Sunday June 02, 2024
Volume 81
Hey besties!
We are officially in the final stretch of wedding planning! I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. I cannot wait for my actual wedding day, but planning is a whole other story. Me and organization/scheduling/planning do NOT go together. I now understand why wedding planners charge so much (they are worth every penny) because if I had to do any of this on my own, my boo and I would be getting married in a cardboard box. A quick moment of appreciation for my boo who has worked so hard with our wedding planners to make our day perfect. While our day is on track to be perfect, our budget certainly is not. Seriously, why are flowers so expensive? And as a finance creator, I felt like I was doing myself and my besties a disservice by not addressing how I’ve blown past my own budget. Turns out, planning a wedding is super emotional, and it’s not always easy to make the most logical financial decision. Fortunately, I was able to compromise on some aspects but splurge on others to bring the budget back down to earth a little bit. I feel like I’ve learned soooo much about wedding planning and I want to share that knowledge with you! What kind of wedding content do you want to see from me? Budgeting? Planning? Let me know in the comments!
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.
Balling On The Antitrust Checks 🏀
The National College Athletics Association (NCAA) and the nation’s five biggest sports conferences announced that they will pay $2.77 billion in settlements against antitrust claims.
This decision is the start of a whole new era in college sports, setting the stage for a groundbreaking revenue-sharing model that could begin directing millions of dollars straight to athletes’ bank accounts as early as the 2025 fall semester.
Schools in the Big Ten, Big 12, ACC and other sports—er—squads are probably going to have to cough up most of the settlement to the tune of approximately $300 million each paid over 10 years, most of which will be paid directly to athletes.
Paying student athletes has long been a hot-button issue, with teams often being restricted from endorsement deals, partnerships and income, all while the NCAA and its partners have raked in cash from the games.
HYCU; Student athletes, listen up! You’re about to get a thique payment in your account from this settlement, so make like Troy Bolton, get your head in the game and keep an eye out for what you’re owed. For young athletes signing or hoping to be signed for college sports, this will also mean major changes to what you can earn while you’re playing at school—you should be able to make much more now, and accept way more revenue opportunities than before. Between training sessions, it’s probably a good idea to figure out how to invest that money, so you can start getting your bag up.
Samsung On Strike 📲✊
For the first time ever, up to 28,000 Samsung manufacturing workers in South Korea will strike for one day on June 7 in order to fight for their wage raise negotiations.
The union has been in negotiations for pay increases since January, and has continued to hit walls with the company—but now, around 20% of the company workforce is willing to use annual leave to strike for one day, with a general strike potentially coming.
Samsung is the world’s biggest producer of smartphones and semiconductors, not to mention one of the only companies that can make high-quality memory chips for generative AI right now, supplying to companies like Nvidia. Needless to say, the effect of a strike would definitely be a kick in the global economy’s supply chain groin.
HYCU; If you are considering buying a Samsung phone, own a company that depends on Samsung memory chips, or invest in Samsung group, lock into this story. If a general strike comes into play, this could mean the availability of Samsung products could become scarce, and the domino effect would be widespread. As we know, I’m all about getting your bag though, which means we support workers who are fighting for fair pay!
Remote Jobs Down Bad 😭
New data from hiring platform Ladders shows that availability of remote and hybrid jobs paying at least $250,000 annually has flopped by 95% and 60%, respectively.
Analyzing all half-million jobs posted over the past year, the report found that of those available jobs, only 4% are fully remote, while less than 1% are hybrid.
It’s not just you—companies are asking everyone to put away the sweatpants, and it’s harder to find a high-paying WFH position now more than ever. Last week, Bloomberg reported that Citi, HSBC, and Barclays ordered Wall Street staffers to return to office five days a week.
The research also concluded that employees today need to earn $212,000 to match the earning power of a $100,000 salary just one generation ago, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator. WOOF.
HYCU; For those job hunting in the $250,000 and up salary range, I hope you still have a blazer or a pair of shoulder pads hanging out in the back of your closet, because it appears the rumors are true—the boss wants you to go back to the IRL workweek slog. But you shouldn’t let that stop you from asking! Everything is negotiable in a job interview (or even once you have the job), and it can’t hurt to poke around about a hybrid or remote model if that’s one of your wish-list items for your next role.
Find Your Ozempic Prescription 🗺
Telehealth company Ro has announced a new tracker to help patients who need diabetes and weight loss (GLP-1) drugs like Ozempic and Zepbound find available medicine amid national shortages.
This is the latest in a growing market of digital solutions that are focused on helping patients get prescriptions and, in some cases, wean off the drugs. This month, AI health assistant app Together by Renee announced a Find My Meds feature that automatically calls and transfers GLP-1 prescriptions to nearby pharmacies where the drug is available for refills.
The tracker uses Ro’s supply data and user-generated reports to provide a real-time look at the availability of drugs. Patients can also sign up for localized email alerts about pharmacies where drugs are in stock.
HYCU; For the unlucky patients who haven’t been able to get their meds, this will be great news for you, and at least a helpful tool to figure out where TF your prescription can be filled. Hopefully this tracker will also save you some money—these drugs have become even more expensive in 2024, amid the weight-loss hype, and if you can get your hands on a refill that your insurance covers, you could save yourself a headache and thousands of dollars.
Commonly asked question: Popaye asks, “I'm a stay at home parent. How can I fit into having a savings/retirement/Roth Ira when I have no income?”
This is a great question that more SAHPs should be thinking about! You could consider a Spousal Roth IRA! Typically, you’d need to earn income to contribute to this type of tax advantaged retirement account, but if you’re married, you can use a spousal Roth IRA to boost your retirement savings potential—even if only one spouse works for pay.
Additionally, as a SAHP, it can sometimes feel like you’re detached from the financial conversation in your household, so make sure you chat about financial transparency with your partner. You should know where every bill is coming from and have the logins to all bank accounts. This way, you can know where all the money is going.
It’s also not a bad idea to have a conversation about income. In many cases the working partner will set aside a certain amount of money for the SAHP to receive as income each month. This should go into a separate account just for you. Domestic labor is still labor and you should not feel financially precarious just because you’re doing all of the unpaid work in the home. Have a conversation with your partner and figure out what makes the most sense for you and your situation.
Want to be featured in our Question Bank section?
Rich Tip of the Week: Don’t make these luxury goods/travel mistakes!
I wanted to give a quick shout out to my amazing friend Kara Loewentheil for her instant NYT bestseller Take Back Your Brain: How a Sexist Society Gets in Your Head--and How to Get It Out! Check it out HERE!
The boys are going out for “bromakase” now, but I’m waiting for the brotherapy trend to happen.
We talked about grocery price slashing last week, and now Walmart is the latest bombshell to enter the Reduction Villa.
Dollar Tree is buying out hundreds of shuttered 99 Cent Stores, reopening them as early as this fall. Huge news for those who need party supplies.
SEE YOU IN THE COMMENTS BESTIES
Budgeting, please! Anything besides just diy absolutely everything, that gets exhausting and takes some of the fun out of an event for me.
Thanks for talking about the value of a wedding planner and reiterating why we charge the prices we do! It's a lot of work and I feel like people often don't split that cost up over the months (or sometimes years) that it takes to plan a couple's big day!
But in other news, as a former bride and current planner, I'd love to hear more about your budget, and what aspects you deemed most important fiscally. I can't wait to hear more and see pics! I know your big day is going to be perfect simply because you're marrying the love of your life.