What’s Poppin’,

This is the Master Money Newsletter. We combine all your open internet tabs into one 5-minute read.

Now slowly close the Amazon tab. Repeat after me, I don’t need 3 boxes per day at my door (Although every day does feel like Christmas).

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Here’s what we have on deck today: ​
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-We have a little problem.

-A book about The Art Of Making Things Happen

-New podcast episodes that can impact your 2023.

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Let's get to it. Shall we?

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I am going to show you a few charts that may make you say wowza (and not in a good way).

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We are over leveraged and underpaid as a society. Let me show you what I mean.

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1/ Car Payments

This fun little chart shows the percentages of residents by state with a car payment over $1,000.

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Now if you can afford it, there's no issues here. But 97% of people who have these car payments can not afford it.

The worst part? Dealerships are trying to normalize massive car payments via marketing. I see it on social media all the time. Here are some examples.

Just owning a modest car throughout your lifetime can cost you $5 million in opportunity cost. But with payments like this, that number is much, much, higher.

Trust me, you will regret it in the long run. It is a complete disaster for your personal finances.

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2/ How we spend our money

For the second chart, we call upon our good friends at the Bureau of Labor Statistics. They have this neat-o chart (who says neat-o?) about how folks spend their hard earned dollars.

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The BLS isn't winning any awards for chart design anytime soon. But they do get Kudos for data.

It is no surprise here that the big 3 ya boi' always talks about is at the top. What is surprising is the savings number. I don't like it. I don't like it one bit.

If you save 5% of your income, you will work for over 50 years. Nobody wants to do that.

If you want to learn how much to spend in each category, we did an episode here that will walk you through it.

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3/ Mortgage Payments

Boy Oh Boy is this a wild one. Mortgage payments are rising at a record pace.

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There are a number of reasons for this. Interest rates and home prices are both rising dramatically.

The opportunity cost of getting into a house right now could be $1 million over the next 30 years. You have to be careful and tread lightly in times like this. Your personal residence is a pretty lousy asset compared to other investments. I explain why here. ​

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​Bluefishing: The Art Of Making Things Happen ​

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The Personal Finance Podcast 🎙️ ​ ​

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​How to Become an IRA Millionaire in 2023 (With the New IRS Rules!)​

​The New Tax Rules for 2023 That May Increase your Paycheck!​

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