’ve discovered the world of stand-up comedy albums on Apple Music. And I’ve re-discovered how funny Bill Cosby was back in the day. Here, for instance, is Cosby’s ten-minute bit about cooking breakfast for his kids, which I still find hilarious.
When I was in high school, my friends and I — wholesome goody-goodies all — would sit around and listen to Bill Cosby records and laugh and laugh and laugh. Didn’t matter that we’d heard all of the sketches dozens of times before. In fact, knowing what was coming often just made it all funnier.
Welcome to Wednesday, Apexians. If all has gone according to plan, I’m on a plane to Wisconsin at this very moment. Kim and I are flying out to visit her best friend for a week. But have no fear! I gathered money stories in advance so that you’ll have good things to read for the rest of the week. Good things like these.
Are you lucky or good? [Can I Retire Yet?] — “It is worth considering whether we’ve made good decisions or whether we’ve just been lucky to have such positive outcomes. If you are assessing your own retirement readiness, it is worth considering how heavily to weigh the input of those who recently preceded you.”
Why success doesn’t lead to satisfaction. [Harvard Business Review] — “The insatiable goals to acquire more, succeed conspicuously, and be as attractive as possible lead us to objectify one another, and even ourselves. When people see themselves as little more than their attractive bodies, jobs, or bank accounts, it brings great suffering…You become a heartless taskmaster to yourself, seeing yourself as nothing more than Homo economicus. Love and fun are sacrificed for another day of work, in search of a positive internal answer to the question Am I successful yet? We become cardboard cutouts of real people.”
The life hedge. [We’re Gonna Get Those Bastards] — “I construct a portfolio in such a way that I might limp along or be flat during expansions, but explode higher during recessions. So when things are good, I’m making money at my job, but not really excited about my investments, but when things are bad, and I’m losing money in my business, it is more than offset by the gains in my portfolio. So instead of being either deliriously happy or despondent, I am pretty much Even Steven all the time. No stress. I call this ‘The Life Hedge’.”
This is fun for me because I’ve been an avid comics fan since I first learned of their existence back in, say, 1974. It’s soul-crushing to me when I hear how little certain comics sold for back then (then compare that with how much they sell for today). If only I could have bought a copy of Superman #1 when I was fifteen months old haha!
Hey hey, whaddya say? Today is Tuesday! I’ve gathered some great reading for you today. Take a look!
Wealth and money are two different things. [Darius Foroux] — “Material wealth, which is acquired with money, is not the most important thing. Genuine wealth means freedom. Think about those people who have a lot of money but they can’t do the things they truly want. I wouldn’t call them wealthy. They are rich and have lots of money. But they’re not free.”
Nobody knows what’s going on. [Raptitude] — “This scenario, in which there’s much more wrongness going around than rightness, is probably the norm. People make bad inferences like that all day long. These wrong ideas replicate themselves whenever the person tells someone else what they know, which the internet makes easier than ever. Consider the possibility that most of the information being passed around, on whatever topic, is bad information, even where there’s no intentional deception.”
Brief interlude: Cain’s article hits upon something I’ve been thinking about a lot recently. More and more, Reddit is being held up as some sort of paragon of reliable information (even by entities like Google). It’s just not the case. Reading the subreddits about which I have some knowlege, Reddit sometimes gets things right, but just as often it gets things wrong. Reddit isn’t a source of reliable information. It’s a popularity machine. The info that rises to the top (through upvotes) is the stuff that people want to be true, not the stuff that’s actually true. Sometimes there’s overlap. Often, there’s not.
And, in fact, this whole notion — the prevalence of false information on the interwebs — is a huge part of what led to me giving up on Get Rich Slowly. What’s the point? There’s so much bad money info out there (or pointless money info) that it felt like I was shouting into the void.
As I’ve come to believe that the internet does more harm than good in our society, its ability to amplify false information is one of the biggest problems. It used to be that there were active barriers to the spread of misinformation. It could spread, sure, but slowly. To truly have a voice, you had to pass through a gauntlet of knowledgable folks who controlled the means of mass communication. I realize that this created some system issues, but it also (largely) prevented problematic “info” from spreading like wildfire.
Anyhow, Cain’s article is a good exploration of this topic.
Semi-related:
Our mistaken ideas about what makes us happy. [Zen Habits] — “In the list above, of outward happiness activities, you might notice something — many of them are related to some inward experience. And that’s the most important thing — the real happiness comes from what’s happening inwardly.”
I love this. It’s one of my favorite videos I’ve found on YouTube. It manages to capture so many of the things that interest me right now: nostalgia, art, fashion, mid-century modern design, periodicals, pop culture, and more. I’ve watched it twice from start to finish, and I’ll probably watch it at least once more in the near future.
What’s more, I want to get a physical copy of this issue so that I can use some of the photos/illustrations as reference for drawing. So many cool things to draw!
(This video is but one of nearly 1500 similar magazine flip-throughs on the Casa Mia Vintage channel on YouTube.)
Good morning, my friends, and welcome to Monday. It’s J.D. here with another week of Apex Money goodness for you all. Here’s what I’ve gathered to kick things off.
How to be enough. [Vox] — “Where we falter is believing that more money, more things, better things, better selves will ultimately make us happy…In one sense, the quest for self-optimization may be a means of asserting control over our lives when war, climate change, and political polarization wreak havoc around us, she says. All the wanting, though, leads to overconsumption, Dubey says.”
The man who couldn’t stop going to college. [The New York Times gift article] — “No one more fully embodies the nature of elite American higher education today, in all its contradictions, than a man who has spent so much time being molded by it, following its incentives and internalizing its values. But what are those values, exactly?” True story: When I was young, one of my ambitions was to spend my entire life as a college student.
Why haven’t home prices dropped? [Of Dollars and Data] — “If you want to know why home prices are unlikely to drop by a significant amount in the near future, this is your answer. Who wants to see half of their portfolio decline because someone built affordable housing nearby? No one. As a result, many homeowners end up fighting tooth and nail to prevent such future developments.” Meh. This is only one piece of the puzzle. According to my friends in real estate, another huge problem is institutional investors purchasing home inventory, driving up prices for actual prospective homeowners. I’m sure there are other causes too.
Today’s last feature has nothing (or little) to do with money. It’s a ten-minute film from 1976 (or 1982, the source is unclear) chronicling a day in the life of the Prudential building in Chicago. (Based on the clothing and the computers, I’d say this is 1982, not 1976.)
This video is a fascinating time capsule, for one, but it’s also relatively compelling for its intended purpose.
I’m writing this installment of Apex Money next to my poor, sad hound. Tally (our beagle mix) had some fatty lumps removed yesterday, and she’s on vet-ordered bed rest for the next two weeks. She hates it. She’s miserable. And as a result, I’m miserable too. I basically have to stick by her side to make sure she doesn’t do anything fun — like chase squirrels. Not sure how we’re going to police her for thirteen more days. Even one day of this is driving me nuts!
Okay, enough grousing. Let’s look at the stories I’ve collected for you today.
Expensive mistakes that beginner real-estate investors make. [Afford Anything] — “Imagine walking into a casino and putting $100,000 on red. That’s how some people view real estate investing – as pure luck…Successful real estate investing is about strategy, not gambling. By educating yourself and avoiding common pitfalls, you can weather almost any storm.”
Is maximizing credit-card rewards worth it? [Of Dollars and Data] — “Maximizing credit card rewards can be a worthwhile endeavor if you know what you are getting into. Unfortunately, if you do this wrong, you can end up hurting your credit score and going deep into debt. For this reason, I only recommend considering this strategy if you have meet the following criteria.”
Why are Americans spending so much? [Vox] — “The pandemic saw Americans’ average percentage of income saved increase to an all-time high of 32 percent in April 2020 after many households received stimulus checks. That has helped fuel spending, but unlike in other high-income countries where consumers have proved more thrifty, Americans are close to depleting those savings.”
Today, we’ll wrap up with a video that actually is about money for once. It’s an eight-minute Vox piece about inflation: Why can’t prices just stay the same?
Like most folks, I’m stunned by how high prices are nowadays. It’s crazy. Some folks argue that this is merely a result of supply and demand, but I have a different view. I think that COVID and its after effects (especially supply-chain issues) caused demand-based price increases, but once things eased (and supply/demand returned to normal) companies kept those price hikes instead of dropping them. I think this reality is reflected in the record profits that large corporations have been enjoying.
Anyhow, the high prices are frustrating. But I suspect they’re here to stay. I wish I were old enough to remember exactly what price increases were like during the inflationary period of the late 1970s, but I wasn’t even ten at the time. In my world, the only real effect was that comic book prices jumped from 25 cents to 50 cents in a short period of time.
Okay, that’s it for today. Have a great weekend, everyone!
