Safe Investments Today, Making $500,000/year & Fasting

As I'm typing this, I'm listening to the most memorable songs from Barack Obama's presidency (his own words). 

The former President posted the songs on Twitter, but to my surprise, nobody had created a playlist for them on Spotify yet. So I did. You can find it here.

[I sent him the playlist too, I'll let you know what he says].

Here's why: Barack and Michelle got paid $65 million to write their last two books, the highest-ever paid for non-fiction books. I'm hoping the songs will rub off on my creativity to write something even remotely worth that much (for your eyes only, of course).

New face, same plan

Speaking of Mr. Obama, the dominating theme of the last few weeks on the news has been the election of Joe Biden to the presidency of the United States. 

I know I'm late to the party but a lot of things are likely not going to be different from a Trump presidency on many fronts. In both cases, we saw, and are going to see more massive government stimulus money to counter the effect of our now old-friend corona (implications below).

To top it off, Joe Biden is already being urged to consider canceling some student debt altogether to stimulate the economy. The rage of the disciplined savers who sacrificed to pay off their debts will likely create more divisiveness between young people particularly (Peter Thiel, an early investor in Facebook, has a fascinating take on the topic).

In short, expect more stimulus - which helps people who own assets and harms those who have cash savings.

Rapid-Fire Best Insights

Safest investments over the next 18 months: Assets with either scarcity (like fine wine or Bitcoin) or clear pricing power (like technology giants)that can thrive in an ever-digitizing world.

With more money being printed chasing the same amount of goods, companies with monopolistic powers to increase their prices to counter inflation are likely to preserve the purchasing power of your savings over time.

After all, if Google increases the prices of its ads by 1 or 2%, advertisers aren't likely to switch from Google Ads to... wait, what's the other big search engine again?

Best podcast episode I (re-)listened to: Michael Saylor on the Future of Education (or how to make it free for everyone for 1% of its current price)

Best quote I read this week: "If you're going to pick 3 cards in the hands you're dealt with, take intelligence, drive, and most importantly, emotional self-discipline." [more on that below].

Best Tweet I came across: How to generate world-class writing

Book I just finished: The Rational Optimist. I'm still working through this one, but Matt Ridley is page by page becoming one of my favorite writers in the world. If climate change (or COVID, or inequality, overpopulation, technological unemployment, or anything really...) depresses your outlook on the future, read it.

What I'm fascinated by: Leverage. Christmas is around the corner, and Mariah Carey still makes $500,000 a year from a song she recorded in 1994.

In the information age, you can produce a piece of content, media, or code with nothing but a laptop, and have it work for you for decades. Social media works for you while you sleep (which is how Blackpink became the biggest pop group in the world you've probably never heard of) and digital products are infinitely scalable. The best part is that you don't need anyone's permission to start.

Anything else I think you should know: I did a 3-day water fast this week supplementing with nothing but Four Sigmatic's Chaga Elixir and coconut oil.

I watched Chef's Table and The Chef Show at night to become better aware of my food cravings and general impulsions to living life reactively. Few things will test you as much as watching a Florentine steak being grilled by an Italian family-man named Dario when you haven't eaten in 72 hours.

Take-away: fasting isn't as brutal as you might think, it eliminates "hanger", puts you back in control of your impulsions - and trains your emotional self-discipline to remain calmer in the face of temptations or cravings.

Check my latest highlights to see what my first bite looked like after 3 days...

Until next time.

Alex.