Hey All,
Welcome to Talk Money Weekly - where I cut through the noise and curate the best money-related topics from the web.
I'm spinning off a few new shows. Soon we'll have three shows on three different feeds with three different formats.
On to the newsletter!
📈 Markets & Business
Talk Money Weekly: The Global Car Shortage
New Episode of the Talk Money Weekly! This one was really fun to do. I recently learned that's it's actually really hard to get a car in the US right now. There aren't enough of them and they're going for over asking price. Why? It has to do with production back up due to COVID, but more importantly, it has to do with microchips!
I sit down with my buddy Kartik Misra, who explains why it's hard to get a car and what it has to do with the same chips that go into the iPhone. In 10 mins, you're going to learn something new. I promise! You also get to hear my cheeky ranting.
Are Warren Buffet and Charlie Munger Too Old?
Buffet and Munger received a lot of flack this week for saying some unpopular things. 1) Munger hates Bitcoin and thinks it’s disgusting. 2) Robinhood is a Casino.
These men have created amazing investment frameworks over the decades. A lot of their lessons still apply. But they come from the Industrial Age. They invested in railroads, airlines, Coke, McDonalds. among other companies. The company in their portfolio that returned the most was Apple! So maybe they are a bit disconnected and they just don’t get it. That’s ok! They’ve had a great run.
If you take the learnings of Buffet and Munger and apply them with a fresh mind that understands the future of software, you’re probably going to do well with your investments. The reality is tech companies create the same amount of wealth and reach millions of people in a fraction of the time it took a lot of Berkshire Hathway’s companies to reach.
We have the internet now. Innovation continues to improve. Younger people are tired of being told they can’t invest, or participate or that they’re “gambling.” You don't have to be old, rich, and white to invest and build wealth. The times are changing and sometimes it leaves folks behind.
Miami is the Future of American Cities
Mayor Suarez of Miami has been praised for being progressive in bringing money and talent to Miami. While I haven’t been to Miami during this recent tech boom, I really appreciate what he’s doing. When other politicians are being, well... politicians- useless and elitist, Mayor Suarez has taken advantage of the failures of other cities. He engages with people on Twitter. He hosts events. He welcomes everyone!
While cities were shut down, he worked hard just like a CEO to create community, bring talent, and bring money to Miami in order to be the next big startup hub. With that, will come growth. More people, more money and of course, more jobs. This is a great read on startup cities. It’s refreshing to see leaders like him take a different approach to build a city. He’s not a politician. He actually wants to build something special.
But yes, tech bros hanging out in Miami can get annoying. I’m not going to sugarcoat it. But they are living their best life. Let’s see if they can handle the summer heat and humidity.
Biden’s New Tax Plan May Not Work in the End
Biden’s tax proposal is creating a lot of fuss given how much the increase is with capital gains. One could argue that it will limit innovation. With less money out there, there will be less money to invest and grow companies, which create jobs. Another can argue that we have a lot of bills to pay so for a period of time, everyone needs to chip in.
The reality is it’s not the taxes that are the problem, it’s the tax code itself. Loopholes allow for all sorts of ways to escape paying higher taxes. There’s probably no way this gets passed in Congress. It could also be purely a spectacle just to appease the Left.
Regardless, the tax CODE needs to be changed so that there’s a give and take. As long as the loopholes exist, we will all take advantage of them. Why wouldn't you! Whether you're an individual or a company, you don't want to pay more taxes and you'll find ways to avoid it. You better believe I’m trying to write off as many expenses as possible. Podcasting ain’t cheap!
Netflix vs Youtube
Which is the better company? They’re both awesome. I find myself watching Youtube WAY more. I watch the most random shit. Lots of nostalgia lists. I found myself watching highlights of Wrestlemania 7, just to relive my younger years when I was obsessed with wrestling. You now know something about me that only a handful of people know. It feels good to get that out there. I LOVE 90’s wrestling!
Netflix spends SO much money on buying and producing shows to increase subscribers. While Youtube doesn’t have to produce anything, and more and more people produce amazing content. You also have major production companies and networks that create content for Youtube. If you create a video, you have to be on Youtube because you have amazing discoverability. Anything has the potential to go viral. People search for terms and ideas and then go down the rabbit hole.
The Issue with Netflix is discoverability is really based on what other people are watching- What’s trending, or what’s been reviewed well. Just because you get your movie or show on Netflix, it doesn’t mean people are going to find it. You still need marketing.
If Youtube was a stand-alone company, I would 100% be buying stock on it. I guess I should just buy more Google stock then (opens Robinhood). I’m excited to announce that Talk Money does have a Youtube strategy in the works and I CANNOT wait to share our first video.
That's all the news from this past week! If I was to make this newsletter into a Youtube show, would you watch it?
If you haven't already subscribed to my podcast, Talk Money, do so here. New episode next Wednesday!
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