LIFESTYLE Newsletter Vol. 7 No. 5
Nick’s LIFESTYLE Newsletter Vol. 7 No. 5
THIS IS AN INTRODUCTION
Hello again everyone. It's been a few months. Weeks where I have been weighing my food, lifting weights and going for 30+ mile bike rides on the regular. I’ve got a plane seat I need to fit into in less than 60 days, people. Weeks of stress, planning and anticipation. Weeks of going to the doctor and having to schedule terrifying things they do to old people. Weeks of enjoying this AMAZING SUMMER. Like top five out there, right?
This issue is going to have bullets like a vending machine in a grocery store in the south?!?! Jesus, fuck, America.
Been using Open AI’s Whisper model to feed untranslated Japanese videos and have it generate a subtitle file. 40x speed of the video and the output is like 90% good. Amazing technology.
I was listening to Ramit’s podcast, I Will Teach You to Be Rich and he was talking with a couple that was having a hard time expressing their feelings to each other. He mentioned his therapist gave him a Feelings Wheel. My ears perked up and holy crap, what a great idea! I have this on my devices so if you ever need me to drill down on a feeling, I can pull it out and be more specific.
If you have 15 minutes to watch a video about a comedian becoming an investigative journalist and how dull and gullible our geriatric government is, boy is this a good one. A Congressman Accidentally Made Me His Right Hand man
I was listening to the Price estate’s podcast and they were talking with the Revolution about how Prince had certain hand signals or words he would say to trigger the band to do something. James Brown did the same thing. It struck me how similar that is to pro wrestling where they call spots in the ring in a way the audience doesn’t hear or see. If only Prince was 100 lbs. heavier and a foot taller…
As a reminder, I’m sending out daily emails from Japan (it’s for me to remember and reflect on everything, but you might enjoy it too). If you are interested in getting these, email/text me and I’ll add you to the list.
More bullets down below!
ITEM THE FIRST:
$5 QUESTIONS: I was listening to an episode of Ramit’s podcast, “We have $2M…Why can’t we retire?” and he had a married couple that had $2M in assets but was too scared of the unknown to retire, so they kept working. Rob, 62, was so paralyzed by fear of the unknown and not having enough he just couldn’t make a decision. Ramit asked him, “why haven’t you seen a financial advisor? If you have questions, they would answer them” and the guy was concerned of the cost and Ramit pointed out that paying the $3-5k for a financial analysis that would answer the question is less than a month of gains on their account. Why wouldn’t you pay that to get the answer and not stress out about it?
Needless to say, that hit me a bit. Not that I’m stressed out, but I think anytime you are dealing with large sums of money and your future, it is good to have a second opinion. I also have a pension, which makes my calculations a bit more advanced than an online calculator. So, I went searching for a financial advisor with these criteria:
Flat-fee only. NO AUM fees (Accounts Under Management). If you don’t know about this, please read this.
Fiduciary, so they are working in your interest and not pushing you into commission products.
Does not manage assets. I can do that myself, thank you very much.
I found a company, Abundo Wealth, that meets all the criteria. They charge $189 per month, which is a lot, but not relative to our portfolio. There is no commitment, so we will likely cancel after some time, since we have everything on auto-pilot and are just nailing down some specifics.
We were matched with an advisor named DJ (Damondrick Jack) who is great. We got access to some amazing tools that let me forecast tons of variables and run Monte Carlo simulations until I’m exhausted. He would also do that for us too, but he was impressed by the level of detail and what we’ve set up already, so he gave me the keys pretty early on.
Working with DJ helped affirmed that I was doing a good job over the past 15 years. We worked on reallocating a few things, but he just gave me suggestions, I executed all the trades myself. He also created a spreadsheet for me with all my different pension scenarios with a bunch of inputs so I can play around with it.
I know not everyone is in the position we are, but the core take away for me was, don’t stress over questions or things that you can solve by paying someone for their expertise. Don’t be paralyzed by fear when you can get a second opinion.
Now, we are able to answer the bigger questions with very specific answers like: When can we retire? When can I do a job that doesn’t kill my soul? How much do I need to make annually if I want to retire at 55? And perhaps the biggest one, and one I would love your input on (you know, hypothetically):
Imagine you could retire in five years to a place that is amazing and affordable (in the EU or Japan), but to do so, you would obviously be leaving your friends behind. Is it worth staying and working just to live in the United States and be surrounded by your family of choice?
ITEM THE SECOND:
BIKE 4 CHICKEN: I’ve been taking a longer bike ride on the weekends. I’ve been setting a destination and going, trying to hit a 40-ish mile round trip. Last weekend I biked to Saint Paul to visit FRIEND OF THE LIFESTYLE, Miss Elizabeth and the week before that I biked to Nashville Coop in Richfield. Sadly, it was closed when I went, but I got home and showered and drove back out there to enjoy the best hot chicken I’ve ever had. Fucking amazing to eat all that fat and delicious carbs after weeks of not and burning 1000 calories biking. I HIGHLY SUGGEST.
I’ve been loving biking along the Mississippi and crossing the 35E and 494 bridges. I found some cool places to bike around the airport to watch the planes too. I’m going to try to hit my favorite airport, Holman Field, in downtown Saint Paul soon too. We are #blessed to live in this beautiful state and have all the biking/trail infrastructure. Always happy to pay taxes that are not going to bombs.
Any cool places by you I should bike to?
ITEM THE THIRD:
LINKS DIE IN DARKNESS: Over the summer I have accumulated a lot of things to share with you. Feel free to ignore or enjoy. You do you buddy.
BITS ABOUT MONEY - This is a FASCINATING newsletter about weird money things. Like, why do checks take so long to clear? Why are money transfers not instant? This issue about Title Insurance and how fucking weird our system in America is was mind blowing.
If you wanted to read a great essay about how both Brenda and Dylan are dead and ties it into our current politics with this amazing quote: “Now politics is our soap opera, and they will not cancel the show, no matter how much we hate it, no matter how many audience members they lose. Every day is sweeps for a country turning to ashes.” here is a link, just a great read.
Ginger Root has been one of my favorite artists since I discovered him and I’m sad I’ll miss his show at First Ave while I’m in Japan. His new album comes out next month and he’s made a bunch of videos that are shot like a very low budget 1980’s Japanese TV sukeban show. They have a storyline that runs through all of them too. Sukeban is the word for female high-school delinquent and there is a big genre of “girl boss” movies and shows. Give it a try!
Nick Cave was on Colbert and read from one of his letters about hope. When you are feeling hopeless, watch this clip. I’ll have it on repeat for the next 90 days or 4 years…
After way too long (due to COVID and being an adult), my group of Clank! Legacy finished our game and showed Oman Dran what the power of Acquisitions, Inc. could accomplish. Team work made the dream work. Thank you to FRIEND OF THE LIFESTYLE Eli for remembering to commemorate this occasion.
A lot of wonderful people gathered in one place
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (please mark "ok to print"):
None. I miss your correspondence.
MANDATORY FUN BUCKS MANDATORY UPDATE:
I’ve picked up a few things with fun bucks over the past few months:
A WEIGHTED BLANKED! I’ve wanted one for a long time, but thought it was a dumb use of money. IT IS NOT. I found one that was all cotton, sat on the couch and put it over me and I was so happy! Looking forward to winter to enjoy it more. Can’t believe I waited so long to buy one. Wait, I can.
With Clank! being finished I’ve started up a new campaign, playing a tournament of all the maps from Railways of the World with some of my board game buds. To celebrate the occasion, I made us all personalized train whistles (THAT YOU MUST BLOW TO START THE ROUND) and bought us some sweet train hats and prizes for when we are done. My wife is HOT in a train cap.
I sent some money to the developer of YARG, which fuels our karaoke nights, which have been SO FUN!
I bought this amazing thing: CANARY Corrugated Cardboard Cutter. It’s a serrated knife to shred through packing tape and cardboard. Since it is serrated, it is not sharp nor does tape stick to it. It doesn’t come to a point and slices cardboard like it is hot butter WITHOUT BEING SHARP. This is an amazing use of $8 if you open a lot of boxes.
I doubled down on looking sexy while biking and bought some of those padded butt shorts and gloves. HOLY CRAP what a difference they make. I thought it was a gimmick, but FRIEND OF THE LIFESTYLE Adrianne vouched for it and SHE WAS RIGHT.
I bought another outfit for karaoke night that is debuting this month. It involves my first purchase of a thong. At age 45. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Still a few tickets left if that appeals to you. I won’t judge, but I’m getting fit.
THE HOPE SPOT:
One of the first things I remember being aware of and politically active about is HIV/AIDS. I remember seeing news footage of ACT UP and reading about how Reagan was being a real piece of shit about AIDS, probably from reading issues of the Advocate or other free pubs I found at the library. I remember when PrEP became a thing and I could damn near cry that science has come up with a way to prevent that terrible disease. Now, because science is amazing, we are close to yet another breakthrough: New Drug Provides Total Protection From H.I.V. in Trial of Young African Women, now we just need to convince Gilead to sell it for less than…checks notes…$42,250. HIV drug could be made for just $40 a year for every patient
SECOND HOPE: While I am famous for my non-appreciation of children, I can appreciate this program called Let Grow that is being piloted in some school where kids are given (GASP!) independence to fail and learn on their own.
In a commentary piece published by The Journal of Pediatrics last year, researchers pointed to evidence showing a correlation between children’s dwindling independence and increasing mental health problems over several decades.
NO SHIT. Read more: Kids as cooks and dog walkers? How one elementary school encourages independence.
FAVORITE THING TO GO IN MY EARHOLES THIS WEEK:
I probably don’t need to tell you about Chappell Roan, but she’s legit. That being said, her live performance at festivals (Lollapalooza and Bonnaroo) is not great. Her band is not playing live and she is singing over a vocal track. Very disappointing. Her NPR Tiny Desk concert was far better. Just go listen to album already if you are one of the 10 people left that have not: Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess.
While on the topic of NPR Tiny Desk concerts, WILLOW did one and while she has the charisma (or “THE RIZZ” if you are young) of a graham cracker, she nails these songs live. Go check that out too!
IN MEMORY:
I am 45. Not that old, but my life is over half over. According to doctors and my body, it is closer to 75% over. That is amazing to think about.
About six weeks ago on a Saturday morning, Melonie and I were playing a board game when her friend Sakura called. Her husband, Matt, had just passed away. At their house. She woke up and found his body. I’ve been told I met Matt when Melonie and I started dating, but I don’t remember it. It was probably in passing or brief. Melonie was rocked pretty hard by it because she has known him for like 25 years and she grieved not only for his passing, but also because of what her friend was going through.
As part of my good husband duties, I went up to Duluth to his funeral on a Monday. It was at a church, probably Lutheran, and it was packed. We were in overflow seating in a large chapel. They estimated over 300 people were there. People went up and told their stories of Matt and a microphone was passed around to hear even more. It was so obvious how important and loved he was by this community. Countless stories about him helping others with projects, helping the church at functions and being there for people. It was quite touching. I don’t know many people that would have 300 people show up to their funeral. I know I won’t.
I never met the guy, but I have a little insight from talking with my wife and Sakura about him over the years. He seemed like a genuine guy who loved his family and loved helping people. Acts of Service is my love language and I think a little bit of this newsletter is how I PROVE LOVE to you, my small and beloved readership. Maybe I’m not fixing up your wall, but I hope that you are getting something from this.
Matt was just a few months younger than me. His passing reenforced my push to life the best life I can and not be WALLOWING IN MY SADNESS CAVE. Going to Japan is part of this. Writing letters of gratitude is part of this. Yelling into the void about my LIFESTYLE is part of this. What I did not expect is the massive introspection I’ve been doing about how I can be of more service and how to show up better for people after that funeral.
I don’t know what any of this means, but tl;dr - Matt, you will be missed. Even by people that have only heard of you. We have a short time left on this world. It might end tomorrow. ACTION THAT KNOWLEDGE.
THIS IS THE END OF THE NEWSLETTER
BRAT SUMMER IS IN FULL EFFECT.
EXCEPT I DON’T REALLY HAVE A MESSY SIDE OR PARTY OR DO ANYTHING CONSIDERED BRAT.
BUT I’LL GLADLY VOTE FOR KAMALA.
THAT IS ALL.