Good morning. It's Thursday, Nov. 6, and welcome to this week's Business & Finance newsletter. First time reading? Sign up here or click here to share with friends. |
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Dear readers—Welcome to our new email format! Our team has heard your feedback, and we will now cover a wider variety of topics with more links to explore in our weekly Business & Finance newsletter. As always, thanks for being a reader!
This week, we're covering Real Estate, Mutual Funds, and Minimum Wage. We'd love to hear what you think about our new format—questions, suggestions, and general thoughts are all welcome. What can we do to make the newsletter even better for you? Send any thoughts to [email protected].
Phoebe Bain, 1440 Business & Finance Section Editor |
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Real estate 101
Real estate is an asset class that includes any form of “real property,” whether that’s residential or commercial land or buildings.
A significant portion of the median American household’s net worth is often tied up in real estate. Roughly 66% of US households own real estate, and for the typical American homeowner, real estate makes up roughly half of their household’s net worth. Most of these homeowners (about 74%, as of 2024) use a mortgage (1440 Topics) to finance their homes rather than paying for them in cash.
The real estate industry includes everyone from house flippers to real estate agents. Real estate investment firms handle complex, large-scale projects such as enormous commercial developments, and also partner with large corporate developers and investors.
The US housing market alone was worth a hefty sum of $55T as of September 2025. For context, the entire US stock market is worth roughly $62.2T.
Also, check out ...
> Monaco is the world's most expensive real estate market. (More)
> For most of history, property rights were in the elite's hands. (More)
> Mortgage calculator: How much can you borrow? (More)
> Why can't we just turn the empty offices into apartments? (More)
Explore everything else we've found on Real Estate. |
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Mutual funds, explained
Mutual funds are shared investments. That means they use money from multiple people to invest in a mixed group of stocks, bonds, or other securities.
Although mutual funds provide an easy way for people to diversify their portfolios, these investors won’t actually own shares of any of the companies the fund invests in. Instead, they’ll own shares of the mutual fund, which invests in the companies for them. The result is a less risky investment overall—but also a somewhat lowered rate of return.
Risk-averse investors who don’t want to manage their own portfolios and like the idea of getting higher returns than a savings account or CD could provide might gravitate toward mutual funds.
Investors can purchase shares of a mutual fund through a brokerage firm—but the most common way people invest is through their 401(k) plans. Most mutual funds have a minimum investment (which can range from $500 to thousands of dollars), but some offer no minimums.
Also, check out ...
> Mutual fund share classes are rankings of different services for investors. (More)
> Mutual funds were first created and sold in the US in 1924. (More)
> Can random investments outperform managed funds? (More)
> ETFs vs. mutual funds: Which are better investments? (More)
Explore everything else we've found on Mutual Funds. |
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Understanding minimum wage
Grocery store cashier, lifeguard, shampooer—these jobs might seem different on paper, but there’s one thing they all have in common: They often pay minimum wage.
In the US, the “minimum wage” is the smallest amount a business can pay an employee per hour by federal law. Currently, it’s $7.25—but that's just the federal mandate. States can set their own minimum wage laws, too.
When a state has a different minimum wage than the federal one, all employees covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (which is most workers) will earn the higher of those two rates. The first federal minimum wage was set at 25 cents per hour when President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the FLSA in 1938 (learn more about minimum wage’s early history).
As of 2021, nearly 1.6 million Americans made the federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. Proponents of raising the minimum wage argue that doing so would lower the poverty rate, whereas opponents worry it could lead to inflation and job cuts.
Also, check out ...
> The federal minimum wage hasn't been raised since 2009. (More)
> Minimum wage works differently for tipped workers. (More)
> See every time the US minimum wage has been raised. (More)
> Learn about minimum wage around the world. (More)
Explore everything else we've found on Minimum Wage. |
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One Story We're Taking Stock In |
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Much has been said about the "AI bubble"—the possibility that the booming artificial intelligence industry could experience an implosion not unlike the turn-of-the-century's dot-com bubble or 2008's housing bubble. It's a frightening thought, given that AI-related spending is currently contributing more to US GDP growth than all consumer spending combined.
However, far less has been said about how, exactly, that AI bubble could burst. This article from The Atlantic was one of the most interesting things I read this week, in part because it tries to answer that question. Specifically, the piece points to the complex financial instruments that some top AI companies are using to fund data center growth as red flags. Data centers are an $800B market for private equity firms through 2028, and the article speculates that these private equity firms and highly leveraged hedge funds could be key dominoes in a potential crash. |
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> Here's how the AI crash happens. (Read) |
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In partnership with Fidelity |
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This week, our team found itself deep in a few internet rabbit holes—of the Business & Finance variety, of course. Below are a few of my favorites.
—Phoebe
> The rapper 50 Cent, adjusted for inflation.
> Which states have the most energy jobs?
> How "Freakonomics" changed business.
> Two hundred years of US debt, visualized.
> Why the Trader Joe's business model works.
> How to decide between an irrevocable or revocable trust.
> The economics of the WNBA.
> How the Rockefellers' wealth evolved over time.
> The anatomy of a venture capital firm.
> How startup founders' equity can get diluted. |
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America's wealthiest 1% could purchase nearly the entire housing market. |
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