Growth of Millionaires, SpaceX and World Cup Begin, Insane AI Math, Chase Sapphire Preferred Refresh

Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the growth of millionaires, SpaceX and World Cup begin, the insane AI math, the Chase Sapphire Preferred refresh, retiring is hard, doing fraud with cattle, bank tellers protect customers from fraudsters, Iran war is over or maybe it is not, amazing fugitive family story, palace hotels, the best photography links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. And much more. Enjoy the weekend.

 

Blog Mission: To Educate. Entertain. Inspire. In That Order!

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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.

 

BLOG HOUSEKEEPING

This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.

The Chase Sapphire Preferred card has been refreshed. And so has my blog after a very long time. Hope you like the new look. I also cut out a lot of salesy stuff, lowered the number of colors in the links and text and just tried to have a much more modern and clean look. To make it easier on your beautiful eyes and just make it a respectable looking site that I can be proud of. The content has not changed, it is something that is not negotiable. But maybe I split it into two posts per week because these Friday posts get way too long?

This venture has now definitely turned into a non profit venture after paying for the site refresh, it is what it is. Definitely appreciate the three readers who chose to use my site’s credit card links to apply for a credit card since May 1st.

 

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

 

“The first rule of compounding is to never interrupt it unnecessarily.” – Charlie Munger

 

MUST READ GEMS 

World Cup fever is on, bookmark this page for the complete schedule. And let’s talk about the games in the comments section.

2026 FIFA World Cup Matches

This is required reading for anyone who follows some randos online and taking financial advice from them. No excerpts, read in its entirety. And be careful out there! How finfluencers prey on economic desperation.

This Is Not Financial Advice

Some great stats in this article about millionaires in the US. And I am sure seeing the wave of inheritances happening in my day job…

The insane growth of America’s millionaire class

Millionaire growth: Chart shows US tax filings with $1M+ income surged to 805k in 2022, up from 201k in 1950, illustrating the "insane growth."

 

PERSONAL FINANCE

Today we have the SpaceX IPO so this seems appropriate: How Much Will SpaceX Actually Cost Your Index. I wish indexes did not change their rules for accepting new companies. And we will soon have OpenAI and Anthropic join the money grab fest while it is hot. Could this the top or will this just get sorted out by the market after trading goes back to normal? And big down days are just another dip? I guess we’ll find out…

And just another reminder seems appropriate as well: Nobody Knows Anything, SpaceX IPO Edition. I don’t know, maybe looking back we will recall Morgan Stanley’s prediction that SpaceX’s revenue will reach $3.4 Trillion by 2040 THE top? Anyway, this is why when Wall Street forecasts anything you should see it as another opportunity to just laugh smh.

The world is composed of countless co-variables — not only things we cannot predict, but also secondary effects and unforeseen consequences that are even more impossible to forecast — the further out you look, the number of possible outcomes increases exponentially. So much happens over the course of a year that it makes forecasting challenging; 10-15 years into the future is utterly laughable. Look, I get it, analysts’ jobs are hard enough as is, and many of them are justifiably terrified about being replaced by Claude. Still, f*ckery tomfoolery like this does not give one confidence in this IPO process…

My work is mostly about getting my clients to retire. And it is incredibly satisfying when this happens and they are enjoying this chapter of their lives. And, you know, we all need a purpose so getting my still working clients to get there is a reason to keep working. Or maybe I am trying to postpone my own retirement because I am scared. Anyway, it has been much harder attacking this complicated subject on the personal front. Because: Retiring From Work Is Easy. Retiring Into Life Is Harder. If you are contemplating retirement at some point (yeah, almost everyone) this article is a must read. And I am starting to believe that the way to go is semi retirement and slowly easing into the next chapter instead of that one day you say goodbye to the structure that provided you, well, so much.

The more difficult adjustment is often psychological. After spending decades operating within structured routines and careers that shaped their schedules, relationships, identity, and sense of purpose, retirement can create an unexpected feeling of uncertainty. Even people who are financially prepared sometimes struggle once the structure and meaning that work provided begins to disappear. That reality catches many people off guard because most of us spend years preparing financially for retirement while spending very little time thinking about how we actually want to live once we get there. 

The retirees who seem to transition most successfully are often the ones who begin building that life well before their final day of work. They cultivate interests, relationships, routines, and a sense of purpose long before retirement forces the issue. Financial planning remains important, but retirement is ultimately about much more than replacing a paycheck. A successful retirement is about building a life you genuinely want to wake up to once work is no longer deciding how your days will be spent. 

 

TECH/SCAMS/CRYPTO

I had no idea there was so much rampant fraud in the cattle industry. And this guy was really on to something taking so many people for a ride: The Cattle Empire That Turned Out to Be a Giant Ponzi Scheme. Investors and bank loans fueled Brian McClain’s ‘house of cards’ beef operations, which burned through $170 million. Wild stuff, some people are addicted to living the good life and gotta have it anyway they can. Also, amazing how easy financing was doing this, I guess no real inventory controls were present. To be off by so many cattle is unforgivable imho.

I think if you a behavioral scientist your job prospects are very bright. Because banks will want you badly: Customers Are Giving Billions to Scammers. Tellers Are Intervening. With cybercrime continuing to rise, some banks are testing new prevention strategies. JPMorgan Chase hired a behavioral scientist. Be careful out there, watch your aging parents!

Investigation by Reuters. If you are shocked, you are not paying attention: Under the Trump crypto playbook, the family always wins. Investors don’t. Risking little of their own money, the US president and his sons have added at least $2.3 billion to the family fortune from their main crypto ventures, while the investors they’ve wooed have taken a $2.3 billion hit, a Reuters examination found.

Sometimes when tech and science converge, we get stuff like this LOL: How often do people pass gas? There’s an app for that.

 

AI

I have clients who are software engineers. And both my kids are in the tech industry. And their friends read my blog. So, this article appeals mainly to software engineers and anyone who is into this thing that is changing (it appears) everything: AI enthusiasts are in a race against time, AI skeptics are in a race against entropyBoth sides are grappling with a real existential threat, and both sides feel like they are screaming into the void. There is a way to close the gap and get everyone pulling in the same direction.

I agree with this article: An entire industry is being propped by math that is insane.

GenAI is a risky bet that could pay off, or it could well tank the economy. (A more reliable form of AI might be a safer bet.) Certainly, SpaceX will never return the way Amazon did. OpenAI is in trouble, and may not make it. Anthropic has a chance of being profitable, but reaching 10x the IPO price would be amazing. To get to 100x the expected IPO price of $1 trillion would mean a market cap of nearly the entire world GDP (about $125 trillion), another manifest absurdity; 1000x is out of the question.

We’ll see what happens. And always diversify!

 

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10 Comments

  1. For email list subscibers, did you receive the email at the regular 8 am time. Or did you receive two emails about an hour apart? Please let me know.
    Trying to determine if the new format caused a change in how Mailchimp sends the emails out…

    Any other feedback on the site refresh?

    Yeah, cash back. It is coming closer day by day. To me, this miles/points stuff is still a game and a hobby. To travel for free…well, never mind. To enhance travel and lower its costs. Do not need the cash back but maybe, if current trend continues, it will make more sense to go there. And then just start booking everything on Rove.

    Bilt fanboys celebrating they are the only outlet to transfer to Hyatt 1:1…we’ll see how long this stands.

  2. World Cup predictions:

    Canada 1 Bosnia Herzegovina 1
    USA 2 Paraguay 1

    I don’t have confidence in these predictions by the way. On the contrary, I was certain that Mexico and South Korea would win yesterday.

  3. George, you’re exaggerating with that 40 peace deals comment. It’s only 39: https://x.com/ErikSTownsend/status/2065235304953569431

    “I wish indexes did not change their rules for accepting new companies.” Me too, it’s corrupt. But wealthy, connected insiders need exit liquidity so I hope retail enjoys having an overvalued company shoved into their retirement plan. This is why I’m avoiding ETFs with large cap domestic stocks in my 401k. Mike Green is right: indexing can get dangerous when everybody does it.

    Hyatt, thanks for the memories. It’s been fun.

  4. I got both versions of the Blog Post I Like Most today, and yes, about an hour apart. At least according to the time stamps. I’m always asleep still when these come out. It is the West Coast and I am also retired so I sleep in. Though today will be the second day of the House Getting Painted project. I’d put in a photo of it but I do not know how.

    I am happy for you that you got the site revision you wanted and I will always read it, but to be honest, I like the old version better. Both because I am used to it and also because it just looked right to me. But progress marches on and it is your baby. Besides, I like what you say even more than how it looks so you can’t lose me with a re-design!

    Looking at moving all my UR to Hyatt before the cut comes. I only have the CSP anyhow and do not use it much, nor do I use Hyatt much except when I visit my Daughter as there is a Cat 1 (still!) very near her house so that is handy.

    Anyhow, congrats on the revamp and thanks as always for all the work you do to put this together!

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