You’re reading my newsletter about the weird aspects of money. If you missed a week, you can check out the archives here.

Last year I wrote about New Year’s Resolution Syndrome and talked about choosing goals that give you energy, instead of zapping your spirit with endless obligations.

This year I’m continuing with what gives me energy: writing consistently. After 30 days of writing, I discovered that I can write more than I thought I could.

In this newsletter I’ll cover trends I see going into 2021, a review my favorite vs reader favorite articles, writing goals and more.

Trends I see going into 2021

In 2020, the coronavirus made me realize how much of my everyday, privileged life I took for granted. Trying out new restaurants, taking trips with friends, family gatherings, concerts, ecstatic dance, and pretty much anything involving strangers. …

Also in this edition: Fractionalization, Metromile, Buy a little, and The Laws of Wealth

You’re reading my newsletter about the weird aspects of money. If you missed a week, you can check out the archives here. The Weird Psychology of Gift Giving 🎁

Some people’s love language is words of affirmation.
Some people’s love language is giving and receiving gifts.

Hint: Mine is not the latter.

If you hate the dance of giving and receiving gifts, I wrote this article for you:

The Weird Psychology of Gift Giving

Tl;dr most of us should ask for what we want, or we’re giving, we should try asking people what they want. Research shows that this is the best approach for most people.

However, my articles covers the different nuances of gift giving, including why giving a “selfish” gift sometimes works. …

The Dark Side of Credit Card Rewards 🐙
The game of earning credit card rewards, if managed well, can lead to some pretty sweet travel perks. For the unprepared, however, it could be a house of cards.

Read why here: The Dark Side of Credit Card Rewards

Tl;dr lucrative rewards are built on mountains of credit card debt. I talk about how fragile this game is, and examples of why average consumers don’t reap the full value of their rewards. (It’s not all depressing, I end with some tips).

I’m considering putting a guide on how to maximize credit card rewards while avoiding the main pitfalls. If you’re interested a short and sweet guide, hit “reply” or Tweet at me.

How do we go against the crowd…if we don’t know where we stand in the crowd? 🤷🏽‍♂️

Recently, I’ve built conviction that retail investors stand a chance against Wall Street. With focus and enough research, individual investors like you and I can stand to beat the market over the long term.

But one idea has been keeping me up at night. Warren Buffett famously said:

“Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy and Greedy When Others Are Fearful”

The advice is to go against the herd mentality. …

I finally wrote an article about something that’s been on my mind — homelessness.

Growing up in LA, I became accustomed to seeing people living on the streets. One of the social interactions I never figured out waswhether or not to give out money, and if so, how much.

You can read my exploration of the problem here:

>>> Should we give money to the homeless?

These are the rules I arrived at:

• If approached by the homeless, I will acknowledge them and attempt to redirect them to nearby resources
• I will not give money to the homeless, but I will consider giving food.
• I will not virtue signal my giving, nor make much about others’ virtue…

If you’re receiving a massage, it’s not strange to give feedback*.

Ooh — that spot is sensitive. Can you be more gentle?
That feels good. More please.
Ow, that hurts.

How might we use the language of the physical to expand our vocabulary for touchy-feely topics?

I saw this possibility in conversation with my partner.

We talked about my feelings of discomfort about a topic. On her end it seemed to be resolved. On my end, I felt sheepish that it still felt incomplete.

She offered to address the issue by changing her behavior. But that compromise felt like an over-correction, and I didn’t want to set a bad precedent. …

In 2016, I began saving up for an experiment living as a digital nomad. It was the first time I had to seriously think about what my “runway” would be. How long would my money last if I were to have no income coming in, and I wanted to continue traveling?

I decided to take a small bets experiment, figuring that 2 months abroad would be a enough to gauge what this digital nomad life is all about.

I calculated my monthly expenses — rent, food, all the big items — and created a “travel fund” worth at least 2 months of expenses. Even if the South American countries I was interested in had a lower cost of living, I wanted a wider margin to account for unexpected expenses like flights, having to get an emergency AirBnB, and shenanigans. …

In November 2020, I’ll take part in NaNoWrimo for the first time. Tamagotchi what?

NaNoWrimo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and participants worldwide have produced amazing works -often finishing their novels-in just 30 days.

Except I won’t be writing the next American novel. I’ll be publishing an article every day in November.

Just typing out and seeing those words scare the hell out of me. That probably means it’s a worth doing. I’ve wanted to do a writing challenge for a while, but kept putting it off.

What if I fail? What if I publish shitty work? …

UX students are frustrated to see that most UX jobs listed are for Mid Level or Senior UX Designers. And they often come with a required # of years of experience that a beginner doesn’t have yet. What gives?