Apex Money Posts

Welcome to the last day of the year! Before we wave good-bye to 2021, I’m here with a few final financial stories to share with you.

What are the most satisfying products and services you’ve ever purchased? [/r/fatFIRE on Reddit] — “Someone posted a question asking how to ensure they get the best product. It got me thinking about the most satisfying products and experiences I’ve consumed in my life. Thought I’d share mine and ask others to share as well.” This is, essentially, a list of expensive things that rich people have bought that they believe were worth the money.

My silent battle with inflation. [Happily Disengaged] — “A few weeks ago inflation came to slap me in the face as I sat in my car ordering two Starbucks coffees with my wife. I thought the dude taking the order had just got my order wrong. So when I pulled up to the window I asked him to repeat the order, then the price…$8 for two coffees! Shit. And I still went through with the transaction.”
How to arrange for your digital legacy. [The Verge] — “If you’re reading this, odds are that you’ve got a lot of digital stuff, both on your own devices and floating around in the cloud: backups, photos, tweets, Facebook messages, texts, you name it. If you’re no longer around to pay attention, these can hang around for a very long time — and some of it may be important to your survivors. (For example, who else has the passwords to your bank accounts and credit cards?)”

To close out 2021, here’s one last video. It’s a mix of fun and financial. Loyal reader Julie (who also writes the awesome One Frugal Girl blog) sent us a 17-minute YouTube segment from Wendover Productions that explains how the airlines quietly became banks.

This is fascinating stuff. If you have a few minutes, you should watch it. The bottom line is that airlines lose money on their core business, transportation. They earn their money on their loyalty programs. No wonder airlines pitch their credit cards so hard!

That’s it for this year. We’ll be back in 2022 with more great stuff. See you then.

Good morning, money nerds, and welcome to the second-to-last day of the year! Here at Apex, it’s just a day like any other, which means I’ve gathered some recent cool money news to share with you. Take a look!

How to take control of your time next year. [Women Who Money] — “In my daily routines, I get urgent tasks done. But I wasn’t using blocks of time or scheduling consistent time to work on my resolutions or goals. Nor was I giving a time limit to mindlessly scrolling social media or checking emails.”

Daily habits that can change your life forever. [Becoming Minimalist] — “The direction of our lives is decided more by the daily choices we make than anything else. And these choices are more influential to the person we are becoming than we often realize. Habits become ingrained, automatic, and often slowly creep into your life so subtly that they become routine. So if you want to change your life, start by changing one thing that you do each day.”

Do retirees want constant, increasing, or decreasing consumption? [research paper from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College] — “When households have assets and their health, they keep real consumption relatively flat over their retirement. This pattern is evident when comparing wealthy and healthy households separately and when the top tercile is ranked by health status. For those with less wealth or with health issues, consumption declines more over time…But the results suggest that the decline most likely reflects wealth and health constraints as opposed to true preferences.”

That’s all I have for you today. Come back tomorrow for one final Apex installment for 2021. It’s gotta be good, right?

Welcome, my friends, to another day of Apex Money. As always, Jim and I are out here scouring the interwebs for the most interesting stories about how to master your money — and your life. Here’s what we have for you today.

“Nine things I learned about productivity this year.” [Raptitude] — “In 2021 I began to dissect my lifelong problem of severe procrastination, instead of just wrestling with it…One thing that helped a lot was distilling my observations about the machine into a dozen or so single-sentence ‘laws’ that describe how productivity and procrastination seem to work, at least for me.” [David’s articles always seem like they’ve been written directly to me.]

Single women outpace male counterparts in homebuying. [San Bernardino Sun] — “Homebuyer surveys conducted by the National Association of Realtors over the past 40 years show single females have made up the second-largest demographic among U.S. homebuyers since 1981, steadily overshadowing single guys in the housing market.”

“How we’ve lived on one income for 20 years.” [Women Who Money] — “Living on one salary isn’t for everyone. Each family’s circumstances are different. But we’re fortunate to be able to make it work for us. Hopefully, sharing our story and tips helps other families consider living (and thriving) on one income!”

“My annual budgeting process.” [Budgets Are Sexy] — “Today I’m gonna run through a quick overview of my annual and monthly budgeting process. It’s super simple and doesn’t take me much time — about an hour at the start of every year and 20-30 mins each month.”

By far the biggest cognitive dissonance in my own personal life is this: I believe strongly that animals are smarter than most people credit (and that they lead rich emotional lives) — yet I am an avid carnivore. I love meat. This personal moral crash makes me feel guilty AF…yet I only occasionally commit myself to plant-based eating.

Anyhow, last week I found this 15-minute video that shows a guy keeping a grocery-store lobster as a pet. It’s fascinating. And it’s challenging my status as a self-described “meatatarian” one again…

I’ve long refused to eat octopus because they’re simply too smart and too intelligent. (Yet, I still eat pig. I am a bad man.) Turns out many researchers believe lobster are almost as intelligent as octopi. I don’t eat lobster often. Now, maybe I never will.

Okay, that’s all for today. I’ll see you again tomorrow with more good stuff!

Hello hello, Apexians! Sorry I missed yesterday’s update. I blame the Christmas holiday. And snow. We don’t get much snow here in Oregon’s Willamette Valley, and we especially don’t get snow that sticks around. But we got a bunch over the past couple of days, and I’ve been enjoying the weather instead of looking at money articles.

But have no fear. I won’t leave you hanging for two days in a row. Here are some of the stories I browsed today while taking a break from shoveling sidewalks…

I’m 70 years old and can’t spend my savings. [Bogleheads] — “I’m 70, live in northeast U.S. Wife one year younger. I have $6 million in investments and a $1 million mortgage-free house. No debt. $60,000/year in social security (starting right now) and $25,000/year in income from my part-time job as a lawyer (mostly as arbitrator, work from home (before Covid) low stress). I can’t spend money without feelings of anxiety. it’s really painful.”

This block used to be for first-time homebuyers. Then global investors bought in. [The Washington Post] — “These new corporate landlords present serious competition for aspiring home buyers like the Baltimores. The couple has been seeking for years to buy an affordable house for themselves and their three children, now 11, 7 and 6. They want what many families want: good schools and a quiet neighborhood. Global investors, it turns out, were shopping for the same.” [This is a very real problem, and one of the main reasons home prices are so high right now.]

The sad death of the American mall. [Slate] — “The afterlife of a dead mall is interesting. Schools are moving into malls; some students are completing high school in a converted Macy’s in Vermont. A Dillard’s in Texas is now a radio station. Malls are becoming home to community colleges and libraries and offices. The Eastmont Town Center in Oakland, California, is home to a Center for Elders’ Independence, Social Security offices, and a lab.”

Lastly, here’s a silly little 2-1/2 minute video from Big Red Button on YouTube that explores the question: What would your life be like if you sold all your stuff and spend the money hiring people to do everything for you?

It’s not really serious about answering this question. But it’s short and amusing and worth a watch.

Okay, that’s it for today. Assuming no blizzard tonight, I’ll be back again tomorrow with more great money stories. Snow you then. 😉

It’s the night before Christmas and all through the house are all of our kids running around. 🙂

If you celebrate Christmas, Merry Christmas. If you don’t, Happy Holidays and I wish you and your family the best. Thank you for reading and supporting Apex Money this year, this will be my (Jim’s) last post of the year as you’ll get a full dose of J.D. to round out 2021!

Have a relaxing rest of your year!

Post FI Notes 013: ESI Money Reflects on 5 Years of Early Retirement [Physician on FIRE] – This one is a fun interview with John from ESI Money, a “financial site that focuses on earning, saving, and investing (ESI) as the three steps to wealth.” I’ve known John in the blogging circles for what’s now close to 16 years. ESI Money is his second (third? I’ve lost count) money blog and all the OGs in personal finance may remember his first site, Free Money Finance. This very moment I am still using a Denali Moostracks mousepad I got from him when he was writing FMF. 🙂

How the man behind Trader Joe’s turned extra-large eggs into a grocery store empire [CNBC] – Some great stories about Joe Coulumbo, Mr. Trader Joe himself. I love these behind the scenes types of stories.

What the Mouse Knows [The Map is Mostly Water] – “The point of maps, guides, and scripts is to distill important information, though in practice it usually means to distill only easy-to-access information. All summaries are compression, and learning to see means looking for the valuable things that are lost in compression. Prosperity is found in seeking the asymmetries in a world that is forever being painted with artificial symmetry.”

Finally, an idea to ruminate on as we enter the peak of holiday season:

This wallet bought roughly $8,000 of $SHIB last August.

It's now worth $5.7 billion.

From $8,000 to $5.7 billion in roughly 400 days.

We may actually be looking at the greatest individual trade of all time. pic.twitter.com/LtdgQ83bKP

— Morning Brew ☕️ (@MorningBrew) October 27, 2021

👀

“What got you here, won’t get you there” is a phrase I think about a lot.

It’s the idea that what got you to where you are may not fit what gets you to the “next level,” whatever that may be.

There are a lot of things I did when I was younger that helped me achieve the success that I’ve enjoyed. One prime example is a lot of fun quirky side hustles. I did them because 1) I liked making extra cash 2) it satisfied an intellectual curiosity.

The challenge is that it’s also quite distracting. This was fine when I was single, working a 9-to-5 job (or when I was in college), and had relatively few responsibilities or constraints. It would no longer serve me to have a dozen side hustles – it would only take my attention away from the handful of things that are important.

This first post for today talks about this in a bit of an adjacent way. The post has quite a long build up but the pay off is important. The concept of enough, and how you change as a person (vs. moving goalposts but you remaining the “same”) is an important idea. The power of the post is that it continues beyond this idea and starts to explain why someone with massive amounts of wealth would risk it all (or more) just to get even more.

The Many Worlds of Enough [Lawrence Yeo] – “One thing I need to clarify here: this view is very different from the traditional idea of goalpost moving. Goalpost moving implies that once you hit a certain goal, you’ll shift it higher because of whatever new desires emerge. So when we advise people to leave the goalpost as is, we do so by reminding them to think back to the past, and how happy they would have been to be where you’re at now.”

OK this next one is kind of funny in a sad way if you’ve worked in a dysfunctional work environment – General Interference with Organizations and Production [OSS’s Simple Sabotage Field Manual, the OSS would become the CIA after World War 2] – “When possible, refer all matters to committees, for “further study and consideration.” Attempt to make the committees as large as possible – never less than five. Bring up irrelevant issues as frequently as possible. Haggle over precise wordings of communications, minutes, resolutions.”

This last one is so good!

Bros., Lecce: We Eat at The Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever [The Everywhereist] – “There is something to be said about a truly disastrous meal, a meal forever indelible in your memory because it’s so uniquely bad, it can only be deemed an achievement. The sort of meal where everyone involved was definitely trying to do something; it’s just not entirely clear what.” So much fun to read. And the photos! The citrus foam one is the one that got me. No thank you.

The pandemic was a massive wake up call for a lot of people. Whether it was about their health, their work, their money, or all of the things – I think people will adjust the way they approach aspects of their life.

The Great Realization is just one aspect of this worth noting:

Great Resignation? How About Great Realization [Katrina Kibben’s Blog] – “People want to work. I won’t discuss that. They don’t want to work for a wage that doesn’t pay for their life. They don’t want to go into offices during a global pandemic. They are tired of your subpar parental leave and benefits.

But people want to work. They want to dream. They want a good life, whatever that means to them.

Now they also know their value.”

Turning your labor into wealth [EAT Money] – “Any activity in personal finance is ultimately about wealth creation. Wealth in any form can then be optimized to achieve your goals. Whether these goals are to buy your freedom or buy that mansion you’ve been dreaming of, its hard to do it without wealth.”

He Created The Oregon Trail [Slate] – “Fifty years ago this winter, a young student teacher by the name of Don Rawitsch introduced his eighth grade American history class to a computer game on westward expansion that he had developed along with his colleagues Bill Heinemann and Paul Dillenberger. The game, called The Oregon Trail, would go on to sell over 65 million copies, many of them to educational institutions, making it one of the bestselling games of all time, right up there with Super Mario Bros. and Tetris. But when I talked to Rawitsch recently, he said that when he first came up with the idea, making money was the furthest thing from his mind.”

I love a good thrill ride.

Actually I don’t, much like my investing, I prefer my rides to be entertaining and not terribly “thrilling.” I’m more of a Peter Pan rider than a Space Mountain guy (though, Space Mountain is tame enough for me).

But I do enjoy watching people go on rides! Which is exactly what I did when it came to meme stonks, crypto, etc:

What happened to 2021’s biggest thrill-rides for investors? [Monevator] – “The headlines typically only report rags-to-riches tales or train wrecks. But how are things going if you only jumped aboard some of 2021’s biggest investing thrill rides when they were hot?

And you forgot to get off? Forget ‘follow the money’, let’s follow the emojis! 🚀🚀🚀”

I was surprised at the continued strength of some of those investments.

How to Protect Against Inflation [Banker on Wheels] – “To reduce the impact of high unexpected inflation on your portfolio returns you may consider Inflation-linked Bond ETFs, investing in physical Real Estate, or Equities with business models having the ability to pass on costs. Choosing a Government Bond ETF with low duration can also mitigate impact.”

The lost neighborhood under New York’s Central Park [Vox] – The story the building of Central Park in New York City and of Seneca Village, one of the casualties of the park. Very good.

Hello, Apexians, and welcome to Friday. No fancy lead-in today. Let’s just dive into our links.

Is college worth it? A comprehensive return-on-investment analysis. [The Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity] — “Most students attend college in order to get a better job with a higher salary. But the financial returns to college vary widely depending on the institution a student attends and the subject he or she studies. While prospective students often ask themselves whether college is worth it, the more important question is how they can make college worth it.”

Are you prepared for a prosperous 2022? [Women Who Money] — “A financial plan can provide a road map for the upcoming year and help you stay on track. Somewhere between the eggnog and the bubbly, carve out some time to establish your financial goals and strategy for 2022. To make your money goals a reality, an actionable plan is ideal. After all, planning without action won’t yield results.”

The many worlds of enough. [More to That] — “The world of Enough you occupy today is completely foreign to the one you occupied a decade ago, as it should be. But how did you arrive here? Was your trend primarily sculpted through external events like lifestyle shifts, pay changes, and new environments? How much course correction have you done after conducting an honest audit of your ambitions? Have you done this at all?” [This is a great article.]

There’s more to investing than just risk and return. [Morningstar] — “The more I know, the more I can’t be bothered with the arcane, the volatile, the hard to understand. Instead, I crave simplicity, peace of mind, and the ability to be asleep at the switch and know that things will be OK. I also put a big premium on my time. If an investment requires frequent monitoring, I’m out.”

The great organic food fraud. [The New Yorker] — “A farm’s organic certification is good for a year. It doesn’t get used up by sales. If a farmer has only a dozen organic apple trees, but agrees to sell you a million organic apples, you’re unlikely to learn that you have a problem merely by looking at the orchard’s certification.”

I’m afraid that’s all I have for you today. No fun video or anything! Jim will be back to take you into Christmas, then I’ll see you again in ten days to guide you into 2022. See you then!

Hello there, my friend, and welcome to another day of Apex Money, another day of exploring the best money stories from around the web. Here’s what I’ve gathered for you today.

The upgrade effect. [Accidental Fire] — “This study highlights the fact that in today’s environment of unlimited everything and better versions every week, achieving financial independence demands an awareness of the behavioral tripwires that cross our paths everyday.”

A breakdown of Americans’ monthly credit card spending. [Visual Capitalist] — “Credit card spending is based on anonymized data from Personal Capital users, who tend to have a higher-than-average net worth…Therefore, the credit card spending amounts may be higher than those of the general U.S. population. It’s also worth noting that the data reflects credit card spending only. It does not include expenses such as mortgage or rental payments, which are typically paid through other methods.”

How the FBI discovered a real-life Indiana Jones in, of all places, rural Indiana. [Vanity Fair] — “One evening […] in October 2013, Carpenter — an FBI agent — heard his phone ringing at his home in Indianapolis. His supervisor was calling to tell him of an anonymous tip about a man in rural Indiana named Don Miller. The tipster said Miller was an amateur archaeologist who’d amassed a vast collection of artifacts, especially Native American items. Inside his home, the person claimed, were skulls, bones, and entire skeletons.”

Beneath the bird feeder. [Carla Rhodes] — “‘Beneath The Bird Feeder’ is a photographic project starring many feathered (and furred) visitors. Subjects were photographed daily via a DSLR camera trap positioned underneath my bird feeder during the winter months of 2020-2021. This project reveals insights into species behavior while showing the viewer a new perspective on a common pastime.”

Today’s video features is sort of related to money, for once. It’s a 20-minute piece from Benn Jordan that explains how a well-respected New York Times reporter is, essentially, bilking hundreds of musicians out of royalties on their music. It’s a long, complicated cautionary tale about the importance of reading contracts. (And about how there’s no such thing as a free lunch.)

And that’s all I have. I’ll be back tomorrow to take you into the weekend. Until then, stay healthy and grow wealthy!