enRICHed: volume 102
halloweenie time
Sunday October 27, 2024
Volume 102
Hey besties!
As my favorite Spooktacular holiday nears, I’ve been thinking about Halloween makeup a LOT—in particular, the beauty brands that create the makeup. These days, it seems like everyone and their mother is starting a beauty brand, from billionaire celebs to your favorite influencer. Everyone has a lip gloss, eyeshadow palette, and eyeliner. But is it even any good? Do we really need more? What are these brands bringing to consumers? Well this week on Networth and Chill, I sat down with my amazing friend Deepica Mutyala, founder and CEO of the beauty brand Live Tinted. Deepica started this brand with a mission to bring inclusivity to the industry and prioritize people of color rather than putting them on the back burner. We talk all about what it means to be included in the beauty space and why it’s important to not only support women of color but SEE THEM WIN on a national scale. I hope you’ll give my podcast a try on your commute this week!
Watch the full episode HERE or listen HERE!
Be sure to follow us on IG @networthandchillpod
As a reminder:
HYCU, pronounced haiku: how the news impacts you and your wallet, aka How You Can Use
The Prosperitea: think discount codes, non-boring finance articles, sales, and personal links from the week. The fun stuff 😉
We love your comments, but please remember to keep it positive! And don’t take investing advice from anyone who isn’t your registered financial advisor!
Now that you’re up to speed, let’s get you enRICHed.
The Burnt (Out) Sandwich Generation 🥪
The Wall Street Journal is calling burnt-out caretakers the “sandwich” generation—the 11 million Americans who are supporting both children and parents, who are increasingly millennials and Gen Zers.
People are having children later in life while their aging parents are living to be older, which means they’re acting as caregivers longer than previous generations, and they’re about to spill over the edges.
The average sandwich caregiver age is about 49 years old. Most are women, but men are a growing part of the sandwich population, too, and a third are millennials or Gen Z.
The biggest issue is money, of course: caring for dependents is expensive AF, and these sandwiches are being pressured by the bread. A person in their 40s who spends over $1,500 a month for more than five years to support an older loved one could lose over $1 million in potential retirement savings, according to WSJ.
HYCU; So many besties are in this very predicament—there are many mouths to feed, and the price to feed them is only going up. The cost of childcare can be double the rent cost now, and let’s not forget that some healthcare costs for the elderly are currently seeing the biggest hikes ever. While there isn’t a cut and dry solution to this predicament, easing some of the medical costs for our elders could be a start.
All Boeing Planes On The Ground 🛩
As we’ve talked about before, Boeing machine workers are currently on strike, but things just got a little harder after machinists rejected the company’s new return-to-work offer.
The offer that 64% of union members rejected during Wednesday’s union vote would’ve locked in an immediate 12% wage increase, along with another 23 percentage points of wage hikes over the next four years, a $7,000 bonus upon ratification and improved contributions to their 401(k) plans, plus some job security guarantees.
That being said, it did not restore the traditional pension plan that Boeing workers lost 10 years ago, which many are still feeling angry about.
HYCU; If you didn’t know, traditional pensions, also known as defined benefit plans, pay a set amount every month to retirees or their spouses for as long as they live. If the assets in the plan lose value due to the market or other problems, it’s up to the company to fill the gap, so obviously, no corporation wants to shell out that money anymore. It’s a super old-school retirement plan, from when worker presence was really strong in the country. Conversely, a 401(k) puts the investment risk on the retiree, so sometimes retirees can outlive their own assets, since you’re in charge of your own pot of money. The biggest reason Boeing workers rejected the plan was because they want a traditional pension, which is a lot more expensive for Boeing. Listen, the bitter pill of losing a traditional pension must really suck. But if this whole thing ends with a 401(k) in the contract, here are some of my recommendations for investing your savings.
No Smoke, No Mirrors 💨💸
Juul customers are getting thousands of dollars sent to their Venmos and bank accounts after a class-action lawsuit against the vape company.
More than 800,000 former customers are getting payouts after a $300m court settlement was finally approved earlier this year.
The lawsuit alleged two things: one, that Juul customers paid more for the product than they would have had they been provided with accurate information about its addictiveness and safety, and two, the products were unlawfully marketed to minors.
The payouts ranged from $15 to more than $10,000, with an average of about $240, lead attorney Dena Sharp told BBC, and more than 14 million people submitted claims to the court.
HYCU; There are now dozens of memes about everyone’s big Juul payout, and honestly they’re hilarious. That said…obviously, not every class-action suit gets this kind of payday, but it is a good reminder that you should always be an active consumer with your purchases. If you get screwed by a company, don’t roll over and accept it! I think we all deserve a little class-action settlement money for living through the Juul years.
Commonly asked question: Joanna asks, “I just heard that if you save medical receipts once you open an HSA, you can use them years later to get money out of your HSA. Is this true? Are there any restrictions as to how old the receipts can be?”
Hi Joanna! This is such a great question. Yes, it's true that you can save your medical receipts and use them to withdraw funds from your HSA at a later date. This strategy can be super smart because it allows your HSA funds to continue growing tax-free over time. Here's the scoop:
Save Receipts: Keep those receipts for qualified medical expenses, even if you don't plan to reimburse yourself right away.
No Time Limit: There's no expiration date on when you can reimburse yourself for past medical expenses, as long as the expenses were incurred after your HSA was established.
Reimbursement: When you're ready, you can reimburse yourself for these expenses and the withdrawal will be tax-free.
That all said, I do want to play devil’s advocate for a second. While the idea of saving your receipts for years and years and reimbursing at a later date SOUNDS like a good idea, many of us aren’t organized enough to properly do this. Personally, I’m definitely not. So if you think there is a risk that you’d lose, toss, or just forget to reimburse yourself at a much later date, I’d recommend just saving your receipts for reimbursement once per year, kinda like a tax day or holiday (I didn’t say it was a fun holiday lol). While there are “best” choices in theory, we often have to settle for “best” in practice to ensure we are taking into account our actual real lives, commitments, and habits! Hope this helps!
Want to be featured in our Question Bank section?
Rich Tip of the Week: When should YOU refinance your home?
They found E.coli linked to the Quarter Pounders at McDonald’s, and the FDA thinks it’s the onion supplier, so Taco Bell, KFC and Pizza Hut have all suspended their onions.
Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan have all been announced as headliners for the Primavera Music Festival! The Big Three!
North West gifted mother Kim Kardashian a gold chain with “skibidi toilet” engraved into it. To be fair, we’ve all spent our mother’s money as kids to buy her a ridiculous gift, though this one has a bit more brain rot to it
Products that saved my life this week:
Need a last minute halloween costume? (These are all easy, and low stress/cost!)
These slides are amazing for workout recovery! (They’re not winning any beauty contests, but they work)
This Live Tinted lip gloss - In honor of my amazing podcast guest this week, the founder and CEO, Deepica Mutyala
SEE YOU IN THE COMMENTS BESTIES
For HSA's, just remember the account needs to be open at the time of service. You can't be reimbursed for medical expenses that were incurred before the account is open.
The term "sandwich generation" has been around since the early 1980s and really came into focus in the late 20th century (it was added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary in 2006). It originally referred to women in their 30s and 40s so the demographics will change but the concept remains the same. Now, there's the "club sandwich generation"--older adults in their 50s or 60s who are wedged between aging parents, their adult children, and possibly grandchildren. This term can also refer to younger adults in their 30s or 40s who have younger children, elderly parents, and aging grandparents.
PS--it would help to use gift links. I don't subscribe to the WSJ and I couldn't read the entire article.