Welcome to Viewpoints, a monthly bulletin from PDS Planning to our valued clients and friends. Our goal with each issue of Viewpoints is to provide you with a wide variety of perspectives on life and wealth. Feel free to share with others.
- To Be ‘Rich’ In Columbus: The US Census defines being rich as those in the top 20% of earners. For Columbus, this means making at least $101,704 to be labeled as rich. The lowest income to crack the top 20% is in Detroit at $66,139, while the highest income is in San Francisco with whopping $239,840. (Source: NBC4/GOBankingRates)
- Maple Syrup Shortage: The maple syrup reserve housed in Laurierville, Quebec hadn’t been tapped for the prior three years. But, due to a shortened harvesting season in 2021 and a plunge in output, the Quebec Maple Syrup Producers plans to use nearly 50 million pounds from barrels in its strategic reserve. (Source: SentinelSource)
- Ford Over Everything: In a poll conducted by Autolist of 1,100 current car shoppers, 38% said they would sooner buy the Ford F-150 Lightning over the Tesla Cybertruck, Chevy Silverado Electric, GMC Hummer EV, and Rivian R1T. Production is set to begin in 2022. (Source: Forbes)
- The Fed: It’s expected the Federal Reserve officials will open the door to interest rate increases in the first half of 2022 and move to end the stimulus program sooner than originally planned. All this in response to try and prevent higher inflation as unemployment has dropped. (Source: WSJ)
Thought of the Month
After seeing the hit musical ‘Hamilton’ years ago, I became enamored by the story Lin-Manuel Miranda told of Alexander Hamilton. So much so that I downloaded and listened to the biography that inspired the musical, ‘Alexander Hamilton’ by Ron Chernow. What struck me then, and has stayed with me through today, was the incredible worth-ethic of the Hamilton, Jefferson, and others as told by Miranda and detailed by Chernow.
This quote from Thomas Jefferson has stuck with me for the last 4 years,
“Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much may be done if we are always doing.” ~Thomas Jefferson
It sits on my desk as a reminder of two things:
- To remind myself to stay productive. The stress of a long to-do list can be managed much easier if you focus on the task at hand, continuously. If we are always doing, it’s amazing how much can be done.
- To remind myself it’s healthy to take breaks and relax. When I first taped this to my desk, a good friend pointed out what was wrong with it. If you are always doing tasks to feel productive, you’ll likely get burnt out and lose motivation.
It seems like the takeaways are two opposite thoughts, but it works for me and has made me appreciate this thought much more.
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