Switching jobs, Earning more interest & Understanding bear markets 🐻📈

May 24, 2022

Hello, hello! How are we doing this fine morning? 😉

I was chatting with a friend the other day, she told me she applied for a new job and just got an official offer! Woohoo!…

Being a money nerd, I immediately hit her with the typical line of questioning… “Did you get a pay increase? What are the benefits like? Any 401k details?”

And to my surprise, she responded with a simple and humble answer that shut me right up… “Honestly, this new job is a small pay decrease for me. But the role is way more in line with what I enjoy doing in life, so I am happy”

🤯 What a cool move! And a great reminder for anyone job searching out there… Your next role doesn’t have to come with a killer raise or fancy job title that impresses other people. Instead, work on impressing yourself — whatever that means to you!

It’s better to be at the bottom of a ladder you do want to climb, vs. at the top of one you don’t.


CAREER

Speaking of fun new jobs…

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This friend’s situation got me thinking… I wonder what awesome fun jobs are out there that I wouldn’t mind trying? (besides starting a beer-drinking money podcast with your best pal 😉)

Some cool sounding ones I found online:

  • Dog Surfing Instructor, ~$30k/y: Get to hang at the beach all day, playing with dogs 🐕🏄‍♀️
  • Sommelier, $50-75k/y: Getting paid to taste wine? I’ve never met an unhappy sommelier! 🍷
  • Groomsman For Hire, $$ varies: Flying around from wedding to wedding sounds fun, and getting paid to be a part of the action! 🤵‍♂️
  • Bingo Manager, $50-100k: Every shift would be full of celebrations! (except it might be sad watching people gamble their money away all day). 🎰
  • Scuba Diving Pizza Delivery Man: Yep, this is actually someone’s job down in Florida. Sounds so fun to try! 🤿

All kidding aside, employment opportunities are at all-time highs, with most US states fully recovering from pandemic setbacks. If you’ve been wanting to make a career change or hoping to advance in your profession, NOW is a great time to put yourself out there.

You can do it! 👊

Related posts:


INVESTING

What is a “Bear Market” anyway? 🤷‍♂️

The stock market ain’t doing so great. And that can be scary. But let’s take a wider look at bear markets and maybe you won’t find them as daunting as the news and media make them out to be…

A BEAR Market is when an index (like S&P500) has dropped 20% or more in value from a recent high, and sustains that loss for an extended period of time.

A BULL Market is measured from the lowest point after a drop and continues until the newest high is reached.

Check out this historic chart, courtesy of Business Insider 👇

A few encouraging notes:

  • The average bear market has taken about 13 months to go from peak to trough. Technically we just entered into a bear market, but we are already ~6 months in from the last high point.
  • There’s a LOT more blue than red. Not just through time, but in $ gains. Hanging on through ALL times ensures you’ll experience more good than bad.
  • It’s almost impossible to predict “the bottom”, because each bear market is different. The only investors who will put in money at the exact bottom are those who do it accidentally, whilst dollar cost averaging.

All things considered: Bear markets are natural, and inevitable. You will likely experience a handful through your lifetime, and as each one passes you get wiser and more experienced. Keep your head up! Stay invested! 💪

Related:


ICYMI

Noteworthy happenings…

FREE Covid Tests 🧪
The US government is offering more free at-home covid tests (8 x per US household). Order them here via USPS, and stay safe out there people!!

Housing 🏡
Will the housing market collapse? Honestly, nobody can predict that. But this VP at BiggerPockets thinks not, and offers a ton of data and research to back it up. An interesting read for potential investors and home buyers!

Saving 💰
Department of Energy revealed “standby power” accounts for 5-10% of residential energy use!! Maybe it’s time to unplug some of your appliances and devices while you’re not using them. Tiny little savings add up to a lot over time.

Inflation 🌭
A rumor spread that Costco was increasing it’s famous hot dog + soda combo price by $1 due to inflation. But don’t worry… this turned out to be false. Hot dogs remain at $1.50, and rotisserie chickens are still $4.99. Whew! 😅


COMMUNITY

Earn higher interest on your cash reserves…

Shout out to Cody who sparked this discussion in the HTM facebook group. 👇👇👇

Many banks are starting to offer higher interest rates on savings accounts. Here are some that were mentioned by members the comments…

  • OneFinance (1% on regular savings and 3% on auto save)
  • Bread (1%)
  • Ally HYSA (0.6%)
  • HM Bradley (1 to 3%, with certain requirements)
  • Varo (0.5 up to 5%, based on qualifications)

**some of these require direct deposits or bundled accounts to qualify**

If you’re holding a large cash emergency fund in an account earning nothing, may as well look at switching to an account that pays you a little more! It’s not a mammoth amount, but anything is better than nothing.

Where is your cash sitting? Got any secret banks we should know about?


Have an awesome week, friends! And enjoy the long Memorial Day weekend.

Best friends out 🍻

PS. Dear whoever was throwing out free money at the mall last week in CT… If you would please come visit Atlanta next, that would be great thank you.

*****

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