Want money advice that you can actually understand? So much money advice ignores who we are, our background, our values, and our emotions. I’ll show you how to be in better control of your money every week, even if you’re just starting out.
📃 The Year in Review
Hello friend,
As this year winds down, and we’re in the liminal space between endings and beginnings, I hope you’re able to get some rest. Even more, I hope you’ll have some time to appreciate and reflect on this past year before January propels us forward.
With reflection in mind, for this issue’s weekly links, instead of fresh reads, I’m sharing some of the year’s most clicked articles.
Thank you so much for sharing space in your inbox with me with this year.
1. 😔 Here's How Much Money You Actually Need to Retire at 55 (Travel and Leisure) How to approach your retirement savings so you can get off the 9-to-5 grind early and spend more time traveling.
2. 🧺 Laundry tips to save time and extend the life of your clothing (NPR)
3. 👚 Never Acquire Clothes the Same Way Again (The Atlantic) You can transform your relationship to shopping with just a few basic sewing skills.
4. 🤑 Here’s Why Staying Debt Free After Paying Off Your Credit Card Is Hard (CNBC)
5. 😨 So You’re Going on a Trip You Can’t Afford (The New York Times) Here are a few strategies to help keep travel costs under control.
6. 🏠 In Switzerland, Most People Rent for Life. Is That Really What They Want? (The New York Times) At a time when many young people in places like California and New York can’t see a path to buying a home, Switzerland offers a glimpse of a post-ownership society.
7. 👵 Baby boomers are aging. Their kids aren't ready (Vox) Millennials are facing an elder care crisis nobody prepared them for.
8. 💭Two Types of Money Problems (Young Money) You can graduate to post-wealth issues.
If you have a question you’d like me to answer on the Weird Finance podcast, you can leave me a voicemail at 1-833-ASK-PACO. You can also email me your question by replying to this email or emailing us at weirdfinancepod@gmail.com.
The Nerdletter by Paco de Leon
Want money advice that you can actually understand? So much money advice ignores who we are, our background, our values, and our emotions. I’ll show you how to be in better control of your money every week, even if you’re just starting out.
Hello friend, I grew up in a time when food delivery was mostly limited to pizza. You picked up the phone, called in an order, and if it didn’t get to you within 30 minutes, the pizza was free. This had to be the peak of pizza delivery. But everything in life changes. Fast forward to 2026: Pizza Hut has completely lost the plot. They tried to deploy AI to speed up delivery times, but instead it caused a cascade of problems that could end up costing them $100M in lawsuits filed by their...
Hello friend, Here are some numbers that caught my eye this week. Revenue between $10k - $50k and production costs between $30k - $80k. What emerging artists on the 2026 Coachella line up earn and spend in production costs. Compare that to headliners like Justin Beiber’s record-breaking $10M fee. After $500k - $2M in production costs, there’s still a hefty profit. $0.004. What Spotify pays per stream. In California, artists must rack up ~733,000 streams a month in order to earn minimum wage....
Hi there, I had a roommate who, at one point, was one of the most powerful assistants in Hollywood. She was 1 of 4 assistants and her life was chaotic, but when you’re in your twenties, you have the energy for it. One day I remember coming home, walking into the kitchen and seeing several deli platters full of uneaten food. There were multiple loaves of bread and packs of cigarettes. My immediate thought was, “Score.” “Where did all this come from?” I asked my roommate. She was standing in...