TL;DR

• 5 Zero-Effort Financial Wins

• Staycation - The 2026 Summer Travel Trend

• Is Helping Your Kid Buy A Home Smart or Dumb

• What “frugal” habit did you stop doing once you did the math?

Top Money News

5 Zero-Effort Financial Wins

The news lately is nothing but negativity. Inflation, Layoffs, War, AI Bubble.

It’s easy to feel stressed and discouraged. So I wanted to share 5 positive things that have been happening in the background.

1. The stock market is still going up despite bad news. The S&P 500 hit an all-time high on June 2nd. And it’s up 10.3% on the year.

2. Corporate earnings are still high. When this happens that reduces the likelihood of layoffs and means they can fund new projects (more jobs).

3. Recession odds are down. Goldman Sachs recently said the odds of a recession are down from 30% to 25%. Which means the job market could actually be improving.

4. Rent prices are actually down from last year. There has been a ton of new construction everywhere, and as a result, the average rent was $2k/mo in May. Down $100/mo from last year.

5. Savings accounts are still paying a great APY. In 2022, high-yield accounts were about 1%. Right now, you can find many accounts with 3.5-4%. Just for letting money sit there.

Is Your Employer's Life Insurance Policy Enough? Probably Not.

Here’s Why:

• Limited Payout - Usually, these policies are at most 1-2x your salary. Not nearly enough to help your family if they lose your income forever.

• Not Portable - It’s tied to your job. When you leave, the policy doesn’t go with you.

• Lack of Control - Your employer can change or completely eliminate it at any time.

Money Trends

Staycation - the 2026 Summer Vacation Trend

If you've been reconsidering your summer trip, you're in very good company.

About two-thirds of Americans have altered their summer travel plans because of rising costs, according to a recent U.S. News survey.

And nearly four in ten aren't traveling at all this summer.

People simply can't afford it.

So what's replacing the classic summer vacation?

"Staycations," "quietcations," and the unfortunately named "micro-break" are apparently having a moment.

Here's the thing though: people aren't abandoning travel; they're just being smarter about it.

Of those who are traveling this summer, the majority are doing it the right way:

• Half plan to pay with savings or cash

• 20% will put it on a card they'll pay off immediately.

Still, about 18% plan to finance their trip through credit card debt, buy-now-pay-later plans, or personal loans. If that’s you, please go sign up for my free personal finance course.

A vacation you're still paying off in October isn't really a vacation.

So if you really want to do something with your family this summer, I get it.

Consider a staycation. It could be the difference between spending $500 and spending $5,000.

It could be the difference between paying off your vacation this winter and being debt-free this winter.

What “frugal” habit did you stop doing once you did the math?

Putting off repairs, keeping things instead of donating or throwing it away, and buying in bulk.

I thought this was an interesting Reddit Thread where people discussed “frugal” habits that ended up costing them more money.

Money For Parents

Should You Help Your Kid Buy Their First Home

The median first-time home buyer is 40 years old. And I’ve talked about it on my page before, that we’re investing money into a UGMA so that our son can eventually buy his first home.

But before you go ahead and do the same, I wanted to share the pros and cons with you that I had to consider.

Pros: Doing this allows me to reduce the burden of home ownership for my kids during their early 20’s. A time when they’re likely to struggle the most financially. And by starting now, I can let compound interest do all the work!

This intentional decision can serve as a catalyst for their financial independence journey.

Cons: This could jeopardize your own retirement! I’m 34 and invested $75/mo for our son. That’s potentially $80k we’re missing out on during retirement - per kid!

You could also argue that we’re spoiling our kid and, in the long run, creating more financial dependency.

The balance: If we have the discipline to invest on behalf of our kid, we need to have the discipline to spend time teaching them financial literacy. We do that not just through educating them, but with our actions and our relationship with money.

Kids are more likely to do as we do than as we say (so I’ve been told).

Additionally, we’ve run our retirement numbers, and I suggest you do as well.

To do so, you need to first understand what you’ll likely be spending at retirement. Most financial advisors recommend using 80-85% of what you spend today.

Then you divide that number by 4.7%. This is the percent you’ll withdraw during retirement.

This gives you the target retirement number you want to hit.

Then you simply plug in what you currently have today into this compound interest calculator. Use standard market returns of 8%. Your target retirement date. And how much you contribute each month currently. You’ll then quickly see where you’ll end up based on your habits today.

If you’re well on track and have the ability to invest more, you should feel guilt-free about investing for your kid.

That’s all for this week!

Thanks and let me know if I can ever be helpful!

Dan