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Category: General

Observations of a New Costco Member

I love Costco.

That’s it. Enjoy the first post. šŸ˜‚

Observations of a New Costco Member [Rational Walk] – “Costcoā€™s recent gross margin was 10.5%. The comparable gross margin figure for Wal-Mart is 24.4%. Target operates at an even higher gross margin of 28.3%. To take a conservative viewpoint, if Costcoā€™s products have an average price advantage of 15% over Target and Wal-Mart, a customer only has to spend an average of $400 before recouping the $60 annual membership fee. As we can see from my example, it is often possible to recoup the membership fee with an even lower volume of spending.”

Slowing Down: How to Live More Deliberately in a Fast-Paced World [Coach Carson] – “Have you noticed that modern life is a drummer playing at breakneck speed? From work to meals, to exercise, to conversations, our pace is fast and furious. But even at the beginning of the industrial revolution in the early 1800s, nonconformists like Henry David Thoreau were already encouraging us to move at a slower, more deliberate pace in life.”

Charles Shultz Philosophy [5AM Joel] – “…the people that make a difference in your life arenā€™t world class achievers that are the best in their field. Itā€™s the regular people that spend time with you and care about you. Itā€™s the ones that make you feel loved and boost your self worth.”

House Hacking: Why It Should Be Your Next Investment Strategy

Happy Hump Day Plutus Family! Please join us in downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday, November 16 for our Content Creator Happy Hour PLUS!

As always, tickets are free, but extremely limited.Ā All attendees will be entered in a drawing for a $100 gift card!Ā That’s a new twist. RSVP in advance to qualify.

Register for Plutus Voices Los Angeles here.

Here’s what we wanted to share with you this week.

House Hacking: Why It Should Be Your Next Investment Strategy. [It’s My Money Journal] –“Despite the need for accommodation and housing rising on a daily, millions of Americans struggle to own a property or even afford suitable housing. This is due to the sky rocketing prices in real estate. How does an individual who feels like buying a house is out of reach in an expensive market work towards purchasing a property?ā€ (Submitted by Tarsha.)

The Fingerprints of History. [The Irrelevant Investor] — “At the time, Scott was running an asset management company, but the thing that hit me had nothing to do with his day job. He told Josh and I that he was in the process of reading every issue that Time Magazine had ever published, starting in 1923. I couldnā€™t believe itā€¦ Not only did Scott take years of his life to go through all of this, but he documented it for us to enjoy.ā€ (Submitted by J. Money.)

The 4% Rule for Retirement Could Fail for the Frist Time. [Money-Side-Up] — “High inflation could spell the end of the ā€œ4% ruleā€ for retirees. The 4% rule for retirement has supported early retirees for the best part of a decade, that was during one of the longest bull market runs in history. The question is, can it survive this bear market, one characterised by stagflation. The 4% rule has been the rule of thumb for retirees far and wide. This includes those in the F.I.R.E community such as Kristy Shen (Canadaā€™s youngest ever retiree) to traditional retirees.”(Submitted by Tarsha.)

The Amazing Race

Today’s post has a theme! It’s about the transition from work to FIRE (financial independence retire early) and some of the posts have inspired the others, which is always the fun thing about blogging.

Bloggers read each other’s blogs and sometimes you get a spring of ideas that combine together to form a geyser.

Today is one of those geysers – please enjoy!

The genesis post was one we shared a short time ago – My First 6 Months of Early Retirement Sucked Shit: What They Donā€™t Tell You about FIRE by Bitches Get Riches.

That inspired our first post of the day – The Amazing Race [FI for the People] – “Having experienced burnout about 25 years ago, I had the benefit of knowing what it felt like. Spoiler alert: itā€™s not fun. In the last few years before I FIREd, those old feelings crept back. And grew. Even though my life outside work was great and my clients were satisfied with my work product, I could tell that my working life and work satisfaction level were headed in the wrong direction.”

Which in turn led to this post by Mr. 1500 Days – Live Boldly [1500 Days to Freedom] – “I worked really hard to get to FI and even when I met my goal, I worked for another year. The reason can be summed up in one word. Itā€™s 4 letters long and starts with an F. Not that F-word; get your mind out of the gutter people. The word Iā€™m thinking of is: Fear.

As more FIRE bloggers share their thoughts about the transition into retirement, whether it’s making the leap itself or adjusting to life after the leap, the more people will respect that the transition is as difficult as the accumulation of assets.

For A Dollar and A Dream

You may have heard that the Powerball is up to an estimated 1.9 billion dollars – that’s a lot of dollars!

I have to admit that I (Jim) chipped in a few bucks with some friends last Saturday just for the fun of it. Didn’t win. šŸ™‚

For A Dollar and A Dream: State Lotteries in Modern America [Next Big Idea Club] – “Lotteries are popular in large part because the traditional economy does not provide enough opportunity to get ahead. In the late twentieth century, as lotteries spread across the country and became a weekly purchase for millions of households, rates of upward mobility stagnated. High-paying manufacturing jobs disappeared and high-growth industries became increasingly concentrated in certain parts of the country. Many Americans found themselves shut out of the American Dream and the opportunity for financial stability.”

Go to the Local Farmers Market on Vacation [Eater] – “Because my favorite type of vacation is a lengthy road trip through the mountains, I tend to eat a lot of terrible gas station food when I travel. Sometimes I plan a trip to a grocery store beforehand, stocking up on trail mix and sandwich supplies to eat while traipsing through a national park, but more often than not, Iā€™m living on beef jerky and chips. That was, of course, until I made it a priority to hit the farmers market in every city that I visit.”

The Opposite of Schadenfreude [Prime Cuts Newsletter] – “Savor the joy of others. It is abundant and free and it will lift your spirits and boost your wellbeing even as you add positive energy to the world.” Mudita. I love it.

The secrets of stealth wealth.

Hey hey, money nerds. As promised, I’m back with a bonus Saturday installment this week because I forgot to publish links on Thursday. I can’t deprive you of your weekly quota! Here’s what I have for you today.

The secrets of stealth wealth. [Financial Imagineer] ā€” “Stealth wealth is the opposite of conspicuous consumption, itā€™s about finding true wealth and quality of life which financial freedom helps to unlock. Itā€™s all about having the ability to do what you want, when and where you want with whomever you like to. Itā€™s all about having to focus less on money and having more time, freedom, and peace. Once you understand this, your world will change for the better.”

Secrets of a professional negotiator. [The Retirement Manifesto] ā€” “For the final nine years of my career, I was paid to negotiate. It feels strange saying this, but the fact is that I was a professional negotiator. I negotiated for a living. Itā€™s time to share my secrets: The secrets of a professional negotiator.”

How to detach yourself from your financial wins and losses. [The Root of All] ā€” “The way to train yourself to detach from the emotional pull of wins and losses is to put all your energy into your response. While we canā€™t know whether an event is good or bad, we do know the quality of our response. It is always possible to respond virtuously in any situation. Itā€™s always possible to do good.”

And that’s all I have for you this week. Jim will return on Monday to share more personal-finance goodness with you. See you then!

The best idea humans ever had.

Heigh-ho, everybody. J.D. here with another day of Apex Money. I didn’t get yesterday’s edition out ā€” sorry about that ā€” so I’ll have a bonus Saturday installment for you tomorrow. But today? Well, I like the batch of articles I’ve collected for today. They’re all centered around a theme: happiness.

The fallacy of ‘preparing for life’.” [Accidental Fire] ā€” “Every year is still 365 days, but damn if they donā€™t seem to be getting shorter and shorter. Nobody seems to be able to find the time for anything, their dreams, their passions, or their kids soccer game…Donā€™t suffer in a job you hate just to financially prepare for a future thing called retirement. Life is now. There is no preparing for life, thereā€™s only life.Preach!

The eight splendid truths of happiness. [Gretchen Rubin] ā€” “In my study of happiness, Iā€™ve labored to identify its fundamental principles. Because I get a tremendous kick out of the numbered lists that pop up throughout Buddhism (the Triple Refuge, the Noble Eightfold Path, the Four Noble Truths, the eight auspicious symbols), I decided to dub these fundamental principles as my Eight Splendid Truths.”

Will more money make you happier? Probably not. [Becoming Minimalist] ā€” “Regardless of how much money contributes to happiness (and the jury is apparently still out on that), the one thing we do know is this: Prioritizing the pursuit of money NEVER contributes to overall happiness and life satisfaction. In fact, those who prioritize money over the pursuit of more value-based goals end life with less satisfaction and fulfillment.”

The best idea humans ever had. [Raptitude] ā€” “If you look at what ancient humans say about how to live, itā€™s always some version of this full-time devotion to good…They donā€™t say, ‘Have a good time, but do enough difficult stuff to be able to consider yourself a good person,’ as modernity seems to prescribe, but rather, ‘Train yourself in each moment to always do the morally best thing, with love and without hesitation. Make this your purpose in life and sacrifice everything else for it.'”

What does success look like? (And how does it feel?) [One Frugal Girl] ā€” “What if success focused on our emotional well-being, social connections, and job-related enjoyment? What if we weighed time, money, relationships, and health? Do you have time freedom? Do you have the flexibility to focus on your passions or share your time with people you love? Do you have time for the people and things that matter most to you?”

Good stuff, right? Well, I’ll be back tomorrow with more good stuff. See you then.

My First 6 Months of Early Retirement Sucked Shit: What They Donā€™t Tell You about FIRE.

Good Morning Plutus family! Before you dive into these great articles, we want to invite all content creators, and your friends to join us for our Content Creator Happy Hour in Los Angeles on Wednesday, November 16th at 7pm.

As always, tickets are free, but extremely limited.Ā All attendees will be entered in a drawing for a $100 gift card! That’s a new twist. RSVP in advance to qualify. Register for Plutus Voices Los Angeles here.

Here’s what we wanted to share with you this week.

Ultimate Detailed Price Battle!!! Is Shopping at A Warehouse Club Really Saving Anything? [Chief Mom Officer] — ” When I remove all the items I couldnā€™t buy at Aldiā€™s because they didnā€™t have an equivalent or where I wouldnā€™t want the alternative option for my family, itā€™s clear that shopping at BJā€™s is the winner for us. Those items would cost $285 at BJā€™s compared with $333 at Aldiā€™s. The cost savings is over $100 when compared with Target, and almost $200 when compared with Price Chopper!ā€ (Submitted by J. Money.)

11 Ways to Teach Kids About Money This Winter. [Debt Free Guys] — “Nowā€™s a great time to teach kids about money ā€“ when theyā€™re kids. With school back in session and months of snowstorms and indoor activities, hereā€™s a list of fun activities that will subtly teach kids about money, finance and even the basics of running a small business.ā€ (Submitted by Tarsha.)

My First 6 Months of Early Retirement Sucked Shit: What They Donā€™t Tell You about FIRE. [Bitches Get Riches] — “My body and my subconsciousness understood exactly what was happening to me. ā€œYou are very, very depressed,ā€ they told me with crystal clear enunciation. ā€œSleep ten hours a day, invest 200 hours into a video game you donā€™t particularly like, and put cheese on EVERYTHING until these passes.”(Submitted by J. Money.)

The best stuff won’t make you happier.

Today is Tuesday, money nerds. I’m J.D. Roth and this is Apex Money.

Generally speaking, Jim and I don’t like to promote our own stuff here at Apex. This is a place to promote the work of other people. Today, I’m going to link to two pieces in which I play a big role. They’re not from any of my sites, but they both feature interviews with me. But I think they both contain good info, so I’m going to do it.

First up is an interview I did with Jess from The Fioneers:

Money doesn’t magically fix our problems. [The Fioneers] ā€” “Today, thatā€™s exactly how I see money: a tool. No, thatā€™s not quite right. I see money as fuel. Thatā€™s a better analogy. A tool is durable and reusable. Money is not. Money is consumable. Itā€™s a fuel source to help you fund the life you want. If you burn this fuel making detours to stops that donā€™t matter (buying things you donā€™t want or need, for instance), then youā€™re compromising your ability to reach the destination you have in mind.”

Second is an interview about writing that I did with Jacob from The Root of All. It’s at the end of his longer piece about spending in the time of COVID.

Spending in the time of COVID. [The Root of All] ā€” “The most important to become a good writer is simple: Write. Write all of the fucking time. I talk to a lot of people who say they want to become writers, but they don’t ever write. They just talk about it. If you want to be a writer, you have to write. More than that, you have to share your writing with other people, and you can’t be precious about it.”

Okay, enough about me. Let’s close things out today with a couple of other interesting money articles from other sources:

How our perceptions of time and money change as we age. [Retire Before Dad] ā€” “Our perceptions of the value of time and money shift as we age. In early adulthood, time is abundant, while money is scarcer. We want more money and are willing to sacrifice our time to get it. By middle age, a thriving career helps us earn more, but job and family obligations consume our time. Life is expensive, and working middle-aged people never seem to have enough time or money. Approaching retirement, weā€™re more willing to spend money to save time.”

“The best stuff won’t make you happier. I know because I tried it.” [Vox] ā€” “It isnā€™t just a display of wealth; itā€™s your morality: that you are indeed the Informed Consumer, able to not only afford the best but to know what ‘the best’ even is. Itā€™s a marketing strategy that is not new, of course, but that seems to work particularly well at the present moment.”

That’s it for today! Tomorrow, the folks from the Plutus Foundation will drop by with their weekly round-up. I’ll be back on Thursday with more great stuff. See you then.

Boo!

Hey, everyone. It’s J.D. again. Thanks to Jim for carrying all of the Apex Money duties during the past month while I was preoccupied.

You see, my mother died on October 3. This wasn’t unexpected ā€” her health had been declining for a long, long time ā€”Ā but October has been difficult nevertheless.

I spent all of last week doing nothing: walking the dog, staring into space, browsing Reddit for hours at a time. I feel listless and apathetic. I have so much to do but no will to do it. The best way to get back in the swing of things, though, is simply to take action. So that’s what I’m doing. Let’s see what sorts of goodies I’ve found for you today…

The people making millions off Listerine royalties [The Hustle] ā€” “Most types of intellectual protections (trademarks, copyrights, patents) have a built-in expiration date: Patents automatically expire after 20 years, at which point a company can no longer charge a royalty. Listerineā€™s formula, however, was a trade secret ā€” and a trade secret, the court ruled, can have a perpetual royalty contract.” This is a fascinating story, and one of my favorite pieces of the year.

Does shopping at a warehouse club really save anything? [Chief Mom Officer] ā€” “This week Iā€™m going to do a bit of an old school series on warehouse clubs. Today Iā€™m going to share with you the research I did to look critically and closely at a typical BJā€™s shopping trip and see what, if anything, we saved over other options in town. On Wednesday Iā€™ll go through a bunch of warehouse club shopping tips. And on Friday Iā€™ll talk about how to figure out what kind of shopping options work best for your family.”

The power of a “what if we didn’t own this?” bag. [Rich in What Matters] ā€” “Many things enter our home that donā€™t actually serve a purpose in our lives. We donā€™t use them, love them, or need them. The purpose of material possessions is to be used for some good. If weā€™re holding onto things that have no value, we are keeping them from fulfilling their true purpose in someone elseā€™s life.”

Lastly, here’s a YouTube rant from the GiantGrantGames channel that I really, really liked: “YouTube ads are getting insane, and I hate it.” This video explores the growing problem with YouTube ads and suggests some solutions.

As somebody who’s prepping to dive (back) into video, I found this fascinating. I was a Google early adopter. I told everyone I could about how awesome the company was. No more. Google long ago discarded their “don’t be evil” motto and embraced the Dark Side. I hate it.

I’ve slowly been shedding everything Google from my life…even gmail! Doing so is difficult, though, and makes it tougher for content creators to earn a living. My aim is to have zero percent of Get Rich Slowly’s content on Google platforms, but I still need to puzzle out how to make this happen. Will people really go to Vimeo to watch videos instead of using YouTube? I don’t know.

Eating the Seed Corn

It’s not every day we share a post from a big bank but this one is useful in that it helps me understand why we it seems Americans are able to continue to spend despite higher prices. Despite all the talk of recession and a slowdown (and the Fed doing its best to urge it along), people seem fine.

But that’s because we are spending down more of our savings… which can spell more acute pain later. šŸ™

Eating the Seed Corn: How Long Can Consumers Rely on Savings? [Wells Fargo] – “Consumers have yet to lose their staying power, and our analysis of household finances suggests consumers still have the ability to rely on their balance sheets for some time yet. The catch: The more consumers rely on their balance sheets to spend today, the larger deterioration we’ll see in overall household finances and the worse the eventual economic downturn may be.”

We love our gas stove and so I was saddened to read about all the studies on gas stoves and indoor air quality. The prognosis isn’t great, considering you are burning stuff, but the solution isn’t bad. Fortunately, we use our range hood all the time (we went from probably 75% of the time to now 100%). Just a heads up if you didn’t know.

Your Brain on Gas Stoves [Slate] – “They release a slew of pollutants that arenā€™t great for kidsā€”but thereā€™s a simple way to improve the situation.”

In a shock to no one, stressful jobs increase depression risk. šŸ™

In stressful jobs, depression risk rises with hours worked, study in new doctors finds [Sciency Daily] – “The more hours someone works each week in a stressful job, the more their risk of depression rises, a study in new doctors finds. Working 90 or more hours a week was associated with changes in depression symptom scores three times larger than the change in depression symptoms among those working 40 to 45 hours a week. A higher percentage of those who worked a large number of hours had scores high enough to qualify for a diagnosis of moderate to severe depression.”

OK, I can’t leave you all doomy and gloomy… ever curious about The Economics of Pumpkin Patches?