Hey hey, Apexians, welcome to Monday. We’re back with more great personal-finance stories from around the web. You ready for this?
Why this computer scientist says all cryptocurrency should ‘die in a fire’. [Current Affairs] — “So the stock market and the bond market are a positive-sum game. There are more winners than losers. Cryptocurrency starts with zero-sum. So it starts with a world where there can be no more winning than losing. We have systems like this. It’s called the horse track. It’s called the casino. Cryptocurrency investing is really provably gambling in an economic sense. And then there’s designs where those power bills have to get paid somewhere. So instead of zero-sum, it becomes deeply negative-sum.”
The world’s a mess, so these folks have stopped saving for tomorrow. [The New York Times, so possible paywall] — “In a tumultuous time, many adults under 35 have stopped playing it safe. Instead of banking as much of their pay as they used to, they’re saving less, spending more and pursuing passion projects or risky careers…A recent study by Fidelity Investments found that 45 percent of people aged 18 to 35 ‘don’t see a point in saving until things return to normal.'”
That NYT piece is largely sensationalist alarmism of the sort I dislike. But it’s interesting. I like my buddy Douglas’ response to it better…
“How can I save when I fear there might not be a future?” [Douglas Tsoi] — “I think personal finance, like deciding to have children, is about hope. It’s accepting the despair and embracing it with field of love. It’s about humility. It’s understanding that the future is unknowable, even while our brains/egos are wired for pessimism. As Mark Twain said: ‘I have had a lot of troubles in life, and some of them even happened.'”
Lastly, just for fun, here are the results of the 13th annual Trader Joe’s customer choice awards. Kim and I don’t shop at TJ’s regularly; we only head there for certain items. (I love their truffle potato chips and their salsa autentica.) Part of me wonders what would happen if I chose to make TJ’s my only grocery store for three months. Could I do it? Would I like it?
In any event, this is the company’s official list of their customers’ favorite products. Last weekend, on a lark, I went through my local store and bought as many of these as I could find. I’m going to work my way through them. So far, I’m scratching my head at bamba (what the hell is this stuff and why can’t I stop eating it?), and I’m not sure why people love the mini ice cream cones so much. Haven’t they tried the triple ginger snaps? They’re amazing!
And that’s all I have for you today. See you again tomorrow, friends…