🟠 Credit Card Delinquency Rate at 10-Year-Highs

Together with Frec

Good morning,

A quick breakdown — in case you don’t have the time.

1. ⭐ Bitcoin demand is showing no signs of slowing down ($13B+).

2. ⭐ Our episode this week was about demystifying private wealth management.

3. ⭐ Credit card delinquency is at 10-year-highs.

4. ⭐ Americans are facing a retirement savings crisis.

5. ⭐ Amazon launched “Amazon Haul” to compete with Temu & Shein.

6. ⭐ Join 493 other podcast listeners inside the Rich Habits Network!

Market Overview

Charts of the Week

Demand for Bitcoin has never been this high.

On Wednesday, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF (IBIT) saw over $5 billion in daily volume for the first time in its history.

At the time of writing this, that marks over $13 billion in volume just this week.

Yes — we still prefer to own Bitcoin itself opposed to Bitcoin ETFs, but these are an incredible option for accounts in which you cannot buy crypto directly (like a Roth IRA). Most importantly, they provide a wonderful indication that institutional investors are taking this asset class very seriously.

A very cool side note: Coinbase has launched its “COIN50 Index” to track over 50 digital assets. It promises exposure to crypto market trends and has six cryptocurrencies making up 91% of the benchmark weight — BTC, ETH, SOL, DOGE, XRP, and ADA.

Together with Frec

Our friends at Frec just announced a major milestone, reaching $100 million in total customer assets just 9 months after launch! This is a testament to the strong demand for direct indexing, an investment strategy previously limited to clients of wealth advisors. 

Frec also introduced four new indices, bringing their total to nine — the most comprehensive selection of any consumer investment platform. You can now direct index Russell 1000, 2000, and 3000, & ESG alongside Frec's flagship S&P indices and more.

Direct Indexing is nearly identical to investing in ETFs, but with a key advantage: it allows you to reap tax benefits by directly owning the underlying stocks. This unlocks significant tax loss harvesting, which is automatically captured by Frec. 

The end result? You get market performance with added “tax deduction points” that you can use to offset any capital gains you might have. Best part is, if you don’t use them in a particular year, they carry over indefinitely until they’re used.

We personally invest with Frec, and are really impressed with the tax-loss harvesting capabilities that this company has unlocked for the everyday person.

In Case You Missed It…

👉 Episode 90: Demystifying Private Wealth Management

In this week’s episode of the Rich Habits podcast (linked here) — Robert and Austin welcomed Co-CEO of Titan — Joe Percoco. They discussed the following:

1. Titan’s Transformation — Simply put, Titan is a wealth management team in your pocket. The core products are their investment strategies: Flagship (the next point below), Smart Treasury (cash), and Automated Stocks (indexing). They have a friendly investor relations team and also offer bonus perks and white glove concierge to their members — unlocking access to things like exclusive restaurants and concerts.

2. Understanding Titan’s “Flagship” Product — Joe shared with us that his inspiration for when building this investment product was Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. “Flagship” is a set of 15-20 quality investments that hopefully outperform the U.S. stock market. Titan’s “Flagship” product tries to do exactly what Warren Buffett preaches: invest in wonderful companies at wonderful prices.

3. Top-Notch Research — Titan provides members with weekly insights on market trends, quarterly deep-dives on investment performance, and long-form breakdowns of major market-moving events. These help give members “tasks” on how they could improve their portfolio. They also share stock-specific analysis as it pertains to the selections within their Flagship product.

Overall — this was a very insightful conversation with Joe of Titan. We hope you enjoyed / will enjoy the episode!

👉 Q&A: How to Take Bitcoin Profits, Becoming a Full-Time Entrepreneur, & ETFs for the Roth IRA

Here’s a link to the Q&A episode that was posted this morning.

We answered questions from: Silvia & Kayla R, Marie N, Axa A, Bryan I, and Benjamin S.

You can submit questions for these episodes by asking them inside of the Rich Habits Network, replying to this email, or sending us a DM on Instagram.

The Rich Habits Podcast is available on Spotify, Apple, iHeart, YouTube, and wherever else you get your content!

Robert’s Callout

Credit card debt is a growing issue.

The percentage of credit card debt that’s 90+ days delinquent has reached its highest level in over a decade. This is even worse than when we had an unemployment rate hovering around 15% in 2020.

I’m including this chart to remind you of two things:

1. The health of the American consumer is important to keep an eye on. As debt levels continue to rise it will be interesting to see if this eventually impacts the stock market (my hunch is that it will).

2. More importantly — PLEASE do not focus on investing if you are carrying around high-interest debt! Credit cards are a wonderful thing. We even have an incredible Credit Card Tool for you to find the best one for you with big bonuses. However, they should be paid off in full every single month!

Austin’s Callout

Americans are facing a retirement savings crisis.

Many Americans are currently facing a retirement savings crisis — with insufficient funds to sustain their lifestyles after leaving the workforce.

A recent survey by Goldman Sachs revealed that a significant portion of older generations are unprepared for retirement — 38% of retirees and 39% of working Baby Boomers report having less than $100,000 saved for retirement. This financial shortfall extends to Generation X, with half of this demographic also lacking $100,000 in retirement savings.

While 73% of working Americans anticipate maintaining at least half of their working income during retirement (including Social Security benefits) — only 60% of current retirees are actually meeting this income replacement goal.

Achieving a comfortable retirement has become increasingly difficult — turning what was once a common goal into a privilege that fewer and fewer Americans have been able to attain. With that being said, the stock market is up +60% since January 2023 — the opportunities are there, you just need to make a plan and stick to it.

The Rich Habits Radar

• 👉 Inflation marginally climbed to +2.6%, meeting expectations.

• 👉 Amazon launched “Amazon Haul” to compete with Temu & Shein.

• 👉 Bitcoin climbed above $93,000 for the first time in history.

• 👉 Musk & Ramaswamy will lead the Department of Govt. Efficiency (DOGE).

• 👉 AMD will cut 4% of headcount to focus on AI chips.

• 👉 Netflix reached 70 million monthly users on its ad-supported plan.

Check ‘Em Out

Below is a list of our featured partners that we’ve vetted — with whom we have a personal relationship. Browse these exclusive offers curated just for you:

• Budgeting — Download our FREE Budgeting Template

• High-Yield Cash Account — Earn 4.6% on your savings

• Public — Trade stocks, options, and crypto

• Frec — Use direct indexing to invest & save on taxes

• Grifin — Automatically buy stock where you shop

• Acorns — Get $35 free when you subscribe

• Suriance — Protect your family with term life insurance

• Video Course — Use code “Newsletter” for 15% off

• Seeking Alpha — Optimize your portfolio

• Credit Card Matrix — Find your next favorite card to swipe

• Roi — Use code “Habits” and start tracking your net worth

• Dynasty — Protect your home in a trust

Disclaimer: This is not financial advice or a recommendation for any investment. The content is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any such information or other material as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.