Apex Money Posts

I find the idea of love languages to be powerful in that it opens your mind to how different people respond to different things. If you like words of affirmation, you might think words of affirmation impact others the same way. It’s only when you learn “all” the love languages that you realize that people respond differently. It can be very eye opening and powerful.

Being generous is similar. If you think donating money to a charity is the only way to be generous, it’s hard to be generous if you don’t have space in your budget for it.

Fortunately, it’s not the only way – there are many ways. In fact, many of them do not involve money or even charities. It is about being generous to other people.

It’s very powerful.

50 ways to be ridiculously generous—and feel ridiculously good. [get it done] – “Behaving generously doesn’t necessarily mean “donating money” or “giving away your last cookie.” Those are two options, sure, but there are plenty of other ways to be generous. You can share knowledge freely, instead of hoarding it. You can send a handwritten note, instead of a text message. You can make eye contact, instead of checking out and staring down at your phone. You can introduce a friend to someone they ought to meet and help them secure a new job, client, or opportunity. You can do big things, simple things, all kinds of things. Here are 50 ways to be ridiculously generous—and feel ridiculously good.”

Amazon’s $23,698,655.93 book about flies [it is NOT junk] – “A few weeks ago a postdoc in my lab logged on to Amazon to buy the lab an extra copy of Peter Lawrence’s The Making of a Fly – a classic work in developmental biology that we – and most other Drosophila developmental biologists – consult regularly. The book, published in 1992, is out of print. But Amazon listed 17 copies for sale: 15 used from $35.54, and 2 new from $1,730,045.91 (+$3.99 shipping).” 👀 huh???

And our last one for today, a look inside credit repair companies:

Credit repair companies offer to “fix your credit,” for hundreds or thousands of dollars.

We sent a DoNotPay employee to interview for jobs at credit repair companies to figure out how they do it so that we can automate it and replace them.

This is what we discovered:

— Joshua Browder (@jbrowder1) September 18, 2022

We are back Plutus family! Join us for happy hour on October 6th! Plutus Voices is coming back to New York City’s Upper East Side next week for happy hour, networking, and a great discussion.

Tickets are free, but the number of available tickets is low. A waitlist will be available for those who miss the first opportunities to RSVP. RSVP now at plutusvoices.com/nyc22

Here’s what we wanted to share with you this week.

How Will I Take Advantage of Today? [Becoming Minimalist] — “You and I are different, I’m sure, in countless ways: Our family, our upbringing, our location, our career, our passions, our hobbies, our goals. But there is one thing that all of us have in common: We woke up this morning. And we have been provided this day to make the most of it.”(Submitted by J. Money.)

How Does Buy Now Pay Later Work: The Worrying Reality. [Money-Side-Up] — “Buy Now Pay Later is offered as a method of payment by companies such as Klarna. In fact, some of the UK’s biggest brands are already using In-store to boost their business and enhance the shopping experience. This includes the likes of New Look, Halfords and H&M. It even bridges the gap between the virtual and physical world. With the flexibility of online shopping, now in your physical store.” (Submitted by Tarsha.)

What Does Success Look Like and How Does It Feel? [One Frugal Girl] — “What does success look like? When you hear the word success, what do you picture? Growing up, success meant luxury goods and over-the-top experiences. I grew up watching Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous, where the host, Robin Leach, explored the yachts, mansions, and luxury car collections of the world’s wealthiest people. Then signed off …” (Submitted by Tarsha.)

Welcome to another week of Apex! It’s Jim back at the helm and today’s headline article is actually a podcast where Michelle discusses poverty. It’s insightful because it shares a perspective that isn’t often shared.

I don’t want to give too much away but it’s 100% worth listening (and reading the show notes) because often times what you experience and see don’t tell you the complete picture.

It can also, at times, tell you the wrong story too.

Experiencing White Homelessness as a Black Person in a White Town [Michelle is Money Hungry] – “They were noticing something that I’ve lived with for quite a long time and I think that there is some insight into the issue of poverty, policy and what I’ve learned and observed as a Black woman experiencing white poverty in a primarily white city. This insight I think will also show you why I think Americans are completely unserious about tackling poverty, because of how I see people reacting to the white poverty in my town.”

The $18k Roof Repair | The Importance of Financial Reserves [The Darwinian Doctor] – “After consideration of the above factors, we decided to go ahead with the full replacement of the roof on both the duplex and the garage, plus removal of the chimneys. The cost breakdown for all this was $17k, but it turned out to be $18k due to additional materials needed during the repair.” Emergency funds, especially if you own rentals, is critical!

The Enduring Allure of Choose Your Own Adventure Books [New Yorker] – “You were a girl who wanted to choose your own adventures. Which is to say, you were a girl who never had adventures. You always followed the rules. But, when you ate an entire sleeve of graham crackers and sank into the couch with a Choose Your Own Adventure book, you got to imagine that you were getting into trouble in outer space, or in the future, or under the sea. You got to make choices every few pages: Do you ask the ghost about her intentions, or run away? Do you rebel against the alien overlords, or blindly obey them?” I loved Choose Your Own Adventure books!

What the what? I just checked behind the scenes at Apex, and I see that this post — which was scheduled for Tuesday — never “went live”. Not sure what the problem was. No matter. I’m scheduling it for Saturday instead. Here you go, friends…
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Hey, money nerds. It’s J.D. again. As always, I’ve collected some intersting articles to share with you. If you have interesting articles to share with me, drop me a line!

Spending without regrets. [Of Dollars and Data] — “It’s not the person with a $500k net worth that regrets spending $25 on two cocktails, it’s the person with no retirement savings that does. With that being said, if your financial house is in order and you still find it hard to spend money without regret, below are some techniques to consider.”

Some interesting stats about vehicle prices. [TKer by Sam Ro] — “Like most industries, automakers have been plagued by supply chain issues. Unique issues in the rental car market have exacerbated shortages in the market for used vehicles. As a result, vehicle price inflation has been hot.”

How to establish financial priorities. [Wallet Hacks] — “There’s only so much time in the day and if you aren’t careful, it’s easy to spend too much time on things that seem urgent and important but are neither. This is especially problematic when it comes to your money because there are a lot of things that demand your attention, and often your guilt, but they usually don’t move the needle.”

Today’s cool video isn’t a video at all. It’s a website. But wow, what a website! Weather Spark offers detailed weather and climate info for nearly 150,000 locations worldwide. If you’re a weather nerd like me, you’ll love this site (despite all of the many ads).

• Climate and weather stats for major cities. (Here’s the info for my hometown: Corvallis, Oregon.)
• An interactive world map featuring “temperature fingerprints” for major cities.
• A database of past and historical weather.
• And my favorite, the city comparison tool. Add multiple locations to compare climates. So much fun!

Okay, tomorrow the team from the Plutus Foundation will be here with their Wednesday update. I’ll be back on Thursday with more finds of my own. See you then!

We’ve reached the last day of September, my friends. Another week gone. Another month gone. Another quarter gone. The relentless march of time continues, dragging us each every closer to our demise.

Haha! How’s that for some existential angst to start your weekend? Here, let me make things better. Here are four recent stories to help you master your money — and your life (and your pancakes).

An economist’s rule for making tough life decisions. [Quartz] — “But even accounting for these limitations, the results of the study still suggest a way to break out of those painful cycles of hesitation and indecision that people often get caught in when contemplating major life decisions. If the choice is between action and inaction, and you’re genuinely unsure about what to do, choose action.”

How to figure out what you want out of life. [Vox] — “When culture provides limited road maps for the future, these life events can seem nonnegotiable. External pressure from family, friends, and media further muddies the waters, potentially creating an emotional conundrum when it comes to determining what you really want for the future. Through time and reflection, you can use your values and motivations as guides for a fully authentic life.”

The last man standing in the floppy disk business. [Eye on Design] — “In the beginning, I figured we would do floppy disks, but never CDs. Eventually, we got into CDs and I said we’d never do DVDs. A couple of years went by and I started duplicating DVDs. Now I’m also duplicating USB drives. You can see from this conversation that I’m not exactly a person with great vision. I just follow what our customers want us to do.”

The world’s best pancake recipe. [Kottke] — “After discovering the recipe for Robie’s Buttermilk Flapjacks in a magazine a year or two ago, my wife has been making them for breakfast most Saturdays and they are, no foolin’, the best pancakes I’ve ever eaten. They are fluffy and moist and delicious. Here’s what you do.”

Lastly, we have a super-interesting video feature…but it’s long. It’s 50-minutes long. Don’t let the length deter you! Instead, bookmark this for future viewing (add it to your Watch Later playlist in YouTube?).

This documentary from the Defunctland channel on YouTube explores Walt Disney’s final ambitious plan, the project he hoped would leave a lasting legacy on the world: E.P.C.O.T, the Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.

Disney’s dream city was made up of futuristic, visionary ideas. Even today, sixty years later, many of these ideas are progressive. He wanted to build the city of the future. It’s fun to see what he had planned. But, as the video makes clear, the only way for him to actually do these things was to not create a utopia, but a totalitarian dystopia.

This is one of my favorite videos I’ve watched this year.

And that’s it for September. Jim will be with you next week. I’ll be back in ten days to share more new discoveries from the world of personal finance.

Does it feel like autumn to you? It feels like autumn to me! Here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, anyhow, the seasons are changing. Nights are cool, days are warm (but not hot), and everything sort of buzzes along, you know? I love it. October is my favorite month in Oregon. Such a beautiful time and place.

Let’s see what cool stories I’ve collected for you today…

The incredible true story of renting friends in Tokyo. [Afar] — “At one point the waiter offers us drinks. Yusuke says no alcohol on duty, and I realize I’d forgotten this was duty at all. I’ve paid for every word Yusuke has uttered, but I’m also certain we’ve forged something genuine…Maybe it’s easier to believe their professed affections than I’d imagined, even as the money is right there in front of you. Maybe life is complicated. Maybe affection can be paid for and real at the same time.”

Three tiresome personal-finance debates. [Humble Dollar] — “When I worked at The Wall Street Journal, editors used to quip that, ‘There are no new stories, just new reporters.’ I don’t know whether that’s the case with politics, sports and technology articles, but it sure rings true for personal finance and investing stories…That brings me to three financial arguments that never seem to end. Others still get worked up over these debates. But I find they grow ever more tiresome.” Like Clements, I too find discussions of these three topics tiresome. And several others. The reality is that there are plenty of financial decisions without a right answer.

Work is a pie-eating contest. [Money and Meaning] — “I like pie, but not that much. A couple bites is lagom for me, thank you very much. Eating a whole slice is mostly OK, but I don’t desire another slice the next day. Or the days after and after. So when I watch hard-working person go after it, I always think: ‘Too much pie!’ and wonder what’s driving them. What’s the emotional need behind this need to work so much. Fear? Ambition? Status?” [Before reading this, I think it’s helpful to have read a previous column from Douglas: Deep satisfaction in enoughness.]

My last link today has nothing to do with personal finance, but it’s cool nonetheless. It’s a site called The Electric Typewriter. It has a single purpose: Index great articles and essays by the world’s best journalists and writers. For me, anyhow, this site is a source for months (years?) of reading. I think you’ll like it too.

Okay. I’m outta here. I’ll be back tomorrow to take you into the weekend…

Good Morning Plutus family! Before you dive into these great articles, we want to invite all content creators, and your friends to join us for our free Content Creator Happy Hour in New York City on Thursday, October 6th at 6:30pm. If you like to attend, Please register here.

Here’s what we wanted to share with you this week.

The Millionaire Mindset: Javascript-ing Your Frontal Lobe. [InvestmentSoup.com] — “Anyone can acquire the Millionaire Mindset, even those not seeking a 7 figure net worth. You could have the millionaire mindset as a garbage collector, a waiter, or a CEO, it doesn’t matter, it’s simply ‘javascript-ing’ your mind.” (Submitted by J. Money.)

I Used My Emergency Fund, and I Liked It. [She Picks Up Pennies] — “The first mistake we make when we talk about emergency funds is talk about making money from them. I have no interest in making money on my emergency fund, and neither should you. I don’t view it as an asset. Instead, I look at it as a safety device. It’s a form of insurance. I want it to exist and hope to never need it.” (Submitted by J. Money.)

A Stronger Bond. [Humble Dollar] — “SERIES I SAVINGS bonds might be the best-performing investment in folks’ portfolios this year. With steep losses in both the stock and bond markets, I bond’s 9.62% current yield looks like a home run. But the playing field could be shifting.” (Submitted by Tarsha.)

Good morning, my friends, and welcome to another week. This is J.D. Roth and you’re reading Apex Money, your source for curated stories about how to master your money — and your life. Let’s see what we have for you today…

Whatever happened to the starter home? [New York Times gift article] — “The disappearance of such affordable homes is central to the American housing crisis. The nation has a deepening shortage of housing. But, more specifically, there isn’t enough of this housing: small, no-frills homes that would give a family new to the country or a young couple with student debt a foothold to build equity. The affordable end of the market has been squeezed from every side.”

Generosity: No act of kindness is too small. [One Frugal Girl] — “Years ago, I couldn’t imagine ditching my stingy tendencies. Now I readily share my wealth. What changed? I began challenging my assumptions and finding new ways to give. Here are a few ways to give more generously if you are afraid to do so.”

How understanding the Marginal Utility of Money will make you happier. [The Happy Philosopher] — “Each additional dollar acquired becomes less valuable because it brings us a smaller bit of utility than the one before it. Each unit of time we trade for that depreciating money is more precious. How much is your time worth when you’re on your death bed? How much money would you trade for a few more days? Would you work or spend it doing something else?”

Incentives are the most powerful force in the world. [Collaborative Fund] — “You, me, everyone – is susceptible to and more influenced by than we want to admit: Incentives are the most powerful force in the world and can get people to justify or defend almost anything. When you understand how powerful incentives can be, you stop being surprised when the world lurches from one absurdity to the next.”

To finish things today, here’s a twelve-minute Brazilian animated film entitled “Way of Giants”. It’s beautiful, mysterious, and evocative — a wordless exploration of the circle of life.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aSnTTzfR1E

And that’s it for Monday. I’ll be back tomorrow with more great stuff. See you then…

Happy Friday!

To start off the final day of the work week, I wanted to point to a quick and short post that packs a punch. It comes from Thomas Kopelman, a financial advisor and blogger, and highlights the dangers of some types of (financial) self-talk.

Oftentimes, we fall into these traps without even realizing it and, hopefully, this post can highlight some of those thoughts so you can catch them before they take hold.

The Most Dangerous Phrases In Personal Finance [The Long Game] – “Most people convince themselves that what they are doing is okay. Here are some of the most dangerous phrases people tell themselves that lead to poor financial decisions that you should avoid:

1. “I deserve this.” This is something people often say before they make a spur of the moment, huge purchase. Instead, take a week before you make any huge purchases, this will help you avoid splurging on things you don’t actually want.”

The Spectacular Collapse Of Cryptokitties, The First Big Blockchain Game [IEEE Spectrum] – “Today, CryptoKitties is lucky to break 100 sales a day, and the total value is often less than $10,000. Large transactions, like the sale of Founder Cat #71 for 60 ether (roughly $170,000) on 30 April 2022, do still occur—but only once every few months. Most nonfungible fur-babies sell for tiny fractions of 1 ether, worth just tens of dollars in July 2022.”

And before we glide into the weekend, here’s a fun short film – One-Minute Time Machine (some language and adult themes, but really funny):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBkBS4O3yvY

Enjoy the weekend!

When I left my defense industry job to work on my blog full-time, I was confident I could go back “later.”

I hoped I didn’t need to but a “software engineer with a clearance” is a software engineer with a job. Your coding and design skills might degrade or fall behind a little bit but you can jump back in pretty quickly.

But what if you’re a physician? That’s what today’s first post is about – not all jobs were like mine. You can’t just jump back into being an anesthesiologist. POF has a good point… “To be frank, if I were in need of a medical procedure, I would not want to have a surgeon, anesthesiologist, interventional radiologist or cardiologist who is in his first few days back after an extended absence of many months.” Me too!

Three Years of FIRE and the Point of No Return [Physician on FIRE] – “I’ve been asked many times if I might go back to work as a physician. My early answer was “probably not” and the likelihood needle has moved closer and closer to zero ever since.”

Your % Savings Rate Is The Most Important Number [The Escape Artist] – “Without a freedom fund, your boss owns you. Having a six month freedom fund means being able to quit on your own schedule or at least wait for a good job to come around after you get laid off, rather than having to take the first one that comes along. That can be life changing. The bigger the freedom fund, the more time, options and runway you have.”

Mark Rober is awesome – I’m so glad he’s one of the most popular Youtubers out there because his videos are really good. This one, Beating 5 Scam Arcade Games with Science, is great for several reasons.

First, engineering is cool. It’s fun to see the contraptions he’s built to beat arcade games.

Next, you also learn which games are scams and how to win. That’s all find and dandy but there’s another (secret) reason I love them.

I show it to our kids so THEY know which games are scams and they don’t ask to play games that are scams. This makes me happy because I don’t have to frustratingly try to convince them that they’re scams. If you’ve ever tried to convince a kid not to play a game, you’ll know how fruitless that can be. This video solves so many problems at once. (so does this one about carnival games – which I love even more)

Enjoy!