Why hello, Apexians. It is I, J.D. Roth. I’ve returned from my extended hiatus to resume duties here at Apex Money. Once again, I’m scouring the web for the best stories about money — and more. My aim is to share all sorts of stories with you that can help you improve your money (and your life).
To begin my return to Apex, I’m going to link to a classic article from my partner here, Jim Wang. It’s a short piece with solid advice.
The prime directive of personal finance. [Wallet Hacks] — “Avoid committing future funds to spending obligations; commit them to saving obligations. Your money is a proxy for your time. When you commit future funds to spending obligations, you limit your options. When you commit future funds to saving, you expand your opportunities. If you follow this directive, and can recognize it in practice, you have 80%+ of all personal finance advice in just one sentence.”
“My recommendations for a happy life.” [Jim Westergren] — “For many years I used to think that what is important is doing things very well to a very good result. I no longer think like that, because it is wrong. What is much more important is doing the right thing. In other words it is actually better doing something mediocre but it is the right thing to do than doing something really good but it is the wrong thing to do. This idea was a game changer for me…”
It’s okay to be good but not great. [Outside] — “We’re told that striving to be great and never being satisfied are necessary to meet the ever increasing pressures and pace of today’s world. It’s the only route to success. But what is it all for? What does success even mean?”
To wrap up my first day back here at Apex, here’s a great music video. It’s a live performance from Kasey Chambers covering Eminem’s “Lose Yourself”.
This is a slow-burn performance. “Lose Yourself” is a classic by now, so even the first four minutes of this (which as gentle and acoustic) work well, but things really ramp up when the full band comes in midway through. I think this is great. I hope you will too.
That’s it for today. See you again tomorrow!