Category: General

Welcome to the end of the week, money nerds. It’s been a challenging one for me in a way. Kim and I have been completing our move from Portland to Corvallis, which means my attention has been focused elsewhere. It’s been tough to make time to read about money — and then share what I’ve read with you!

But I’ve tried to make a bit of time every day to keep up on the financial news. This morning, for instance, I’m up early before we make one last U-Haul trip. I have a cat purring in my lap, coffee by my side, and ten or fifteen articles open in my browser. Here are a few of my faves. Today, they’re all about living more and doing less.

Hiding in the doing. [My Quiet FI] — “When I look back and see the path of my life stretched out like a trail of switchbacks zigzagging up the crooked crags of my existence, I can’t help but feel that a lot of my doing was a form of hiding. Hiding in always being busy. Avoiding the real questions in life by doing what was expected instead of what my soul whispered in the stretch of my toes and curl of my fingers. I just think people have it all wrong. So, so wrong.”

Play the hand you’re dealt to live the life you love. [Route to Retire] — “It drives me bananas to see folks stuck on the hamster wheel and miserable. Too many people aren’t happy with their lives or large parts of it and just go through the motions anyway because that’s all they know. You’re the only one who can make the changes to live the life you fantasize about.”

What would happen if we slowed down? [Cal Newport] — “If you worked deeply and regularly on a reasonable portfolio of initiatives that move the needle, and were sufficiently organized to keep administrative necessities from dropping through the cracks, your business probably wouldn’t implode, and your job roles would likely still be fulfilled. This shift from a state of slightly too much work to not quite enough, in other words, might be less consequential than we fear.”

And that’s it for this week. As soon as I press “publish”, I’m hopping in the U-Haul to head up for our final load of Stuff. Kim and I are eager to be done with this process, to finally be able to shift from moving to unpacking. (We’ve unpacked essentials but mostly we’re living out of boxes.) So close!

Today, money nerds, we’re going to lead off with a non-financial video.

You see, when I was boy during the 1970s, my parents were huge fans of the music group ABBA. We didn’t have TV and we didn’t have a lot of money, but my father managed to find the cash for a fancy stereo. On rainy nights, we’d all sit together in the living room of our trailer house and listen to his records: Neil Diamond, John Denver, Linda Ronstadt, and — especially — ABBA.

ABBA disbanded forty years ago. They haven’t recorded an album since 1981. Well now, for whatever reason, they’re back. And the first two songs are pure ABBA. They take me back to my youth. I love them. Maybe you will too?

Here’s “I Still Have Faith in You”.

And here’s “Don’t Shut Me Down”.

The full album (called Voyage) comes out on November 5th. I’m eager to hear it!

But you’re not here for aging disco rockers. You’re here for money stories, aren’t you? Let’s get to them.

Why restaurants have become more expensive. [Grub Street] — “In January of 2021, wholesale food prices began inching upward across the country, maintaining at least a one percent increase every month since then — a trend not seen since 1973 — according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In a study by the National Restaurant Association from June, two-thirds of restaurant operators said their total food costs were higher than they were before the pandemic.”

Are we in a melt-up? [Of Dollars and Data] — “Of all the things that you should do during a melt-up, the most important is to get invested. Do not sit in cash. Why? Because even if the market does eventually return to its prior levels, sitting in cash will destroy you psychologically.”

The best password managers (according to experts). [The Strategist] — “If you don’t want to bother with a dedicated app, three of our experts say the free password-management tools like Apple’s iCloud Keychain or the managers built into your browsers are all you need.”

How to make your marriage more financially equal. [New York Times, so possible paywall] — “There are plenty of reasons to equalize the financial decision-making in your marriage — and this goes for every couple, heterosexual or not. If you’re among the many getting married now as part of the great pandemic wedding boom, consider adding another promise: that yours will be a financially egalitarian marriage.”

That’s it for today. I’m off to listen to some old ABBA albums. Gonna be so much fun!

Hey hey, y’all. A bit of a gap here in our regularly-scheduled Apex article curation. Sorry about that. In return, however, I’ve gathered some longish and interesting things to share. Everything in today’s installment is meaty and worth your time.

Let’s dive in.

The everything bubble. [FTX Research] — “If global central banks and governments are going to continue to print money, investors are faced with [a predicament], where cash is literally burning a hole in their pockets, pushing them not just into risk assets, but further out the risk curve, exacerbating wealth inequality along the way, leading to even further risk taking.” While this piece could be better written, it’s still an interesting read.

The disastrous voyage of Satoshi, the world’s first cryptocurrency cruise ship. [The Guardian] — “Elwartowski thought he could convince the Panamanian authorities to let the ship anchor permanently in its waters and de-register as a ship, becoming a floating residence instead, so as to avoid some of the more exacting requirements of maritime law. But while Panama was happy to have the ship moored off its coast, it specified that the ship had to remain officially designated as a ship. Which led to another difficulty: the discharge of sewage.” This is a long but fascinating article about an impractical dream.

“How a $10,000 poker win changed how I think.” [BBC Future] — “What I’ve actually won is bigger than a heads-up match: a group of poker friends who have my back and a new way of thinking about my life. From now on, I’ll always remember the lessons of my tutors: curiosity is everything, losing is a part of playing, and our opponents in life are less important than the choices we make ourselves. And you know what? I’m ready.” Another long, fascinating piece.

Lastly, here’s a thoughtful 16-minute video from Ben Felix about answering the question, “How much is enough?”

There is no objectively optimal way to allocate time and money, but I am going to argue that for human investors these decisions should be anchored in the objective of living a happy life, so we need to know where happiness comes from.

That’s all for today, my friends! See you next time.

Hello, Apexians, and welcome to another week.

It’s my first week of curating links from the comfort of my new home in Corvallis, Oregon. I love it! I moved down about ten days ago (and Kim moved down this last weekend). It’s a great place. I think we’ll be happy here. Very happy.

You know what else makes me happy? Money news!

How much should you pay for second-hand clothes? [Vox] — “With new items, the sale price is generally fixed to reflect the labor, shipping costs, overhead expenses, and profit markup that go into maintaining a store’s virtual and physical operations. Pre-owned garments, on the other hand, have a wider margin for fluctuation.”

“What I learned visiting two cutting-edge Amazon grocery stores. [Full Stack Economics] — “Amazon’s extensive knowledge and experience running complex supply chains—and owning Whole Foods over the last four years—would make it a formidable competitor even without its Just Walk Out technology. Add in the no-checkout technology, and incumbent supermarkets have a lot of reasons to worry.”

Lastly, here’s a short interview that really hit home for me.

What really happens when a grocery store opens in a food desert? [NYU News] — “Between 2004 and 2016, more than a thousand supermarkets opened nationwide in neighborhoods around the country that had previously been food deserts. We studied the grocery purchases of about 10,000 households in those neighborhoods. While it’s true that these households buy less healthy groceries than people in wealthier neighborhoods, they do not start buying healthier groceries after a new supermarket opened. Instead, we find that people shop at the new supermarket, but they buy the same kinds of groceries they had been buying before.”

I grew up poor. My family had pretty lousy food habits. As an adult, I’m constantly battling these deeply-ingrained instincts. It’s tough. I want Hostess Sno-Balls. I love Hamburger Helper. I don’t like salads. So, it doesn’t surprise me at all that food deserts aren’t the actual problem with nutrition for poor people. I have money now and I still make shitty choices with food!

And that’s all I have for you today. I’ll be back tomorrow with more interesting stories about personal finance (and more). See you then!

Do you know who loves controversy? Human beings.

It’s why people watch reality TV shows – for the drama. 99.9% of reality is boring. No one would want to watch me sit in front of the computer and type. Certainly not millions of people!

That’s also why you always see articles about how “Generation [whatever] is doing this that or the other controversial thing.”

Or “Generation [whatever] has it easier or harder because XYZ.”

A “Generation” is so broad and only considers one factor (year of birth) that there’s no way someone born in 1980 into poverty is the same as someone born in 1980 on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. They aren’t even close.

With that in mind, I like how our first writer broke down a common cited image about wealth and the various generations and comes to surprising conclusions that make a lot of sense in interpreting the chart:

Who is the Wealthiest Generation? [Economist Writing Everyday] – “But wait. A few questions probably come to mind. For example, when Boomers were young they comprised a much larger share of the population. The original article makes an attempt to adjust for this, by calculating a few ratios towards the end of the article. However, there’s a much more straightforward way to adjust for this, which also nicely fits into a chart: put wealth in per capita terms!”

I hustled like mad in my 20s. Here’s what it cost me. [The Woke Salaryman] – “Financial, physical and mental health are all important. All of them can’t be ignored. […] Money is important, but less important if you ded.” I really enjoyed the format of this “graphic blog novella.”

Be careful!

Scammers have bilked consumers out of $545 million in Covid-related fraud [CNBC] – “Online shopping accounted for the largest number of reported scams to the FTC, at nearly 55,000 complaints. Americans increased their online orders during the pandemic since they spent more time indoors. But many were victims of “opportunistic websites” claiming to sell popular items — anything from hand sanitizer to gloves, electronics, clothing and even puppies, according to the FTC. Customers order the item but then never receive it.”

Enjoy your weekend!

If you spend enough time reading personal finance, you run into personal finance gurus. The tricky part about gurus is that they may have great ideas but then they need to make money. So they sell you some less great ideas with some light execution help through expensive seminars or courses. This is especially true once you reach a certain size and popularity since everyone needs to cash in at some point, right?

Robert Kiyosaki, of Rich Dad, Poor Dad fame and others, falls into the camp of a lot of great ideas, even if his dads are made up, that gets maligned for other parts of his business. I personally found his ideas of assets vs. liabilities (your car being a liability and not an asset) to be useful, but also his explanation of the Cashflow Quadrant:

The Cashflow Quadrant Explained – How You Earn Income Matters [Coach Carson] – “The Cashflow Quadrant. It’s the main idea of Robert Kiyosaki’s book by the same name. And it’s a powerful one that has guided much of my own entrepreneurial path to seek financial freedom.” Say what you will about Kiyosaki overall but this quadrant concept is a useful mental model.

The Psychology of Money – 16 Lessons for the FIRE Community [Money Flamingo] – “Below I’ve listed the 16 lessons that I found most profound – both for the FIRE Community as a whole and for myself as an investor and semi-retiree. This is not a standard book review, it’s a bit of a mix: a recap of my favourite sections and quotes as well as the conclusions I drew for my own life and relationship with money. Enjoy!” The book is great. This recap is fun too!

Play the Hand You’re Dealt To Live the Life You Dream [Route to Retire] – “Plan your way to a better life. Don’t just sit on the hand you’re dealt in life if it’s not your dream. And if you’re not good at figuring out what your need to do, bring in people who are good at it to help you. Find a good fee-only fiduciary planner. Work with a career coach or counselor to determine the skills you should learn to get on track with your dream job.”

The crypto dons of Beirut [rest of world] – “The financial crisis has led to a spike in cryptocurrency usage in Lebanon, both as a means of recovering savings through speculative trading and as a way to circumvent a broken banking system. Due to domestic bank restrictions and international sanctions, Lebanese bank accounts and credit cards have been rendered effectively useless for making purchases outside of the country, including buying cryptocurrency on international exchanges. That’s where Awad comes in. Over-the-counter (OTC) suppliers like him are part of a complex and legally murky ecosystem through which cryptocurrency is purchased abroad, sent to Lebanon, and then distributed through a network of dealers to be sold to clients in exchange for hard cash. ”

A compelling case for crypto and why even Bogleheads should think about it. (note the allocation percentage)

Bitcoin for Bogleheads? Bogleheads should consider a long-term investment in cryptocurrency [Accidentally Retired] – “No one should be investing all of their assets in crypto. But as Boglehead, I want to be exposed to everything that the markets have to offer. This includes cryptocurrency that cannot be currently captured only through Indices.”

A Bad Solar Storm Could Cause an ‘Internet Apocalypse’ [Wired] – “SCIENTISTS HAVE KNOWN for decades that an extreme solar storm, or coronal mass ejection, could damage electrical grids and potentially cause prolonged blackouts. The repercussions would be felt everywhere from global supply chains and transportation to internet and GPS access. Less examined until now, though, is the impact such a solar emission could have on internet infrastructure specifically. New research shows that the failures could be catastrophic, particularly for the undersea cables that underpin the global internet.” That can’t be good.

Check, Please? How New York’s restaurants suddenly got so expensive — and why that’s probably for the best. [Grub Street] – “The food-service research firm Technomic pegs typical annual menu inflation at around 2.5 percent, accounting for natural fluctuations in costs of goods and labor. But according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, prices at full-service restaurants have risen 4.3 percent in the past year, the largest 12-month increase ever recorded.”

How McDonald’s really makes money – fun video!

I didn’t come up with this clickbaity title, the Washington Post did. 🙂

But read the whole thing – it has a lot of interesting nuggets in there and there isn’t anything he did that you can’t do. He invested in stocks, swung for the fences, did a backdoor Roth, etc.

The simple tricks that turned one investor’s $70,000 retirement account into a $264 million fortune [Washington Post] – “It quickly became clear that Weschler wanted to show that even though his initial IRA stake grew more than 300,000 percent from 1989 to 2018, unlike Peter Thiel he hadn’t played any insider games by having his IRA pay mega-cheap prices for securities that regular people couldn’t buy. Weschler said he had put up his numbers by investing in only publicly available securities.”

6 things I wish I knew the day I started Berklee [Derek Sivers] – Derek Sivers gives a talk to incoming first-year students at the Berklee College of Music in 2008. Like much of Sivers’ writing, it’s concise and without fluff. It’s also a non-stop firehose of good advice that doesn’t give you a choice but to take it all in. Replace Berklee with life and it still applies.

2 Years of FIRE: Life After an Early Exit From Medicine [Physician on FIRE] – “It’s been two years since I had surgeons, nurses, and patients depending on me to be in a certain place at a certain time to perform as an anesthesiologist. It’s been two years since I donned scrubs as an outfit, and I doubt I’ll ever wear them again. As FIRE bloggers tend to do, I like to reflect upon my past life in a demanding career and celebrate the anniversaries of my departure date. August 12th, 2019 was that date for me, so let’s recap the life I’ve been leading for these past two years and the lessons I continue to learn, shall we?”

The Fun Scale [REI Blog] – “Type 2 fun is miserable while it’s happening, but fun in retrospect. It usually begins with the best intentions, and then things get carried away. Riding your bicycle across the country. Doing an ultramarathon. Working out till you puke, and, usually, ice and alpine climbing. Also surely familiar to mothers, at least during childbirth and the dreaded teenage years.”

Frugality is important and oftentimes many people looking to retire early will focus on frugality. That’s not a bad thing at all. But if they think that they will retire and suddenly be able to treat themselves, it’ll be a difficult transition. It’s a skill that is hard to unlearn.

It’s taken me quite a bit of time to learn that money should be working for me and not hoarded in a safe place. It starts with investing in the stock market but also extends to other investments as well. Investing in a new X before the old one fails catastrophically is one key example. Investing in greater comfort so I can perform better, whether this is in leisure (like sports) or in my work.

These things are all important and frugality would have you believe you should save it all and “deal” with it. Money exists to be spent and there are responsible ways to do it, even if it still means spending it!

On Time, Money and Health [Today Purpose] – “Money exists to be spent. You’ll never regret spending money into experiences or things that can create memories (either good or bad). They add a lot into fulfilling your life and shape the way we are:”

Tracking Spending: A Foundational Skill of Personal Finance [Managing FI] – “A key foundational skill is knowing how to track your spending. Tracking spending brings awareness to where the money goes so you can cut out the waste. Understanding your annual spending is also necessary to know how much money you need in retirement.” (also, FWIW, I really like the acronym BLUF over tl;dr)

Life is a Picture, But You Live in a Pixel [Wait But Why] – “So while thousands of Jack’s Todays will, to an outsider from far away, begin to look like a complete picture, Jack spends each moment of his actual reality in one unremarkable Today pixel or another. Jack’s error is brushing off his mundane Wednesday and focusing entirely on the big picture, when in fact the mundane Wednesday is the experience of his actual life.”

And if you thought NFTs were just a fad, this next tweet is either a signal that it’s not or that it has jumped the shark. 🙂

Visa bought CryptoPunk #7610 [Twitter] – “Over the last 60 years, Visa has built a collection of historic commerce artifacts – from early paper credit cards to the zip-zap machine. Today, as we enter a new era of NFT-commerce, Visa welcomes CryptoPunk #7610 to our collection.”

Welcome to Apex Money. It’s a big day today, and not just because it’s Friday. Today, my girlfriend and I get the keys to our new house!

This is the culmination of a six-month process during which we sold our old place, then rented while seeking a new one. We’re very excited to start this new chapter in our lives.

Before we can finish packing and moving, however, I’m going to share a handful of money stories to take us into the weekend.

How to raise financially literate kids. [Tread Lightly, Retire Early] — “Raising kind, compassionate humans is much more important than raising money savvy ones, but having your finances in order means you are capable to do so much more. As long as we living in a capitalist society, money matters, and it’s important we teach our children to navigate that works.”

How to hedge the housing market. [A Wealth of Common Sense] – “The bottom 80% in terms of wealth in the United States have nearly 65% of their wealth in their primary residence and just 12% in financial assets. By contrast, the top 1% has just 9% of their assets tied up in their primary residence and 74% of their wealth in financial assets. It’s understandable to be worried about having the majority of your wealth in your house.”

The best advantage in life? Rich parents. [Of Dollars and Data] — “It’s not just having richer parents within your country of origin that matters, but how rich your parents are relative to the rest of the world as well…This is why being born into a rich family can be such a huge advantage in society. It will determine your peer group, your educational choices, and much more.”

Is real-estate investing worth the time and energy? [Passive Income M.D.] — “I know it can feel like there’s a lot to learn when it comes to real estate investing. However, in order to create monthly passive cash flow (that can buy your time back), it will always take an upfront investment of time, energy, or money. Perhaps all three. But once it gets going, the investment is well worth whatever it took to make it happen.”

And that’s it for this week. As soon as this published, I’m going to start loading the truck with all of our Earthly belongings. Wish us luck! And come back again on Monday, when my buddy Jim will share more of the best from the world of personal finance.