Good afternoon,
Tom Brady won his 7th Super Bowl title last weekend. With a brand new team he joined this year and without much training camp. TB12 has played in 18% of all Super Bowls ever played (10/55) and has won 70% of the ones he’s played in. And he’s 43 years old. Astounding. We can pretty much put the GOAT quarterback discussion to bed. He’s very strict about his diet and fitness routine, see this article, https://nypost.com/article/tom-brady-diet-fitness-routines/
Would you follow that diet if it made you a GOAT? Me too.
Money can’t buy happiness. Or so the saying goes. But it can definitely buy more happiness than not having money.
Another saying goes, money isn’t the most important thing in the world. No it isn’t, but it’s right up there with oxygen.
This Wharton study found that people are actually happier when they make more money. Which isn’t all that surprising to the WMR, we’ve always believed that to a certain extent.
I like to quote Naval Ravikant, who said “Money won’t solve all your problems, but it will solve all your money problems.”
Of course, there is more to life than money. Here’s some Harvard research which says that relationships and social connection are the key to happiness,
And finally, it’s hard to be happy if you’re not healthy. This study says that it can work the other way around too. If you’re happier, you’ll be healthier.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200722170142.htm
Speaking of having money, here are some common traits of American millionaires. While $1 million may not be as much as it used to be, here are some pretty simple traits shared by millionaires.
They’re not saying that if you do these things you’ll become a millionaire, but they are saying that most millionaires do these things. So there may not be causation, but there is certainly correlation.
Well why isn’t $1 million as much as it used to be? Because Inflation. What exactly is inflation again? Do we have some on the horizon? Simply put, Inflation is the cost of stuff you buy going up. It does that every year, which is why your portfolio needs to grow every year. If it doesn’t, and you can’t buy the same stuff next year that you bought this year, your standard of living decreases. Which is not what you want ever, but especially during retirement. There are some investments which historically act as inflation hedges. Stocks, commodities, real estate and precious metals are a few of them. This article helps explain it.
The attached article makes the case that we may see more inflation in the future than we’ve seen in a while.
Did you lose your stimulus debit card? I got a call last week from a favorite client. She was slightly distressed because she had gotten her $600 stimulus payment in the form of a debit card and then had inadvertently thrown it away without activating it. Which is not an uncommon occurrence. You get an unsolicited debit card in the mail, aren’t sure exactly what it’s for, perhaps it’s a scam, and throw it away. Or even if you do know what it’s for, you mistakenly put it in the wrong pile of stuff and it gets discarded. No problem, I told her, I’m sure you’re not the only person this happened to, I’ll figure out how to get you another one. So I do some research, and sure enough, misplacing the stimulus card, they call it Economic Impact Payment (EIP) is a common issue. Call this number https://www.cnbc.com/2020/06/05/how-to-replace-your-stimulus-debit-card-if-you-threw-it-away.html and they’ll replace it for you.
So I pass along the info and 15 minutes later the client calls me back. “It won’t work. I can’t get through.” Hmmm. So I call with her on the line and she’s right, we cannot get through at all. Can’t maneuver the automated system and order a new card, can’t get to the main menu, can’t figure out how to talk to a person. Hmmm. Well that didn’t go so well. So now I do some more research, including calling the IRS directly. They tell me to call the same unresponsive phone number. I patiently explain that I’ve already tried that solution and it doesn’t seem to be working. Well, they tell me, now you can apply for your “recovery rebate credit.” My what? The recovery rebate credit, you apply for that when you file your income taxes for 2020. Of course you do. Here is that info, https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/recovery-rebate-credit I pass along this info as a PSA so no one else in the WMR universe spends any time researching this topic. Would have been much easier, and faster, if I had replaced her $600 myself. Pretty sure compliance might have a problem with that however….
February 9, 2021 is National Pizza Day. Yes, it’s a thing.
Life is too short to eat bad pizza, so if you’re going to eat it, do it right. I don’t mean to judge, or maybe I do, but if your favorite style is something other than Chicago deep dish or Detroit style square, then you’re doing it wrong. And flatbread is not pizza either. Thanks for asking, the WMRs favorite pizza is Gino’s East of Chicago, http://www.ginoseast.com/ There are other good places with other good pizza, but none have ever measured up to Gino’s, IMO. Full disclosure, the WMR gets no compensation whatsoever for recommending the sausage patty pizza, but we should.
On the personal front, I got nothing this week. Nothing interesting, nothing funny, nothing newsworthy and nothing noteworthy. The closest thing we have is that my daughters met my son’s new girlfriend and they like her. They also enjoyed embarrassing their brother with various anecdotes they thought his girlfriend should know. That was kinda fun. I’m sure there’s more of that to come.
This week’s chuckle is from Sebastian Maniscalco, “Italians like cash…” safe for work. Enjoy. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nIhhhmUDYGM
LF27 – “That man is the richest whose pleasures are the cheapest.” – Henry David Thoreau.
Have a great week and stay healthy.
The opinions expressed are those of Michael Acho and not necessarily those of Lincoln Financial Advisors Corp. CRN-3449006-021121
Michael J. Acho, MBA, CFP®
Private Wealth Advisor
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