We’re going beyond the nest egg all week long.
That is to say, I’m sharing excerpts from my new book Beyond the Nest Egg, How to Be Financially Independent Outside of a Broken System.
Yesterday we covered the introduction. Today we’ll set the stage for the book’s macroeconomic analysis. Here’s excerpt #2:
I spent about eight years in the world of corporate banking. That was my first career. After that, I spent nearly a decade immersed in the world of high-end–investment research. That was my second career. That’s the lens through which I am writing to you today.
The focus of this book is how to get our personal finances right, in lieu of the shifting macroeconomic climate we find ourselves in. My passion is financial independence, but I don’t approach this from a consumerist mindset. To me, it’s all about living a purpose-driven life.
That said, there are forces at work out there that have an outsized impact on the economy and the financial system. And as I’m sure many of us have noticed, these forces have been pushing substantial changes over the last few years.
We are living through an incredible point in history. The sequence of events that take place over the next several years will shape the order of the new world.
I suspect most of us already know this to be true. We can “feel” it. We’ve probably felt it for several years now.
In the next few chapters, I’ll summarize what I think is happening on the world stage… who the major players are… and what it means for us. There are some important actions each of us should take right now to get ahead of what’s coming.
I suspect many of us realize now that the world is not as simplistic as the mainstream news presents it to be. There are power structures working behind the scenes to deliver carefully scripted narratives.
For the last several decades it certainly appeared as though those power structures were uniformly aligned. I’m speaking from an American perspective here.
Fiscal policy (Congress) worked hand-in-hand with monetary policy (the Federal Reserve). They each seemed to align with international interests.
That is to say, what happened in the US appeared to be in line with what the United Nations (UN) and the European Central Bank (ECB) wanted as well. Global policies often appeared to be coordinated. This was especially true when it came to monetary policy and interest rates.
And here’s the thing—this seemed to be the case regardless of which political party happened to be in power at any given time. Political campaigns made all kinds of lofty promises, but nothing seemed to change much once the elections were over. This fueled a belief in some circles that there must be a shadowy, unified organization operating behind the scenes.
Comedian George Carlin would talk about this in his skits. “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it,” he would say.
But it has become clear that this isn’t exactly true…
-Joe Withrow
P.S. If you would like a little more information on the book ahead of its launch this week, just go here: Beyond the Nest Egg Book Launch