Month: January 2024

YOLO Counts for Something

A brief personal reflection this week but meant to factor in to short-term and long-term personal and family financial planning.

In the past week I was given sad news of the sudden and far-too-soon passing of not one but two old friends. Both were in the prime of their lives with spouses and young children, working and doing good in their families, workplaces, communities, and faiths. Certainly, the last thing on my mind was writing a TGIF 2 Minutes edition about these two people.

But upon further reflection on their lives, it was too compelling not to make a statement about YOLO, or You Only Live Once, and the spending on the YOLO category. I am not certain, but it is likely that these two people lived full lives with few if any regrets. In this light, there is a strong case to be made to figuring YOLO into a budget.

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ESG is Complicated

In trying to find the most ideal title to today’s edition, there were a number of choices:

  • ESG has become complicated.
  • ESG may be complicated.
  • ESG is a bit complicated.

All are true, and the complications started to become more prominent in early 2022. ESG, of course, stands for Environmental, Social, and Governance which are said to be “pillars” on which companies, particularly publicly traded companies, report. The pillars of ESG have been referred to as non-financial risk factors by the consulting firm Deloitte, and the non-financial aspect is partly what brought major pushback to “blanket policies” of ESG in major pension funds and investment funds.

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Doritos in 2024

Looking for Doritos at the supermarket? That may be difficult at certain grocery chains where the chips are being pulled from shelves – so far only in several European countries.* The reasons? Partly, to protest possible “shrinkflation”, that annoying occurrence of a company lowering the amount of product in its packaging but charging the same price (which also could be called a “rip off”). Another reason the grocery chain is choosing not to stock Doritos and several other PepsiCo products is persistent and unreasonable price increases by PepsiCo.

Apparently, consumers and certain supermarket chains concerned with holding on to customers, have had enough with price increases, especially on discretionary items (are Doritos a staple or discretionary?). The move by the grocer Carrefour could be a positive development for consumers in early 2024. What else would consumers, investors and savers like to see in 2024?

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