Does Having a Lot of Money Make You Wealthy?

Unfortunately, many people would say yes

The Pyramid of Luxuries

The Bespoke - $4,000 Vacation + $1,000 VISA eGift Card

The Ultra High End - Beats Studio Buds + & AppleCare+

The Superpremium - Disney Magic

The Premium Core - The Woobles

The Accessible Core - Does Having a Lot of Money Make You Wealthy?

The Affordable Luxury - What’s March Bespoke Prize?

The Everyday Luxury - Gift Ducky Tran Membership

The Bespoke

Click on the banner to enter The Bespoke Photo Contest. Click here for the Official Contest Rules.

• Prize: $4,000 Vacation Voucher + $1,000 in VISA eGift Cards [ARV $5,012]

• Odds: For every 660 Ducky Tran premium member by the time of judging, I will give out one (1) vacation bundle Prize

• Contest Period: January 31, 2024 at 10 AM CST to February 27, 2024 at 10 PM CST

See Issue 1 for more content about The Bespoke Prize.

The Ultra High End

Previous Contest Winner

The winner for Issue 12 is VU from Dallas, Texas! He has won the Kindle + 3-Months Subscription. This is his submission for “something that confuses you”:

Children are confusing, but I’m sure they think the same thing about us adults.

Kid’s mind: Why are the adults always doing chores when they could be playing games or watching TV, how confusing.

This Week’s Contest

Click on the banner to enter The Ultra High End Photo Contest. Click here for the Official Contest Rules.

• Prize: Beats Studio Buds + & AppleCare+ [ARV $199]

• Odds: For every 130 Ducky Tran premium members by the time of judging, I will give out one (1) Beats Bundle

• Contest Period: February 14, 2024 at 10 AM CST to February 20, 2024 at 10 PM CST

This week I will be giving out the new Transparent Beats Studio Buds +. Beats is owned by Apple but I chose it over the Apple AirPods because it’s more compatible for both Apple and Android users. You will also be getting a 2-year AppleCare+ plan so they will be protected.

Beats have delivered high-quality sounds since it hit the market in 2008, but with Apple as its new owner, they now have a more robust line of products, better protection packages and dedicated customer service.

I wanted to stay with the trends and provide value with every contest prize, and since these Transparent Beats Studio Buds + are the newest color addition to their line, it was the choice to go with plus I don’t know many people that has transparent buds. At the very least, you will know your product will be clean inside and out.

The Superpremium

This week’s Superpremium topic is the Disney Magic, Disney’s first cruise and recently refurbished in 2023. My family of 6 just came back from the newly renovated Disney Magic cruise and I have a lot of negative things to say, but most of it is due to comparison to other cruises and Disney experiences. In this newsletter, I will be giving some pointers as if this is your first cruise ever:

Going with Kids

1. Room door openings are only 23’’ so if you have a stroller, make sure it can fit through this size or you’ll be taking it apart or folding it up every time.

2. Bring an empty water/sport bottle so you can refill juices or drinks for the family during the dining times. Juice dispensers is only at Cabanas (buffet) and available during meal times.

3. The newly renovated Oceaneer’s Club is a great new space they’ve added for kids to run around. Take your kids during open house, normally on the first day, so they can see it, most kids love the new slide. Best for kids older than 5.

4. For the opening and closing shows on the 9th deck, go early and to the 10th deck mid-ship to get the best vantage and clear view of all the characters and performance.

5. There are laundry rooms at 3 decks, $3/per wash/dry load. This makes it easier to pack light. But you must do it early morning or late night for best access.

6. The Oceaneer’s Lab has a new experiment or activity nearly every hour during hours of operation. Send your kids age 3-10 to do the activity, it ranges from coloring to creating slime to making a volcano explode.

Going without Kids

1. Use the adult-only areas for some peace from families and kids, such as the Cove Cafe and Pool. At night, the Keys, Fathoms and O’Gills lounges/bar are 18+ only.

2. You don’t have to go to any of the dining rooms, room service is complimentary and you can get essentially the same items.

3. During port time, before 10am and during meal times, the 10th deck has some lounge areas and chairs that are hidden and secluded. It’s a great treasure if you want some lounging away from the crowds.

4. This cruise is Disney-fan, family and kid-oriented, so if that doesn’t sound like you, you may feel there isn’t a lot to do on the ship. In that case, make sure to book the cruise itinerary that takes you to the ports that you would disembark for, or a different ship.

If any of you plan on traveling or cruising soon, contact me if you need any advice or help. A vacation is great for the soul, so don’t let preventable hiccups get in the way of your relaxation.

The Premium Core

This week’s Premium Core topic is The Woobles.

This week’s focus is financial wealth. Many people see financial wealth as how much money you have or what you can afford. Even though that is part of it, the true virtue of financial wealth is how you spend your money. I will dive into this more in The Accessible Core.

A great example of value from “how you spend your money” is spending money on bottled water. This has become a huge trend since 2019. More bottled water is bought and used than ever before, but it is a fact that it isn’t any cleaner than just filtered tap water. It’s more a preference in taste, but otherwise, why waste the money on something that was never wasted on before.

Unlike bottled water, things like education or skills when purchased is retained and remains valuable over the course of your life. Even knowledge and skills that aren’t retain still have more value than perishable goods, because the innate experience it provides that will build upon your character, personality, and skills.

So, this week, I’m going to help you learn a new skill: crocheting.

Here’s the deal this week:

Deal #1: I am offering a $35 The Wobbles crocheting kit for just $10 at shop.duckytran.com. There will only 10 available but it will be available in 7 different animals. So come get one for yourself or give someone the gift of a new skill! When selecting one, make sure you click the right animal.

The Accessible Core

Does Having a Lot of Money Make You Wealthy?

To continue the discussion from The Premium Core. Many people think the amount of money or what you can afford makes you wealthy; however, I’m here to prove to you that those factors are trumped by “how you spend your money” as being wealthy, especially financially wealthy. In this newsletter, I will exclude the ultra-high-net-worth population since they only make up 1.2% of the population and does not need my take on how to spend their money.

1. This is a common fact, but to present that the amount isn’t as important I’ll state it here. The top 10% of income-earners varies from state to state, meaning your wealth may be dependent on where you live. This article reveals the average of the 10% percent of income earners in each state. It varies from $174,000 in West Virginia to about $320,000 in New Jersey. However, since the amount isn’t as important as what you can afford, let’s check that out next.

2. In this article, cost of living from each state is ranked based on a composite index with the standard being 100 points. The spread is from 86 in Oklahoma to 180 in Hawaii. Based on the rating in #1 compared to #2, they don’t line up. So even though you may make a lot in one specific state, it doesn’t mean your cost of living is correlated, and vice versa. That means making nearly $320,000 in Connecticut provides more value than making $320,000 in New Jersey. However, you may be thinking, but I don’t want to move from my family, situation, or State just for more pay.

3. That’s why “how you spend your money” truly dictates your financial wealth. You may make a lot of money or can make a lot of money, but choose not to move because of emotional attachment. This emotional attachment that allows you to make less and/or spend more to stay somewhere is what financial wealth is.

This was just a single example on the topic of why “how you spend your money” is more important that the amount and affordability. In this Time’s article, it shows how 51% of people making over $100,000 still live paycheck to paycheck. The average household income is about $75,000, so how do households with more than $200,000 not able to save any money.

However, the opposite is also true. Frugality can help save money for the future or in time of need; however, there are people that take it to the extreme. With extreme frugality, you may forego joys and experiences that will never be replaced in the future. Extreme frugality is just as bad if not worse than living from paycheck to paycheck despite extremely high income.

This is not because of the amount of money or how affordable things are since all states have rich and poor households, but at the end, it’s how we spend our income.

We choose to buy bottled water, we choose to save money, we choose to go out to eat, we choose to skip a meal, we choose to have new clothes, we choose to not use the A/C, we choose to have designer labels, we choose to not have cable, we choose to be comfortable and we choose to live where we live. Now, if spending or saving your income to afford these luxuries doesn’t put you in a mental or emotional strain, then you are financially wealthy.

Because what is money -- but a means to be happy.

The Affordable Luxury

Issue 12 Community Poll Results

This last week’s poll results:

1. After 2 weeks, the community has deemed the required amount of money an individual has make is $5,000/monthly, or $60,000/annually. However, as shown by the St. Louis FED, the median personal income is only about $41,000/annually, or less than $3,500/monthly. This is contributing to any money struggles you may be feeling or seeing.

2. Most of you voted that you get social anxiety or stage fright sometimes; but there’s someone here that never does. What’s your secret? I need help with stage fright.

3. Most of you felt that social media wasn’t needed but was just a tool to be connected to either your business or friends.

This Week’s Community Poll

The Everyday Luxury

(The referral program is only viewable on the email version of the newsletter.)

I have been working on how to make Ducky Tran membership gift-able. If you have any ideas, please let me know. The ways I’ve researched are viable but requires many steps for the end-user and feels tedious. Email [email protected] if you have any ideas.

Visit shop.duckytran.com with the weekly password: beats