Howdy, I was standing in a hotel elevator a few weeks ago when I eavesdropped on bits of a conversation. A few folks were talking about going to a strip club the night before. One fellow said, “The stage was carpeted with money. America is back, baby.” To which a woman laughed and replied, “Or we’re in a steady decline.” This moment of rapidly rising prices (inflation) we’re experiencing reminded me of that exchange. There are too many dollars chasing not enough goods. The economy is hot; we’re back, baby. But the steady decline comes when a hot economy squeezes folks with prices that are jumping up too quickly to keep up with. To quote John Maynard Keynes in The Economic Consequences of the Peace, “There is no subtler, no surer means of overturning the existing basis of society than to debauch the currency.” Before you spiral into in an existential doom, the good news is that Federal Reserve announced an increase interest rates, with several increases to follow, in an attempt to cool down the economy and to ease inflationary pressures. It’ll take time and we’ll have to wait to see if it works. In the meantime, I’d love to know how you folks are faring with inflation these days. Where are you the feeling the squeeze and what are you doing to cope? Don’t be shy, hit reply. Your favorite finance friend,
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1. 👴 How to Save for Retirement When You’re Just Starting Out (Glamour) I weighed in on things you can do in your 20s to set your future self up for financial success. 2. 👍 Federal Reserve approves first interest rate hike in more than three years, sees six more ahead (CNBC) 3. 📈 Related: Inflation Lessons From the 1970s (The Daily) Painful lessons from the past have helped convince policymakers that quickly raising interest rates is the way to combat rising prices. An excellent inflation explainer. 4. 👩💻 Memberships Work (Craig Mod) A wonderfully detailed read on running a membership. This piece is inspiring because Craig is someone carving their own path and creating a financial base that allows for a life of creativity. 5. 🤓 A bookkeeping thing - What is a tax extension and is it right for you? (HYG Original) Tax day is fast approaching. If you aren’t ready to file, an extension could be a good strategy, but if you don't file please don't imagine SWAT teams at your door either. There are options; you can do this. 6. 🤑 After the best year in history to be among the super-rich, one of America’s 745 billionaires wonders: ‘What’s enough? What’s the answer?’ (The Washington Post) “12 more hours anchored to the chair in his office, monitoring the market and calling in to his trading desk again and again as the sun reflected off the swimming pool outside his window. The market fell. The market rose. He bought $3 million in distressed bonds. He gave another $5 million away to charity. He was $18 million up for the day. He was $6 million down. He was beating the market again by mid-morning, losing at lunch, winning an hour later, and then losing again. 'Does it make any sense?' he asked himself, watching the numbers change on his screen. 'To sit inside all day in front of a machine, making money I don’t need so I can give it to someone I don’t know?'” 7. 🛵 What Food Delivery Will Look Like in the Future, According to Those Building the Framework (Eater) “Having the same means-tested dinner options on every corner (or app) in America does not create value, but neither does scarcity. Opening an app and hiring someone to drive to your house with some burgers and sodas does not have to be an inherently exploitative task. It is pretty objectively a nice thing to have. Using a drone to deliver medicine to people who may live up to 50 miles from the closest pharmacy? Also, in a vacuum, a great idea. What’s exploitative is the way it functions: These apps, services, and even restaurants are not built from the standpoint that every worker should be making a living wage on every order. Instead, they’re built on the idea that waiting or effort is the same thing as being denied, and on the fact that building a business on the backs of exploited workers isn’t considered a fundamentally failed model.” 8. 👨🏫 How to Look Rich (The Cut) “Looking wealthy goes deeper than what you wear, he told me. It’s in the details. It’s about knowing a certain high-end papermaker in Venice. It’s about not merely having a preferred bottle of wine but having been to the vineyard. It’s about wearing a white silk suit on a rainy day in New York because you have a driver to ferry you through the gray slush. 'It kind of permeates into every facet of your life.'”
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