The Sunday Drive - 06/18/2023 Edition
Musings and Meanderings of a Financial Provocateur
👋🏼 Hello friends,
Greetings from Saratoga Springs, NY! To all the fathers who are reading this, I’d like to wish you a Happy Father’s Day!
Now, let's take it easy and enjoy a leisurely Sunday Drive around the internet.
Vibin'
Although I was no longer a teenager when most of the wonderful 1980s John Hughes coming of age films were made, I still enjoyed them immensely. None more so than the 1985 release, The Breakfast Club. The film is essentially about a diverse group of kids trying to figure themselves out, and each other too.
A bit of a metaphor for the ongoing identity crisis in our economy, indeed our society right now, don’t you think?
I hope you enjoy vibin’ with me to Wang Chung’s Fire in the Twilight, my favorite from The Breakfast Club soundtrack.
💭 Quote of the Week
“My father gave me the greatest gift anyone could give another person, he believed in me.” - Jim Valvano
(This is what I pray my children say about me when I’m gone.)
📈 Chart of the Week
With all the fear and loathing about Artificial Intelligence (AI) cannibalizing everyone’s job, I suggest that some many (most?) jobs are quite safe. In fact, there are some for which demand exceeds supply, and the demographic headwinds are only increasing.
🚙 Interesting Drive-By's
📈 Compounding Optimism - from the always insightful, Morgan Housel
I think part of the reason pessimism is so much easier and more common than optimism is that compound growth is not intuitive.
It’s hard to imagine, say, our incomes doubling over the next few generations. That seems like such a massive leap, like we’d have to boil the ocean to get it done. But doubling the average income over 30 years works out to about 2.3% growth per year. It’s not crazy at all. It’s actually quite achievable. What made it seem so ambitious to begin with is that compound growth is easy to underestimate.
If you look at the end result of a long period of compounding, it’s astounding. But all it took to get it done was little bits of incremental growth strung together for a long time.
All progress is like that.
🥰 This video will restore your faith in humanity. It’s a wonderful example of bravery, compassion, generosity, and grace under pressure. If you can make the time, it’s well worth the 11 minutes to watch.
💰 Ageism Affects Retirement Income Planning - from Larry Frank of Rethinking65
Merriam-Webster defines ageism as “prejudice or discrimination against a particular age-group and especially the elderly.” We’ve heard about and maybe have personally experienced ageism in the workplace and in social situations. The planning profession unintentionally suffers from a mild form of ageism, too, toward clients, when we ignore the aging effect on our software modeling and calculations or dismiss the importance income planning has for more elderly clients.
There are several reasons.
We know that our older retired clients have different planning needs than younger retirees. Yet, there is no systematic nor gradual transition for modeling cash flows and balances as one ages, especially into very old ages.
The software hasn’t caught up.
🤔 The Cost of Greatness - from Evan Armstrong’s Napkin Math newsletter
There is a reason why lots of creatives struggle with addiction, or why many investors I know are on their third spouse. Money and power never come cheap. The only great I should want is a great life.
👋🏼 Parting Thought
If you have any cool articles or ideas that might be interesting for future Sunday Drive-by's, please send them along or tweet 'em at me.
I hope you have a relaxing weekend and a great week ahead. See you next Sunday...
Your faithful financial provocateur,
-Mike
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