enRICHed: volume 192
somehow it’s almost august already??
Sunday July 26, 2026
Volume 192
Hey besties!
Contrary to popular belief, I did not come out of the womb knowing what a Roth IRA was. Before I was Your Rich BFF, I made plenty of money mistakes... and unfortunately, some of them were expensive. The good news? You get to learn from my financial trauma instead of creating your own.
This week on Networth & Chill, I’m sharing the biggest financial mistakes I’ve made and the lessons they taught me. From accidentally tanking my credit score and funding a retirement account without actually investing the money, to buying things for the wrong reasons and learning the hard way that “cheap” isn’t always cheaper, we’re covering it all. I also get into why comparing your finances to your friends is a losing game, the retirement mistake almost everyone makes, and how to make sure you’re not leaving money on the table.
If you’ve ever looked back at one of your financial decisions and thought, “Well... that was a learning experience,” this episode is for you.
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 😉
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.
Sigh…More Tariffs… 💸
This week, President Donald Trump announced that his administration will impose another wave of tariffs on countries around the world, plus the European Union, as the current tariffs are set to expire.
It’s not just a renewal of the current tariff regime, either — we’re seeing tariff hikes. Sigh. Currently, we’re at 10% overall, but the new levies will be anywhere from 10 to 12.5% in duties, depending on the kind of product being imported.
The tariffs began on Friday, which means anything getting imported now will be subject to the new rules. This 10 to 12.5% rate will apply to basically every single imported product, so it’s basically everything that’s getting tariffed. And then there are the additional, specific duties that have recently been tacked on: the White House imposed 25% tariffs on most imports from Brazil this Wednesday, as well as 50% tariffs on a massive range of goods from Canada, which are set to begin next month.
What’s really annoying is that this round is happening literally out of spite. Remember how the Supreme Court ruled that the tariffs were illegal and that Trump had to repay at least $166 billion collected from importers and give them back to the companies? Yeah, in response, Trump instead introduced this new wave of tariffs, which is what we’re seeing take effect now. Consumers got the shortest end of the stick in this deal, because a lot of major companies refused to pass those refunds back onto consumers — Nintendo even said that we don’t deserve to get tariff refunds because we willingly paid more for higher prices. Sure…
HYCU; Everything currently on shelves is still operating under the old regime, but expect to see further price jumps in the near future. But just because Nintendo thinks you should suffer doesn’t mean you have to. According to UPS, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has begun accepting refund requests through a phased rollout for certain 2025 tariffs collected under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) that were later invalidated by the U.S. Supreme Court. Certain tariffs applied to certain purchases made on or after Jan. 30, 2026 are eligible, and you can check your UPS tracking number on the site to see if your order qualifies for a refund.
Tip of the Iceberg Lettuce 🥬
It’s not just the Taco Bell shredded lettuce anymore — the FDA is investigating at least five other clusters of cyclosporiasis, including an outbreak of 72 more cases this week.
Right now, it’s not clear where this new outbreak is coming from, so we’ll have to keep an eye on the headlines to figure out what produce ends up being the culprit this time. The CDC said the investigation is going to be a slow-going process, because tracking cyclopsoriasis takes a long time. It takes anywhere from two days to two weeks for symptoms to appear, and it’s also really difficult to track, since people stay having tummy issues. The good news is that cyclosporiasis is unlikely to spread between people, which, given the symptoms, should be a huge relief to your digestive tract.
Health Secretary and renowned sewage water lover Robert F. Kennedy Jr. basically refused to say that there was a problem going on, instead announcing that the outbreak was “under control” and denied that staffing cuts weakened surveillance efforts.
As if that weren’t enough going on, we also have to worry about other foods — the FDA recalled 1.6 million eggs at Kroger and other stores because of salmonella risk this week. White-shell and cage-free shell eggs sold in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas have been recalled, so if you recently bought eggs in these states, I’m very sorry to break this news, but you should throw them out.
HYCU; It’s clear that there’s a bigger systemic issue with fresh produce going on. But the good news is you can still eat your vegetables — you just need to be more careful. Experts say to avoid bagged salads, cook vegetables when you can, and wash everything yourself (yes, even if it says triple-washed on the package). It’s also important to check the news to see what products are being recalled, so you know what might be infected with cyclopsoriasis, and what brands of lettuce and produce are safe.
Shaking Surveillance Off 📹
Even though Madison Square Garden said they needed their fancy new facial recognition surveillance in order to keep the arena safe, a new WIRED investigation revealed that they actually shut it down on the night of Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce’s rehearsal dinner and their wedding.
If you didn’t remember, Taylor Swift’s big wedding night happened on July 3, where over 1,000 celebrities gathered at the venue for her ceremony. The security was incredibly tight: guests had to sign an NDA before they could get a digital invitation, cars had to park in tents so people could discreetly move in and out…and probably also to avoid the biometric surveillance at the entrance. There was also a no-phone policy — the only detailed description of the event posted by a wedding night guest was deleted.
Madison Square Garden owner James Dolan has caught a lot of heat for his facial recognition surveillance, which he’s used at the other venues he owns (that’s Radio City Music Hall and the Beacon Theater in New York, as well as the Sphere in Las Vegas). It’s already been used for suspicious reasons — a mom trying to take her then 9-year-old Girl Scout to a Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall had her face flagged and was blocked from entering because she was an attorney at a firm in a legal dispute with one of Dolan’s entities, and the security system was also used to track a transgender woman second-by-second when she was in the arena, including when she went in and out of a bathroom.
HYCU; Even if you don’t really care about the Taylor and Travis wedding, this story is important. It goes to show that for all of companies’ insistence that they need facial recognition software to keep you safe, that’s not entirely true. I mean, if someone wanted to truly protect a room full of A-list celebrities, wouldn’t it make sense to use the best technology available? It’s no secret that money often buys you the comfort of privacy, but only giving the richest the chance to opt out does not feel great. Still, even though it’s becoming more common, there are still places for you to choose to skip the facial recognition tracking — you can still say no at the TSA checkpoint, and you can swap the Face ID on your phone for a classic password on your iPhone.
Katie asks: “I would really like to hear the breakdown of what ira is best for me as a married filing jointly girlie with around 158k annual household income. My roth ira that I opened when I was like 21 has stalled. Also how do I encourage my employer (as we move from a small to medium sized business) to offer 401k at all?”
Hii bestie, here’s the deal on both fronts!
First, the Roth IRA situation for a married filing jointly household at ~$158k:
Good news: at $158k household MAGI filing jointly, you’re well under the 2026 Roth IRA phase-out range, which starts at $242,000 for joint filers (and cuts off completely at $252,000). So direct Roth IRA contributions are fully on the table, no backdoor needed.
The 2026 contribution limit is $7,500 per person (up from $7,000 in 2025), with a $1,100 catch-up if you’re 50 or older. That means as a couple, you could be putting away up to $15,000 total across two Roth IRAs annually. If that Roth has been sitting idle, the simplest fix is setting up automatic monthly contributions so it’s funding itself without you having to remember. Divide $7,500 by 12 and you’re looking at $625/month per person, or whatever amount fits your
budget, and let compound growth do its thing.
One thing to call out: I wasn’t 100% sure what you meant by a Roth IRA “stalling” — usually that just means contributions stopped or the investments inside it aren’t working hard enough. Check what the money is actually invested in inside the account. If it’s sitting in a money market or cash equivalent, it’s not growing the way it should be. Broad market index funds might be a better choice for long-term Roth growth.
Now, the 401(k) advocacy piece:
This is genuinely one of the most impactful things an employee can do for their own financial future, and employers are often more receptive than you’d think, especially as a company scales up. Here’s how to make the case effectively:
Frame it as a retention and recruiting tool, not just a perk. As a company grows from small to medium, competition for talent intensifies. A 401(k) is one of the top benefits candidates look for, and research consistently shows it reduces turnover. Framing the ask around “this helps us attract and keep good people” lands very differently than “I want this for myself.”
Bring up the tax incentives for the business. Under SECURE 2.0, small businesses that start a new 401(k) plan can qualify for significant tax credits, up to $5,000 per year for the first three years to offset plan startup costs, plus additional credits if they include automatic enrollment. This means the cost to the employer of setting up a plan can be substantially reduced, sometimes nearly eliminated in the early years. That’s a compelling financial argument to put in front of leadership or an HR decision-maker.
Make it easy for them to say yes. Come with solutions, not just requests. There are providers like Guideline, Human Interest, and others that specialize in affordable, low-administrative-burden 401(k) plans specifically designed for small and growing businesses. If you can say “here’s a provider that handles the compliance and administration for a reasonable fee,” you’ve removed the biggest objection most small employers have, which is that it sounds complicated and expensive.
Find your allies. If other employees are interested, a group ask carries more weight than a solo one. A brief, professional email or conversation with HR or a founder that includes a few colleagues’ names signals that this is a broader workforce priority, not just one person’s wish list.
Put it in writing, briefly. A short, clear email summarizing the retention benefit, the tax credits available to the employer, and a suggested provider or two gives leadership something to actually act on. Verbal requests get forgotten; a well-crafted email gets forwarded to the CFO.
Wishing you luck bestie!!
Want to be featured in our Question Bank section?
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SEE YOU IN THE COMMENTS BESTIES
Also would love to mention going to farmer’s markets is your best bet for safe produce! Not to mention, you’re supporting your local community. We’ve been going the last 3 weekends and it’s so fun! My kids love picking out the produce.
Looking forward to the episode. I love the idea of treating financial mistakes as learning experiences. I've found that the most expensive mistakes aren't always the ones that cost money, they're the beliefs we carry forward because of them. One financial setback can become "I have to be hypervigilant forever."