enRICHed: volume 194
it’s so humid i feel like the sidewalk is a slip and slide
Sunday August 09, 2026
Volume 194
Hey besties!
We’ve been told for generations that buying a house is the ultimate sign that you’ve “made it,” and that renting is basically just throwing your money away. But what if that advice isn’t actually true anymore?
This week on Networth & Chill, I sat down with Amanda Pendleton, Zillow’s Home Trends Expert, to break down what the rent-versus-buy math really looks like today. We’re talking about the cities where buying can pay off in just four years, the places where renting can still win after 30 years, and the hidden costs of homeownership people often forget. Plus, if you want to buy but don’t have 20% down, Amanda breaks down how to get your financial ducks in a row and what you can do to put yourself in a stronger position to buy a home.
If you’re trying to figure out whether renting or buying actually makes more sense for your life and your money, this episode is for you.
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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 😉
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Now that you’re up to speed, let’s get you enRICHed.
The $100 Billion Refund 💸
This week, the Trump administration said it has refunded about $100 billion of the tariff revenue that was collected off President Trump’s 2025 “Liberation Day” duties.
If you’re a regular on enRICHed, you’ll know that the government is being ordered to refund importers a total of around $166 billion after the Supreme Court deemed the tariff situation unlawful. As of now, just over half has been paid out, according to a Customs and Border Protection court filing.
Apple got an estimated $2.2 billion tariff refund last quarter, while Amazon got $600 million. Nike got $300 million back. It’s sparked some frustration, as customers wonder why they aren’t also entitled to a tariff refund. After all, many of the tariffs were passed onto consumers and the prices affected our wallets, but some companies (cough, cough, Nintendo) think that we don’t deserve to get our money back.
Some customers are taking matters into their own hands. Last month, New York resident Tyasia Johns filed a class action lawsuit against discount retailer Five Below, alleging that the company failed to return the tariff refunds it received to customers who actually paid for the levies. A group of consumers also filed a class action lawsuit against Amazon in May, arguing they were owed refunds over price increases.
HYCU; Is there any way you can get some money back? Amazon has said that they’ll refund customers in certain cases — they’re working on directly reaching out to the people who qualify and automatically reissuing refunds, per the CFO Brian Olsavsky. But they haven’t specified what those refund cases actually are. There’s a way you can check UPS to see if your purchase made after Jan. 30 this year qualifies for a refund, which you can check out here. Costco also said they would “return to our members in some form the portion of tariffs that were passed on to them,” but they haven’t specified if that really means a refund or not. Most other major retailers have said that they’re basically keeping the money to offset costs from the Iran war, though, so you’re better off optimizing your credit cards for cash back and reselling your gently used items if you want to get a little bit of money back in your pocket.
A New CDC Director 🩺
After a year of free-wheeling at the CDC, we finally have a permanent director at one of the most important federal health agencies: the Senate has confirmed Dr. Erica Schwartz, a former deputy surgeon general and retired US Coast Guard officer, to lead.
CDC director is an important gig — Schwartz will oversee the country’s public health response, including approving vaccine recommendations and helping contain disease outbreaks. We’re currently staring down the barrel of a measles crisis and the growing cyclosporiasis outbreak (which has now been tied to more fruits and vegetables beyond iceberg lettuce, so make sure you’re washing that produce).
The vote was 51-44 and pretty much split along party lines, with Republicans voting in favor and Democrats against, although Senator Tim Kaine (and former Hillary Clinton running mate, if you remember that) voted with Republicans. She’s not necessarily that outrageous of a choice, since unlike the earlier candidates, she believes in science and has a resumé of public health experience, but some feel as though she didn’t do enough to distance herself from the controversial stances of Health Department head RFK Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” platform and are worried she might cave to the anti-vaccine pressure.
There’s a lot of pressure right now because public health is highly political at the moment. The first Senate-confirmed director, Susan Monarez, served for less than a month before being fired by Kennedy last year. Monarez later told Congress that Kennedy pressured her to rubber-stamp vaccine policies without reviewing scientific evidence, which is not…great.
HYCU; Erica Schwartz’s job will have a direct impact on your health insurance coverage. Federal law requires that most private health insurance plans and Medicaid programs should cover the full cost of recommended immunizations for adults, but if Schwartz shortens the list of recommended vaccines, like RFK Jr. wants, then more will become out-of-pocket for us. That’s a cost that can run up almost $200 per shot for adults, depending on the vaccine, on top of the already-rising copayments. The CDC is also responsible for containing disease outbreaks as well as overseeing work-related injury and illness research and compensation, so IF we have great leadership, life should be healthier and less expensive for us. IF — that’s the big question right now.
A Slice of the AI Pie 🥧
AI is the hottest thing on the market right now, and companies are raking in cash on cash. But as these new companies continue to skyrocket in value, three lawmakers are looking to level the playing field for workers whose income and jobs have been affected by AI fever.
The AI Tax and Work Protection Act, led by Representatives Greg Casar, Valerie Foushee and Sara Jacobs, would tax AI developers to fund a Work Protection Administration program, which will focus on hiring and helping workers who have been displaced by AI layoffs. Casar said that it was inspired by FDR’s Works Progress Administration during the New Deal, which employed millions of job-seekers to build public works projects like schools, airports, roads, libraries and bridges (it was the reason the Hoover Dam got built, and also, controversially, the Japanese internment camps, but that’s a research rabbit hole I’ll let you go down yourself).
Here’s how this tax will work: Top AI companies (such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and SpaceX) would have to pay a tax on either the price of the tokens they sell or the revenue they generate selling their products, whichever is higher value — and the tax would also be increased if the unemployment rate rises. With the money they get from the companies, the Work Protection Administration would focus on creating jobs, whether it be hiring out people for public works initiatives à la New Deal vibes, connecting people to jobs in their area, or providing financial compensation during their job hunt.
Senator Bernie Sanders introduced a similar tax bill in June, the American AI Sovereign Wealth Fund Act, which would impose a one-time 50% tax on the stock of leading AI companies, and funnel the money into a sovereign wealth fund (the official term for a state-owned investment account).
HYCU; This bill has only just been introduced, which means it still needs to go through the lengthy approval process, but if successful, it could be incredibly helpful for anyone who has lost their job because of AI, as well as people who have been job-searching for a really long time in this extremely sluggish market. The FDR-era Works Progress Administration was wildly effective in hiring people during the Great Depression, and it wasn’t just construction work — they hired out writers, musicians, artists, and librarians, too. Should this be realized, it could mean a huge revitalization for people who have been struggling with their job search for a long time.
Maria asks, “Hi Vivian,
I am such a big fan and always look forward to learning from you! I wanted to ask about company investment selling and allocations. My company offers stocks as part of the compensation package and also offers ESPP which I participate in. This means I have a lot of money invested into my company, but at what rate should I be selling these stocks or trading for other stocks such as index funds?”
Hey Bestie!
Love the enthusiasm for learning, and this is such a smart topic to dig into. Let’s talk company stock, because this is one of the most important (and most overlooked) wealth-building conversations out there.
The concentration risk problem is real — when you receive RSUs, ISOs, and participate in an ESPP, your financial life becomes deeply tied to one company’s fate. Your income already depends on your employer, so having a large chunk of your investments there too means a single bad quarter, a leadership scandal, or an industry downturn can hit your paycheck AND your portfolio at the same time.
Financial planners often use a rule of thumb that no single stock should represent more than 10-15% of your total investment portfolio for this reason.
On your ESPP specifically, the general wisdom is to sell quickly — ESPPs typically let you buy company stock at a discount (often 10-15% below market price). That built-in discount is essentially free money, and many financial educators suggest selling those shares promptly after purchase to lock in the discount and redeploy into diversified investments. Holding ESPP shares long-term means you’re betting that discount PLUS future appreciation will outperform a diversified portfolio, which is a concentrated bet that often doesn’t pay off.
For RSUs, a systematic selling approach tends to work well. Rather than trying to time the market or waiting for the “perfect” moment, many people adopt a policy of selling a set percentage of vested RSUs on a regular schedule, regardless of what the stock is doing. This removes emotion from the equation. Some people sell 100% of each vest and redeploy into index funds. Others sell enough to bring their company stock below that 10-15% threshold and hold the rest. The key is having a rule and sticking to it.
Where to redeploy the proceeds is where index funds shine. Broad market index funds (think S&P 500 trackers or total market funds) give you exposure to hundreds or thousands of companies at very low cost. This is the diversification that offsets the concentration risk from your company stock. Dollar-cost averaging the proceeds in over time, rather than dumping everything in at once, can also help smooth out the timing risk.
The tax piece is worth flagging — selling company stock has tax implications that vary depending on how long you’ve held the shares, whether they’re from RSUs vs. an ESPP, and your income level.
Short-term capital gains (held less than a year) are taxed as ordinary income, while long-term gains get preferential rates. This is genuinely an area where consulting a CPA or tax professional before executing a large sell is worth it, because the sequencing of when you sell can meaningfully change your tax bill.
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SEE YOU IN THE COMMENTS BESTIES
Thank you for this episode so much- I make good money but also am single and the thought of home ownership is too much for just one person it validated a lot of the feelings I’ve had around renting
Vivian, love your take on renting. This is an idea I have espoused! Especially since 2017 TCJA removed much of the tax benefit to homeownership, I suggest being a renter who buys rentals - if you are dying to get into real estate. Or, you could do flips...in certain markets. I wanted to comment on the CDC Director. She is dangerous! She wants increased surveillance on womens health, specifically related to abortions. This is The Handmaid's Tale in the making. We can not downplay the loss of autonomy women have over their bodies in this country!