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Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

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Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#31
post #4

I’m losing money by keeping it in a savings account. I’m losing money by keeping it in a brokerage account. I don’t want to change jobs to get a higher salary because I fear getting laid off. When there is no winning move, it definitely feels like a recession.

I’m losing money by keeping it in a savings account. You are losing in real terms but not nominal But this depends on your consumer preferences and cost of living. You are only losing 7%/year in CPI is your expenses are concentrated in food, energy , or used cars. High inflation is tough because it means everyone loses in real terms. Nowhere to hide.

What about assets? At least if the asset prices go up you can recoup.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#32
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m losing money by keeping it in a savings account. You are losing in real terms but not nominal But this depends on your consumer preferences and cost of living. You are only losing 7%/year in CPI is your expenses are concentrated in food, energy , or used cars. High inflation is tough because it means everyone loses in real terms. Nowhere to hide.

What about assets? At least if the asset prices go up you can recoup.

Asset prices go down when interest rates go up. Equities, real estate, even bonds (refer to bond funds getting decimated over the last year). Safe havens are cash or paying down debt with an interest rate over inflation.

(not investing advice, educational purposes only)

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#33
post #8
post #4

I’m losing money by keeping it in a savings account. I’m losing money by keeping it in a brokerage account. I don’t want to change jobs to get a higher salary because I fear getting laid off. When there is no winning move, it definitely feels like a recession.

> When there is no winning move That is the interesting thing, yes all assets are falling in value, but wages are rising. Its bringing back equality after years where hoarding assets was a great move.

Wages are not rising as fast as prices unfortunately

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#34
post #23

How do individuals/families batten down the hatches, wrt investments?

I'm no financial expert, but lower your spend (kill useless subscriptions, live frugal), shop smarter (cheaper brands, less indulging in things like eating out), invest only if you feel like dollar cost averaging will pay off in the long run (blue chip companies).

Honestly, we should do this anyways in order to become the millionaire next door, assuming accumulating wealth is a long term goal regardless of the economic situation. Harder to do in practice of course.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

per year*

Yeah, $10k/year adds up. Can be a good place to put your dry powder. Also there’s ways to invest more: 1. Family 2. Tax return 3. LLC

Is there a limit to the number of LLCs you can open and buy i bonds with in a given year?

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#36
post #28

Its important to note that every leader of a strong company has a financial interest in saying this, regardless of its validity. Growing companies need to "leave the hatches open" (so to speak) to, well, continue to grow; hire, attract talent, invest, raise pay, etc; which is exactly what strong companies don't want them to do. They benefit from pushing the narrative that the times are tough, from the privilege of ha…

That or fluffing up hedge funds looking to exit bearish positions where Mr. Bezos may or may not have some of his massive wealth parked.

At some point the only way to continue growth is to buy a 24 hour news outlet and start letting the air out of everyone else's tires. Ask Microsoft.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#37
post #11
post #4

I’m losing money by keeping it in a savings account. I’m losing money by keeping it in a brokerage account. I don’t want to change jobs to get a higher salary because I fear getting laid off. When there is no winning move, it definitely feels like a recession.

Ally saving account rates are > 2%. You are not "losing money" in that your total account value is going up, but your purchasing power is going down as it's lower than inflation.

yes, that is in fact what people mean by 'losing money'

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#38
post #28

Its important to note that every leader of a strong company has a financial interest in saying this, regardless of its validity. Growing companies need to "leave the hatches open" (so to speak) to, well, continue to grow; hire, attract talent, invest, raise pay, etc; which is exactly what strong companies don't want them to do. They benefit from pushing the narrative that the times are tough, from the privilege of ha…

Spot on, and the recent press around Amazon's warehouse churn tells you everything you need to know about how they view labor. They're legitimately at risk of churning through their entire candidate pool in some job functions within the next few years and they don't care at all.[0]

0: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/22/amazon-wo...

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#39
post #28

Its important to note that every leader of a strong company has a financial interest in saying this, regardless of its validity. Growing companies need to "leave the hatches open" (so to speak) to, well, continue to grow; hire, attract talent, invest, raise pay, etc; which is exactly what strong companies don't want them to do. They benefit from pushing the narrative that the times are tough, from the privilege of ha…

I mean, the main outcome of a weaker economy for me is less spending on AWS and at online stores.

Re: Amazon's Jeff Bezos in economy warning: 'Batten down hatches'

#40
post #28

Its important to note that every leader of a strong company has a financial interest in saying this, regardless of its validity. Growing companies need to "leave the hatches open" (so to speak) to, well, continue to grow; hire, attract talent, invest, raise pay, etc; which is exactly what strong companies don't want them to do. They benefit from pushing the narrative that the times are tough, from the privilege of ha…

Spot on, and the recent press around Amazon's warehouse churn tells you everything you need to know about how they view labor. They're legitimately at risk of churning through their entire candidate pool in some job functions within the next few years and they don't care at all.[0] 0: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jun/22/amazon-wo...

Perhaps that explains the increasingly frenetic attempts from AWS recruiters to contact me.
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