You No Longer Consciously “Choose” What You Buy

[Daily Financial Journal]( [TODAY'S DEAL: Honestly, you should get this book](mailto:editor@dailyfinancialjournal.com?subject=Give+me+my+top+stocks+for+2020&body=Give+me+my+top+stocks+for+2020) Todays Top News [You No Longer Consciously “Choose” What You Buy] You No Longer Consciously “Choose” What You Buy As adults living in the United States of America, we would like to think we have absolute free will when it comes to making decisions around HOW we spend our money and WHAT we spend it on. But the coming age of artificial intelligence is one step ahead of human consciousness. Specifically, technology has allowed advertisers to PREDICT when you are going to buy a product. That’s right – machines and robots already know what you are going to buy BEFORE you have even made a conscious buying decision. They’ve mapped out the hundreds of possible routes through which you may buy an item. The first time you get exposed, how many more exposures it will take for you to click on an ad, where you will run into these ads, how you’ll get sucked right back into a company’s website, and when you’ll eventually click the fated “Add to Shopping Cart” button. This is why services that are free are never actually “free of charge.” You are PAYING in the form of providing your browsing data and personal likes/dislikes through your activity on the Internet. YOU are the commodity that is being sold to third-party advertisers. Marketing systems powered by artificial intelligence are only getting smarter and more powerful. They can track and optimize each individual customer journey, identify potential roadblocks towards a buying decision, and engineer a process where YOU – yes, you reading this newsletter right now – are led towards a purchase without even being aware of it. For those of you who have a long history of struggling to take full control of your buying decisions, it is imperative to understand the enemy you are fighting. And it’s also a good reminder to stick to the fundamentals of personal finance. Your mind and the balance in your account should be the only two things affecting what you buy and what you don’t. Don’t let a profit-driven machine make your financial decisions for you. What do YOU think about the rise of artificial intelligence in predicting your shopping habits? Have you found yourself unconsciously buying something you didn’t need on the Internet, and how did it happen? Reply to this newsletter and share your stories with us! Investing [Mall Landlords Facing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Unpaid Fees] Mall Landlords Facing Hundreds of Millions of Dollars in Unpaid Fees After reading the introduction of today’s newsletter, it’s fairly obvious where the majority of consumers are conducting all of their shopping. By extension, it’s also obvious how this shift in consumer activity is affecting mall landlords: - Taubman Centers is missing $32.6 million in unpaid rental fees, largely due to their tenants declaring bankruptcy - Washington Prime Group had 56% of its total rental fees unpaid in Q2 2020, with 25% of it being uncollectible - Simon Property Group has suffered a loss of $215 million in Q2 2020, losing an estimated 10,500 shopping days’ worth of money Even the operators of malls are taking a heavy hit, such as CBL Properties who is inches away from declaring full-out bankruptcy by the end of 2020. Large-chain stores have the privilege of closing certain locations and re-locating, if not outright choosing to operate fewer locations. Smaller-sized stores, on the other hand, aren’t so lucky. Their prime locations (and sometimes their ONLY locations) are within these malls, and losing their lease means it will be very difficult to set up shop elsewhere. The only way out for mall landlords is to negotiate deals that entice retailers to keep their stores open. Or at the very least, promise to stay where they are and not move their business towards another mall. Then again… with the COVID-19 pandemic still going strong, who in their right mind would want to visit a mall for something they can buy online and have shipped to their house within 2 days? Don't Miss This [Sorry, Freelancers – No Payroll Tax Break for You!] Sorry, Freelancers – No Payroll Tax Break for You! If you have been keeping up with President Trump, you’ll know he signed four executive orders in a single weekend to provide some COVID-19 relief for the nation. One of those orders involved a payroll tax holiday for employees who earn less than $104,000 for the year until December 31 st. The taxes are going to be deferred for payment at a later time, although Trump himself has said he would like to see those taxes be forgiven altogether. Sadly… it appears as if those who are self-employed will be ineligible for this benefit. Unlike employees, they have to pay 100% of their payroll taxes and they don’t have an employer to cover 50% of them. At the same time, this may be a blessing in disguise. Considering the instability of their work and the absence of guaranteed paychecks, deferring the taxes towards January 2021 could mean they end up paying much more in taxes for Q4 2020. In other words, President Trump’s executive order will only provide a net financial benefit to Americans if all workers receive full forgiveness on the deferred taxes. Let’s hope he makes that clarification as soon as possible! [25% of Young Adults Want to End Their Lives] 25% of Young Adults Want to End Their Lives Suicide is a topic that should never be taken lightly, especially when it involves young adults in the 18-25 age range who have so much life ahead of them. Yet it doesn’t seem that way, as the coronavirus lockdowns have robbed them of the little financial stability they had leading up to it. Which is why over 25% of them are seriously considering taking their own lives, according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. Every negative factor related to mental health has shot straight up. Anxiety, depression, uncontrollable mood swings, trauma that’s not too dissimilar from post-traumatic stress disorder, drug abuse to cope with the ensuing chaos… it’s all getting worse. Hell, anxiety was reported at a 3-fold frequency in Q2 2020 compared to Q2 2019, and for depression it was FOUR TIMES GREATER! This isn’t about Trump. This isn’t about Republicans. This isn’t about politics in any way, shape, or form. It’s about the inability to see a better future in the midst of the worst health crisis we have faced so far in the 21st century. And probably the first health pandemic for these young adults. This is what happens when you rob a prosperous nation of its ability to thrive. As many people have said, the lockdowns will arguably lead to more deaths than the coronavirus itself… [This Is the Future of Face Masks…] This Is the Future of Face Masks… For the past 6 months, there has been intense debate about the utility of face masks. Do they work or are they useless? Are cloth masks just fine, or do we all start needing to wear medical-grade N95 masks to keep ourselves safe from the coronavirus? A new prototype mask from researchers at MIT’s Institute for Integrative Cancer Research aims to render these questions irrelevant by creating their own futuristic face masks. Here are some of the key features of said mask, which supposedly costs $15 per mask and can be re-used up to 100 times: - Made out of silicone rubber, which leads to easily scalability for nation-wide manufacturing and elimination of waste - Can be fully sterilized with bleach or rubbing alcohol WITHOUT damaging the mask - Infinite re-usability - Easily withstands higher temperatures for longer periods of time - Uses removable filters in-between each use, each costing less than $0.25 - Fits any face shape due to its flexibility - See-through material makes communication with others easier Whew, talk about a much-needed improvement to whatever we have right now! Early tests have already proven successful, as several healthcare workers have found themselves preferring it over the traditional N95 mask. Would YOU want to wear this mask? I know I would, but I’m curious to hear how open you are to it. Reply to this newsletter and let us know if you’re down with this latest breakthrough in medical technology (or not)! [Robot Bartenders Will Make Servers Permanently Obsolete and Useless] Robot Bartenders Will Make Servers Permanently Obsolete and Useless Many bartenders and servers who had their jobs terminated due to COVID-19 are thrilled for the day when they will be able to resume full-time work. But based on what I’m hearing, the 13.5 million employees in the restaurant sector should probably curb their eagerness. Businesses are desperate to get customers back. In order to do so, they’ll have to convince diners beyond any shadow of a doubt that their establishments are 100% safe to visit. And what better way to do so than to make the serving of drinks 100% human-free? Thanks to the work of several robotics companies, this is becoming an increasingly likely reality. Several prototypes have already shown great success in several major Asian cities a few years back, and there’s no sign of progress slowing down. Automation is real, and it’s coming a lot faster than you think. It has always been inevitable, but until recently we didn’t know just how fast changes were going to happen. It will start at hotels, casinos, and airports. And it will soon come towards a local pub near you… [Vote Now] PS. How useful did you find today’s update? Vote Now: [Not useful](mailto:editor@dailyfinancialjournal.com?subject=Not+useful&body=Not+useful+at+all+(DailyBrief)) - [It was ok](mailto:editor@dailyfinancialjournal.com?subject=It+was+okay&body=It+was+okay+(DailyBrief)) - [It was good](mailto:editor@dailyfinancialjournal.com?subject=It+was+good&body=It+was+good+(DailyBrief)) - [Very Useful](mailto:editor@dailyfinancialjournal.com?subject=Very+useful&body=Very+useful+(DailyBrief)) [FooterLogo] To ensure you receive our emails, be sure to whitelist us. 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