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Hi, I'm Jim Wang and I share my strategies and tactics for managing your money and enjoying more out of life.

😴 The boring middle isn't

Published about 11 hours ago • 3 min read

Good morning Reader!

When it comes to your money and investing, there are three distinct phases - the setup, the accumulation, and then the drawdown.

Early in the process, there's a lot of work to set it up. You create a budget, you dial in your spending, and you save and invest your money.

Then there's the accumulation phase, the "boring middle," where you simply wait. You make automatic contributions, you go about your life, and you wait until your portfolio hits "the number."

Then, of course, you retire and you draw down your portfolio with some supplemental Social Security and pension income.

I'm personally in that "boring middle," but with all the news, it seems hardly boring. The reality, however, is that I shouldn't do anything differently. I need to trust the process and wait.

What's been fascinating with this Trump presidency is that despite all the chaos and uncertainty, the stock market has flourished because of AI. You'd think that the market would suffer because of high interest rates and energy prices but AI is so massive, it's dragged the index up despite these headwinds. While the market isn't the economy, it's still where we're invested.

(diesel at $6.50 a gallon is insane - up 65% from last year)

Where does it go from here? No one knows. There's been talk of a recession for years.

Is AI a bubble? Maybe. But it's real and here to stay.

The point of this is to say - sometimes the boring middle isn't boring at all for reasons beyond your control. Trust the process and your time horizon and be patient.

💲 Best Bank Rates (as of 10/7):

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

🏛️ Short Term Treasury - VBIL 3.74%, SGOV 3.73%

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

💵 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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💵 Best Short-Term "Safe" Investments

I just updated my post on the best short-term "safe" investments because rates have changed and many safe options are now looking more attractive.

The post doesn't recommend any investment, it's meant as a "survey" to explain all the different options because the best one(s) for you will depend on your needs.

Please let me know if I missed anything!

​👉 Best Short-Term "Safe" Investments​

😎 I "Retired" Early & It Was a Mistake

🥳 I made a Youtube video!

It's my first and I promise they'll be better (I won't be so flustered that I have the mic pointing upside down 🤣) BUT it's about a subject that's important to me - how I was woefully unprepared to "retire early."

I didn't really retire early but I experienced a feeling many retirees, early or not, experience. Please let me know what you think!

​👉 Watch: I Retired At 30. It Was A Mistake.​

🗞️ Money Stuff I Found Interesting

Here are some interesting articles you may have missed:

💵 Good Deals If You Need Them

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

Talk to you soon!

Jim

PS. I actually published two videos, the second is walking through where I put our $120,000 emergency fund to get the most interest. What do you think?

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Hi, I'm Jim Wang and I share my strategies and tactics for managing your money and enjoying more out of life.

💵 Founder of WalletHacks.com

I have been writing about money for nearly 20 years and believe that personal finance is one of those subjects that is made complicated because it benefits a select few. Our aim is to help make it easier to understand so that regular folks can use what we teach to take control of their money and build wealth.

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