🍽️ Everything's about to change

Hey Future Funders Family,

Happy Friday!

Just a reminder that there are 23 days left until we announce the winner of our $100 Amazon gift card sweepstakes (you will see your unique referral count and links to refer people at the bottom of this email). You just need to refer at least one person to enter and give yourself a winning shot.

Ok, let's get to it!

💬 Quote Of The Week 

📰  Headlines That Matter

Economy

Some Good News (And Some Caution)

🚀 The quick version: There were two main pieces of economic news out this past week worth focusing on.  

For the quick version, all you need to know is:

• The Consumer Price Index (CPI) showed some signs that inflation is getting better

• Company quarterly earnings reports kicked off with many sounding a bit cautious on the economic outlook

First, the good news. The CPI (this is the number most people look at to judge inflation) for the month of March dropped to +5%, down from 6% in February. Categories that saw the biggest drops in prices were: food at home (i.e. grocery store items), used cars, and energy prices (i.e. gas). Shelter (i.e. rent) and airfare costs moved higher. 

On the slightly cautious side, companies started to report their first quarter earnings this past week (they are required to report earnings four times a year). This "reporting period" will go on for several weeks, and while we won't know yet what each company will say, the early trend seems to be that most are talking to some caution around the future of the U.S. economy. Some selected highlights:

• Albertsons (grocery retailer): "the economic backdrop is uncertain and is likely to be more challenging later in the year."

• Carmax (used cars): "We believe vehicle affordability challenges [for people] continued to impact our performance."

• LVMH (luxury products): "US softer performance due to an uneven trend...local business seems to be slowing down."

👪 How it affects you: Let's start with the good news. While +5% inflation is still high, any signs of it cooling is a good thing. And if we are forced to make a call right now, we would think that inflation continues to improve in the months ahead (yay!).

Having said that, one of the reasons inflation is coming down though is because the economy is weakening (which companies like the above are starting to talk to). With an economy possibly weaker in the future than it is today (weaker economy =  job loss, less investment in company growth, tighter lending standards, etc.), we wanted to pass on some tips:

• Know your budget (you can use our free template)

• Look for alternative ways to earn if needed (some ideas below)

• Look for ways to save (get the whole family involved)

• Teach the kids by monitoring key inflation data points together

Education

Financial Literacy Education Is Gaining Traction 

To illustrate this point, in the United States the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) regularly issues a five-question test as part of its National Financial Capability Study; the test measures basic financial literacy knowledge of people all over the country. 

Study participants are asked five questions covering aspects of economics and finance encountered in everyday life. On the most recent test given, only 34% of those who took the quiz got four or five questions correct (take the quiz yourself). 

Fortunately, better days are ahead because more educators and politicians are starting to get behind the importance of financial education for our kids.

As of today, we have 17 states that require a personal finance course prior to graduating high school (did your state make the list?); this includes seven states that joined this list in the past year (including our home state of Florida).

There are also 89 personal finance education bills pending in 29 states according to Next Gen's bill tracker. 

When it comes to our kids, while it's great to see some of the progress noted above, we would argue the burden still falls mostly on us as parents to guide them down the right financial path. Every single one of us has different life goals, and because of that, we believe in teaching our kids how to use money as a tool to fulfill the life they want to live. If you are looking for some aids and potential ways to get started, we hope some of these recent posts from our School of Thought may help:

• Teaching kids how to earn money

• Basic investing terms for kids (and parents)

• Financial literacy questions: how to answer our kids

💡 Few People Know...

🧑‍💼 Want to work from home or do more remote work? We found a great list of 44 companies that still actively support this option.  

🏠 Get the latest tips on how to increase your home's value. Did you know that having a doorbell camera can help sell your home up to 5 days faster? Zillow just published some interesting data how how some very small things can make a big big difference.  

🛒 Some healthy food options for the family without breaking the bank. Here is a list of 10 healthy foods that won't break the bank. 

🧴 Make money just for testing products. Whether you want to try it yourself or put the kids to work, you can make some cash money by testing these products. 

💳 Credit card rewards are headed toward a crisis. If you have gotten too used to high rewards or want to understand a bit about how a reward system works (and why it may change soon), this article is worth reading. 

💸 33 ways to make and extra $1,000 per month. Need more ideas to make some extra dough? Here are some (actually realistic) ideas... 

🪺 Thinking about a move? These have historically been the 15 worst places to buy a home if you want it to go up in value over the long term.  

🗓️ The Week Ahead

April 18th 

A reminder that today is when you taxes are due 😑. If you forgot and need an extension don't worry, you will be automatically approved. You just have to fill out some paperwork.

April 21st 

Today is National Kindergarten Day. For some history behind it, April 21 is actually the birthday of the German educator Friedrich Fröbel, who founded the first play and activity institute called kindergarten in 1837. (Kindergarten’s actually a mid-19th century German word literally meaning “children’s garden.”) But you already knew that.

April 22nd 

Earth Day is here and for those that want to support the planet with their financial decisions, here are 12 ways you can do just that.  

🔍 Topic of Focus

How To Invest In A Stock

Want to invest in individual stocks (or teach the kids how) but don't know exactly what steps you should take to arrive at an informed decision? This week we wanted to quickly lay out steps that professional investors take to evaluate a stock in order to get you some insight.