enRICHed: volume 106

born to christmas, forced to thanksgiving first

Nov 24, 2024

Volume 106

Hey besties!

As the holiday season approaches fast and furiously, it can only mean one thing: SHOPPING! Whether you love or hate spending hours browsing through pages online or walking up and down the aisles in a store, unless you want to be labeled a major grinch, you’ll probably have to do some holiday shopping. This upcoming Friday is the one and only Black Friday. The Olympics of shopping, if you will—and because you are all my besties, I want you to win! Yes, you can win Black Friday. This week on the podcast, I go through my best tips and tricks to help you maximize your savings on Black Friday and throughout this holiday season. You can listen HERE or watch along HERE! Happy shopping!

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.

Shop ‘Til You Drop With The Bot 🤖🛍

Ahead of the holiday season, AI search engine Perplexity has launched their own AI shopping assistant to help
They’re not alone. Companies like Walmart, Klarna, Google and Amazon have already rolled out AI features to their technology this year, and are making a push for shoppers worldwide to use them as people prepare their holiday gift lists.
Most of these assistants offer similar features: a lens-based option where you can snap a picture of something in-store to get price comparisons and shopper reviews; some kind of “related products” section to help you find similar items; a short summarization of product features when searching for something specific.
Perplexity also upped the ante with some incentives—subscribers to Perplexity Pro can get free shipping and purchase directly within the AI search engine.
HYCU; These tools can aid you in those exhausting searches for the perfect purchase—like a baking pan with the right handles for bringing out of an oven, or a printer with all the exact functions you need. The price comparison and tracker function in many of these assistants is also super helpful in saving money. However, like many AI tools, some customers have reported bugs in the tech, so it’s still important that you don’t overly rely on the assistants just yet, and do your own research by reading magazine reviews and customer feedback. As always, for any discretionary purchases you plan on making this holiday season, make sure you can pay for them in full on time. Holiday presents are fun, but going into debt over new headphones is not.

The CFPB is Outside Venmo’s Window 🕵️‍♀️

On Thursday, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) announced that all digital services that handle a significant number of transactions should be subject to bank-like supervision—a huge change for platforms like Venmo, PayPal, Zelle, Apple Pay and CashApp.
Basically, for a while, a lot of these fintech companies have sidestepped supervision by partnering with banks but not exactly falling under the CFPB’s regulation. But there have been a lot of issues with them, like unregulated scams, data breaches, and general transaction mishandling.
This new ruling means that the CFPB can investigate these platforms like they would any other bank or credit union for any shady business, allowing CFPB inspectors to visit the companies, interview employees, and review documents to ensure they are following rules regarding consumer privacy, fraud, and closing customers' accounts.
HYCU; For now, this just means that someone will be snooping on these companies to make sure your money is okay. But the golden rule with any of these apps is to not keep your money there, because they’re not FDIC insured—so if something bad happens, you’re screwed. Still, this hopefully means that there will be increasing regulation on these platforms that’ll allow you to have more peace of mind (though for now, it looks like it’s just the oversight part). This also doesn’t affect crypto, since the CFPB only monitors transactions in USD.

Beep Beep — Get Back In Line ✈️🚨

American Airlines is rolling out new technology nationwide to crack down on people trying to get on the airplane before their boarding group is called.
Customers who try to scan a boarding pass before their group is called will hear a two-note sound and be turned away, the airline said.
The new technology is in more than 100 non-hub airports as of Wednesday, after being tested for a month in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Arlington, Virginia and Tucson, Arizona.
HYCU; Holiday traveling always brings out the most risqué in us—the temptation to cut in line at the airport, the temptation to fight our uncle at the dinner table, the temptation to steal that gift your niece wanted out of someone else’s cart. But hopefully, this new technology will help mitigate the horrendous feeling of gate crowding and the mind-crushing frenzy to get to your seat. So if you are trying to cut in line at the American Airlines gate, consider this the company’s warning. I hope finding out this way is easier than getting glared down by the gate agent and everyone behind you in line.

Commonly asked question: Joanna asks, “Hi bestie! I’m 41 years old. Recently moved to this country (January 2024) with a green card. I’m wondering how to start investing and saving to prepare for retirement. I know is a super late for someone my age, but my economic situation wasn’t the best in my country of origin (Peru). Hope you can help!”

Hi Joanna! let's get down to business (to defeat the Huns—couldn't resist a little Mulan reference). Here's a guide to get you started on your retirement savings journey:

Employer-Sponsored Plans: If your job offers a 401(k) plan, jump on that faster than you'd jump on the last piece of cake at a birthday party. Contribute at least enough to get the full employer match—it's like free money, and who doesn't love free money? These are available to green card holders!
Individual Retirement Accounts (IRAs): Since you're the boss of your own retirement, consider opening an IRA. You've got two flavors to choose from: Traditional or Roth. With a Traditional IRA, you save on taxes now, and pay taxes later, and with a Roth IRA, you pay taxes now but get tax-free withdrawals later. It's like choosing between chocolate and vanilla—both are sweet, just in different ways. Again, this is available to green card holders.
Catch-Up Contributions: Good news! Since you're over 40, you're not quite in the catch-up zone yet (that starts at 50), but it's good to know that when you hit the big 5-0, you can contribute extra to your retirement accounts. It's like getting a bonus level in a video game.
Investment Choices: Feeling a bit like a deer in headlights when it comes to picking investments? No worries! A roboadvisor can help! Just google “best roboadvisor 20204” and select the one you feel most comfortable with. You’ll take a quick quiz about your money goals and then it’ll select a portfolio of investments that suits your needs.
Start Now: The magic of compound interest is like a financial fairy godmother—it can turn small amounts into a hefty sum over time. So, the sooner you start, the better. The best day to start was yesterday, but the second best day is today!

You got this! 🌟

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Rich Tip of the Week: How to save THOUSANDS on Black Friday!
I watched Hot Frosty, Netflix’s new Christmas romcom that asks “what if Frosty the Snowman had washboard abs,” and it was surprisingly heartwarming.
WhatsApp is planning on rolling out a voice message transcription tool. Huge day for immigrant fathers everywhere (especially mine).
A banana duct-taped to a wall sold at Sotheby’s for $6.2 million. You did not read that wrong. Art is interesting because its value is derived from what people are willing to pay for it, but this headline makes me realize that I don’t have as good of a sense of what people are willing to pay for, as I thought. :/

SEE YOU IN THE COMMENTS BESTIES