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October 16, 2018 5:14 pm Update

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I don’t know about you, but I am sure happy that certificate of deposits are producing higher yields these days. 💵

While 2.5 APY on a FDIC-insured 1 year CD isn’t going to make one rich, it’s a lot better then in years past. And 1-year CDs are good because they only tie up your money for a year — and lack the short-term risk of index funds and other market investments. At 2.5 APY, if you park $50k for one year, you earn $1,265 in a year guaranteed by the federal government. 🤔

The yield curve is dropping, and it’s increasingly risky to have too much market exposure for paper you can’t sit on for a decade. 📉 Sure, you’ll still losing money on certificate of deposits from inflation, but it’s not as bad as only a few years ago. While I am continuing to practice cost-averaging through my normal weekly investments, I am not going to throw wads of extra money into the market.

Tower Windows

No Advertising Here

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While I could probably make a few hundred bucks a year on my blog, I choose not to do advertising because I find it to be kind of annoying. 🛍 My blog isn’t that expensive to pay for the hosting, maybe $100 a year, 🕸and it gives me an outlet to share my experiences and continue to expand my knowledge of GIS and mapping through practical experience. 🗺 I don’t have internet at home, instead using public hotspots and my phone, so I figure the cost of hosting is far less then what I would pay for general internet.

the myth of the frugal billionaire

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Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffet: the myth of the frugal billionaire

“The implicit message on those kinds of stories is: ‘These people are good, therefore it’s okay for them to be so wealthy,’” said Sherman. “And what I argue in the book is that talking about any of this in that way avoids questions about distribution. Should they have $50 million to begin with, regardless of what they spend it on? That, to me, is a question that never comes up, partly because these representations of rich people as frugal or as spendthrifts is focused on their spending habits, not on what they have.”

Burberry, H&M, and Nike destroy unsold merch. An expert explains why.

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Burberry, H&M, and Nike destroy unsold merch. An expert explains why.

"The British luxury brand Burberry brought in $3.6 billion in revenue last year — and destroyed $36.8 million worth of its own merchandise."

"In July 2018, the brand admitted in its annual report that demolishing goods was just part of its strategy to preserve its reputation of exclusivity."

"Shoppers did not react well to this news. People vowed to boycott Burberry over its wastefulness, while members of Parliament demanded the British government crack down on the practice. The outrage worked: Burberry announced two weeks ago it would no longer destroy its excess product, effective immediately."

"Yet Burberry is hardly the only company to use this practice; it runs high to low, from Louis Vuitton to Nike. Brands destroy product as a way to maintain exclusivity through scarcity, but the precise details of who is doing it and why are not commonly publicized. Every now and then, though, bits of information will trickle out. Last year, for example, a Danish TV station revealed that the fast-fashion retailer H&M had burned 60 tons of new and unsold clothes since 2013."