| Bite-sized money insights across a broad range of topics—from budgeting, taxes, buying a car or home, to investing, equity comp, crypto and more. |
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| Here's the Gist today Happy Thursday Origin Member. Financial regrets are extremely common; over 80% of people admit having them. In recent years though, what do you think is the most commonly regretted purchase? Is it — A. Crypto B. A house, or C. A car Here are the topics for today: - Inflation's Stubbornness Remains
- What Are The Most Common Financial Regrets?
- What Does Gen Z Want Out of Work?
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| Inflation's Stubbornness Remains |
Inflation has come down noticeably from its peak at 9.1% in mid-2022 and had fallen all the way to 3% by last June. The problem is, it hasn't made much progress since — if anything, it's been stuck. After bottoming out at 3% in June 2023, our monthly CPI report has meandered around between 3% and 3.5% (year-over-year) ever since, failing to make any further progress towards the Federal Reserve's 2% target. After a series of record-breaking rate hikes in 2022 followed by 4 more increases last year, most of us (including the Fed), went into 2024 hoping for some eventual rate cuts this year. Now, the hopes of that look bleak. Inflation's stubbornness Yesterday's CPI report, showed a 3.5% YoY increase in aggregate prices, up from 3.2% for February and 0.4% on a monthly basis. This report just scratches the surface, really. "Core inflation", the Fed's preferred measure of inflation which tracks price changes minus volatile commodities like food and energy, was up 4.8% year-over-year in March, making things look even worse. As we discussed last week, these CPI numbers don't paint the full picture of how much prices have increased for the average consumer. Rate cuts might be on the back burner for now Murmurs amongst Fed officials and consumers alike were already pointing out how, despite being lower, inflation has become increasingly stubborn over the last 6 months. A year that began with the idea of a March rate cut in mind has quickly become a game of "wait and see", with the next opportunity for a cut being in June. The Federal Reserve began the year aiming for at least a few rate cuts in 2024, but the odds of that are growing increasingly longer as these reports unravel. In the wake of yesterday's data, Goldman Sachs and Barclays respectively reduced their outlooks from 3 to 2, and one single cut for the remainder of the year. What this means for consumers Credit card interest rates are already at record highs — don't expect them to start declining any time soon. Do all you can to avoid paying interest. Whether it's not carrying a revolving balance or utilizing a balance transfer credit card. Hopes for a decline in mortgage rates have been markedly damaged by inflation reports throughout Q1. If you were hoping to be able to refinance in 2024, it might be best to put that idea aside for the foreseeable future. Borrowing costs as a whole are up — debt costs something again. Whether it's a personal loan, a mortgage, a credit card, an auto loan, or more; be wary of the burden of the debt you're taking on. Be sure to meticulously analyze any debts you take on as it can get out of hand quickly. |
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| What Are The Most Common Financial Regrets? |
Regret is a presumptuous feeling, It assumes that if you did something differently, not only would all else remain equal, but the outcome would assuredly be better. It's a flawed comparison to draw, for sure, but it does come from a well-intentioned place. What regret really says is that; given what I knew at the time, the choice I made was sub-optimal, regardless of how it turned out. That's valid. Our most common regrets tend to come in areas like romance, education, career, parenting, and most patently — money. Money regrets are common A recent survey by Quicken revealed that roughly 80% of Americans have financial regrets. Should we be surprised by this? Not really. Something that all of those common regret areas have in common is that they're all extremely influential on our quality of life, and money might just be the pinnacle of them. What are the most common financial regrets though? Well, here's a list. - Too much credit card debt: 31%
- Not enough savings for emergencies: 28%
- Too little saved for retirement; too few long-term investments: 27%
- Overspending on a house (23%) and overspending on a vehicle (21%).
Other common regrets were: Not prioritizing income (20%), not enough short-term investments (20%), not enough saved for children's education (16%), and having too much student loan debt (11%). The best way to avoid these types of remorse is through planning "You live and you learn" as the saying goes. While it might be true that the purest and most impactful way to learn is through experience, it's also the most expensive way to learn. Sure, some things can only be picked up from experience, but that's not the case with most common financial regrets. Almost all of these can be avoided to some degree with enough learning, planning, and eventually — intentional actions. Many regrets like these stem from aimlessly wandering into a financial decision, just kind of going with the flow without a specific end goal in mind or consideration for how this might impact your finances in the long run.
Do the opposite of this. Learn, plan, set specific goals, and do all of it preemptively. Not every decision will work out and you'll still make mistakes or have regrets, but making money moves with thought behind them will save you from a lot of these mishaps.
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| What Does Gen Z Want Out of Work? |
Gen Z is defined as individuals born between 1997 and 2012. This means that pretty much all Gen Z members who've entered the workforce in recent years have done so during the post-pandemic era — a time when remote or hybrid working arrangements are the norm, and employee benefits are a priority. That understood, it's easy to see why Gen Z might have some unique preferences and demands when it comes to their work life. What does Gen Z want from their employers? Flexibility: Among Gen Z participants in a recent survey, only 11% said they wanted a fully in-person role, and 26% said they wanted "mostly" in-person. That leaves the remaining 63% preferring either fully remote or some form of hybrid arrangement. 36% of those want an even split of both, 13% want mostly remote, and 14% want fully remote.
Unique benefits including student debt assistance and financial wellness benefits are also atop their list. Almost 70% of respondents said debt would impact their job search decisions, making them drawn to benefits like tuition repayment in the form of 401(k) matches, financial education benefits, and mental health considerations.
Gen Z is also not a fan of the typical corporate lingo. Thanks to the internet, they're one of the most candid and transparent generations yet, all but shunning traditional norms and sometimes boundaries. Punctuation and capitalization in Slack messages — what for? Fair enough.
Gen Z is also a big fan of mentorship — have they been watching too much Tai Lopez? No, they just see a genuine value in it. According to an Adobe report, 82% of Gen Z participants said that having a workplace mentor to help guide them, get a foothold, and help them feel secure in their new role. |
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| By the way 🚗 Yep, it's C., a car —with an average cost of $33,000 over the last two years. (Consumer Affairs) 💵 4 money moves to consider in April (Money.com) 🌕 Airbnbs along the eclipse path see record low vacancy (Axios) 🦾 Elon & friends are reportedly racing to get into the AI game, aiming to raise $3B (Fortune) |
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