Dear Financial Samurai,
Sometimes, not everything turns out the way we expect.
On my flight to Honolulu (I’m here now), I ponied up an extra $59 to select a window seat in economy on top of my $1,060 last-minute ticket. When I arrived at my row, a mother was in the aisle seat with her 4-year-old son in the middle. Score! When flying domestic, I’m always worried about getting squished.
But instead of having more room, I ended up with less. The kid played a game on his iPad for over three hours, wildly swinging his right arm into my space. He randomly kicked me while taking off his shoes, and when he finally fell asleep, his legs stretched onto my thigh. It was annoying, but I didn’t mind too much. He sweetly offered me a cookie, and I was awake typing a couple of posts anyway.
All this to say, as an investor, you must keep an open mind and always expect the unexpected. Never get too hyped about a big win, because it can easily turn into a loss.
I didn’t expect America and Israel to attack Iran and still be engaged five weeks later. As a result, I also didn’t anticipate the S&P 500 breaking below its 200-day moving average of 6,600. No matter, I keep buying for my kids' custodial investment accounts.
Mixed Jobs Numbers
The March jobs report looked good on the surface, with 178,000 jobs added and the unemployment rate edging down to 4.3%. Revisions were small at 7,000, and bond yields ticked up slightly. (Note: this report was pre-war.)
However, the difference in job growth between foreign-born and native-born workers is striking, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The implication is uncomfortable. Either Americans are falling behind academically and skill-wise, or more companies are hiring lower-cost foreign workers instead.
As an investor, you actually want companies to find similar talent at a lower cost to boost profits. But if you’re an American worker, or a parent with children trying to break into the workforce, this is not a great trend.
While observing this, I also noticed universities advertising jobs specifically for foreign workers instead of their own American graduates. If you are a foreign worker, you likely welcome this. But if you are an American family considering paying big bucks for college, it’s worth asking what’s going on.
Because we live in a capitalist society where profits rule, there’s probably no stopping the broader globalization trend. Capital is fungible, and technology makes it easier than ever to hire from anywhere. However, I've never considered universities to be profit-driven institutions, which makes this shift more striking, unless they are intentionally prioritizing international alumni.
I’ve simply seen too many adult children still living at home after college because they can’t find a reasonable-paying job. As a result, I’m becoming more cautious about how to spend $400,000 on college in today’s dollars, or whether that money is better used to help my kids launch after graduation.
But maybe I’m missing something. If you are a foreign worker in America, I’d genuinely like to hear your perspective on why colleges are going this route and how to adapt.
See: American Universities Hiring H-1B Foreign Workers Seems Off
A View Can Be Improved
If you’re going to buy a property, I hope you buy one with a great view or a larger-than-normal lot. If you can get both at a reasonable price, even better. These attributes, along with a remodel and a functional layout, tend to command increasing demand over time.
But what if I told you that you may not be stuck with the view you currently have, or the view of a property you’re considering? With enough planning and patience, you may be able to boost your property’s value by 5% to 10%. On a large asset, that’s meaningful upside.
Check out: How To Improve Your Home’s View With Foresight And Patience
Too Lazy To Go On A Big Adventure Anymore
One of my New Year’s resolutions was to travel solo for half the number of days as the typical dad I surveyed. That number came out to 20 days. But when it came time to plan my big trip to Vietnam, a country I’ve only seen from the airport, I got lazy and didn’t follow through. I didn’t want to deal with an 18-hour journey and connecting flight. So instead, I booked the easiest route to Honolulu to see my parents.
I’ve traveled to over 60 countries, but all of that was before I turned 38. Now at 48, my enthusiasm for travel has clearly waned, even though I have the money to do so. If I were in my 20s or 30s, I would have booked the adventure without hesitation.
These days, it’s the same trips and activities on repeat. And that’s when it hit me. Maybe life isn’t actually speeding up. Maybe I’m just doing fewer new things worth remembering.
If you want to slow time down, besides leaving a soul-sucking job, you’ve got to deliberately seek out new experiences each year. New environments, new challenges, new discomfort. That’s what creates the memory markers that make a year feel full instead of forgettable.
Because one day, your body won’t cooperate. Your energy won’t be there. The window quietly closes without announcement. And the only thing left is the realization that you had the time, the money, and the freedom, but you chose comfort instead.
Don’t let that happen. Please don’t wait until you’re too old to explore the world.
Related: My Wife Took The Kids And Left Me
To your financial freedom,
Sam
If you’re a parent with debt, I encourage you to lock in an affordable term life insurance policy. Once you do, you’ll feel a tremendous sense of relief knowing your children will be OK no matter what happens. Getting matching 20-year term policies through Policygenius has been one of my favorite ongoing expenses.
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