Americans are spending more on sports gambling than movies, art, museums, and music combined.

166 Billion vs 70 Billion

Just a shocking statistic, what does this say about society today? What will be the consequences of this?

First off, are the people winning their bets? If the public is pulling a Robinhood on the sportsbooks, we don’t have a problem. Well what do you think happens…

Only about 5% of bettors are profitable over a year. 95% of people lose money.

The reason is obvious, the system is tilted in favor of the house.

Instead of betting straight up 50/50, they shift the odds to the familiar -110. This gives them just enough odds to beat you overtime. Bettors actually have to win at a 52% rate to win because of it.

And the worst part is that we are forced to gamble with a few monopolies; DraftKings and FanDuel have over 60% market share in some states.

These “companies” aren’t even companies, they’re just algorithms that are designed to strip money from the hard-working class.

A few employees account for thousands of drunk gamblers, and the rewards go straight to the board room and share holders.

Conversely, when you buy art, most of the time, an artist has put real work into it. You directly support that individual person, rewarding thousands of hours of practice, but it’s not only that.

Every dollar into art spreads far, not only does it support creatives like actors, editors, painters, sculptors, writers but also supports key workers like camera men, production assistants, box office sellers, concessions, bartenders, and countless more.

Data indicates that art likely supports 5-10 times greater employment per dollar compared to sports gambling.

And these are the jobs everyone says they want. The arts support people facing positions that require true human connection and have the critical function of narrative building and story telling.

I’m sure you know why people are gambling, it is highly addictive, socially popular, even current players on the court are starring in sports gambling commercials during the break, pure filth.

But I want to go into a sinister reason why I think people are gambling more, everyone has noticed inflation the last few years. Well, there’s data to show that during high inflationary periods, people spend more in lottery play, speculative investments, and yes gambling.

Does that not explain a ton of the last few years? Prediction markets, crypto and NFTs, Options trading craze, rise of sports gambling, all gained massive popularity right when high inflation began in 2021.

Show me the incentive, I’ll show you the outcome. People can’t keep up, so they get desperate, bigger bets, riskier stocks, even as far as betting on tomorrow’s weather.

Parlays are Gen Z’s slot machine, “Bro I hit 4 of 5 oranges! Next time”.

My theory is that newly legal sports gambling hurts our total spent on art, so I figured I’d go back to a pre gambling era.

Rerunning the numbers in 2016, the spending within movies, art, museums, and music plateaued at $68 billion, vs today’s $70 billion. Only up 3% in a decade.

By contrast sports gambling was $4 billion in Nevada, today there is over $160 billion spent in all 50 states, up over 4,000%

No wonder we are in sequel hell. I almost get sick to my stomach on what movies, tv shows, paintings we are missing out on.

We’re actively supporting algorithms instead of artists.

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Henry Potter, Bert and Ernie

these are some character names in the classic movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”. Unfortunately, Henry Potter is not a wizard, he is a banker, and a greedy one at that. Potter is the richest man in the town, already owning most of it including banks, bus lines, and department stores; He embodies the archetype of a ruthless slumlord, hoarding wealth while crushing the working class.

Our protagonist, George Bailey, is the antithesis of Potter in every way, a likeable, family man, who looks out for the community as he runs a rival mortgage and loan business, keeping prices low for everyone in town. The only one in town that dislikes Bailey, is Potter.

Bailey was going along fine, resisting Potter’s attempts to creep into more ownership of the Bailey Building and Loan. Suddenly disaster struck, George sees his Building a Loan swarmed with panicked people, a stock market crash, on the night of this wedding no less.

George’s nightmare unfolds: a bank run. Larger financial institutions demand their money, while panicked friends and community members flood his modest office. In the middle of the commotion, the phone rings, it’s Potter.

He heard Bailey was in trouble, and being the nice guy he is, is offering George an olive branch. He will give straight cash today for shares of Bailey Building and Loan, however due to market conditions, at 50% of its value.

George is appalled, but his desperate shareholders are intrigued. George pleads with them to hold onto the shares, Potter already owns the whole town, he would own everything now. George cries out,

“Potter isn’t selling, he’s buying. And why? Because were panicking and he’s not.” “He wants you living in his slums and paying rent he decides”

After much back and forth, his newlywed, Mary, exclaims from across the loud room. The wedding money! $2,000, supposed to be a honeymoon around the world, is now saving little Bedford Falls. George pays everyone enough to be pleased, and the Bailey Building and Loan evades bankruptcy.

…

Years pass, and Bailey and Potter are meeting. Potter compliments him, “During the depression, you and I were the only ones that kept our heads. You saved the building and loan, and I saved the rest.” Bailey remarks, “most say you stole it”. A quote from the script:

POTTER

The envious ones say that, George, the suckers. Now, I have stated my side very frankly. Now, let’s look at your side. Young man, twenty-seven, twenty-eight... married, making, say..... forty a week.

GEORGE

(indignantly)

Forty-five!

POTTER

Forty-five. Forty-five. Out of which, after supporting your mother, and paying your bills, you’re able to keep, say, ten, if you skimp. A child or two comes along, and you won’t even be able to save the ten. Now, if this young man of twenty- eight was a common, ordinary yokel, I’d say he was doing fine. But George Bailey is not a common, ordinary yokel. He’s an intelligent, smart, ambitious young man - who hates his job who hates the Building and Loan almost as much as I do. A young man who’s been dying to get out on his own ever since he was born. A young man... the smartest one of the crowd, mind you, a young man who has to sit by and watch his friends go places, because he’s trapped. Yes, sir, trapped into frittering his life away playing nursemaid to a lot of garlic- eaters. Do I paint a correct picture, or do I exaggerate?

GEORGE

(mystified)

Now what’s your point, Mr. Potter?

POTTER

My point? My point is, I want to hire you.

GEORGE

(dumbfounded)

Hire me?

POTTER

I want you to manage my affairs, run my properties. George, I’ll start you out at twenty thousand dollars a year.

George drops his cigar on his lap. He nervously brushes off the sparks from his clothes.

GEORGE

(flabbergasted)

Twenty thou... twenty thousand dollars a year?

POTTER

You wouldn’t mind living in the nicest house in town, buying your wife a lot of fine clothes, a couple of business trips to New York a year, maybe once in a while Europe. You wouldn’t mind that, would you, George?

Would I?

GEORGE

(looking around. skeptically)

You’re not talking to somebody else around. here, are you? You know, this is me, you remember me? George Bailey.

POTTER

Oh, yes, George Bailey. Whose ship has just come in - providing he has brain: enough to climb aboard.

GEORGE

Well, what about the Building and Loan?

POTTER

Oh, confound it, man, are you afraid of success? I’m offering you a three year contract at twenty thousand dollars a year, starting today.

George is tempted with 10x his income, he goes to shake Potters hand, and quote:

As they shake hands, George feels a physical revulsion. Potter’s hand feels like a cold mackerel to him. In that moment of physical contact he knows he could never be associated with this man. George drops his hand with a shudder. He peers intently into Potter’s face.

George turns him down.

A few more years pass again, George, content with his life, has a few kids, gets a house on the block, but never goes on that honeymoon and sees the world like he’d hoped. All of a sudden, George’s uncle—the executive banker—makes a grave mistake, he misplaces $8,000. The bank caller is here, and the Building and Loan is broke. Bailey goes to the only man he knows rich enough to help, Potter.

Potter is shocked by George admitting the Building and Loan is insolvent, and threatens to call the police for business malpractice and frauding investors. Bailey heads home, but can’t think straight, he is yelling at his kids, rude to his wife, and overall miserable. After quite literally crashing out in his office, he storms out of the house.

At rock bottom, he walks to the bridge to do the unthinkable. Eyeing the cold river bottom, with snow blocking his vision, quote:

He stares down at the water, desperate, trying to make up his mind to act. He leans over looking at the water, fascinated, glances furtively around him, hunches himself as though about to jump.

From above George, a body hurtles past and lands in the water with a loud splash. George looks down, horrified.

VOICE

(from river)

Help! Help!

George quickly takes off his coat and dives over the railing into the water.

All this commotion alerts the bridge operator to retrieve the two men.

While ashore, drying off, the man tells George he is his guardian angel, sent down to save him. Of course, George doesn’t believe the seemingly crazy man. Still down on his luck, Bailey mutters, “I wish I never existed” the Angel sees this as his opportunity.

(to George)

You’ve got your wish. You’ve never been born.

GEORGE

What did you say?

CLARENCE

You’ve never been born. You don’t exist.

You haven’t a care in the world.

No worries no obligations - no eight thousand dollars to get no Potter looking for you with the Sheriff.

The snow stops, the world gets quiet, Bailey’s clothes are bone dry. This world is changed, George runs to his small town, however its not anything he recognizes, bright colorful signs fill the street with plenty of light, bars and brothels are packed to the brim, with jazz tunes filling any space untaken, you would think it to be the middle of the day.

Bedford falls is no more, George looks up to his dismay, a sign bearing the towns name inscribed “Pottersville”... George realizes that by never existing, Potter bought up the whole town. All of Geroge’s friends and family are broke, his old boss is homeless, his mother lives in a brothel as an old maid, and his darling wife, Mary, doesn’t even recognize him.

At complete rock bottom, our nameless sap goes back to the same bridge he was at once before. He prays for his life back and the guardian angel reverses the curse. A light snow starts to fall, and a gust of wind blows back Bailey’s hair, he exists again. He runs at top speed back into town. Yelling, “Mary! Mary!” He sees the “Pottersville” sign has been replaced by the original, “Hello Bedford Falls!”.

He turns and runs through the falling snow up the main street of the town. As he runs, he notices that the town is back in its original appearance. He passes some late shoppers on the street

George then gets to his house, and waiting are a bank examiner, a reporter, and a Sherriff. George is happy to see all of them, as he is happy for anybody to recognize him. He embraces his wife and kids with joy.

There’s commotion outside, and to Georges surprise the whole town is there.

The rest of the crowd all greet George with greetings and smiles. Each one comes forward with money. In their pockets, in shoe boxes, in coffee pots. Money pours onto the table pennies, dimes, quarters, dollar bills small money, but lots of it. Mrs. Bailey and Mrs. Hatch push toward George. More people come in. The place becomes a bedlam. Shouts of “Gangway gangway” as a new bunch comes in and pours out its money. Mary stands next to George, watching him. George stands there overcome and speechless as he holds Zuzu. As he sees the familiar faces, he gives them sick grins. Tears course down his face. His lips frame their names as he greets them.

UNCLE BILLY (emotionally at the breaking point)

Mary did it, George! Mary did it! She told a few people you were in trouble and they scattered all over town collecting money. They didn’t ask any questions - just said: “If George is in trouble count on me.“ You never saw anything like it.

The community easily covers the lost $8,000 and some. The bank examiner, reporter, and a sheriff go home empty. George thought he had nothing, but he had everything he needed with his friends and community. By helping the community hold on thru the depression and giving everyone a fair deal, he was held with utmost regard. His uncle exclaims, “It’s a wonderful life”.

I did 10% justice to the masterful actors, James Stewart, Donna Reed and director Frank Capra. A top 5 movie of mine all time, I still suggest giving it a watch.

Americans are having a tough time right now. This paper is for the college graduate that can’t find a job, for the hard-working American whose bills have increased, and it’s for everyone who has been impacted by the higher cost of living in the last 4-5 years.

This is for someone who’s “Cooked”, someone who feels it’s impossible to get ahead. It is not just you. My goal is to explain to American’s why it is hard to get ahead in 2026.

There are over 20 sources in this paper. Click on the citations, ex, [Lin25], to go to the source. Published to SSRN (Social Science Research Network).

Part 1: It’s Not Your Fault

• Chapter 1 - Americans Are Struggling

• Chapter 2 - The Event That Broke The Dollar

• Chapter 3 - Unaffordable Housing

• Chapter 4 - The 2020 Dollar Collapse

Part 2: It’s Going to Get Worse

• Chapter 5 - The Retirement Wave

• Chapter 6 - A New Energy Crisis

• Chapter 7 - The Rise of Machine Competition

• Chapter 8 - Point of No Return

Part 3: A New Hope

• Chapter 9 - Beating Inflation

• Chapter 10 - Liabilities

• Chapter 11 - Take the First Step

• Chapter 12 - Conclusion

Disclaimer

This publication reflects the personal opinions of the author and is provided for general informational and entertainment purposes only. It should not be relied upon as a basis for making financial decisions. Readers are solely responsible for their own decisions and outcomes.

Part I: It’s Not Your Fault

Chapter 1: Americans are Struggling

America in 2026, how bad is it? In researching, I found this report from FINRA Foundation titled “Financial Capability in the United States” [Lin25]. This is the sixth report in the series; the first was in 2009 after the financial crash of 2008. The findings here are fascinating; for the first time in the 6 reports, Americans may be worse off than in the previous report. 26% of Americans are spending more than their income, the highest in any report; the previous high was in 2009, at 20%.

I read this as millions of new Americans get into debt every day, just to live, eat, and sleep. If you are in this 26%, don’t fret, it is not your fault, and you can get out of debt and be financially strong.

Continuing down the report, 63% of Americans feel Anxious when thinking about their personal finances, of course, at all-time highs. 63%! House prices are near an all-time high, the stock market as well, so why are people anxious? Everyone can see the inflation eating away at their savings. Most people just want to keep their homes and way of life, according to the report, over half of Americans say increased housing costs caused cutbacks in other spending.

One of my favorite data points, and one I want to solve by writing this paper, is “How confident are you that you could come up with $2,000 if an unexpected need arose within the next month?” Ages 18-34 responded 46% could not come up with it. $2,000, basically a month or two of rent, would send millions of people into debt. This is the highest level since 2012, and $2,000 doesn’t get you nearly as far as it did in 2012. People are worried, and don’t know how to break free. How did we get here?

Chapter 2: The Event That Broke The Dollar

The biggest reason I believe we are in this situation: the dollar is not what it once was. In 1971, the dollar and Gold were connected. Gold was set at $35 an ounce. Someone could exchange gold for dollars at the bank or vice versa. This meant the government had to print as many dollars as demanded to keep the price of gold at $35 an ounce.

Gold is considered a good asset because there is not much of it, and it is hard to get. Historically, it has been the store of value of the world. This asset tagged to the dollar was great, as inflation stayed around 2%, because they could only pull out 2% more gold out of the ground every year.

In 1971, that all changed; the dollar and gold became untethered. From now on, more and more dollars were created everyday, with no correlation to gold. [US 25a]

So to review, an ounce of gold was $35. Sounds like not much. However in 2025, an ounce of gold is $3678, breaking all-time highs as of the day I am writing this. So if minimum wage was the same portion (4%) of an ounce of gold in 2025, as our grandparents did in 1971, $1.60 [US 25b], we would make. . . hold onto your hats. . . $168 an hour. Imagine a world where minimum wage is $168. I bet CEO’s would get paid less. . .

Obviously, the economy would be vastly different if minimum wage were $168, and not look at all like today. Because gold and the dollar were paired in the past, showing the depreciation of the dollar in these terms seems fair.

If we stayed on the gold standard, we would make around $2 an hour, but we could afford more! Think about it, 1971 for one hour of work, you could buy 16 cans of Campbell’s tomato soup[Pol25]. Today, the federal minimum wage is $7.25; for one hour of work, someone can buy 6 cans of soup.

The soup is the same; the dollar is not. Notice on the chart the year 1971 is right when the price became unstable for Tomato Soup. Today, our dollar is less than 10% of the value of that dollar from a little over 50 years ago.

Chapter 3: Unaffordable Housing

If you are reading this, you are probably already aware of the massive problem that is house prices in 2025. There are many reasons to this, but I think one of the most putrid reasons to high home prices is institutional buying.

From the U.S Government Accountability Office (GAO) [US 24a], large-scale institutional buyers are a new phenomenon. Studies that GAO reviewed found that no investor owned 1,000 or more single-family homes as of late 2011; however, by 2015, these companies owned over 300,000 homes. These mega companies would outbid Americans, then turn around and rent them back to us for a profit.

In 2022, the problem continued. In Atlanta, one of our biggest cities in the United States, 25% of all homes are owned by large institutional buyers. This is obscene, driving up the costs for hopeful 6 first-time home buyers. People who want to start a family and have some space are being priced out by people in suits hoping to make revenue by the end of the year. Other major cities are include, Jacksonville, Charlotte, Tampa, and Phoenix are at 21%, 18%, 15%, 13%, respectively are owned by Mega Companies. Unfortunately, this is not the only factor in the housing affordability crisis of 2025.

In a report from the Housing & Urban Development’s Economic Division [Ng25], a new factor on affordability emerges. From the report, “When EMAD talks about housing affordability, we aren’t just referring to home prices and rents, although both have increased significantly over the past 5 years. Rather, housing affordability generally has been defined as the ability to spend no more than 30 percent of their monthly income towards housing costs.” This is a great point. Once you buy a house, the costs are just beginning. When you read the data coming up, keep in mind it is all the costs of owning a home. As of the first quarter in 2025, home ownership was unaffordable in 17 states, compared to 2020 when only California was considered unaffordable.

Even in places where home prices rise, housing can be affordable if income growth meets or exceeds home price growth, but that is not happening. For example, in New Hampshire, where the median income rose by 5%, home affordability declined, because home prices and housing costs rose by 8 %. In fact, home prices rose faster than incomes in every state from 2010 to 2020.

Simply saving cash in a savings account to one day afford a house is a losing strategy in 2025, unless your job gives you a 10%+ pay raise a year, which does not happen for most people.

The withering dollar with institutional pigs has left us in this situation. Buying a home is more difficult than ever in America. Buying a home seems so far away for most American’s it is almost not even worth talking about, but it is the ”American Dream” to own a home, and I wanted to lay out why housing is unaffordable in 2025. It’s not your fault that you cannot buy a house, but saving dollars in the bank will not work in 2025; we need a new strategy. You must invest.

Chapter 4: The 2020 Dollar Collapse

The dollar broke in 1971, but it turned into a free fall in 2020. Americans were locked down, and the government unlocked the money printers.

Looking at the figure above [N24], money supply stayed constant for about 20 years, even through the Great Financial Crisis of 2008. Continuing down the chart to 2020, where money supply increased by 30%. 30%! With that influx of cash, the government drowned Americans who do not have assets. In seemingly the blink of an eye, everything became 30% more expensive. $1,200 checks were given out in a modern “let them eat cake” fashion.

Check out the figure above [BLS25] illustrating the price of grocery store food over the last 20 years. Similar to money supply, food prices stay flat til 2020.

Focusing on March 2020 to Jan 2023, Chicken, Beef, Milk, Bread, Eggs, up 33%, 13%, 29%, 38%, and 215% respectively. So if you did not get a raise, or don’t have assets, eating normal everyday things costs 30% than before the pandemic.

This is where you’d think, “Okay, prices will come back down, the pandemic is mostly over, things will go back to normal.” That’s where the trap is. Inflation never leaves; it rarely ever comes back down. This time is not different; not only have they not gone down, but they’ve also increased at an accelerated rate. Back to the figure above, from March 2020 til today, an extra two and a half years time to inflate, Chicken, Beef, Milk, Bread, Eggs are up 48%, 61%, 28%, 34%, 134%. Since 2023, 2 cost more, 2 cost the same, and Eggs dropped 80% after a staggering 215%.

Real everyday foods up by over 50% in 5 years. 10% a year. Do you see how unsustainable this is? Real food, with real nutrients, so if you want to be healthy and live a strong life, you have to grow your wealth faster than 10% a year.

If the cost of basic goods keeps rising 10% a year, then ordinary people must grow their wealth faster than essentials inflate just to stay in place. That’s why investing is no longer optional.

Here’s the kicker - the government must keep printing money due to one reason alone: the aging population.

Part II - It’s Going to Get Worse

Chapter 5: The Retirement Wave

America’s biggest generation, the Baby Boomers, is retiring. A census report called “Turning Points for the United States: Population Projections for 2020 to 2060” [VAM20] details American demographics in the coming years. From the report, “The year 2030 marks a demographic turning point for the United States. Beginning that year, all baby boomers will be older than 65. This expands the size of the older population so that one in every 5 Americans is retirement age.” [VAM20].

From 2020 to 2030, there is an expected 30% increase in people ages 65 and older. This aging comes at a cost.

A report from the Congressional Budget Office [Con24] on Long-Term Projections for Social Security. This report gives a 75-year projection for social security revenue (tax income) and payments (gov spending).

Looking at the chart below, til 2008, revenue passed payments. The working class paid more into the system than retirees took out. This gave the government plenty of money to give back to the retired people getting social security checks. In 2008, that changed.

The Great Financial Crash had many detrimental effects; one was that people lost their jobs; and therefore, the working class paid less to social security. The government then had to spend more than it took in for the first time ever, marking a shift that never changed. In 2025, this government spending problem is set to accelerate.

Looking back to the chart above, government spending accelerates from now until 2034, and notice the revenues stay flat. As I mentioned above, this is due to a massive number of Baby Boomers about to enter retirement age.

It makes sense, not only will the Baby Boomers stop paying into Social Security, but they are beginning to take out Social Security for themselves. This is what they have worked their whole lives for and deserve to be paid for, as the government promised.

This is inevitable; the government has to spend and pay these retired Americans.

While this factor is easy to predict, the future factors I will cover are less well-known and more difficult to predict. A new factor hurting Americans’ pocketbooks is the Secret Energy Crunch.

Chapter 6: A New Energy Crisis

You have probably noticed the increase in your electric bill over the past few years, and there’s data to back that up. From the Federal Reserve website, this chart titled, “Average Price: Electricity per Kilowatt-Hour in U.S. City Average” [Fed25] In Aug 2020, 5 years ago, the average Kilowatt-hour was .137 cents; today that price has increased to .190 cents, a 38% increase. Almost as bad as beef!

There are a lot of factors to this; two big factors I want to introduce are Artificial Intelligence and Bitcoin.

These two groundbreaking technologies are amazing advancements in technology, but have come at a serious cost.

According to the report from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) titled, “2024 Report on U.S. Data Center Energy Use” [US 24b] increase in Data Center energy use is extreme. “The report estimates that data center load growth has tripled over the past decade and is projected to account for data center expansion and the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) applications, domestic manufacturing, and electrification of different industries”. Every top company has a new AI strategy, whether it makes money or not, and this trend is set to continue.

The report expands to say, data centers consumed about 4.4% of total U.S electricity in 2023 and are expected to grow to 6 to 12% of total U.S electricity use by 2028. Wow. Over 10% of all U.S. electricity to AI. This will continue to drive up households’ electricity bills. I regret to say there is another large consumer of energy growing in demand.

A different report from the Energy Information Administration titled “Tracking electricity consumption from U.S. cryptocurrency mining operations”. [US 24c] It is estimated in 2024, cryptocurrency miners are using .6% to 3.2% of total U.S. energy consumption. Just like AI, it is not projected to slow down.

Now, people are wrong all the time at projections, but if they are remotely close, energy costs are going up. Think about that effect, it’s nearly 30% more expensive to simply keep the lights on. And with AI data centers, electric vehicles, industrial electrification, and Bitcoin mining all accelerating, the competition for power is only getting more intense, and the cost will get passed to the average American. Speaking of competition, AI is not only taking electricity, but it is also taking jobs.

Chapter 7: The Rise of Machine Competition

A new technology that broke records was the introduction of ChatGPT in 2022, “the fastest growing user base ever,” adding over 100 million users in the first two and a half months. [Reu23] The previous record holder, TikTok, got smashed by 7 months. This technology is ground-breaking, mind-bending stuff. If you have not tried any AI chatbot, like ChatGPT, Grok, or Gemini, I highly suggest you give it a try.

This technology is revolutionary, and the big tech CEOs are pouring in more resources and energy, as you saw in last chapter, to make their bot slightly better than the competition. This super intelligence is here, and only getting better. Many underestimate the amount of money and energy invested in AI.

A report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office titled, “Which workers are most affected by automation and what could help them get new jobs?” [US 22] reports that workers with lower levels of education and who perform routine tasks, like cashiers or file clerks, face the greatest risk.

Researchers estimate that anywhere from 9% to 47% of jobs could be automated. Let’s say only 9% of jobs are displaced; that is still a lot of jobs! During the Great Financial Crisis of 2009, the unemployment rate rose to 10%, just over the lowest projection of A.I. taking jobs. [US 25c]

There’s some data to back that up: total job openings since ChatGPT was invented have steadily been falling. Looking at this chart from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about job openings, total nonfarm job openings are plummeting. Since the debut of ChatGPT, December 2022, jobs have dropped from 10,800,000 jobs falling to 7,227,000. [US 25d]

Now, to be fair, there’s another major factor happening at the same time, the Federal Reserve raised interest rates from zero. That shift ended the era of “free money” for businesses. However, it’s also undeniable that businesses are increasingly viewing AI as a substitute for human labor.

Together, these forces have contributed to a dramatic change in the job market. Since ChatGPT’s release, total job openings have fallen 33%.

Now I want to make an important point here: new technology bringing job uncertainty is a common occurrence in history. Whether it was farmers losing jobs to the plow, or manufacturing jobs being wiped away, the key is you have to be able to adapt. In those situations, there had to be signs that jobs were becoming uncertain; I think we could be in a similar situation today. The only constant in this world is that it is ever changing.

If your job is in the sights of A.I., don’t be upset; you just have to adjust. If you do not invest, I think you should start. The job market in 5-10 years is highly uncertain, so start to invest now, and let your money work for you.

Chapter 8: Point of No Return

I believe all of the factors I have laid out are at the point of no return. We live in a brave new world, this world is different than 1971, this world is different than 2020. This is one of the hardest times in modern American History to get by on just a salary. As I said, I’m not sure how this scenario gets any easier any time soon.

A.I snowball is rolling down the hill, and gaining speed. The dollar is dying at an unprecedented rate. Not to mention a ton of other cost-of-living factors I have not mentioned, like Trump tariffs, credit card rates, insurance rates, healthcare premiums, gas prices, corporate greed, shrinkflation, “plus” everything, Buy Now Pay Later, student loans. Just to name a few.

Part III - A New Hope

Chapter 9: Beating Inflation

While the earlier sections of this paper focus primarily on data, the final section shifts toward interpretation and practical suggestions. By nature, any discussion of personal finance involves some degree of opinion and judgment.

If you hire a financial advisor, they would tell you to buy a basket of US stocks (QQQ, SPY). Here are the returns over the past 5 years.

If you listened to the advisor, you would just be treading water, not gaining any value. This is tough, so we have to be professional stock pickers and somehow beat the market? There’s a simpler way.

This is where I want to bring up, Bitcoin. Bitcoin was born in the depths of the 2008 financial crash, with the quote in the first transaction, “The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks”[Bit24] this quote is the headline from the newspaper “The Times” [The09], and highlights why bitcoin was made, the corruption of bank bailouts and money supply.

While this is not the paper to go deep into bitcoin, one of the best strengths of bitcoin is its straightforward supply schedule. Every 4 years, the inflation rate cuts in half. That’s it, it’s that simple. This “Halving” event has happened 4 times: 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024. After the latest halving, 2024, the bitcoin inflation rate is .8%. Less than 1%.

Above is a chart of BTC inflation rate, by [Bit25]. This simple supply schedule shines in contrast to the current U.S. system (chart below), where they just print money and add debt willy-nilly. The red side prints for one reason, the blue side prints for another, meanwhile the people in between are drowning with 10% inflation. You can opt out of the craziness, buy Bitcoin. Funny enough, the time I am writing this, 10/1/25, the government is shutdown, because they cannot agree on how much money to spend. Below is a chart of U.S. inflation rate by [N24]

I think Bitcoin is the solution to our problem. If you have DCA’d bitcoin since 2020, you would be returning at 46% yearly, comfortably beating the 10% inflation. [Cal25]

Bitcoin is basically unstoppable (quantum computing is only serious roadblock); the massive amounts of energy it uses makes the core code unchangeable. I think in my lifetime Bitcoin will surpass gold, to over a million dollars a coin.

Now that you know the best asset, the next step is removing the behaviors that sabotage your wealth.

Chapter 10: Liabilities

A liability is anything that takes money out of your pocket. Yes, there are the obvious ones like Credit Card interest, student loans, and mortgages, but there are other liabilities people don’t realize they are even doing that can save them money.

• Monthly subscriptions, do you really need 3 streaming services? There’s free entertainment everywhere, cancel at least one streaming service and set a recurring monthly buy to your asset of choice.

• Sports Gambling, it amazes me how many young people gamble large chunks of their income on sports. For one, you will probably lose; two, even if you win, you will gamble the winnings away the next month and lose. I don’t have a problem with sports betting, just bet small amounts.

• Cars are sneakily one of the most costly things a person can own. Insurance, Gas, ”Your fault” Accidents, ”Not your fault” accidents, Parking (downtown). Most of America, yes, it is necessary to have a car, but cutting out a car can be financially beneficial.

• Student Loans, are uniquely the ONLY form of debt you cannot declare bankruptcy for. With the insanely high prices of universities on top of an uncertain job market, you could argue that accumulating massive student loans is the worst financial decision a young person can possibly make, unless you have a clear career path, like a doctor or something akin.

• Mortgage, People take on loads of debt for an inflated asset, and then the costs only just begin. You are on the bill when something breaks; on the contrary, if you rent, the landlord is on the hook for most things. There won’t be any surprise costs renting, rent until you have a large asset base. (more in my ”Unaffordable Housing” Chapter earlier).

Fewer liabilities, more assets.

Chapter 11: Take The First Step

A lot of people say assets are in a bubble, and I agree to an extent, but I’d argue we are more in a dollar death, with assets bleeding up for the foreseeable future. The old saying holds true, ”Time in the market, beats timing the market”. If there is a bubble pop, this would probably be the best buying opportunity in our lifetime, as the dollar is destined for death, and we are destined for a digital age.

To get started, download the Robinhood app (I’ll explain why later), make an account, and then decide on your assets.

I’d say pick 1-3 assets you believe in and DCA into them with every paycheck you get. “Dollar Cost Averaging” or DCA just means put a set amount aside from each paycheck, and buy your favorite asset(s). Whether it is 5% of your paycheck, or 1%, anything you can muster. The more the better. This will probably be tough because everything costs so much right now. Just start small, and let it grow. Shoot for 1 to 10% of weekly income.

I am not a financial advisor; this is not investment advice.

Assets I believe will do well over the next 10 years include Bitcoin, Gold, Amazon, Google, Tesla. Test your favorite stock’s return from DCA here [MyP25]

Other investments that beat the 10% include collectibles like Premium Vintage Sports Cards, find an asset you like that has beat 10% since 2020. These assets are your lifeblood; protect these, try not to sell, and rarely shave off profits (if possible).

These will help you in the future to pay bills, to buy houses, to change your financial life.

Only consider assets with truly limited (or fixed) supply where future demand has a realistic chance of rising significantly.

I picked Robinhood because they have Stocks, and Bitcoin. A key part of Bitcoin is holding it yourself. Robinhood lets you withdraw your Bitcoin. Do not buy Bitcoin on any site that will not let you withdraw.

Chapter 12: Conclusion

Over the last fifty years, and especially in the last five, America has drifted into an economic landscape that most people were never trained to navigate. The dollar we earn is weaker than the dollar our parents earned, the cost of necessities rises faster than wages, and the institutions we believed would secure our future are under unprecedented strain.

None of this is the fault of the individual. It is the accumulation of structural decisions, demographic shifts, technological disruption, and monetary experiments that are now converging into a reality ordinary people must live through every day.

What makes this moment uniquely difficult is that almost everything that used to work no longer does. Working harder does not guarantee security. Saving cash does not build a future. Earning a degree does not guarantee a job. Our parents could rely on institutions; our generation must build resilience in spite of them.

The world is transitioning from an economy based on stable dollars and predictable labor to one defined by scarce assets, powerful technology, and increasing competition. The people who adapt early will benefit the most, not because they are smarter, but because they recognized the shift and acted while others waited for “normal” to return.

But this is also a moment that offers tremendous opportunity. The same forces making life expensive are the same forces creating massive potential upside for those who position themselves correctly. If you are reading this feeling “cooked,” overwhelmed, or behind, that feeling is rational. You are living in one of the most economically challenging periods in modern U.S. history. But being behind is not a permanent condition.

Invest in productive assets. Reduce liabilities. Build skills that make you economically relevant. Don’t wait for policymakers, employers, or institutions to rescue you. That era is over. The next era belongs to people who choose ownership, autonomy, and self direction.

The economic story of the next twenty years is unwritten, and it will be shaped by individuals who understand what is happening before the rest of the country wakes up to it. If you take anything from this paper, let it be this: you are not powerless, but the world will not change on your behalf. The first step is small, but it is yours to take and the sooner you begin, the more time is on your side.

Thank you for reading. Please share with friends and your feed. If you could give it a like that would be greatly appreciated. I feel it is our duty as Americans to use our First Amendment to make our country a better place, I hope to have done that today.

For more information on references, check out my full PDF and references page here.