Today is Thursday, my friends, and I’ve collected some interesting articles about personal finance to share with you — just as we do every weekday here at Apex Money. A couple of these are longreads, but they’re worth it…
How to do great work. [Paul Graham] — “One way to aim high is to try to make something that people will care about in a hundred years. Not because their opinions matter more than your contemporaries’, but because something that still seems good in a hundred years is more likely to be genuinely good.”
The impossible paradox of car ownership. [Vox] — “Anyone who has ever struggled to afford a car, or lived without one, knows how complicated life can get without access to a vehicle. Car ownership has always been expensive, but recent trends suggest that it is getting worse. New car prices have risen so much that purchasing one is quickly becoming out of reach for many buyers.”
Confessions of a luxury-wedding planner. [The Atlantic] — “I was used to my wealthy clients thinking they could bend reality to their will, but I got truly taken advantage of only once. The bride called us to say that she and her younger sister were both getting married in the same year at the same venue. For what seemed like obvious reasons, she did not want to work with the same planner as her baby sibling. I quoted her our rates and there was silence. Her sister’s planner, she said then, was cheaper — something like $12,000 less. To which I replied: Good for your sister!” [My brain hurts after reading this.]
I recently read (twice) music producer Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act: A Way of Being. Never in my life have I read something that so closely captures my way of thinking. The philosophy Rubin outlines so closely mirrors my own current philosophy that I found it eerie. It was as if he were in my head.
Anyhow, I didn’t know much about Rubin before reading The Creative Act (my girlfriend gave me the book for my birthday because she thought I’d appreciate it), but I’ve since taken some time to read more about him…and to watch YouTube videos like this one where he explains how to stop overthinking.
“It doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks.” It took me 54+ years to reach this understanding, but I’ve reached it. My entire 2023 is built around that idea.
Here’s a motto I’ve tried to live by for the past decade: Do your best. Do what’s right. Accept the outcome. That’s basically what Rubin says in this clip. I love it.
Anyhow, that’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow to take you into the weekend…