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#84 Retirement Savings & Reaching $1M

Plus: How To Ask Better Questions While Networking

Good morning, and welcome back.

Tomorrow marks the 23rd anniversary of 9/11.

In lieu of our usual, upbeat introduction, I felt it’d be appropriate to take some time in quiet reflection before moving on to this week’s edition.

#NeverForget

🫡 🇺🇸 

The Highlights This Week 🇺🇸 

Elevating Your Brand 🤝 

  • Talk Current Events with Major Moves

  • Stay Up on Recent Trends in The Search Bar

Boosting Your Productivity 📊 

  • Make Small-Talk More Productive with Networking Hacks’ “Enjoy-Fun Framework”

Fattening The Wallet 💰️ 

  • Making Cents of a Roth IRA Plan

  • Hustle Hub: Strategies to Reach $1M & Much More

Making Cents 💰️ 

What The Heck Is a Roth IRA?

Short and Sweet: It is a tax-advantaged individual retirement account (IRA) where you contribute after-tax dollars toward your retirement. Sexy, I know!

The sexiest part though? When it’s time to withdraw (at age 59½ - since that’s the requirement), your earnings are tax-free.

Why It Matters: Because understanding different ways to save for retirement is important. Wealthy people set up accounts with intent, and so should you.

Let’s compare a basic Savings Account (which some people think is saving for retirement) to a Roth IRA, courtesy of Investopedia.

Let’s Remember These Important Points (And Some Benefits) About a Roth IRA:

  • IRAs are intended for retirement, though can be used for other reasons in a pinch.

  • The money you’ve saved and grown? It won’t be taxed, as long as you’ve had the plan for at least 5 years and you withdraw at 59½.

  • You can invest in stocks with your Roth IRA funds. Any money you make on the stock(s), won’t get taxed (as long as you fit the requirements from the previous bullet point).

  • The earlier you start, the longer your money gets to grow tax-free.

  • The limit you can contribute every year is $7,000.

  • If you make over $161,000, you’re not eligible for an account.

O.T.F
O.F.T: One Final Thought

By taking advantage of a Roth IRA now, you’re setting yourself up for a future where your retirement funds can grow without future tax worries.

Whether you're just getting started with your retirement planning or you're ready to boost your savings, the Roth IRA can be another strategy to get to your retirement goals.

If a Roth IRA interests you and you want to learn more check out 👇️ 

Hustle Hub 📈 

Networking Hack 🤝 

The Enjoy-Fun-Framework

A few weeks ago in Edition #80, I talked about using the following question to boost your small talk:

“Is there something you’re excited about that’s coming up?”

It’s so effective because it elicits a more emotional response from the other person, which makes the interaction more meaningful and memorable.

But “excitement” isn’t the only emotion useful in this context. What about simple, genuine enjoyment?

To this end, let’s reframe some typical small-talk questions with a couple of buzz words that could result in the same sort of effect as the question above.

Those buzz words are Fun and Enjoy.

4 Examples of ENJOY-FUN Reframing:

Instead of: "How was your weekend?" 


ASK: "What did you enjoy most about your weekend?"

Instead of: "What have you been working on lately?" 


ASK: "What part of your work do you really enjoy?"

Instead of: "How are things at home?" 


ASK: "What fun things have you and your family been up to?"

Instead of: "Any plans for the evening?" 


ASK: "Are you doing anything fun tonight?"

O.T.F
O.F.T: One Final Thought

Excited, Enjoy, and Fun form a formidable trio of small-talk vocabulary that could go a long way in making your networking interactions more effective. And they’re not the only ones.

The lesson here is simple: instead of generic questions, ones that may suggest a lack of enthusiasm or interest, choose specific, emotional words that can conjure those positive feelings in your counterpart.

We recommend even drafting some questions of your own (the same way people use unique greetings/closings to separate themselves), but if that’s too much, make it easy on yourself with using the 2 E’s and an 1 F framework.

The Search Bar 📊 

As of 12:00 PM on Monday, September 9th

MOST SEARCHED BUSINESS (past 24 hrs)- Apple: They were set to announce the new iPhone 16 models & much more at 1 PM on Monday (this has happened by the time you’re reading this), so the general public, as expected, was going crazy. Gotta have the new iPhone the moment it drops!

MOST SEARCHED ITEM ON AMAZON (September) - Notebooks: Duh. Back to school = big $$$. Five-Star dominates the landscape, but a side-hustle that’s gained popularity in recent years is creating custom notebook cover designs and selling those notebooks on Amazon. Anyone can do it. While you may have missed this back-to-school rush, prepare for a big payday next September here.

MOST DOWNLOADED APPLE STORE APP (past week) - Peacock: School isn’t the only thing that’s back; it’s also football season! This first week, Peacock carried the Thursday, Friday, and Sunday night games, which explains all the downloads. For the rest of the top downloads list, click here.

Major Moves 🗞️ 

BIG LOTS: Initiate bankruptcy proceedings

“U.S. discount home goods retailer Big Lots said on Monday it has secured $707.5 million to support its operations and sell its business to private equity firm Nexus Capital, as it has initiated bankruptcy proceedings under Chapter 11.”

However, this doesn’t mean Nexus owns Big Lots yet. They are the first and lowest bid; if another company wants to buy the store, they must surpass that $707.5 million. The deal is expected to close by the end of the year.

RED LOBSTER:  Endless shrimp has ended…

Red Lobster is exiting Chapter 11 bankruptcy after a federal judge on Thursday approved the seafood restaurant chain’s plan to rebound from an ‘endless shrimp’ fiasco” — whoa, whoa, whoa. Stop right there. How could endless shrimp be anything but amazing?!?

Grocery Stores: Greed = grocery inflation?

This isn’t focused on a single business; instead, it’s a look at the grocery industry and whether or not the rise in food prices actually keeps with the pace of inflation. “NPR crunched financial disclosures by a dozen of the largest grocery-item makers and sellers” for this deep dive, which is certainly than worth the read.

 

Before You Go

I hope you enjoyed this week’s edition.

Next week, we’ll be back with new Expert Advice, Content for your Commute, and much more.

See you then! 🫡 🇺🇸 

 

You are now On The Fly and In The Know.