Never Retire: To Save Money, You Don't Need To Earn Interest
I was going to write about anxiety over things you can’t control that you need to exert some form of control over. I want another day or two to formulate my thoughts around the matter of currency exchange. In my case, that is earning USD and needing to convert it to EUR to conduct a majority of my fixed and discretionary spending.
As the foolishly pathetic American administration takes an unnecessary hammer to the US economy, it takes the stock market and the US dollar down with it. All so one tiny little man can create problems, blame them on other countries, play bully, then back down only to claim that he’s only backing down because his penchant for deal making—(aggression borne out of a deep, deranged insecurity)—triggered concessions.
That’s how I see things playing out. So I’m only half concerned about the weak US dollar. However, I am doing things to counter this dynamic in case a very plausible scenario plays out and the dollar remains weak or—as is also possible—gets weaker.
Most of the European Union—definitely Spain—is doing the opposite of the United States in nearly every single social and economic way.
The effect means—
A stronger euro (for now)
Optimism in the EU economy
Increased optimism in the already booming Spanish economy, which is expected to grow even more than anticipated in 2025
Some investors shunning US stocks and ETFs in favor of European stocks and ETFs
I have no choice but to see this from two angles—one where currency exchange doesn’t matter to me, and another, more self-interested view where it does. The reality is, trading in the EUR/USD pair directly affects me financially.
Details on how I am handling that reality later this weekend.
Today, saving your own money. And a pretty cool tool offered by a Spanish bank to help you do it. It reflects my somewhat unorthodox views on saving money and how they conflict with at least one way I need to react to the aforementioned currency conundrum.
Before I tell you about that, in case you missed this—
—please check it out for details on my forthcoming Substack.
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In any event, Spanish banks get a bad rap.