Apex Money Posts

I’m not a historian but I know these last few weeks in the Middle East will have a huge impact on the future of the world and it’s still early days.

I’ve enjoyed Tomas Pueyo’s writing for a bit and it all makes intuitive sense. I don’t have enough domain expertise to fact check him on his ideas, but I’ve found them insightful.

As for the Apex Money tie-in, what’s happening now will have an impact on your finances, it’s just a matter of degree. I think it’s important to understand why.

It’s a long read but an important one. (you can scroll to the end for takeaways but the whole thing is well written and provides a ton of context)

Why Did Israel Strike Iran Now? [Uncharged Territories] – “Israel attacked Iran because it believed Iran was close to getting a nuclear weapon, and that threatened Israel’s existence.

But why does Iran want to eliminate Israel?
Was it close to developing a nuclear weapon?
Why did Israel attack now? Why not earlier or later?
Was there any other way?
What does all this say about the outcome of the war?

These are the questions we’re going to answer today, starting with the most fundamental:”

Three years ago, the largest jewelry heist in US history occurred in California. No weapons involved, just one sleepy Brinks employee and one hungry one. As the Brinks truck stopped at a gas station, it got robbed when one employee went inside and another was asleep.

Seven California men charged in ‘largest jewellery heist’ in US history [BBC] – “The heist has been a mystery in California for nearly three years after a Brinks company truck transporting the jewellery was robbed at a remote stop as one driver slept inside, and another was having a meal.

The suspects tracked the truck as it left a jewellery show near San Francisco with 73 bags, officials said. The next morning, they stole 24 bags when the truck was at a rest stop in Lebec, California, according to court documents.”

If you read it really quickly, it almost sounds like some of the thieves were 85 years old. The plot for an Oceans 35. 🤣

Last week, the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged… here’s why:

Fed Sees Higher Inflation and Lower Growth Ahead [The New York Times] – “Officials at the Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged, as they brace for the effects of President Trump’s policies on trade, taxes and immigration. Fed Chair Jerome Powell said that “uncertainty is unusually elevated.””

Wonderful!

2FA is two-factor authentication, which is when you need to enter in a code to access your account. You should have this on every financial account you have.

But you should not use SMS, or Simple Message System, for it. You should not get it as a text message because it’s not encrypted and can be intercepted.

Instead – use an authenticator app of some kind. Google has one that I use.

One Million Two-Factor Authentication Codes Were Recently Exposed [Lifehacker] – “An investigation led by Bloomberg and Lighthouse Reports—based on data received from an industry whistleblower—found that more than a million text messages containing 2FA codes were visible to Swiss company Fink Telecom Services during June 2023. As an intermediary between the companies that generate authentication codes and the users logging into their accounts, Fink handled the messages and had access to their content.”

I always enjoy how honest and “real” Fritz’s posts are and none are better than his lived experiences in retirement. So many people discuss how to invest for retirement – amounts to save, where to put it, and how to prepare for the eventual drawdown.

Few discuss the day to day aspects in a way that’s relatable to others – Fritz does this well.

The post I’m sharing today caught my eye because it discusses a financial aspect of retirement that I, in my mid-forties, also am putting off thinking about. 😂

My Biggest Surprise in Retirement [The Retirement Manifesto] – “I’m fortunate to have saved aggressively in my company’s 401(k) since I started my career at Age 22.

It’s what allowed me to retire at Age 55.

And yet, like many folks my age, those savings were predominantly in “Before-Tax” accounts in my company’s 401(k) plan.  Sure, I got the tax break while working, and I felt like a genius. Besides, we didn’t have the option of investing in a Roth, so the decision was easy. 

I knew those taxes would come due when I “got old,” but I’d worry about that later.

Later has arrived. “

The Best Time to Sell Your Stocks [A Wealth of Common Sense] – “A reader asks:

My RMD is 100% S&P 500. Do you have any strategies on taking distributions from the RMD? Should I take 1/12th of the RMD each month? Wait until the end of the year and take it all out hoping the value will increase over the year? Redeem during traditionally strong stock market months? What are your thoughts on this?

This is a good question because there are plenty of strategies for when to buy stocks, but people rarely discuss when or how to sell.”

Did you say 59%?

What Percentage of Americans Have a Retirement Savings Account? [Gallup] – “Ownership varies most by household income, followed by education and age.

The rate jumps from 39% among adults aged 18 to 29 to 63% among those aged 30 to 49 and 70% among those aged 50 to 64. It remains high, at 62%, for those aged 65 and older.”

Eighty-three percent of adults with at least $100,000 in annual household income have a retirement savings plan, 55 percentage points higher than the rate among those in households earning less than $50,000 (28%).

Similarly, 81% of college graduates versus 39% of adults with no college education have a retirement savings plan.”

Read the whole thing because the gem is the very last line.

Well-rounded doesn’t cut. [Derek Sivers] – “Imagine the world’s attention as a big squishy pile of apathy — so thick you could cut it with a knife. To call attention to your music, you want to cut through that muck.

Only problem is, if you’re well-rounded, you can’t cut through anything. You need to be sharply defined, like a knife.”

I don’t see one either.

Is There a Tariff End Game? [Paul Krugman] – “So I’m not convinced that the worst is over. In fact, I’m not convinced even though the U.S. Court of International Trade has pronounced Trump’s invocation of IEEPA, the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, to impose tariffs without Congressional approval illegal. (A colleague of mine used to return student papers with the comment YHTMAAAIYP — “you have too many acronyms and abbreviations in your paper.”)”

Paul Krugman digs into the numbers and there are a lot of good insights in this piece, including: “You might think that we have so few steelworkers because we import it all, but we actually only import 27 percent of consumption, with the other 73 percent produced domestically. The point instead is that steel production is highly capital-intensive and just doesn’t employ many people — so steel tariffs can’t possibly create enough jobs to replace those lost elsewhere in manufacturing.”

Financial Steps to Prepare for Cognitive Decline [Savant Wealth Management] – “Life’s path often meanders through unexpected landscapes. Amid the many transformations we encounter, grappling with diminished cognitive abilities can be a formidable challenge. Through deliberate planning, we can chart a course that not only upholds our values and choices but also equips us to navigate the evolving terrain of our mental faculties.

Within the realm of financial planning, a fundamental principle emerges: remain optimistic while preparing for the worst-case scenario. Here, we present pragmatic measures to mitigate the impact of potential cognitive decline on one’s financial capacity:”