The government wants to reduce expenses by using a different CPI version of the (Consumer Price Index). Their new attempt, known as chained CPI (Consumer Price Index) (aka C-CPI-U), this alternative formula reflects how consumers change their purchasing habits when prices rise or fall for a broad range of services, including food, housing, clothing, and medical expenses.
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated that government spending on Social Security, Medicare, and other benefits would decline by about $300 billion over ten years if this less-generous index were in place.
The idea of switching to a chained CPI has garnered bipartisan support to rein in entitlement spending. But at what cost? There will be plenty.
Many elements of the federal tax code — including tax brackets, personal exemptions, standard deductions, limits on contributions to 401(k) plans and similar accounts, and critical parameters of the earned income and child tax credits — are also adjusted annually for the CPI. According to the CBO, switching to the chained CPI would raise an additional $150 billions of tax revenue through 2026.
The chained CPI grows on average by about 0.3 percentage points per year more slowly than the official CPI (which is weak at best gauge to the actual cost of living). The Social Security actuaries, in their projections, assume the gap between the two CPIs will continue to average 0.3 percentage points per year in the future.
The Chained CPI will chain you to a lifetime of higher taxes. According to Congress’s Joint Committee on Taxation, if individual income taxes had been indexed to the chained CPI starting July 2013, by 2022, 69 percent of the gains in revenue would come from taxpayers with incomes below $100,000, while those in the highest income brackets would barely be affected. In other words, raise the taxes on the middle class while leaving the rich alone.
Higher taxes are coming; start planning now!
For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast “Money 911”
Many people may lack the basic math skills and financial know-how to make decisions. One of my favorite books, which I reread from time to time, is the 1988 book Innumeracy by John Paulos; he coined the book’s title from people being slow in math as compared to illiterate. Math and money are very different, and learning the differences is crucial to building wealth securely.
Even though many adults across generations were functioning with medium levels of financial literacy, too many workers today possess low levels of Personal Financial Proficiency (PFP) and have difficulty applying financial decision-making skills to real-life situations.
Here are a few general questions about everyday financial situations that stumped so many:
Determining wages and take-home pay,
Questions about investment types, risk, and return,
Understanding specific risk economic outcomes risk
Understanding that 401(k) are not pensions
This is where Americans exhibit the lowest scores, with less than one-third answering correctly.
Lack of financial understanding affects all ages and socioeconomic levels. The result is those who fall into the limited PFP category, even though financially literate, may not manage their financial resources effectively and may feel intimidated by retirement, budgeting, tax planning, and Social Security topics.
One way to help everyone become more confident about their personal finances is by building a solid foundation with Financial Proficiency.
Financial literacy dark secret
People with higher levels of financial literacy “fluency bias.” are more likely to build weak foundations to support their financial houses. Sadly, in this case, a little knowledge is dangerous and prevents many from developing a strategy that works and won’t leave you in a pickle as you get to retirement age.
For more Healthy Money Tips Listen to our PodCast “Money 911”
If you’re cringing right now, it’s because you know that these statements are unfairly biased and even prejudiced. So why are we okay with using these same phrases to describe our children?
In my TEDx talk, “The Rebellion is Here—We Created it, We Can Solve It,” I deconstruct the generational misconception that children, because of their youth and impressionability, should not be trusted. Subscribing to the belief that kids’ opinions should not be taken seriously leads to disconnection and a lack of trust between parent and child.
When we punish a kid for talking back, what we’re really saying is that their inner voice or feelings are irrelevant. And punishing surface behavior without addressing unmet needs often leads to what Gordon referred to as the Three R’s: Retaliation, Rebellion, and Resentment.
Do you want to build an environment where your child feels like they can tell you the truth 100% of the time? Do you want to teach them that they should never stand down in the face of prejudice, injustice—or even being told by an adult to do something they’re uncomfortable with?
Watch my TEDx talk for tips on how to communicate effectively and compassionately with your children, especially when they seem to be acting up. Let them know that they’re not “bad kids” for speaking up.
Love and Blessings,
Katherine
P.S. Ready to move on from outdated ideas about how children “should” behave? Join our private Facebook group to find a community of parents just like you!
BlackRock is the largest asset management company in the world with $10 Trillion in assets under management.
Recently BlackRock’s CEO, Larry Fink, explains (in detail) how there’s a complete reset in the global economy.
He discusses the effects of high inflation due to the European war, along with the inflation of the US dollar, but also predicts inflation (particularly US inflation) will decline rapidly.
In a recent interview, Fink rolls out Blackrock’s long term investment strategy that includes a surprisingly heavy bull position on crypto despite the current collapse of the decentralized token market due to the downfall of FTX.
This is the time of year when we slow down enough to contemplate how our year went and what’s ahead for us. It’s also a time of year for layoffs, as companies do the same. That means that a lot of people will be looking for new job opportunities in 2023, either by their own choosing or because their role has ended.
If you are in the latter category, do allow yourself some time to grieve. Whether you loved that lost job or merely tolerated it, being without it is a major change in status, routine, income predictability, and access to colleagues.
When you’re ready to launch your search, here are some things to keep in mind:
You still have your skills and your experiences
Your skills and experiences will allow you to do jobs similar to the one you had (or are contemplating leaving)
Your skills and experiences can be applied in new ways to a totally different role
You are worthy
When I work with someone who is seeking a new position, I share my analogy of the kaleidoscope. Kaleidoscopes create their captivating images using the same pieces (think skills and experiences), combined in different ways each time you change the position of the wheel. This is an especially helpful analogy for people who have determined that they don’t want to keep doing the same kind of work until their retirement and for people whose industry is retrenching.
My own kaleidoscope story
For 20 years I worked with a Fortune 500 company as a marketing communications consultant across two of their divisions, writing the kinds of written collateral that would launch new medical devices around the world. Through my own choosing and to avoid any conflict of interest, they were my sole client. My primary skills were active listening to my clients explain about the new device, discerning what each of their audiences (physicians, patients and third-party payers) would want to know, and writing messaging that would resonate with each. Of course, I had deep content knowledge and a strong understanding of branding as well.
Then, in 2011, my phone no longer rang. My in-basket was empty. I learned that in response to an economic downturn the company had outsourced whole functions under retainer arrangements, including marketing communications.
I was out of business.
Because I knew practically no one outside the company and no one knew of my skills, I turned to LinkedIn to grow a network and to attract new clients or a new position. I knew that my writing skills would allow me to write about my skills effectively but I felt I needed to know more about how the platform worked. So I began to study LinkedIn intensely, attending webinars, reading articles, and following thought leaders. Along the way I reached out to my former clients who had also lost their jobs and helped them with their profiles. They were so impressed with my new content knowledge that they sent me their friends who needed help with their online branding, too.
Now I am honored to shine branding brilliance on people instead of products. I listen actively to my clients – where they’ve been and where they’re going. I discern how to most effectively communicate to their intended audience. And then I write authentic and powerful marketing story for them, using my new deep content knowledge of how the LinkedIn platform works.
Look again at the paragraphs above and note that the words in boldface are common between the two paragraphs. You see, the key skills from my prior job are now being used in my new career. The new image created by shifting the shapes in my own kaleidoscope turned out to be even more satisfying to me than the last.
My own journey is one of the reasons I am very effective and successful at working with others whose job has ended or who no longer find their job to be satisfying. In fact, this year The American Reporter named me one of the six “top personal branding experts to watch.”
Use Kaleidoscope Thinking for Yourself
To use kaleidoscope thinking, concentrate on identifying your skills. Start by examining and modifying your Skills inventory on your LinkedIn profile. We all have skills that we don’t enjoy using as well as skills we are passionate about using. When you identify a skill that you don’t enjoy using, just delete it from your list. Then look over your list again. The chances are that although what is left on your list are skills you enjoy using, they don’t fully capture all the value you can bring to a workplace. It’s time to add additional skills you enjoy using that are not currently represented on your Skills inventory. LinkedIn allows you to list 50 skills, and using all 50 slots is the best practice. You might find it helpful to do this exercise with a trusted advisor familiar with LinkedIn’s skills inventory.
When you’ve completed subtracting and adding items on your Skills inventory, identify your three most important skills and pin them in the top three positions of your inventory.
Expand Your Horizon
Now that you’re warmed up, think of places that need those skills. If doing a similar position for a competitor is not going to meet your needs, it is time to think expansively. Make yourself a list. Do any of these possibilities make you smile? If so, you’re ready to re-engineer your LinkedIn profile and other job search collateral to target those right-for-you opportunities.
Job transitions are difficult. Please remember that the world of work still needs your skills and you are worthy. And, if you could use some help along the way, I’m here.
About Carol Kaemmerer
Named one of six top branding experts in 2022 by The American Reporter, I’ve helped countless C-level clients over the past ten years to use LinkedIn to frame conversations, impress customers, and introduce themselves before their first conversation takes place.
Executive one-on-one assistance with your online brand
Professional speaking engagements on personal brand and LinkedIn
An autographed copy of my book, LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive-2ndEdition
My self-paced, online course
To receive my articles in your email mailbox monthly
My award-winning book, LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive-2nd Edition received BookAuthority’s “Best LinkedIn Books of All Time” award. It was named one of the “Top 100+ Best Business Books” by The C-Suite Network, and it is an International Book Awards winner. For your author-inscribed and signed book or for quantity discounts, order at: https://carolkaemmerer.com/books
You’ve heard this quotation many times, right? But do you take it seriously?
If a stranger reads your LinkedIn profile, will they begin to know, like, and trust you based on what is there? If not, why aren’t you taking advantage of this marvelous personal marketing tool for yourself? If your response is “because I’m not in sales,” think again. Even someone with no external customer interaction has customers within the company. Probably you, like most people, are seeking some sort of opportunity (e.g., an opportunity for advancement inside your company, opportunities for positions outside the company, a board appointment).
This month’s article shares ways you can sow the seeds of know, like, and trust in your LinkedIn profile so that people will be more likely to do business with, and refer business to YOU.
Your About Section
The 2,600-character (~5 paragraphs) About section showcases YOU. It is the perfect place for you to provide information that can build KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST. Approach this section with authenticity and a willingness to be transparent in telling your story. Give people a chance to know the real you – because everyone is more interesting (and likable) when they’re not hiding behind their job or their company’s services.
For this section to work well for you, plan what you want to say. For example, select three things you want to be known for and build your narrative around those. Or tell us about your purpose, passion, business principles, and how you lead.
Are there some questions that always come up from people after they’ve looked at your profile or resume? For example, if you have several years unaccounted for in your work history, rather than have people come to their own conclusions about the time period (e.g., you had a nervous breakdown, or you had an addiction problem, or whatever they can confabulate to account for that period), take control of your own narrative. Briefly explain the reason for the gap in your own way.
Before you write, work out your outline and what you intend each paragraph to accomplish for you. Use your outline to write your first draft. Read your narrative aloud and correct the verbiage where you stumble. Delete words and sentences that are expendable. Read aloud again; edit again. Getting this section to shine is important; it is worth the time it takes to accomplish that.
Profile sections that advance KNOW
In addition to the About section, you can help people feel that they KNOW you by making sure your profile is complete. By complete, I mean:
List your present and previous positions in your Experience section and describe your accomplishments in each position.
List your post-secondary education and degrees earned. (It is not necessary to include years of attendance or date of degree.) It is a nice touch to share some activities you participated in.
Add any optional sections that can help give people a rounded picture of who you are, including: Volunteer positions, Patents, Publications, Certifications, Awards and Honors, etc.
Profile sections that advance LIKE
Your About section will do the heavy lifting here, but visuals can also contribute to LIKE. Examples include:
A photo or graphic image behind your headshot – this is called the LinkedIn banner image.
A headshot that is a professional-quality image in which your eyes and mouth are smiling.
The optional Featured section that appears before your Activity section is a place where you can share photos, posts, and videos that tell your story visually.
You can also add photos and videos to your various positions.
Your Activity section that appears before your About section is populated by LinkedIn with your recent posts. This shows everyone how active you are on the LinkedIn platform and the kinds of things you add to the homepage feed. This section can either be an asset or a negative, depending on your level of engagement.
Profile sections that advance TRUST
Again, if you’ve written your About section well, it will go a long way toward establishing TRUST, but here are other sections that also provide “social proof:”
Recommendations have a huge positive impact – and a lack of recommendations can have the opposite impact.
Endorsements in your Skills section.
Education, Certifications, Patents, Publications, Honors and Awards.
A well-branded LinkedIn profile can frame your business conversations with KNOW, LIKE, and TRUST, helping your business transactions go more smoothly.
About Carol Kaemmerer: Named one of six top branding experts in 2022 by The American Reporter, I’ve helped countless C-level clients over the past ten years to use LinkedIn to frame conversations, impress customers, and introduce themselves before their first conversation takes place.
Executive one-on-one assistance with your online brand
Professional speaking engagements on personal brand and LinkedIn
An autographed copy of my book, LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive-2ndEdition
My self-paced, online course
To receive my articles in your email mailbox monthly
My award-winning book, LinkedIn for the Savvy Executive-2nd Edition received BookAuthority’s “Best LinkedIn Books of All Time” award, was named one of the “Top 100+ Best Business Books” by The C-Suite Network, and is an International Book Awards winner. For your author-inscribed and signed book or for quantity discounts, order at: https://carolkaemmerer.com/books
Would you be surprised to know that the invention of Doritos was influenced by a trashcan at Disneyland?
In the early days of Disneyland, a restaurant named Casa de Fritos invented Doritos by repurposing stale tortillas they bought from a local vendor. The chips proved to be so popular they were eventually rolled out nationally by Frito-Lay in 1966.
Today the brands sells $1.48 billion of the chips every year.
Here’s how it all started…
How Doritos We’re Invented in a Trash Can
Casa de Fritos” was, unsurprisingly, all about the Fritos (corn chips). Customers got free chips, and they were incorporated into all of the dishes at the Disneyland restaurant.
All ingredients served at Casa de Fritos, such as the tortillas, chips, meat, beans, and fresh produce, were supplied by a company called Alex Foods, located just a few blocks from Disneyland.
One day, one of the salesmen from Alex Foods, making a delivery to Casa de Fritos, noticed stale tortillas in the garbage and gave the cook a little tip: “fry them and sell them as chips instead of just throwing them away.”
So the cooks gave it a try and while they were at it, through in some seasoning. The result was an enormous success. Their customers couldn’t get enough of them.
Here’s how the company found an innovative way to sell them…
Who the Hell Was the Frito Kid?
Being a theme park restaurant, Casa de Frito, had a theme of their own. The company started selling chips from a “Frito Kid” vending machine. During the 1950s and 1960s, Disneyland guests could insert a nickel into the coin box and the Fritos official mascot, The Frito Kid, would come to life, lick his lips, and call for Klondike the Miner to send a bag of Fritos down the chute.
The stereophonic audio track changed with each purchase, so each customer would hear a different interaction between the Kid and Klondike.
Casa de Fritos was located next to the Mine Train Through Nature’s Wonderland attraction (which was replaced in 1979 by the runaway mine train rollercoaster Big Thunder Mountain Railroad).
They were a massively successful…
A year later, the new VP of Frito-Lay, Archibald Clark West, dropped by the restaurant without warning and saw hundreds of customers stuffing their faces with the seasoned chips.
So he had an idea to turn the chips into a brand.
West quickly made a deal with Alex Foods to produce them as a separately branded snack. He later branded them as Doritos” (the name is Spanish for “little pieces of gold”).
When Doritos started to get big, production of the chips was moved to a bigger factory in Tulsa. West test-marketed the chips in southern California. They sold out faster than Alex Foods could produce them.
The whole world fell in love with Doritos. West even loved Doritos to his grave (literally). At his funeral, his daughter threw Doritos into the grave after him (as per his request).
Today Doritos is the top ranked tortilla/tostada chip brand in the world.100 million bags of various types of Doritos are consumed daily.
WATCH:
PS>>>Here’s a throwback to the bizarre time when Doritos launch a foot long chip…
Subway currently holds the status of being the biggest fast-food chain on the planet. They surpassed McDonald’s and KFC’s store count decades ago with over 44,000 stores in 110 countries. Last year they generated $1.3 billion in revenue (triple since 2019).
Their recent spike in gross sales though has exposed a tragic dilemma facing the franchise. More on that in a second but first, here’s how it all started.
Subway was launched by a 17-year-old from the Bronx who had never made a sub in his life until opening day. Despite his lack of subs, the sandwiches he sold eventually earned him a net worth of approximately $3 billion and became the most successful franchise business on the planet.
The Founder of Subway Never Wanted to be in Business…
Subway launched in 1965 when 17-year-old Fred DeLuca asked his family friend, Dr. Peter Buck, a nuclear physicist, for advice on how to pay his college tuition. With an idea to open a submarine sandwich shop and an initial $1,000 investment from Dr. Buck, the two formed a business partnership.
In fact, Fred had zero intentions of ever becoming a businessman. This was his plan to put himself through school in order to become a doctor.
The partners opened their first restaurant in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in August of 1965, where they served freshly-made, customizable and affordable sandwiches to local guests. Subway was originally called ‘Pete’s Super Submarines’.
And people ate up the concept of a giant foot-long sandwich “made right before your eyes, the way you want ’em.” As it turns out, customizing your sandwich was a novelty in the fast food industry. This is probably also where Burger King adopted their slogan; “have it your way”.
Subway’s Insanely Effective Franchise Model…
What put Subway on the entrepreneurial map was their decision to begin franchising with a goal of operating a chain of 35 stores. The franchise model launched the Subway brand into a period of incredible growth and popularity.
Not only were Subway franchises successful, they were, and still are, one of the cheapest chains to open in the franchise world. It costs between $116,000 and $263,000 to open a Subway franchise. Compare that to opening a McDonald’s, which costs up to $2.2 million.
But here’s the catch…
Because Subways are easy to open, the number of stores skyrocketed. Between 1990 and 1998, store locations rose steeply from 5,000 to 13,200. And in that same period of time, gross sales rose by about $2.1 billion. Subway’s success continued into the early 2000s. At a time when obesity was rising rapidly in America, Subway continued to market itself as a healthy alternative to fast food.
Things were going great, until this happened…
Is This the Beginning of the End for Subway?
Starting in 2014, Subway’s sales began steadily dropping. Behind the scenes, many of the reasons for Subway’s success had turned on them. Quiznos was once Subway’s main competition, but tons of sub chains, like Jimmy John’s, Firehouse, Potbelly, and Jersey Mike’s, and fast-casual chains like Panera, were offering similar fresh and healthier options for sandwiches and wraps. Stealing away Subway’s dominant market share.
Other fast-food chains weren’t the only competition for Subway franchises. With Subway’s franchising model making it so easy to open locations, stores inevitably started opening up around the corner from each other in lucrative markets. And these locations in close proximity began cannibalizing each other’s sales.
It’s a real problem…
Subway’s Franchise Model Has Been Under Attack Since the 90s
In recent years, Subway has closed thousands of locations. Here’s why…
The Subway franchise agreement states the company can open locations anywhere they want. There’s no protected territories for the owners. So franchisees really have no say-so in where the other franchisees are going to open.
In 2016, Subway’s US location count dropped by 359. It lost another 909 locations in 2017. It dropped another 1,108 locations in 2018. In part due to market saturation and a drop in sales, but also Subway has been attempting to clean up the cannibalization problem that plagues their franchisees.
Another contributing factor to Subway’s dip in growth for their store locations are the size of the companies royalties at nearly 10% of sales!
The company’s 8% royalties (which are still in effect today) are the highest in the industry (compared to 3-5% at other fast food stores like McDonald’s)
But all criticism aside, the brand still maintains 60% of the quick-service sandwich market in the U.S. A pretty impressive accomplishment for a kid from the Bronx with zero experience.
“If you’re starting a company, you always want to aim for a monopoly and avoid competition. Hence, competition is for Losers.” – Peter Thiel
Who the Hell Are You Calling a Loser?
In a famous Y Combinator master class, Peter Theil founder of Paypal and Palantir, presented his famous business strategy that requires founders to position their growth for a monopoly of the industry.
‘Competition is for losers’ is one of his mantras. ‘Monopoly is the condition of every successful business’ is another. It is the ultimate test of entrepreneurship to build something that is one of a kind, sufficiently different from what already exists to render the idea of competition redundant.
In this article, we’ll cover how Peter approaches new markets and how to create a monopoly. But first, here’s a brief background on Thiel and why you should even care what he has to say in the first place…
Who the Hell is Peter Thiel?
You could say he knows a thing or two about the tech space. Peter Andreas Thiel is a German-American billionaire entrepreneur and venture capitalist. A co-founder of PayPal, CIA-based Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund.
He was also the first outside investor in some of the biggest unicorns in silicon valley including Facebook, Stripe and Space X.
His companies and investments have earned him a net worth of $5 billion. He also gives a small number of entrepreneurs $100k over two years to skip college and build their own companies.
You can watch his talk at Y Combinator. Or read the summary below…
WATCH:
So How Do You Enter a Crowded Market? Don’t…
As Peter explains, especially to tech founders, companies need to be very careful about what markets they enter and especially how they differentiate themselves as not better, but something entirely different when approaching markets of high competition.
Similar to the Blue Ocean Strategy, Theil explains that if you’re entering into a crowded market it’s very difficult (and often expensive) to gain the attention needed to build effective brand awareness. Especially if you offer similar product or service…
Success in saturated markets requires a lot of money to advertise, dramatically lowering your margins and ability to win. This has also been dubbed, the start-up graveyard.
Evaluate the Cost Trap of Entering Saturated Markets
The only way to enter saturated markets with established larger brands (with way more money than you) is to make a product or service completely better and different than everyone else on the market.
But doing so is way easier said than done. That’s where the case for chasing emerging market trends pays off. Emerging companies (especially tech), should forget fitting into existing markets and instead pursue entirely new and emerging potential markets. Even if it’s risky.
Here’s why…
When entering markets with less or no competition, you have a greater chance of success and it’s far easier and more cost effective to acquire the attention you need to scale. Simply because you’re one of a few players in the space.
Even if you launch in an emerging market with an average or similar product at the beginning, you will have more time and opportunity to develop and perfect your average product and service while you’re building your audience and future customer base.
In fact, if you think about it, that’s exactly how most successful tech companies have been able to scale so fast as early stage market players. They rode the wave of the trend and captured all the early attention establishing their future industry dominance.
Conclusion:
Facebook wasn’t the first social network site, Google wasn’t the first search engine, Microsoft wasn’t the first OS company or Apple wasn’t the first computer company. But they were early in the market, they caught the trend and they executed better than everyone else. And when market reached its full potential they became big brands or monopolies.
That’s what Peter Thiel meant by “competition is for losers”…
Meet the Former MMA fighter, high school dropout, and single father who had absolutely zero business background bought a business for $500 on an online business flipping site. 9 years later, his business is doing $35 million a year.
His advice to you? “Don’t start a business, buy one.”
Here’s how you can do it too…
But first, here’s a quick background on Ramon Van Meer
Today Ramon Van Meer is the CEO and founder of Alpha Paw, a website for pet owners that offers products for every dog breed-specific health issue. Ramon bought the business for $300k and has built it to $35M in revenue within three years.
Where’d he get the money to buy it? Through a series of website flips that started with a small content blog about financial credit, a site he bout on Flippa for $500. He promoted it and built a small following and sold it. He did that again about 3-4 more sites.
You can watch Ramon’s incredible exit story below or listen to it in the Quiet Light podcast, but want I wanted to show you, is the site Ramon and thousands of others go to buy and sell websites. Flippa.com.
WATCH:
Want to Buy or Sell a Website? Meet Flippa.com
Flippa.com is an auction site where you can buy and sell internet businesses. Don’t know how to code or build a membership site or dropping shipping store? No problem, just buy one.
What Can You Buy and Sell on Flippa?
Flippa lets you can buy and sell websites, drop shipping stores, domains, and even mobile apps. The portal is aimed to assist website owners in selling their websites as well as assisting others in purchasing established websites, domains drop shipping sites, and mobile apps.
Sites can range from just created with zero revenue to multi-million in reoccurring sales…
If you’re interested in learning more about how to use Flippa and the pros and cons of the platform, check out this full report and guide from Niches Pursuits.