Small Talk Poppycock

I have mixed feelings when it comes to small talk. Sometimes I like to make it and other times I do not want any part of it. I find having small talk is tolerable depending on where you are; however, I don’t know what makes it okay in some places and not others. The following is an arbitrary list I came up with that isn’t complete, firm, or logical.

Small talk is acceptable at the: grocery store, restaurant, airplane, bookstore, or concert.

Out of all those places listed above I make the most small talk at the grocery. This usually occurs between me and the cashier and not with random strangers who are shopping. We talk about how crowded it is, how’s the day going, or what’s in my basket. Several times I brought up the differences between grocery stores in France and in the U.S.,

“Don’t you think cashiers should be able to sit down? Grocery cashiers in France sit. And they do not bag your groceries.”

Where small talk doesn’t work well is at the bank, post office, or gym.

The first two are usually both quiet, have lines, and by the time you get to the counter you aren’t really in the mood to shoot the breeze.

At the gym, you are there to do one thing and that’s to exercise. One group I noticed that likes to make small talk at the gym is older folks. I always see them chatting away by a machine. And they talk for quite a bit too without ever lifting any weights.

I had some pretty good small talk the other day at work.

It was the end of the workday and a lady and I were in the elevator. After a few seconds of silence, she says to me,
“I have to mow the grass today”
So I asked,
“Do you use a push or a riding mower?”
which I followed up with,
”Do you always mow the grass after work?”

By the time she answered, the elevator was on the ground floor and we said our goodbyes. It was a nice ride and chat. However, not all small talk can be as fun as lawn care. I’m not a big fan of this type:

• Is it the weekend already?

• Can’t believe it’s only Tuesday.

• It’s a hot one today.

Look, I’m not saying you need to discuss the Russia/Ukraine war or the latest GDP numbers with random strangers. Small talk by definition is “polite conversation about unimportant or uncontroversial matters”.

All I am saying is to reach a little bit further and try out a new small talk starter. And if you’re thinking,

“Hey Stephen. I’ve made small talk with you and it sucked. It was awkward and all you did was mumble.”

That sounds about right. By no means am I a small talk master. Far from it folks. I just think it’s more memorable if you initiate a conversation with something fresh.

I’ll end with one more experience I had, and yet again it happened in the elevator at my work.

It’s lunchtime and I’m waiting for the elevator to go back to my office. I enter the elevator and there is a lady already in it holding a bag. The doors close and it’s quiet for a few seconds and then she turns to me and says,

“I just bought a whole chicken from Costco.”

The Books of 2022

After a record-breaking year in 2021, where I finished 23 books, 2022 saw a decrease to 15 completed books. I am not sure what to attribute the decline to. Perhaps I was busier in 2022 or the books I read were larger. One similarity between the two years is all the books were non-fiction with the majority focusing on the topic of finance. Nine of the 15 books were finance related. I bought them used from the site Better World Books for a total of $126. A few things I learned this year: the banking panic of 1907, the leadership of Winston Churchill, the history of hedge funds, and all about the human body. Below is a list of the books I read and a few I recommend.

The Algebra Of Happiness - Scott Galloway - Recommend - I read the book in one week. Galloway gives life advice on topics such as career, marriage, finances, health, etc... It’s an easy read I think most people would find interesting. He is a professor at NYU's Stern School of Business. His email exchange with one student (which went viral) is a fun read. You can read it here. He also has a podcast which is worth checking out. Though he can be pretty annoying at times and kind of preachy. So maybe try out a few episodes in case you get a bad one on your first listen.

The Panic Of 1907 - Robert Bruner and Sean Carr - Recommend - Most people know about the stock market crash in 1929 but there was another major financial crisis prior to that in 1907. During the 15 month crisis, the stock market collapsed, there were numerous bank failures, and very little government oversight into financial markets. In the early 1900s, there were dozens of bank failures each year. In 1907 alone, there were 25 failures. One day your bank is doing fine; the next day there is a run on the bank. By the time you get to the counter to withdraw your money it’s all gone. Pretty wild. At the time, there was no Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to protect your money so your were out of luck. Today the FDIC insures up to $250,000 in an account. The book reveals just how complex the financial system is and how it is all linked. The panic also led to the creation of the Federal Reserve. At the time there was no central bank to conduct monetary policy.

The Most Important Thing - Howard Marks - Recommend - A thought-provoking read that offers a lot of valuable financial insight. Marks discusses investment philosophy with lessons from his own career and breaks down concepts such as second-level thinking, risk assessment, market cycles, and tons more. I probably learned the most on investing from this book. Howard Marks is a famous investor who is well known in the finance industry. Net worth over $2 billion. Warren Buffet even recommends the book with a little quote on the front cover “This is that rarity, a useful book”.

The Body - Bill Bryson - Recommend - Another simple and easy read that breaks down different parts of the body. You’ll learn: Why you get pimples, how memories are categorized, the heart weighs less than a pound, each of us grows about 25 feet of hair in a lifetime, and the average person changes positions between 30 and 40 times in the course of a night. The body is bizarre so if you would like to understand it a bit better then pick up this book.

The Soul Of America - Jon Meacham - Focuses on turning points in American history. Civil War, Reconstruction, Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s, the fight for women’s rights, McCarthyism in the 1950s, etc… This was another great book.

The Splendid And The Vile - Erik Larson - Centers around Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz.

The Cyber Effect - Mary Aiken - Looks at how the Internet is shaping development and behavior, societal norms and values, children, safety, privacy. I didn’t care for this book.

Zero To One - Peter Thiel & Blake Masters - Deals with business development, innovation and entrepreneurship. Peter Thiel started PayPal, co-founded Palantir, and helped fund Facebook, Airbnb, Spotify, LinkedIn, and more.

Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion - Robert B. Cialdini - Book highlights six principles of persuasion that are commonly and effectively used.

Confessions Of A Street Addict - Jim Cramer - Autobiography that centers around Cramer's work life and career. I like Jim Cramer, host of Mad Money on CNBC, but I would not recommend this book. I read one of his other books that focused more on the stock market. That was a better one.

A Little History Of Economics - Niall Kishtainy - Focuses on economic history and philosophies.

More Money Than God - Sebastian Mallaby - Looks at the history of the hedge funds.

The Man Who Solved The Market - Gregory Zuckerman - Biography on mathematician, Jim Simons. He is one of the greatest investors of all time. He founded a hedge fund that developed mathematical models and algorithms and made a killing from it. His net worth is over $20 billion.

Trillons - Robin Wigglesworth - Reveals the history of index funds and how they changed the stock market forever.

The Devil’s Casino - Vicky Ward - Centers on the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008.

Some of the books I read in 2022

I'll Take An HSA Please

When I sat in Human Resources on day one of the job, I received a mountain of papers to look over and return. Most of the papers were easy and quick to get through. Then I got to the healthcare section. I had no idea what type of coverage I needed. The distinctions between the plans were puzzling. In-network cost vs. out-of-network, deductibles, prescription coverage, specialist cost, etc... Some of the co-workers I asked all had the same plan which I considered, but it was expensive ($500 or more a month). So I kept looking through the plans and then I came across the Health Savings Account or HSA.

KEY POINTS
Save on taxes. 
Invest contributions. 
Low monthly premiums.

HSAs were established by Congress in 2003. The HSA is attached to a high-deductible health plan. The IRS defines an HDHP as any plan with a deductible of at least: $1,400 for an individual or $2,800 for a family. The HSA offered through my work covers both my wife and I. In exchange for low premiums each month, we have a high deductible: $4,000 (in-network) or $8,000 (out-of-network). Once we spend $4K then our insurance will kick in. There are out-of-pocket maximums too. If you are considering an HSA then a question you need to ask yourself is:

Do you want to pay more each month and have a lower deductible? 
or 
Do you want to pay less each month and have a higher deductible?

I wanted to pay less. It doesn’t make much financial sense to pay a lot for healthcare each month that we will not use. When my wife or I go to the doctor then we pay in full which isn’t always cheap. On the other hand, we do not go to the doctor all that often so it’s not a big financial hit. We are both young and healthy so an HSA is the right choice for us.

Now, on to the key points of the HSA.

CONTRIBUTIONS
You or your employer, or both, contribute pre-tax dollars into this account. For 2023, the maximum contribution is $3,850 for an individual and $7,750 for a family. Some employers may match your contributions up to a certain amount. My employer contributes $200 per year to “jump start my savings” and then it matches my contributions up to $575 per year. I essentially receive $775 each year free into my account. I always contribute enough to meet my employer's match. You do not want to leave money on the table.

INVEST
Just like a 401k or Roth IRA, your contributions can be invested. I opened my HSA with Fidelity in 2019 and each check contribute to an ETF (exchange-traded fund) that holds mid-cap stocks. Most HSA providers have a variety of options you can invest in such as stocks, bonds, ETFs, and mutual funds. Of course, you do not have to invest your contributions into the market but if you do then the funds can be left to compound for years.

WITHDRAWALS
If I want to make tax-free withdrawals from the account then it has to be for qualified medical expenses. There is a huge list but some of them can be contacts, X-rays, prescription meds, etc… If you pay for a medical expense without making a withdrawal, you can be reimbursed years later as long as you keep the receipt. I’ve never made a withdrawal but I read it’s a pretty easy process.

TAXES
The HSA is a triple tax-advantaged account. The money you put into it reduces your taxable income, the money inside the account grows tax-free, and any qualified withdrawals are tax-free. This is the only retirement fund that works this way. If you do not end up using the money in your HSA, when you turn 65, you can make penalty-free withdrawals for non-medical expenses but you will have to pay income tax. If you take out money before you’re 65 for non-medical expenses then the distribution will be taxed and you’ll incur a penalty from the IRS.

I did not fully understand the benefits of an HSA until weeks after I opened one. They reduce your taxes, offset medical costs, and can serve as an additional retirement account. They are also portable so if you ever leave your job or switch healthcare plans the HSA is still your name. You are the sole owner of the account, not your employer or health insurer. Whether or not you should choose an HDHP is all up to your health situation. Choosing a healthcare plan is stressful and complicated since you do not know what type of medical expenses you are going to incur in the future. If you are young and hardly ever go to the doctor then you should consider an HDHP. You’ll pay less each month to an insurance company and as a result, you’ll be able to put that money into your HSA.

Visiting Houmas House Plantation