Good morning, everybody, and welcome to another day of Apex Money. Let’s dive right into the personal-finance stories.
Why you should stay skeptical of personal-finance gurus. [The Sensible Merchant] — “There is no budget in the world that is going to get you or anyone else a quarter of a million dollars in cash in 3 years unless you are already a high earner or very wealthy, so let’s knock off the charade. This is an echo chamber at its finest.”
How to insulate yourself from advertisements. [Bitches Get Riches] — “Cable may be the single most wicked invention of our wicked age. Everything about it sucks. It encourages you to want things you don’t need. When you use it, you just sit passively absorbing sponsored content, wasting your time on unproductive nothingness. And doing so makes you pale, doughy, and out-of-shape. Like me.”
How does a raise early in your career affect your finances? [Of Dollars and Data] — “Imagine you just got a new job offer or you’ve been working in a job for a few years without a raise. Should you ask for more? Or should you wait it out? How much does a raise early in your career actually affect your long-term finances?The answer is…it depends.”
Lastly, here’s a video that my girlfriend sent to me. Kim has long been interested in death and dying (and would like one day to do some sort of volunteer work in palliative care), so naturally she liked this seven-minute clip about a coffin-building club that helps New Zealand old folks approach death positively.
This is a great video. You should watch it.
True story: Before my father died, he sincerely requested that we bury him in a corrugated cardboard box. You see, he had started a box-making company a decade earlier, and he wanted the family to build him a box to bury him in. We didn’t do it. I don’t regret not doing it, but in some way I feel like we betrayed him a bit. (Because he wasn’t joking.)
Okay, that’s all for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with one last installment before we head into the weekend. See you then.