Apex Money Posts

Well, money nerds, we’ve reached the end of another week. Before you all wander off to your various enjoyments, I have one last batch of money links for you.

To kick things off today, I’ve got a podcast for you. I rarely link to podcasts (because I don’t generally listen to podcasts) but today is an exception because the show includes two of my favorite colleagues: Brandon from Mad Fientist and Ramit from I Will Teach You to Be Rich.

Here’s their conversation about how to spend money (and actually enjoy it):

A quote from Ramit:

The point of living a rich life is not to save money. It’s not. The point of a rich life, in my opinion, is to design a rich life that excites you and then use your money to live as meaningful of a life as you can. So I’m all for a high savings rate and aggressive investments and earning more. I’m totally for that. But there’s another side of the equation that too many people ignore and that’s what I’ve been very excited about.

Okay, here are the other stories I have for you today:

Being poor vs. feeling poor. [More to That] — “One interesting phenomenon that’s been occurring in the United States is that poverty has been decreasing while incomes amongst the wealthiest have been increasing. At first glance, this may seem like a win-win. If more people are escaping poverty and the wealthy are earning more, doesn’t that seem like a non-zero-sum game? Well, the answer is no, and there are two reasons for this.”

The secrets of stealth wealth. [Financial Imagineer writing at Physician on FIRE] — “Imagine if you’re filthy rich but don’t want anyone to know. That’s why some people lead seemingly ordinary lives while driving average cars and seem to be middle-class, while secretly being wealthy. This is called stealth wealth, and it might just be the wisest decision anyone can make with money and wealth.”

Should young people save less and spend more? [A Wealth of Common Sense] — “As your income increases you begin to spend more money and get used to your new lifestyle. You gain responsibilities as you age. Maybe you get used to some of the finer things in life. It can be extremely difficult to flip the switch and start saving once you get used to a certain level of spending. It’s also much easier to live a more frugal lifestyle when you’re young.”

And that’s all I’ve got. Jim will return next week with more. I’ll be back in ten days with another glimpse inside my bizarre brain. 😉

It’s Thursday, my friends, and I’m J.D. Roth. Today, I have three excellent articles for you. Seriously, if I were to rate installments of Apex Money by total quality of the links curated, this would probably be in the top 5%. Each of these three pieces is interesting in one way or another. Don’t believe me? Go read them yourself…

What’s the point of a primary care doctor? [Mel Magazine] — “Against an apparent backdrop of decline in both patient demand and doctor enthusiasm for end-to-end treatment within primary practice, you might wonder why you’re still being shunted through their waiting rooms, when it’s a specialist you really want to see. You might also wonder, since you’re in a diagnosing frame of mind, where all this pressure for referrals and over-treatment is really coming from.”

How tiny, cheap smart speakers unlocked the rise of digital payments in India. [Rest of World] — “Abbas Ali, a vegetable vendor in an upscale neighborhood in New Delhi, started accepting digital payments in 2021. But every time a customer paid online, the 48-year-old, who can neither read nor write, would need to call his son to confirm that the payment had been received. The customers, often in a rush, would get impatient…Eventually, a fellow vendor suggested he subscribe to a ‘sound box’ — a nifty internet-connected device that reads out payment confirmation messages.” [Always interesting to get a glimpse at other cultures.]

We’ll conclude today with what might be my favorite article so far in 2023. It’s early in the year yet, but this piece is golden:

Inside the very real (and very complicated) world of luxury water collectors. [Bon Appétit] — “I remained skeptical. Water, to me, tastes like water. The only texture I can describe it having is ‘wet.’ How could someone justify spending hundreds on bottled water when entire communities, like those in East Palestine and Philadelphia, are affected by contaminated water supplies? What could compel someone to spend weeks at the Doemens Academy in suburban Germany sipping on different waters? What does it mean to elevate something like water, a fundamental human need and a growing scarcity in some places, to this level of luxury?”

I liked that article so much, in fact, that I did I found the author’s homepage so that I can read all of his other stuff. I am — no joke — tempted to send him fan mail.

Yes, I’m a nerd. But so are you, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this! 😀

Good morning, Plutus Family! We are so happy to share these great articles with you on hump Wednesday.  Enjoy!

Check out what we have for you this week.

Did Judas Iscariot Make the Worst Deal in History? [Young Money] — “My man literally sold the Son of God for an Uber from JFK to Manhattan during rush hour traffic. So yeah, Judas’s deal was pretty bad. But at least he didn’t spend $300,000,000 on two Papa John’s pizzas.” (Submitted by J. Money.)

Digital Envelope Budgeting System: Why I Love It.  [Social Work to Wealth] — “Budgeting is the formal process of organizing your income and your expenses. With a budget, you are creating a spending plan for your money.” (Submitted by Tarsha.)

Saved by Compounding.  [Humble Dollar] — “If I made a list of all the dumb things investors do, I likely committed them all. I chased performance, sold stocks in a bear market, invested in things I didn’t understand—you get the picture. Yet, despite the numerous setbacks I suffered before I matured as an investor, I was able to retire comfortably. How was that possible?”​​ (Submitted by J. Money.)

Good morning, Apexians, and welcome to another tasty edition of your favorite financial curation site. Let’s look at what we have for you today.

The Finnish secret of happiness: Knowing when you have enough. [The New York Times gift article] — “Finns derive satisfaction from leading sustainable lives and perceive financial success as being able to identify and meet basic needs, Arto O. Salonen, a professor at the University of Eastern Finland who has researched well-being in Finnish society, explained. ‘In other words,’ he wrote in an email, ‘when you know what is enough, you are happy.'”

Community colleges are reeling. [Associated Press] — “Community colleges are far cheaper than four-year schools. Published tuition and fees last year averaged $3,860, versus $39,400 at private and $10,940 at public four-year universities, with many states making community college free. Yet consumers are abandoning them in droves. The number of students at community colleges has fallen 37% since 2010, or by nearly 2.6 million.” I’m a huge fan of community colleges, so news like this makes me sad.

Lastly, here’s a collection of resources from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that are intended to help teach kids about money:

Meet the money monsters! [Consumer Financial Protection Bureau] — “The Money Monsters are a group of creatures who are new to our universe. That means they need to learn about many important things like school, friendship, and financial literacy…These Money Monster stories introduce you to ideas, habits, and activities that you’ll need as you grow up and start to manage your own money.” [More CPFB youth financial education tools.]

But wait! There’s more! Here’s a fun video that has absolutely nothing to do with money. In this ten-minute clip, a Scottish man tries snacks from the southern U.S.. Funny and fun.

My girlfriend and I live in Oregon, but we spent six months in Savannah, Georgia a few years ago. We miss certain things you can’t get here. Deep-fried peanuts, for instance. SO GOOD. Uncle Bud’s are my favorite, but I cannot justify paying that price from Amazon. Maybe I’ll just have to fly to Georgia to buy them for cheap at a gas station…

Hello, Apexians, and welcome to another wonderful week filled with the best money links two fellas can find. Jim and I are always scouring the web for the best stories in personal finances so that we can share them with you, our loyal readers. Let’s start today with a recent installment from one of my favorite newsletters, Douglas Tsoi’s “Money and Meaning”:

An outer solution never solves an inner problem. [Money and Meaning] — “Blaise Pascal believed that ‘all of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone’…We hate, more than anything, being bored. A University of Virginia study showed that almost 50% of college students would rather shock themselves with electricity than be silent and without distraction for 15 minutes. Crazy, right, but what do you do when you’re bored?”

A four-day workweek reduces stress without reducing productivity. [Scientific American] — “Working four days instead of five—with the same pay—leads to improved well-being among employees without damaging the company’s productivity. That’s the recently reported result of a four-day workweek test that ran for six months, from June to December 2022, and involved a total of 61 U.K. companies with a combined workforce of about 2,900 employees.”

A 15-minute “awe walk” can help kill stress and build happiness. [Inc. magazine] — “Awe is the feeling of smallness and wonder you experience when you stand before something vastly bigger than you. It’s what astronauts feel when they look down at Earth from space or the rest of us feel looking up at the countless stars in the night sky. A significant body of psychology research shows awe helps us feel less anxious, more connected, and generally happier.”

The age of average. [Alex Murrell] — “The interiors of our homes, coffee shops and restaurants all look the same. The buildings where we live and work all look the same. The cars we drive, their colours and their logos all look the same. The way we look and the way we dress all looks the same. Our movies, books and video games all look the same. And the brands we buy, their adverts, identities and taglines all look the same. But it doesn’t end there. In the age of average, homogeneity can be found in an almost indefinite number of domains.” Yes! This!

I’ve been complaining about the homogeneity of American culture for years. It’s boring. It’s why I’m drawn to cars and furniture and people with character. (I love my Mazda Miata in part because it looks like nothing else on the road. Same with my previous car, a Mini Cooper.) I think the rise of the internet is the primary driving force in the sameness of everything.

Okay, that’s it for today. I’ll be back tomorrow with more. See you then.

As we glide into the weekend, where presumably you’ll be spending more time at home, I wanted to share a post I enjoyed this morning before I put this post together. It’s good to get a little perspective every once and a while.

The Mansion Next Door [Accidentally Retired] – “But there is a way to battle back against FOMO and Keeping Up With the Joneses…that is to constantly remind yourself that you already have everything.”

More Than Enough [Humble Dollar] – “IF YOU’RE LIKE MANY readers of this site, you’ll reach your 60s and discover one of those nice problems to have—that you’ve over-saved for retirement.”

Need some sci-fi reading ideas? (I was surprised at #1 tbh)

The 50 Best Sci-Fi Books of All Time [Esquire] – “Plenty of imitators have tried to match the heights of our No.1, but none have come close. […] Choosing the fifty best science fiction books of all time wasn’t easy, so to get the job done, we had to establish some guardrails. Though we assessed single installments as representatives of their series, we limited the list to one book per author. We also emphasized books that brought something new and innovative to the genre; to borrow a great sci-fi turn of phrase, books that “boldly go where no one has gone before.””

Enjoy the weekend!

I didn’t think NDAs are nearly as punitive as non-competes but that’s before I knew about predatory NDAs. These monsters are a completely different. I had no idea these things existed and I’m glad they’re getting their legs chopped off a bit.

Predatory NDAs Just Got a Lot Harder To Enforce [Bitches Get Riches] – “These changes provide general protection to all impacted employees, and specific protections for victims of sexual harassment. With this, it seems the power and popularity of predatory NDAs is finally waning. And workers are gaining back ground they never should’ve lost.”

How to Build Generational Wealth [Of Dollars And Data] – “If building wealth is hard, building generational wealth is even harder. Generational wealth refers to accumulated assets and resources that can be passed down from one generation to the next. Whether it’s a cash inheritance or a vast estate of trusts, businesses, and other valuables, generational wealth is often considered a sign of success and achievement.”

You Should Aim to Be Financially Independent… Enough. [Flow Financial Planning] – “I hear myself saying over and over to clients and prospective clients (and the void): Don’t worry about becoming financially independent. Just become financially independent enough. What does that mean? Why do I say that? What does it matter to you?”

Hey Plutus family!  I have a love-hate relationship with having an emergency fund. I love the fact I can save money, but then the thought of using it; hurts me to the core. How do you feel about having an emergency fund? Do you have a love/hate relationship with having an emergency fund? Let us know!

Check out what we have for you this week.

Less Cars, More Money: My Visit to the City of the Future. [Mr. Money Mustache] — “If I could have one single wish in the world, this is what I would wish for. It’s a change so massive that it would make every person on the planet better off and fix most of our problems in one grand sweep. And it’s probably not what you’d expect.” (Submitted by J. Money.)

The Joy and Agony of Using Your Emergency Fund.  [NZ Muse] — “It was our second to last night on holiday. Slumbering in a cute Airbnb in Napier. Literally the last thing I expected was a call from the local cops at 4am notifying me the car had been stolen (from right outside!) for a joyride, recovered, and the perp in custody.” (Submitted by Tarsha.)

Give More, Pay Less. [Tony Isola] — “Making money doesn’t create success; what you do with it does. The Go-Giver sold millions of copies based on the application of this premise. The book answered the eternal money question – How do we delineate true wealth? Your true wealth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.”​​ (Submitted by J. Money.)

Create Multiple Income Streams for Security and Wealth [Retire Before Dad] – “Having multiple income streams also gave me the flexibility to wait for the ideal job instead of jumping at the first gig I could find. I always knew multiple income streams were key to financial security, but this was the first time I had to rely on investment and business income. Fast-forward to today, job-free income enabled leaving my career to do work I enjoy instead staying with a profession I only tolerated. ”

Invest like Oprah? [Contessa Capital Advisors] – “In fact, studies have shown that after-tax returns from these sophisticated “alternative investments” rarely if ever beat a more standard mix of stock and bond funds. All these different investments help her not put all her eggs in one basket. Some will do really well and some will never justify the high fees she pays to the managers.”

9 easy ways to make your life a little better [Vox] – “Experts, ranging from authors to academics, offer their bite-size, low-lift advice on how to live a better life. While these tips are meant to be easily implemented, by no means should you attempt them all — just try what speaks to you and your circumstances.” Some good ones in here.

I won’t say anything except read this, it’s worth it (it’s not really about weight loss):
How to Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps [Aaron Bleyeart] – “I’ve spent the past year losing 80 lbs and getting in shape. A lot of people have been asking me how I did it; specifics like what diet I was on, how many times a week I worked out, etc etc. So I thought I’d just answer everyone’s questions by giving you guys step by step instructions on how you can achieve everything I have… IN JUST 4 EASY STEPS! Ready? Here we go!!!”

Inside the Bitcoin Bust That Took Down the Web’s Biggest Child Abuse Site [Wired] – “They thought their payments were untraceable. They couldn’t have been more wrong. The untold story of the case that shredded the myth of Bitcoin’s anonymity.” Fascinating article that will teach you a bit about cryptocurrency too. It can be difficult to read in parts due to the nature of the crimes.

My friend Kevin has a new podcast, The Family Money Adventure Show, and I think you should give it a listen!

It's Launch Day!

The Family Money Adventure Show launches today.

Check out our podcast on your favorite podcast player for conversations and tips on money and travel for your family.

Download your favorite episodes and leave us a rating and review. https://t.co/tPkpbuxill pic.twitter.com/tAmdPp7url

— Kevin Payne – Family Money Adventure (@TheFMadventure) April 4, 2023