{"id":86025,"date":"2025-01-25T01:00:16","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T09:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=86025"},"modified":"2025-01-28T08:06:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-28T16:06:04","slug":"black-coffee-25-jan-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id86025-black-coffee-25-jan-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Fake It ‘Til You Make It"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.<\/p>\n

I hope everybody had a wonderful week. And with that, let’s get right to this week’s commentary, shall we?<\/p>\n

Never spend your money before you’ve earned it.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Thomas Jefferson<\/strong><\/p>\n

To contract new debts is not the way to pay old ones.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— George Washington<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? A recent survey has found that 59% of millennials say it\u2019s important to have visible signs of wealth<\/a>, such as a luxury vehicle, designer clothing, or a home in a tawny neighborhood. By comparison, just 21% of Gen Xers, 8% of baby boomers, and 7% of the silent generation have the same opinion. Apparently, handing out participation trophies has done more damage than we initially thought.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Now for the punchline: Even though 3 in 5 millennials believe that displaying wealth<\/a> is important, the same survey also discovered that 40% of the very same millennials admit to relying on credit cards and loans<\/strong><\/em> to fund their showy lifestyle – despite the steady accumulation of debt. Heh. Now … who is going to remind these delusional people that there is a tremendous difference between wealth and “wealth”?<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In yet another generational survey, 56% of Gen X investors say they currently provide financial support<\/a> to their parents and\/or children. Sadly, more than one in five Gen Xers admit to taking on large levels of debt to manage this responsibility. Among them, 24% are taking on credit card debt, while more than a third are cutting back on non-essential expenses. That being said, it could be worse; there are plenty of others out there saying, “hold my beer” …<\/p>\n

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\nDebit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, for most people, putting a little aside for retirement is tougher than ever – regardless of the generation. That\u2019s because, stocks have never been more expensive<\/a> relative to worker wages. In fact, today’s workers must put in over 200 hours to afford one unit of the S&P 500; compare that to the 75-year median price of just 33 hours of work.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> On a related note, new data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics is out that shows home healthcare for elderly or disabled family members is nearly 10% higher<\/a> than it was a year ago. Not surprisingly, nursing home care is also up more than 5%, while hospital cost are 4% higher. And if that wasn’t depressing enough, the cost of health insurance and prescription drugs are also 5% higher than they were in December 2023. Now for the really bad news: Since this is government data, you can bet that all of these healthcare price increases are grossly understated.<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Perhaps Americans\u2019 financial struggles is one reason why the size of tips<\/a> left by American restaurant-goers has shrunk in recent years. Point-of sale data from Toast shows that the overall restaurant tipping average was 18.8% in the third quarter of 2024, based on US restaurants. That\u2019s down from 19.2% during the same period in 2021. Perhaps this wouldn’t be an issue if there was a generally accepted tipping standard out there that everyone could agree on. Um … or not:<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, another survey found that the share of Americans giving tips every time to hairstylists, food delivery people, baristas and certain other service workers has declined<\/a> between 2021 and 2024. For example, only 20% of respondents say they regularly leave a tip for baristas – that\u2019s down from 23% in 2021. And only 41% of those surveyed said they “always” tipped their taxi or ride share drivers; a decrease from 48% in 2021. The survey also found the share of people tipping hairstyles every time dropped 8% since 2021. As for retail outlets, well …<\/p>\n