Today is Tuesday, my friends. My name is J.D. and this is Apex Money, your source for interesting stories about money (and more). Here’s what I have for you today.
Does capitalism work? [Gotham Gal] — “Capitalism is still the most effective way to create opportunities, but it is time for a new era of capitalism where we take what works and focus on the weaknesses so that we can all succeed at the level we hope to. If we started doing that, perhaps some of the issues our communities are dealing with right now would ebb, and our economy would accelerate. Something has to change.” I love this. Thoughtful and nuanced. I’m a die-hard capitalist, but even I have begun to have misgivings. I have no answers, but our current system seems broken to me.
How young people learned to love Old-Money aesthetics. [Robb Report] — “This strain of discreet wealth has never really been out of fashion — it’s not like Ralph Lauren was ever hurting — but since the pandemic, it has entered the zeitgeist anew. As the adage goes, everything comes back around eventually. So if you’d written yourself off as a fuddy-duddy, we have good news: Your time is now.”
One woman’s quest to rescue the trash of New York. [Curbed] — “Typically, her haul doesn’t go straight to the Free Store; first, she drags it up to her apartment, where she sorts and repairs items. Then she puts some of the more valuable finds up for resale; books get posted online, while nice clothes, paintings, tchotchkes, wallets, and the like get sold at occasional sidewalk sales or on the neighborhood secondhand circuit.”
How to live a simple life WITHOUT the stark white walls. [Rich in What Matters] — “If you’re intentional about your life choices, if you dig deep and consider long and hard about how you want your simple life to look (and what you can realistically afford), then you’re being intentional. If the result is color, stuff, plenty of engagements in the diary, or more than three pairs of shoes, then great.”
Last of all, here’s a five-minute video that explains how to summon an army of worms — because you’ve always wanted to know how to do that, right?
Okay, wormies, I’ll be back on Thursday with more good stuff. But come back tomorrow too when our pals at the Plutus Foundation will be here with their Wednesday update from the personal-finance community.