Curiosity Is Usually a Better Response Than Dismissal
I’ve received more than a few emails recently that essentially said:
“I know you’re using AI to help write the newsletter.”
As if that were some kind of gotcha.
My reaction has mostly been confusion.
Of course I’m using AI.
We should all be experimenting with AI.
To be clear, AI is not writing my newsletter.
It has always been me. The ideas are mine. The stories are mine. The experiences are mine. The opinions are mine.
What AI helps me do is express those ideas more clearly. It helps me find better language, better structure, and better transitions. Sometimes it even helps me discover that the point I was trying to make isn’t actually the point I wanted to make at all.
It’s less of a replacement for thinking and more of a thought partner.
And honestly, it’s made writing more fun.
I can say without hesitation that I’m more excited about writing this newsletter today than I’ve been in a long time.
The part that fascinates me isn’t just the technology. It’s the reaction to it.
Most people encounter something new and say:
“This is wrong.”
A smaller group asks:
“What am I missing?”
And over a lifetime, those two questions lead to very different outcomes.
One of the hidden curriculums of life is that most opportunities look weird before they look obvious.
Index funds looked weird. Early retirement looked weird. Travel rewards looked weird. Remote work looked weird.
AI looks weird.
The people who benefit most from change are rarely the ones who dismiss it first. They’re usually the ones who get curious first.
The world changes. You can either become curious about it or become resentful of it.
Curiosity doesn’t mean accepting every new thing uncritically. It simply means being willing to learn before you judge.
That’s how many of us discovered index funds. It’s how many of us discovered Financial Independence. It’s how we’ve learned to use travel rewards to see the world.
And it’s why I’ve embraced AI as a tool to help me think, write, and create.
Not because it replaces my voice.
Because it helps me express that voice more clearly.
I’ve always found curiosity to be the better bet in life.
The Four Most Dangerous Words in Investing
I was listening to a recent Prof G Markets episode when Ed Elson declared:
“It’s official. The stock market has entered Crazy Town.”
Case in point: SpaceX is now being valued roughly on par with Amazon despite generating less revenue than Macy’s.
Now, maybe that valuation will ultimately prove justified. Maybe SpaceX becomes one of the most important companies in human history. Maybe humans are living on Mars a century from now and historians look back at today’s valuation as an obvious bargain.
Personally, I’m more than a little skeptical. We haven’t sent humans back to the moon in more than 50 years despite carrying more computing power in our pockets than NASA used to land there the first time.
But that’s not what caught my attention.
What caught my attention was the explanation.
Increasingly, the argument isn’t about profits, cash flow, earnings, or even revenue. The argument people give is that the fundamentals don’t matter anymore.
And whenever I hear that phrase, I get nervous.
Whenever someone tells you the fundamentals don’t matter anymore, you’re no longer analyzing an investment. You’re witnessing a belief system. Or a cult.
Because every generation seems to produce its own version of it.
Railroads will change everything.
The automobile will change everything.
The internet will change everything.
AI will change everything.
The funny thing is that many of these predictions turn out to be correct.
The internet did change everything. Smartphones changed everything. AI may very well change everything.
The mistake isn’t believing in the technology.
The mistake is believing that because something will change the world, any price is justified.
One of the hidden lessons of investing is that extraordinary companies and extraordinary investments are not the same thing. A company can change the world and still be a poor investment if you pay too much for it.
When people stop asking, “What is this business worth?” and start asking, “How can I afford not to own it?” we’re usually entering dangerous territory.
The question has never been whether the future arrives.
The question is whether today’s price already assumes it.
One of the quiet superpowers of Financial Independence is that it frees you from needing to be right about any particular company, founder, or technology.
You don’t have to know whether AI becomes a trillion-dollar industry. You don’t have to know whether OpenAI, SpaceX, Tesla, Google, Meta, or some company that doesn’t exist yet becomes the ultimate winner.
You just need a system that works regardless.
That’s less exciting than finding the next big thing.
It’s also how most lasting wealth is built.
What I’m Reading: Dungeon Crawler Carl
I’m on the fourth book in the Dungeon Crawler Carl series since I started reading them last week. These books are addictive!
Imagine if The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, The Hunger Games, Ready Player One, The Running Man, a tabletop Dungeons & Dragons campaign, and an absurdly addictive role-playing video game somehow got thrown into a blender and turned into a book series.
That’s about as close as I can come to describing it.
It’s funny, surprisingly clever, completely ridiculous, and somehow impossible to put down. Every chapter makes me wonder, “How on earth did the author come up with this?”
If you’re looking for something different and don’t mind a healthy dose of chaos (and absurdity), I think you’ll love it.
(Note: I saw these were all on Kindle Unlimited so I downloaded all 8 during my free trial)
ChooseFI Updates
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Podcast Discussion: Join in and give us your thoughts on the podcast. Here’s the link to Episode 604: Ginger interviews Bill Yount from the Catching up to FI podcast in one of her wonderful ‘Getting Personal with Personal Finance’ episodes.
Book Club: The new book club book pick is Happy Money: The Japanese Art of Making Peace with Your Money by Ken Honda. Ginger is recording this episode with Jillian Johnsrud in the next 6-8 weeks, so now is your chance to grab the book from your library and I’ll provide more details in future newsletters on how to submit your questions and comments.
Travel Rewards Credit Cards: I keep my Top Ten Recommended Travel Rewards Cards page constantly updated, so it should always be your first source for your next travel rewards card. There’s a new number one card (see above), so check it out!
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