This week: Rising cost of travel → Intentional Spending → Property price drop → Universal High Income → Markets correct → How to overpay your mortgage without realising.
THE BIGGEST LESSON:
Last weekend, I traveled from the North to the South to attend my older brother’s wedding. Since I now live on the other side of the country, I stayed with my parents. It was a great weekend, but the travel gave me two massive reality checks on pricing that really made me take notice:
- The M6 Toll is now £12. That is a staggering 500% increase in 23 years.
- A 14-mile taxi ride cost me over £58. About 10 years ago, I used to take a similar route when out with friends, and it consistently cost around £25. Seeing it more than double hit home.
Experiences like this make you realize how drastically prices are climbing around us. To be honest, I don’t believe official inflation statistics reflect reality across the board—and these two examples prove it.
But what does this mean for you and me?
It’s a loud reminder that we must be incredibly intentional with our money. If we aren't careful, it’s easier than ever for cash to evaporate, leaving absolutely nothing to build our future.
This is why I preach "Intentional Spending." I’ve reached an age where I know exactly what I enjoy spending money on and what I don't. I love experiences, quality food and drink, and family time. I couldn't care less about fancy cars, luxury watches, or designer clothes. If you do, that’s your prerogative! We are all wired differently.
My encouragement to you this week is to ruthlessly evaluate your own habits. Define what genuinely brings you joy, pour your resources into that, and aggressively cut out the rest. To me, that is the literal definition of a rich life.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:
Property prices are falling
Reports show that roughly 3,000 properties per day are reducing their asking prices. This signals a sluggish market, creating highly advantageous conditions for cash buyers. However, because interest rates are elevated, those borrowing significant amounts might not feel the full benefit of these drops yet. Experts suggest we haven’t hit the bottom quite yet, meaning prices could continue to slide. It’s a tough climate for sellers, but an opportunistic window for buyers.
Early signs of Universal High Income
Elon Musk recently posted on social media that he plans to give every American child a share of SpaceX. A quick calculation puts this generational gift at a value of roughly $10 billion.
Meanwhile, AI startup Anthropic mentioned plans to support a similar scheme, effectively taxing itself to offset eventual AI job disruption.
We are seeing the early frameworks of a Universal Basic (or High) Income.
My main concern as a non-US citizen is that this feels heavily contained within America, even though AI disruption will be global. How tech giants manage this on a global scale will be critical to watch.
Markets take a tumble
Portfolios across the globe saw plenty of red this week, sparking a bit of panic. Newer investors started stressing over "Black Monday" narratives and the AI bubble popping.
Experienced investors remained calm, viewing it as a healthy, necessary correction following recent massive bull runs. While some global index trackers dropped over 2%, zooming out reveals they are still up more than 6% over the last six months.
Volatility happens daily, weekly, and monthly. If you are a long-term investor, have confidence that markets rise over time, and treat these dips as a discount buying opportunity if you have spare cash.
SOMETHING YOU CAN COPY:
I’m currently exploring a clever way to overpay your mortgage without actually changing your monthly budget. It’s an app called Sprive.
You link your bank account, and when you shop at over 1,000 partner brands, you earn cashback rewards.
The app then lets you push those rewards directly to your mortgage lender to make overpayments.
The goal is to chip away at your mortgage debt and save thousands in interest over time without even noticing the money leaving your pocket.
I'm setting up my account this week. If you want to check it out too, you can find it here: https://sprive.com/
QUOTE OF NOTE:
"It's not how much money you make, but how much you keep, how hard it works for you, and how many generations you keep it for." - Robert Kiyosaki
THE TAKEAWAY:
True wealth isn't about matching someone else's lifestyle or tracking abstract economic data. It is about aggressive financial awareness.
When inflation scales up, your intentionality has to scale up with it.
Cut the noise, automate your progress, and protect your capital so it can work for you over the long haul.
