Latest / The Curve / TCW89: BP’s climate u-turn & Google faces a breakup.
Transcript
- 0:00Welcome to the Curve Weekly, the podcast that keeps you up to date with all of the money
- 0:04business in stock market too.
- 0:06Brought to you by the Curve's research team, the latest insights on what's happening in
- 0:09the stock market, companies, other money related news so that you can stay educated and
- 0:14ahead of the curve.
- 0:15You can thank us later for sounding smarter than those finance bros you need to know, buddy.
- 0:19So most people who have been listening to this podcast for a while will have heard us talk
- 0:23about the world's biggest investing club.
- 0:25We've been harping on about it.
- 0:27Don't make it like it's a bad thing.
- 0:29No, it's great.
- 0:30We're having to harp on about it.
- 0:31Yeah, it's the world's biggest.
- 0:32Yeah, I mean, it's not yet that that is the plan.
- 0:35Explorations.
- 0:36Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 0:37So we have had founding members in there for the last couple of months.
- 0:40Yeah.
- 0:41Having a look around, educating themselves, talking to each other.
- 0:44It's been great.
- 0:45Yeah, and giving us a lot of feedback.
- 0:46So we've been able to reiterate, iterate, make changes.
- 0:49It's really looking quite slick and very exciting.
- 0:52And we're not in a position for everyone to join.
- 0:56The experience right now is for an intermediate investor.
- 0:59So someone who understands the basics.
- 1:01Yeah.
- 1:02So if you understand the fundamentals of like risk and return and dollar cost averaging,
- 1:08maybe you invest already, then there's 100 spots that we're opening up for you to join.
- 1:16Let's just keep an eye on your emails over the next couple of days.
- 1:19If you get a little notification from us, just quickly hop on and you'll get access
- 1:24to the investing club, which is really exciting.
- 1:26And you can go in and have a look around.
- 1:29You don't have to pay from the get-go.
- 1:31Yeah.
- 1:31There's a trial period where you can go and have a look around, see if it's for you.
- 1:35So definitely go and check it out.
- 1:38We've worked so hard on it.
- 1:40Yeah, super stoked.
- 1:41It looks great.
- 1:41Yeah, so there's some really cool stuff in there.
- 1:43So I saw myself.
- 1:48I feel like I'm nervous.
- 1:49I've never been nervous for a podcast.
- 1:51I think it's because you cried on the podcast in a long, just release.
- 1:54It was, yeah, I remember our producer sending us highlights and I watched it.
- 2:01And I was like, so if I was like, have you ever cried on our social media?
- 2:06Yeah, she's like, no, I was like, cool, well, I'm about to, but it's no.
- 2:09It was just the context.
- 2:11If you haven't listened to Raising the Curve from last week, literally the previous one.
- 2:16Yeah, one more time.
- 2:18One through seven.
- 2:19I love me.
- 2:20She's like, I'm well aware.
- 2:22I cried in it.
- 2:24But we did it on Financial Burnout and it was, it was so interesting because we actually
- 2:28recorded this episode a while ago and we kind of went into it, not realising what was
- 2:34going to come out of it.
- 2:35And then, and we're kind of joking about a few things and like having a laugh.
- 2:39This sounds like that.
- 2:40And then after it's like, oh my gosh, yeah, I went through Financial Burnout and, but
- 2:45honestly, the most incredible messages I've received overnight from friends, our investors,
- 2:51like just, it's been quite amazing.
- 2:55And also concerning how many people have been through a similar situation.
- 3:00Or is it still going through?
- 3:01It's still going through it.
- 3:02Yeah.
- 3:03I think it's a really good reminder, one of the things that you spoke about in the episode
- 3:07in terms of what kind of advice you would give someone that's going through something
- 3:10similar is to reach out to people around you for help, not necessarily financial, but
- 3:15some kind of help.
- 3:16And it makes me think if this was six months ago and these people coming out of the
- 3:21woodworks with the support that you've received in the last 24 hours, how much that would
- 3:25have helped.
- 3:26100%.
- 3:27And it's almost just like in real time, a reminder that you don't need to struggle with these
- 3:32things alone.
- 3:33Like you have communities around you even if you don't feel like you do.
- 3:36But if you want to go back in less than it was a really, a really good episode and thanks
- 3:39for being here.
- 3:40I know that probably felt quite vulnerable.
- 3:41So yeah.
- 3:42Thanks for that.
- 3:43Thanks for that.
- 3:44Like so casual.
- 3:45Thanks for that.
- 3:46Thanks for that.
- 3:47Now onto the next video.
- 3:48But yeah, speaking of that and having like people around you to support you and everything,
- 3:53I think it kind of comes back to your birthday episode a bit.
- 3:57I actually haven't listened to that since we released it.
- 3:59I don't know why I think it felt like an emotionally vulnerable state.
- 4:03Yeah.
- 4:04And I think it's just a good reminder that like people around you love you so much.
- 4:08And it's in those times that you like forget that that's when you need it the most.
- 4:13Anyway, this is kind of a long winded segue.
- 4:17You're like, where are we going?
- 4:18I know.
- 4:19And it's a long story.
- 4:20And now it's his play voice note from DMs, so who's it from?
- 4:24So it's not from our DMs.
- 4:26Oh god.
- 4:27But I had to put it in there to throw you off guard a bit.
- 4:30This is very delayed.
- 4:31It was a voice note that I tried to get for your birthday and unfortunately it came back
- 4:36but it went to my junk and I was so gutted and I was so gutted.
- 4:41And so it's a bit of a delayed voice note, but where here we go.
- 4:46Oh my god.
- 4:49Happy birthday Sophie.
- 4:51This is Elizabeth Day.
- 4:52I'd be offended if you didn't recognise my voice because we are fellow podcasters and
- 4:57I know I was lucky enough to meet you recently at the podcast show and I just want to say keep
- 5:01doing what you're doing and keep being you because you are a wonder and a gift to the
- 5:08world and I'm so happy that I got to send you this message via the medium of your dear
- 5:14friend and co-host.
- 5:16Happy birthday.
- 5:17I'm someone who loves to celebrate her birthday and my top tip for you is to make it last at
- 5:22least a month.
- 5:23Just eke it out.
- 5:24Just make everyone keep celebrating you because you deserve it.
- 5:29Can you send me that so I can have it on my phone?
- 5:33I need to play that in the morning every morning.
- 5:36God am I a creep?
- 5:37I'm like, I just think she's so awesome.
- 5:39Yeah, no and I sent her the little snippet that we did when you were like, I'll put it
- 5:43on the podcast.
- 5:44Oh, I did too.
- 5:45Anyway, and then she came back and was like, yeah, here's a voice note and it went to my
- 5:50junk and I was so gutted when I found it.
- 5:53I was like, yeah.
- 5:54Oh my god, that's quite amazing.
- 5:56Yeah, your friends.
- 5:57Thanks.
- 5:58Your friends now?
- 5:59Okay, do you know what's funny as I had a dream last night but I was invited to speak
- 6:02at an event.
- 6:03It was about, I thought we would talk about Gossip Girl, which is something I watch all
- 6:07the time so embarrassingly.
- 6:08Anyway, I turned up to this event, really nervous, like, holy shit, I can't believe it.
- 6:12I'm going to be speaking for 10 minutes of the Elizabeth Day and then they got there
- 6:17and they're like, no, I'm not talking about Gossip Girl, I'm talking about some random
- 6:20book and I've got the details wrong and so I was standing there fumbling, like, no, I
- 6:24didn't want to talk to you now.
- 6:26And when I woke up this morning, I was like, even though I was having a near, that was
- 6:31a great dream.
- 6:32That was a bit of a random.
- 6:33Yeah, exactly.
- 6:34That's so cool.
- 6:35Yeah, you guys are mates now.
- 6:37Do you think she actually remembered who I was or do you think she was being polite?
- 6:41Well, I didn't mention.
- 6:43Did you not mention the, did you promise you didn't?
- 6:46I promise.
- 6:47I mean, I said, the clip, I can't remember what was on it.
- 6:49Maybe you said I met her at the podcast show.
- 6:51Maybe about you.
- 6:52Well, that's cool.
- 6:53That's a beautiful voice as well.
- 6:54Oh, I said, oh.
- 6:55Her book, by the way, if anyone wants a good read, it's called How to Fail.
- 6:58It's the one you gave me my birthday.
- 7:00It's kind of the idea of what you learn from things, not going right.
- 7:03And I think in the context of the financial burnout, mentioning everything, it's, yeah.
- 7:07I'm really like, gosh, it's so nice to not hear someone that's just like flapping around
- 7:12with all their successors and actually being honest about the shit that goes wrong.
- 7:17What a treat.
- 7:18What a treat.
- 7:19So I feel like it was gone from a really happy moment to now, I'm just going to crush
- 7:25your dreams.
- 7:26Okay.
- 7:27Yeah, sorry.
- 7:28So BP, I know how much.
- 7:29I say Rick Company.
- 7:31I know how much you love the planet.
- 7:34And so this one's going to kick you while you're down.
- 7:37Oh, sorry.
- 7:38This one's going to stab you, put salt in the wounds.
- 7:41Stab you.
- 7:42Good to go.
- 7:43I guess a bit of saying.
- 7:45Have you wear it hurts?
- 7:46Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 7:47That's what I mean.
- 7:48Yeah, yeah.
- 7:49So they have dropped their targets.
- 7:51So they've stepped away from them in terms of their oil and gas production targets by 2030.
- 7:56So back in 2020, they put out a really ambitious target to cut oil and gas production by 40%
- 8:04by 2030.
- 8:05And everyone was like, well, that's ambitious for BP, one of the biggest oil and gas producers
- 8:10in the world.
- 8:11Last year, they were like, we're not going to be able to do that.
- 8:13We're going to cut it to a 25% cut.
- 8:15So they've gone from 40% to 25%.
- 8:17Now they've gone actually, we're going to be raising it.
- 8:21What?
- 8:22Yeah.
- 8:23What do you mean raising it?
- 8:24So they were trying to reduce their...
- 8:25So they're not even going to reduce it at all.
- 8:27That's actually increasing.
- 8:28That's actually increasing.
- 8:29Yeah.
- 8:30It's actually quite shocking.
- 8:32What have they said about it, though, like, what's the...
- 8:35So the argument is that renewable energy projects are too expensive.
- 8:41So they've been investing...
- 8:42The cost of investing in these projects, which will help them, you know, because they've
- 8:45still got to produce a certain number, just where they get that production from, whether
- 8:48it's, you know, your traditional means or your new...
- 8:50Each of them are energy.
- 8:51Energy, yeah, yeah.
- 8:52So...
- 8:53But the cost of investing in renewable energy projects is too high.
- 8:56So they're like, you know what, we're just going to have to keep the dressing.
- 8:59So sorry.
- 9:00Just to clarify.
- 9:02One of the wealthiest, biggest, enormous companies that definitely have the money.
- 9:08They're saying, we need the same amount of energy.
- 9:11And oh, it's a bit more expensive to do the renewables.
- 9:14So we're actually not.
- 9:15Is that their...
- 9:16That's genuinely their response.
- 9:17Yeah.
- 9:18So they've had to pause those projects and accelerate the traditional oil and gas production
- 9:23project to keep up with demand.
- 9:25What do you think our friend Greta Tunberg is saying about this?
- 9:28Is there people in outrage at what's happening on socials, what have investors' reactions
- 9:34been?
- 9:35Yeah.
- 9:36Investors' reactions are frustrated, but also it's interesting with BP because people
- 9:41that don't invest in it, because of that, because they produce oil and gas, there's
- 9:45not much they can do.
- 9:46You can protest and all that, but I think the thing with this is the dichotomy between
- 9:53having shareholders that want profitability and doing what's good for the planet and all
- 10:01of that.
- 10:02I just think it's...
- 10:03I'm not trying to create excuses.
- 10:04I'm just...
- 10:05No, no, it's not.
- 10:06It's this whole push and pull of like, okay, well, do we sacrifice profitability?
- 10:10And this is the decision that the board has made is that it's going to cost us too much
- 10:15to invest in these renewable energy projects, it's going to cost us profitability and investors
- 10:21want profitability and shareholders want that, so we have to do that option.
- 10:27I don't know.
- 10:28It is...
- 10:29Yeah.
- 10:30The fact that it's one of the largest oil and gas producers...
- 10:32It is so cool if they stood up and they said, profits will be dropping.
- 10:40We're taking this offer.
- 10:41I think they would see an uprising and investors, people wanting to support the change that
- 10:46they're genuinely trying to make, rather than...
- 10:48Or did they not see that when they announced the cuts?
- 10:51Like when they said, you know, in 2020, we're planning on reducing our gas production by
- 10:5640%.
- 10:57I wonder what happened to their share price, because you often speak about this such a
- 11:02push and pull between ESG investors, so you can call investing, because you can either
- 11:07choose to support companies that are trying to change knowing they're doing good, or you
- 11:12just go straight for a company that's not actually having a detrimental impact.
- 11:16In this case, supporting BP in 2020 would have been great, because you're supporting a company
- 11:22that's trying to say, we want to do different.
- 11:25But then for the four or five years, eight of them, to actually be like, kidding, it doesn't
- 11:29give you much hope in investing in companies with the hope that they're going to change
- 11:34is what I mean.
- 11:35And I think this is with ESG investing, you're right, there's kind of two angles.
- 11:41You could invest in BP and be like, I am going to be a really vocal, engaged investor
- 11:47and tell them what I think and rally support from other investors and really make a song
- 11:52and dance about their stupid changes, or you could be like, you know what, I'm just
- 11:58not going to invest in it.
- 12:00And if you get enough of those people, then their share price falls and falls and falls.
- 12:04Do you think we do something?
- 12:05There's two ways to go about being a voting with your wallet.
- 12:10It's by not investing, or it's investing and being active.
- 12:15And this is what fun managers do as well.
- 12:17Some are like, you know what, we're just not going to invest in any oil and gas companies,
- 12:20so no shell, no BP.
- 12:22And then others are like, no, no, we think we can have a better outcome, a better impact
- 12:27if we get in there by stocking these companies and actually bring about change.
- 12:31So I would love to bring this to an investing club.
- 12:35I think it would be really interesting to hear people who haven't invested in BP,
- 12:39who haven't, and also just, because there will be so many different opinions on it,
- 12:43but I just, I can't imagine that there's that many people that are so desperate for
- 12:48returns that it's at the sacrifice of.
- 12:52Yeah, I mean, it's down 21% in the last 12 months, so it looks like people are actively
- 12:58getting fed up with BP and pulling them on out.
- 13:01I wonder if you know how?
- 13:02Hello Kitty, or pretty Kitty, or what's that guy that always like drawing Kitty?
- 13:07Drawing Kitty.
- 13:08So he does all these like memes, like memes stocks, and you'll get people to buy or sell.
- 13:13I wonder if we just can see if the community can be a bit like, I don't know what we could
- 13:18do.
- 13:19Maybe it's just like a social post on everyone's shares, it'll something, but it's just
- 13:22rebrand tags, the BP.
- 13:23Yeah, just be like, is there an emoji that's the middle finger?
- 13:26Yeah.
- 13:27Let's do that.
- 13:28Oh God.
- 13:29That's terrible.
- 13:30Hate that.
- 13:31So I would, this one as well, is like, I still jump in taxis and obers that use petrol.
- 13:37I find it really hard to sit here on my high horse and say, I'm not going to listen
- 13:41BP, yet I consume their products day in, day out.
- 13:45I think there's a real element of, if you're getting a private jet every two weeks, or
- 13:50you're unnecessarily travelling, or you get in a car when you're down the road by
- 13:55two, I think there's the amount of guilt that we can take on is enormous.
- 14:01At some stage, the change has to be systemic.
- 14:04It has to happen from big companies.
- 14:05You can't sit there feelings like, yes, we can do our bit, we can be going vegan, using
- 14:10a bike when you can, all those things, you know, there's lots we can do that is voting
- 14:15with your behaviour, but to feel like you're the one that needs to feel incredibly guilty
- 14:21when there's an enormous billion dollar company that's not even making a tiny change
- 14:26in the amount, I don't know, I think it's a really funny one.
- 14:31I agree with you.
- 14:32I'm just playing devil's advocate and it's like, okay, if they were like, you know what,
- 14:35we're going to focus on purely renewable energy, then that means increase costs for them.
- 14:41They're not going to cut their profit.
- 14:43They're going to just pass it on to people like you and me and we're going to have to
- 14:46end up paying more for them.
- 14:47I'd rather that.
- 14:48I would honestly rather.
- 14:49But if I think we could, there is a whole population out there that is already struggling
- 14:55to pay the bills and yeah, I don't know, it's sticky, it's a sticky one, but just throw
- 15:04it out to you.
- 15:05What do you think?
- 15:06Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 15:07Just diffuse the, yeah, but yeah, there's also concerns now that Shell is going to come
- 15:11out and kind of say the same thing because it's like, we'll be paid, you know, they've
- 15:16done it in terms of they've kind of ripped the bandaid off and everyone's disappointed
- 15:20in them.
- 15:21They're kind of flying with the radar and do it too and not get as much heat.
- 15:25So sorry, planet.
- 15:26No, no, no.
- 15:27No, no, no.
- 15:28Okay, let's move on to a different type of news, yeah, trying to find something more positive.
- 15:36No, Google.
- 15:37Yeah.
- 15:38Yeah.
- 15:39Tiny company.
- 15:40No, no, no, no.
- 15:42I do know what a Google is.
- 15:47It's like a zillion trillion, billion, billion, like a Google is the most numbers or things
- 15:54you can evagate.
- 15:55Like a Google.
- 15:56Like I have a Google dollars is like, yeah, how have you never told me that it's such a
- 16:02good fun fact?
- 16:03So that's why like let's Google and it's like searching, like, yeah, so like we want the
- 16:07curve to be a Google in terms of like, yeah, I feel like now it's kind of become a
- 16:11verb.
- 16:12Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 16:13So I had no idea.
- 16:15So Google is more than a finian, by the way, you just said finian, I'm assuming that's
- 16:19not a real.
- 16:21But yes, it's like a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, whatever you get,
- 16:24it's the most, yeah, quite cool.
- 16:26I like that.
- 16:27Yeah.
- 16:28A Google.
- 16:29Anyway, the newest government is trying to break up Google.
- 16:33So this is major news and it's all because they've become way too dominant in search.
- 16:39So they've got 90% market share in search and they're stifling competition, they're
- 16:46preventing smaller companies from being innovative, they're really dominating their position
- 16:50and the US government's like, you know what, I'm not having it.
- 16:53It feels like this is happening a lot.
- 16:55It feels like there's a lot of whether it be Google or Amazon or all of these massive,
- 17:02massive companies, there's a real shift or focus on not letting them be so dominant.
- 17:08Do you think it will actually happen or is it more of a, we're trying to look like we're
- 17:13helping the little guys, you know?
- 17:14No, I think it's just become more common.
- 17:17Like there's definitely like the European Union's been issuing fines for your anti-competitive
- 17:23behavior.
- 17:24And it's just, it is because they're just getting too big.
- 17:26Like all these companies, they're trillion dollar companies, you know, like we've never,
- 17:30ever had companies this size before that have been so dominant.
- 17:33But this is quite different in the fact that they're now going, we're going to break you
- 17:38up.
- 17:39Do you know what I mean?
- 17:40It's not just stepping you with a couple of billion dollar fine, which you can pay,
- 17:43which is probably one percent of your profit, you know, and then keep being big.
- 17:47It's like, no, no, we're going to break you up so that you are two separate companies,
- 17:51so you can't be as dominant.
- 17:52Well, what would it be split between?
- 17:54So I think a really good example is back in 2000s, Microsoft went through this, that went
- 18:00through the court, and then went to the high court, and then went to, you know, like
- 18:02went through a lot of court proceedings, and it was to break up the software and the operating
- 18:09system of Microsoft because they were selling them as a package and therefore other companies
- 18:13couldn't compete.
- 18:14But anyway, it didn't end up being broken up, like Bill Gates left a CEO and they had to
- 18:19make a whole lot of changes, but they didn't actually end up getting broken up, but it's
- 18:22they're saying it's kind of the biggest case that's happened since then, and that was
- 18:26in 2000.
- 18:27So 24 years ago, yeah, yeah.
- 18:30So I don't know what will come of Google, and this could take years, but I think the
- 18:35takeaway from this that I see is that if this does go ahead for Google, it's very concerning
- 18:44for Amazon, Apple, NVIDIA, all of those other companies because it just shows that there's
- 18:51a ceiling.
- 18:52There's a point in terms of the size of things.
- 18:55And so if it didn't happen to Microsoft, what makes...
- 19:01Well back then in 2000, Microsoft was much, much, much, much smaller.
- 19:05And so the fact that they were even talking about it then, they still had to make a lot
- 19:10of changes and split those two products and sell them separately, so other companies
- 19:14could compete.
- 19:15But it's just, it's interesting, I was having a conversation with Danny yesterday about
- 19:21this, our commercial director, and about how the US government can step in, it's called
- 19:28the regulator, the competition regulator, can step in if two companies are going to
- 19:32merge.
- 19:33So say you had...
- 19:34Madeleine and Laurel.
- 19:35Yeah, and they were, each had like 40% market share and skin care, they're coming together
- 19:40again, have 90%.
- 19:41They'd be like, no, that's not allowed because you're too big of a player in that sector
- 19:46or that industry.
- 19:47Who sets the rules as...
- 19:48The regulator.
- 19:49The government.
- 19:50But is there, is there parameters?
- 19:51Yep.
- 19:52So then why would they...
- 19:53So think about merging if they know they're not allowed.
- 19:54Because you can kind of argue it, you can be like, oh no, it's not skin care, we're
- 19:57also in like apparel and like, you've got to take the whole market into consideration.
- 20:02So it's like, if we merged with another company that was similar to the curve and we
- 20:08end up becoming quite big, we could be like, oh no, we're not just financial empowerment.
- 20:12We're selling plants.
- 20:13We're selling plants, we've got the whole, you know, we're, we're female empowerment,
- 20:16which is way more massive and there's 10 other competitors.
- 20:19So you try and argue your case or it might be the case of with us.
- 20:23Oh, okay.
- 20:24Well, the regulator might say, yeah, you can merge or you can acquire this company, but
- 20:28you have to get rid of your podcast.
- 20:30So you can, you can cycle up a little bit.
- 20:32Honestly, dictate how the company is structured, how big it gets.
- 20:36Yeah.
- 20:37And sometimes investors get excited when two companies join together because they're going
- 20:39to be bigger and better.
- 20:40And then the share price goes up of the one that's, that's acquiring or being acquired.
- 20:44And then it gets stopped by the regulator and the share price falls to them and say,
- 20:47oh, it's really hard to know from an investing standpoint, if it's a good thing or not,
- 20:54then when companies join together or when they split apart, do you think with this particular
- 20:59example, with Google, I mean, hearing you speak about the regulator, I mean, I'm kind
- 21:05of shocked that all of these massive tech companies have even been allowed to get as
- 21:08big as they are, given the fact that I didn't even know that that was a thing.
- 21:13So it doesn't seem totally wild to me to think that that could actually happen to Google.
- 21:18Yeah.
- 21:19But then on the flip side, I'm like, this is capitalism.
- 21:21You know, you've got founders that have been hugely innovative and investing in their
- 21:26businesses and they've grown to be massive.
- 21:28They've changed our worlds.
- 21:30And now you're penalizing them.
- 21:32I kind of feel like, I don't know, that would be the other side of the argument, which
- 21:35may be a lot of people don't agree with, but you should have tried to encourage innovation
- 21:39with small companies, but you're also stifling it.
- 21:41I don't know.
- 21:42Yeah.
- 21:43It's going to be interesting to see what it lands, but it's not good for a lot of the
- 21:45big tech companies.
- 21:46Have we seen any of the massive tech companies stop price falls since the start?
- 21:53Google's has.
- 21:54Yeah.
- 21:55So Google's has fallen over the last week where that news came out, about 5%.
- 21:58It's quite a lot.
- 21:59Yeah.
- 22:00For a big company like that.
- 22:01I think the others are, it's a bit far-fetched yet, you know, like in this could take
- 22:06years to play out, but yeah, quite fascinating.
- 22:09Those tech companies make up a large percentage of the S&P 500 as well, so if you're
- 22:13interested in that.
- 22:14That's when thinking, is the whole economy going to go tits up if they all get split
- 22:17up?
- 22:18Tits up?
- 22:19How does that phrase even work?
- 22:20Oh my god, maybe it's because you're on your back.
- 22:21Tits up.
- 22:22Oh my god, yeah.
- 22:23Oh, that's disgusting.
- 22:24I'm never saying any ins.
- 22:25Jesus.
- 22:26But, yeah, could it be dangerous because that's what I was immediately thinking was there's
- 22:33been such growth in the economy because of these massive tech companies, because they don't
- 22:38have the opportunity to soar like they have been.
- 22:40Does that mean that the stock market in general will look to, I don't know, stall a little
- 22:45bit?
- 22:46100%.
- 22:47Not great.
- 22:48Not great.
- 22:49Have you heard of Henry?
- 22:50Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 22:51As in the...
- 22:52I was about...
- 22:53Yes.
- 22:54Is that...
- 22:55Not for your day, does it?
- 22:56I, yeah.
- 22:57Let's move on from that terrible joke.
- 23:00But...
- 23:01Oh, you don't have few Henry's?
- 23:02No, I haven't.
- 23:03Oh.
- 23:04Only two.
- 23:05Anyway, Henry H in R Y is what we're referring to, right?
- 23:09As in the accountancy software.
- 23:11That's how you're talking, right?
- 23:13No.
- 23:14H-E-N-R-R.
- 23:15I don't think it's actually spelled that way.
- 23:16No, we're not talking about the accounting software.
- 23:18We're talking about high-erna, not rich yet.
- 23:22Oh, okay.
- 23:23Definitely haven't heard of that.
- 23:24At Cranham.
- 23:25Oh my god, do I have it?
- 23:26It's fun.
- 23:27Yeah.
- 23:28So, there was a study that came out that said, and a lot of people were like, probably
- 23:32having a zero sympathy for these people, but it's when you're earning a high salary,
- 23:37but your expenses are so high that you're just not rich.
- 23:39You're not accumulating assets.
- 23:40You're not putting away money for a time.
- 23:42Like, we've heard of fire, which is financial independence retire early.
- 23:46And, yeah, there's light.
- 23:47Hold on, we did do an episode on that, if anyone's just airs pricked up,
- 23:49and they're like, what is that?
- 23:51It was raising the curve 111.
- 23:53So, raising the curve one-on-one, and it's fire.
- 23:57Financial independence retire early with Ana Christina.
- 24:00Why you laugh?
- 24:01It's just like, one-on-one, and it's a fiery episode.
- 24:05I didn't even think of that.
- 24:06I thought you were laughing because I was kind of doing chops at all my fingers.
- 24:10Yeah, it's a really interesting.
- 24:11It's basically the idea that you've got a squirrel all this money away
- 24:14as early as you can so that you have as much time investing in the stock market
- 24:19for that money to grow, so you can retire early.
- 24:20It's kind of the, you can invest in a nutshell.
- 24:22Yeah, so there's like another Cranham that started, which is Henry,
- 24:26which is high in a not rich yet.
- 24:28And it's all about the increase, like, cost of living.
- 24:31And yes, you can increase your salary, but your expenses are still going up.
- 24:34We're in this inflationary environment.
- 24:36I know a few Henry's.
- 24:37Yeah, I bet you do, girl.
- 24:40No, no, do you need to lay him like, no.
- 24:42I can think of people I know who they don't feel good about it either.
- 24:45They've got, they earn a lot, but they spend so much and are quite stressed about it.
- 24:50They know they're not putting it away.
- 24:52And it's also not spending much on, like, discretionary things.
- 24:54It's like child care, health care, schooling.
- 24:58But it's, but it's the fact that everything's got so expensive
- 25:01and they feel like they're on this hamster wheel.
- 25:03And yes, you might feel like that on a, on a, and you're not a higher earner,
- 25:07you might be a leaner, on a low.
- 25:11Did you think about that when you were researching?
- 25:13And you thought, I got a good one here.
- 25:15I literally sort of with them.
- 25:17Yeah, it was just like the study that had come out that in the US,
- 25:20people are on $200,000 a year.
- 25:22And still not feeling like they're on this hamster wheel.
- 25:24And they're not progressing into like accumulating assets and saving their time.
- 25:28And so isn't that kind of, it's, I know this,
- 25:30I don't know if this is going to bring solace to anyone,
- 25:32but from the amount of messages we got from raising the curve
- 25:35on financial burnout last week, which we were talking about
- 25:37at the end of the episode, the amount of people who could relate to that.
- 25:41I honestly think it's people who don't earn much,
- 25:43it's people who earn a medium amount, it's people who earn a lot.
- 25:46And it's because we're always lifestyle creeping,
- 25:49like the Henry's of the world.
- 25:51And it's really hard to pull back expenses and feel like you're getting ahead.
- 25:55I think, I think it would be very rare for there to be a huge amount of people
- 26:00who are earning a okay amount, have their expenses low
- 26:05and are feeling like they're getting ahead.
- 26:06I think it's a pretty blanket feeling across the world right now.
- 26:11It's doesn't matter how hard I work.
- 26:13And I also, I think it's hard when you have dependents if you're in a family.
- 26:17As you say, there's, there's childcare,
- 26:18there's mortgage repayments, all that kind of thing.
- 26:20Because once you've made that decision to stretch yourself to a certain level,
- 26:24it's quite hard to pull yourself back.
- 26:26For me, the biggest takeaway from this is that it doesn't matter how much you earn.
- 26:30If you don't have a budget or you're not monitoring your spending,
- 26:34whether you're earning a million or 10,000,
- 26:37you're going to feel like you're on this hamster wheel.
- 26:39And I've got to keep earning because I've got to sustain my lifestyle.
- 26:42Whereas if you're putting away a little bit and you've got your budget,
- 26:46you're monitoring what you're spending
- 26:47and you're putting away a little bit each month, each year, what it red is,
- 26:51then you're not going to have this feeling of I can't stop on this hamster wheel
- 26:56because otherwise the juice is going to run out.
- 26:59Just on that, we did a little internal product meeting
- 27:02with me, Emily, our podcast producer, and Danny,
- 27:06because she's really amazing with her financial planning.
- 27:09And we set it because for the World's Biggest Investing Club,
- 27:12we know that there's a lot of people that aren't in a position to invest yet.
- 27:16So right now, the club is definitely more for people
- 27:18who are investing or have invested, but it was really interesting.
- 27:23We had this sort of internal session where we spoke about financial planning
- 27:26and what is needed and what, because yeah, that step is often missing.
- 27:31And unless you can get to a place where you at least have a financial plan,
- 27:35you'll never ever ever going to have no financial stress
- 27:38because it's just this constant money coming in, money going out,
- 27:42and you do feel like you're never getting ahead.
- 27:44And I actually think the henrys, you're right.
- 27:47There's probably a lot of lean res, lean res, yeah.
- 27:49But you don't need to be earning a lot to have a financial plan
- 27:53and to feel like you're working towards something.
- 27:55And I think that's also a big misconception is that I don't have enough to put away
- 28:00or I don't have enough to invest.
- 28:02And this is a pretty broad statement,
- 28:04but I think a lot of people would be surprised
- 28:07how easy it is from a habit perspective just to put away a dollar a week.
- 28:12You know, and start very, very small.
- 28:14We, yeah, I think it, I think for me,
- 28:17it's not so much the idea if you can invest with a dollar
- 28:19because I personally find it really unmotivating.
- 28:21I don't know if some people find that motivating, but for me,
- 28:24what's the biggest unlock is looking at what I've got,
- 28:29figuring out what my priorities are,
- 28:31and then making sure I prioritise the money that can go into investment.
- 28:36Because there are ways of pulling back on your lifestyle or what you're spending.
- 28:40It's just if you have no awareness or visibility as to where it's going.
- 28:43I think that's a real problem.
- 28:45I think we pause this conversation,
- 28:47but only because we are working from a product perspective
- 28:50of being able to help everyone with their financial planning.
- 28:52But it would be cool to do some kind of action.
- 28:55Because I think people listening will be thinking,
- 28:57I'm a linear or a Henry.
- 28:58Yeah, yeah.
- 28:59What's like one small thing that we could all do this week that's motivating,
- 29:05even though it's smaller, maybe isn't going to make a huge difference
- 29:07in the long run, what's something that?
- 29:09Yeah, I think it's opening your banking app or your desktop,
- 29:13wherever you look at your transactions,
- 29:15and just sit there and take a moment and look at what you've spent for the past week,
- 29:20and just to have that consciousness of where your money's going.
- 29:23Yeah, because I think that's a lot of us,
- 29:25so we feel like we're so far away from a financial plan.
- 29:29It's so easy to tap and tap and tap and tap and not be conscious of like that money going out
- 29:33or that I'm spending actual cash.
- 29:35It's a good first step, I think,
- 29:37just to see what you've spent.
- 29:39Yeah.
- 29:40Because also it's something that made my chocolate.
- 29:43Everyone should experience first class at least once in their lives,
- 29:47and Annie shouldn't miss out just because she can't afford it.
- 29:49Help me, I'm poor.
- 29:51Oh gosh, so I've had a bit of a financial faux pas.
- 29:58So I, it's been on my list for so long.
- 30:03I want to say like six months to sort out pet insurance
- 30:06for my darling me.
- 30:08Oh no.
- 30:09And anyway, I came home from work the other night.
- 30:13I had the longest day and I was like, I'm so excited to just chill out and relax.
- 30:17And then my flatmate said, Vick, I think me so's got a scratch or a bite on her neck
- 30:22and it got infected.
- 30:23Anyway, I was just like, I was like, can I leave it tomorrow?
- 30:27And then I was like, no, anyway, call an emergency vet.
- 30:29The vet was like, look, she's being bitten or something on her neck.
- 30:33We're going to have to put her to sleep so that we can, she knows she's being talked about.
- 30:37She's trying to get up and down.
- 30:38Come on, Mason.
- 30:39We're going to have to put her to sleep because she's not going to let me near it.
- 30:43So put her to sleep.
- 30:45Anyway, the cost of the call out for the vet, the way,
- 30:49did you get them to come to your house?
- 30:51Yeah, yeah.
- 30:52And bring tools like a whole make up.
- 30:54Honestly, it was like a whole backpack.
- 30:56And she was like, look, it's going to be 700 pounds.
- 31:01So yeah, I had to pull money from other places that I know,
- 31:05or things I've been saving for.
- 31:06Mason.
- 31:08But yeah, there was definitely a,
- 31:11we've only got yourself to blame because it's been on your to-do list to get pet insurance.
- 31:15And it could probably cost you 50 pounds.
- 31:17Damn, that's annoying.
- 31:19So anyway.
- 31:20Good reminder, insurance.
- 31:22If it's not, if it's not your dog, it could have been me, you know,
- 31:26it could have been somehow this year for myself.
- 31:28We do have an insurance episode,
- 31:30which could be with us eventually.
- 31:32So raising the curve 63, a guide to adulting,
- 31:35which is so true, getting insurance is such an adult move, isn't it?
- 31:38Yeah.
- 31:39If you need motivation or you want to understand insurance
- 31:41from the different types you can get, that's a really good episode.
- 31:44But yeah, and also, I'm sorry.
- 31:46What I could have spent that 700 pounds on versus 50.
- 31:50But it's expensive lesson.
- 31:53But you're worth every dollar.
- 31:58Do you know, when you text me that, I thought, yeah, I'm not really financially for a dog.
- 32:02There's no way I could deal with a 700 pound random bill that would stress me out so much.
- 32:08No, but also, like, you pay anything for your child.
- 32:11You know, like I would borrow money from friends or I would call my parents.
- 32:15Do you know this is going to sound so weird, but I'd be quite proud one day.
- 32:18If you were to message me and be like, I really need some help financially.
- 32:21Can you borrow it?
- 32:22It was the money and I was like, yeah, no worries.
- 32:24Yeah.
- 32:25I mean, a bit of a concern is towards going on in your life.
- 32:28I think I'm going to create more questions than answers, yeah.
- 32:31Quick note for anyone who hasn't already entered our thermomix giveaway.
- 32:35Woohoo!
- 32:36Also, thermomix is just...
- 32:38Oh, they're so...
- 32:39They're a game changer.
- 32:40Yeah, and honestly, no one has paid me to say that.
- 32:42They are unreal.
- 32:44To find out all the prize details and what you need to know,
- 32:47we'll link that in the podcast show notes, but...
- 32:49Enter.
- 32:50It'll be game changing.
- 32:51Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- 32:53Thank you so much for listening to the Curve Weekly.
- 32:55Make sure you hit the subscribe button to stay up to date
- 32:57with all the many business stock market news.
- 32:59And, if you like what you heard, we would love a review.
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- 33:16Bye.
- 33:17Bye.
- 33:18Sweet.
- 33:19Yeah.
- 33:20See you next Tuesday.
- 33:21See you next Tuesday.
- 33:22I mean Monday.
- 33:23No, actually though.
- 33:24New episodes out every Tuesday.
- 33:25Okay, quickly.
- 33:26The Curve was created to empower and educate you about investing,
- 33:29but we are not financial advisors.
- 33:31Our platform exists for educational purposes only,
- 33:34and it doesn't provide personalized investing advice for your individual needs,
- 33:37and should not be relied upon to make an investment or financial decision.
- 33:41And always remember to do your own research before making any investment
- 33:45or financial decision.
- 33:46We're here for any knowledge and support you need,
- 33:48but the final call is always yours.
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- 33:52You got this.
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