There’s a million personal finance sites out there that are doing a great job of educating people about being more financially savvy, whether you’re subscribed to the Mustachian values of extreme saving and index fund investing, or pursuing a more Ramit Sethi-ish method of optimising income and not worrying so much about the latte effect.
I thought about what I can do to bring added value to the conversation on personal finance and financial independence, and thought my passion for reading and just soaking up random and not so random news could help provide different perspectives into the PF world.
Headline news impacting personal finance
This is especially important when we look at it from an investment thesis perspective. PF/FIRE folks are highly invested into the economy, with a long term view toward making sure they’re invested into the right trends, and also potentially spotting challenges and opportunities.
Industries cycle in and out of favour with different trends and technological advancements within those industries, and it helps to keep your finger on the pulse of what’s moving the world, as well as the macro trends driving it forward in the next 5, 10 years.
It’s probably also a good category for me to collate my thoughts, store my views on what’s going to move the world, and then be able to look back and see if it unfolded according to plot, or not.
The series is meant to help broaden perspectives and give you guys something to think about over the course of the week. And below, I present, Week 1.
Rich Bites – #1
1. It’s probably too late to prevent climate change.
Sam Arie, research analyst at UBS, contends that it’s probably too late to prevent climate change, even with a renewed sense of urgency in developing renewable energy sources and businesses. There’s likely no Deus Ex Machina if we’re looking for a ‘Hail Mary’.
From this we reluctantly draw two contrasting conclusions: the first is that we may very well be on the cusp of a 20 or 30 year sustained bull market in renewable power — promising a fundamental reshaping of our energy industry; our natural landscape; and perhaps even similar in social importance to the rollout of clean water and sanitation in the 19th century, or mobile phones and the internet at the end of the 20th.
Sam Arie
But the second conclusion is that we will still most likely fail to reach “net zero” emissions by 2050. Humanity may, therefore, achieve in the space of a hundred years what used to take 10,000 or 20,000 years — an increase in average surface temperatures of 2, 3, 4 degrees Celsius or more.
That means a belated prevention strategy will not be enough. We must now begin in earnest on a plan for adaptation. We must not only ask how we can switch on more sources of clean, renewable power — but also how we can live with the consequences of the fossil fuel sources we are not yet willing to switch off.
Additional read: Animal body sizes are shrinking from climate change.
2. How to pick a career (that actually fits you)
Tim Urban is probably my absolute favourite writer when it comes to long reads. You might want to settle in for this one, as he takes you through how you should look at your career, where you will spend the bulk of adulthood.
Even from the lens of FIRE, this is a good and important read. This is a post from 2018, but in terms of content, this is timeless.
All his posts, as long as they are, are extremely readable, and more importantly, understandable. And once you start digging into the Urban-hole, you just can’t stop. So, enjoy.
3. Biggest Perils and Opportunities in A.I.
Fei Fei Li, on championing the positive impact of A.I.
I still believe the world is created by us. And whatever future world we envision or we want to live in is due to the work we do today.
Fei Fei Li
4. 3D Printing Points to Smarter Cancer Treatment
Using 3D printing to create personalised replicas of patient organs can help doctors target tumours more precisely.
5. Which Countries are most at risk of a Housing Bubble?
12 years after the last housing meltdown, are we counting down to another? The 10 year bull run has dulled a lot of memories, but are we in danger of another catastrophe?