Good morning Reader!

I was chatting with a friend who works at a consumer products company and she's seeing consumer behavior change. More and more people are using a barbell budgeting strategy when it comes to their spending.

This is where you spend spend more on high-end luxury while cutting aggressively on the basics. People are choosing to spend on the things that bring them joy.

An example of this is when you choose to go out to a fancy meal on the weekend but during the week you're swapping in chicken instead of higher priced beef.

1. This makes total sense.
2. In the current economy, where people are getting squeezed by higher prices (especially fuel!); it makes sense you have to cut somewhere.
3. It's too easy to see the stock market soaring and think everything is OK. The reality is that stock ownership is concentrated in a small percentage of Americans. So it's doing well, but not everyone is benefiting.

I've always approached our purchases similarly. Spending less on the things that are less important (Kirkland brand, as I'm sure you know I'm a big Costco fan!) but more on the things we love, like better tickets to shows.

I'm curious, are you seeing or doing this yourself?

💲 Best Bank Rates (as of 10/7):

NOTE: With the Fed increasing rates and the 10 Year Treasury Yield now at 5.339%, we're seeing banks increase their CD yields significantly. Yields on savings accounts haven't really moved too much but everything else has.

💰 High Yield Savings - 4.20% APY + $400 Bonus from SoFi​

🏛️ Short Term Treasury - VBIL 3.69%, SGOV 3.71%

(Treasury interest is not subject to state/local taxes)

📀 Certificates of Deposit: Barclays just increased their rates today, they are:

• 12 months - 4.50% APY​
• 24 months - 4.75% APY​
• 48 months - 4.50% APY​
• 60 months - 4.75% APY​
• If you're thinking about this, consider a $200 Barclays savings account bonus then get a CD. The bonus gets you an effective APY of 6.01% for the 120 days.

💵 Bank Bonuses - $500 Bank of America, $800 from E*Trade, $450 US Bank, $200 Barclays, $400 SoFi, $500 Bank of America & more​

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🧐 Only 58% of Americans Own Stock

Every year, I've been looking at the percentage of Americans who own stock and for the last few years, it's been trending up. 2026 is the first year it's fallen (from 62% to 58%).

It's based on a Gallup poll (the Fed reports don't come out every year) so it could be noise but one fact is clear:

The top 1% of Americans own 50.9% of all stock.

The stock market is one of the best ways to build wealth and while 58% of Americans participate, they don't do so meaningfully (and 42% don't at all!).

​👉 What Percentage of Americans Own Stock in 2026? The Answer May Surprise You​

🗞️ Money Stuff I Found Interesting

Here are some interesting articles you may have missed:

• ⭐ I Deliberately Bet Like a Problem Gambler.I Deliberately Bet Like a Problem Gambler. DraftKings Made Me a VIP. [ProPublica] - don't don't don't gamble on sports. Or prediction markets. Or by yourself.
• ​Who Is Really Rich in America? (Hint: Main Street Millionaires) [Of Dollars And Data] - Lots of great data in this one
• ​Aging and Death in America: ‘I Basically Want to Burn It All Down and Restart’ [Morningstar] - Very good if you are the kid or the parent in this.
• ​You Are No Longer Invited to Dinner [Derek Thompson] - We have dinner nearly every Friday night with the same friends, it's amazing.

💵 Good Deals If You Need Them

• Just a reminder that if you ever get small chip in your windshield, your car insurance will usually pay to fix it for free. It's cheaper than paying to get it replaced. (we just had it happen to us)
• ​50% off Quicken Simplifi - 7-day trial and then just $3.49 a month for Quicken Simplifi.
• ​Fetch is a free app that gives you points for scanning receipts, get 2000 points after your first receipt. (here's our review)
• ​Empower (free) is a great investment and net worth tracker.
• If you haven't done this in a year, check if you're overpaying for car insurance (it's free)

What did you think of today's email?​
✅ I Loved It! 🟨 It Was Okay ❌ Not My Favorite​

Talk to you soon!

Jim

PS. If you have high interest debt, you should see if you can get a lower rate. Rates on everything look to go up.

​(see archive of previous emails)​