enRICHed: volume 176
happy easter!!! đŁđ
Sunday April 05, 2026
Volume 176
Hi besties!
In todayâs world, it is more important than ever for the gals to stick together and speak openly and honestly as women! I like to practice what I preach so I did just that on this weekâs episode of Networth and Chill, where I sat down with Kara Loewentheil, a lawyer turned life coach, speaker, and NYT bestselling author of Take Back Your Brain: How a Sexist Society Gets in Your Head and How to Get It Out. We chatted about everything the modern woman needs to know, from the âbrain gapâ between the sexes to carrying yourself with confidence in the workplace. We also go over negotiation tips to ensure youâre getting paid what youâre worth, no matter who is sitting on the other side of the negotiating table. If youâve ever felt like men are from Mars and women are from Venus when it comes to money, careers, or relationships, youâre going to want to tune in to this weekâs episode!
New episodes of the podcast drop every single Wednesday so be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel HERE or follow Networth and Chill wherever you get your podcasts!
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 đ
We love your comments, but please remember to keep it positive! And donât take investing advice from anyone who isnât your registered financial advisor!
Now that youâre up to speed, letâs get you enRICHed.
Your Iran War Updates đď¸
I fear that the Iran War has only continued to press on, with the US and Israel ramping up strikes this weekâŚand showing no signs of slowing down. So hereâs all the latest on how the war is impacting your wallet, and what we know for sure about this conflict.
Of course, the most immediate pain point that Americans are feeling in their wallets is in their gas fill-ups. This week, The Washington Post reported that there was a 56% jump in Google searches for âmost fuel-efficient gas carsâ this month, including breakout searches like âbest electric carsâ and âhybrids for sale,â indicating that gas prices are so bad, people are wondering if they should just switch their car entirely.
Travel has also continued to show ripple effects from the war, with transcontinental airfares doubling and transatlantic tickets seeing steady increases. Another added cost? JetBlue announced that theyâll be increasing checked bag fees by $4 for off-peak travel periods and $9 during peak for most economy passengers. The change will be immediate, and the company directly cited ârising operating costsâ as the reason for the increase.
Other impacts include the stock market and housing market. The Dow closed lower this week because of investor hope around the end of the war, while mortgage rates rose. Is this going to be over at any point? President Trump has said that the conflict will be over in two to three weeks, and that âweâll be leaving very soon,â but unfortunately, he said that before, and weâre still here, so people arenât really ready to believe him. Case in point: oil prices surged on Thursday, showing signs that our budgets will be feeling the brunt of this war for longer.
HYCU; Does this mean you should upgrade your old but paid-off car to a new electric vehicle? No! Swaps like these might still end up being more expensive in the long run, if you factor in monthly payments, repairs and charging power for your EV, if youâre charging it at home. If you actually want to figure out what would be more efficient for you, thereâs a gas mileage vs. car cost calculator that you can try. What is a better way to handle these unprecedented price hikes is temporarily paring down on the nice-to-haves. Travel with just a carry-on, or plan ahead to find the cheapest gas price near you with a gas price finder. Itâs always better to handle the $5 problem than turn it into a $50,000 one.
TSA Opening Soon? âď¸
Your security wait time should be clearing up soon. This week, the Senate approved a deal to fund the Department of Homeland Security (yes, including the TSA) and moved toward ending the shutdown that has been the source of all our travel pains for the past month.
Hereâs where we stand on the funding fight: the entire shutdown, as we talked about, was because Democrats refused to fund DHS in full until it agreed to make changes to its immigration enforcement practices, right after ICE officers murdered at least two citizens in January alone. So right now, this current deal would fund most of DHS except ICE and Border Patrol through the end of September, and then Republicans would then attempt to fund them for three years using a party-line budget reconciliation bill that wouldnât require Democratic support.
TSA agents werenât getting paid for close to a month, and people were posting photos of their ridiculous security lines at the airport all over social media, when President Trump finally signed an executive order to start getting them paid (from a giant slush fund baked in the One Big Beautiful Bill). But other DHS employees, like the Coast Guard and FEMA employees, are still going without pay.
HYCU; Your airport wait time should already be coming back down to earth now that TSA agents are getting paid again, so thereâs no need to show up for the airport 48 hours before the boarding gates open. You can check your departure airportâs website to see if they have a wait time live timer that you can follow â even United Airlines rolled out their own tracker for seven participating airports. If you are a DHS employee who is still not receiving pay, this news means that you can expect a paycheck to come in soon. However, if youâre also waiting on DHS for a FEMA grant or reimbursement for disaster-related relief, you may still need to wait for a little bit longer, because we are still in shutdown.
Cold Foam Latte, Hot New Benefits âď¸
Starbucks is really fighting the flop era allegations â after a well-publicized union strike and many accusations of falling off, the coffee giant is offering its baristas up to $1,200 in annual bonuses and shifting to weekly pay, all in an effort to bump sales and improve customer service.
Hereâs how the bonuses will work: beginning in July, baristas can receive $300 extra per quarter (a.k.a. $1,200 a year) if their locations meet or exceed performance goals. Thatâs the catch, though â the company hasnât publicly specified what those performance goals actually are. Baristas working at union locations will likely not receive the quarterly bonuses until they reach a collective bargaining agreement with the company.
The company also announced that it will give customers more methods to tip their baristas. Now, anyone who orders and pays through the mobile app will be able to tip, in addition to customers who scan the app at the register to pay. As for the switch to weekly pay, that will begin in August, so any barista should be prepared for that change.
HYCU; If you are a Starbucks barista or even just an employee to any company, itâs always a good idea to get written specifics about what is expected of you in your role. For most employers, itâs really easy to get away with moving the goalposts around to avoid giving you extra money for your deserved hard work, so having some kind of written evidence from them about what exactly you can do to qualify for your bonus will always be helpful when it comes time to negotiate. And if youâre a customer who loves to mobile order your Dubai chocolate matcha Frappuccino, be prepared to battle with the automatic tip screen in your app now, too.
SJ asks, âHi I just discovered this and also wish this had existed 20 years ago. I am in my 50âs and have two kids. I am very late to the game. I have managed to save an education fund for my kids which I am so thankful for. I have a small amount of savings in a mutual fund and a retirement fund that could start in 8 years. I have no real estate.Also some debt. I have managed to raise my family living paycheck to paycheck. Your Ted talk story still happens to me at the grocery store sometimes. But, I am thankful to have had enough though. I know that is not the case for some families. I pay high rent and the price of things is scaring me. I am not sure what to do about the future. What would you suggest?â
First off, you deserve huge kudos â youâve been raising a family and funding your kidsâ education; that takes incredible strength and sacrifice, and itâs genuinely impressive that you prioritized their future even when money was tight. Now, letâs talk about your situation. Being in your 50s and feeling behind is actually more common than you think, and there are real strategies to help you catch up. The catch-up contribution advantage is your secret weapon right now. At 50+, you can contribute significantly more to retirement accounts than younger people, an extra $8,000 to your 401(k) if you have one (total limit of $32,500), and an extra $1,100 to an IRA (total limit of $8,600). Even better, you can do âsuper catch up contributionsâ into your 401k between ages 60-63! With 8 years until you can access that retirement fund, youâre not actually starting from zero. Youâve got existing savings in that retirement account, which gives you a foundation to build on. Even small, consistent contributions over 8 years can grow meaningfully, especially with catch-up limits working in your favor. You will need to pay attention to your debt because carrying debt into retirement makes everything harder. Aim to get your debt-to-income (DTI) ratio below 40% if possible, and prioritize paying off high-interest debt first (anything above 7% interest). This might mean temporarily focusing more on debt payoff than new savings, which can feel counterintuitive but actually gives you more breathing room later. As for supporting your kids, I know this is tough to hear, resist the urge to help further with their education or with things like housing down payments or other major expenses. You canât borrow for retirement the way they can borrow for school or a house. Your financial security has to come first now. Wishing you luck on your journey to an amazing retirement!
Want to be featured in our Question Bank section?
Rich Tip of the Week: What grocery store items will get $$$ due to Iran War?
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You wonât believe it, but thereâs been another European museum heist. This time, the robbers stole Matisse and Renoir paintings in under three minutes â thatâs not even one full loop of Replay by Iyaz.
Americans everywhere want the answers to TSA lines, high gas prices, and their Medicare co-payments. Vice President JD Vance said heâs getting to the bottom of our most important problem: do aliens count as demons?
SEE YOU IN THE COMMENTS BESTIES
thank you for these!
Extra thanks for the investment tips for the 50 and over crowd. Iâm not sure there but in a similar boat and have been kicking myself for it. Your advice and knowing Iâm not alone will help me seek help to secure my future.