Your Savings Are Slowly Making You Poorer
43sThis segment reveals a shocking reality that most people don't realize: inflation is eating away savings faster than interest accumulates, creating a relatable fear and urgency.
▶ Play ClipThe video discusses how higher interest rates, which the Federal Reserve is hinting at maintaining or increasing, can be used to generate interest on savings. The speaker explains the difference between bonds and equities, and outlines five investment categories for earning interest in a high-rate environment.
Interest rates are expected to stay higher for longer, which can benefit savers despite making mortgages more expensive.
Average savings accounts pay 0.4% interest while inflation is around 4%, causing savers to lose purchasing power.
Rates rose in 2022 to fight inflation, fell in 2020 to stimulate the economy, and may rise again in 2026.
Equities (stocks) represent ownership and profit sharing; bonds represent loans with fixed interest payments.
Lending to the US government via Treasuries is considered risk-free; ETFs like SGOV and USFR pay ~4% interest, exempt from state/local taxes.
Investing in countries like Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar (pegged to USD) offers higher yields (~5%) with US protection.
Lending to big companies via ETFs like LQD (investment grade, 4-5%) and VCSH (short-term, ~4%) provides steady interest.
High-risk bonds from companies more likely to default, paying higher yields (~6%). ETFs: HYG and JNK.
Tax-free bonds (federal and possibly state) for high-income earners. ETFs: VTEB (~3.3%) and MUB (~3%).
Higher interest rates create opportunities for savers to earn meaningful interest through bonds. The video outlines five ways to invest, from low-risk Treasuries to higher-risk junk bonds, emphasizing the importance of understanding risk and tax implications.
"Title accurately reflects the opportunity to benefit from higher rates, though it's more educational than a 'deal' handed by the Fed."
What is the difference between a bond and an equity?
An equity (stock) represents ownership in a company; a bond represents a loan to a company or government.
02:43
Why are US Treasuries considered risk-free?
Because the US government can raise taxes or print money to repay debt, and default would collapse the global economy.
06:26
What is the current yield on SGOV and USFR?
A little under 4% per year.
07:49
What tax advantage do US Treasuries offer?
Interest is exempt from state and local taxes.
08:45
Name two ETFs that provide exposure to US Treasuries.
SGOV and USFR.
07:49
What is a junk bond?
A high-risk bond from a company more likely to default, offering higher yields to compensate for risk.
14:33
What is the yield on HYG and JNK?
HYG pays a little under 6%; JNK pays a little more than 6% per year.
15:12
What are municipal bonds?
Bonds issued by local governments (states, cities) that are often exempt from federal taxes.
16:49
Name two municipal bond ETFs.
VTEB and MUB.
17:33
What is the current yield on VTEB and MUB?
VTEB pays around 3.3%; MUB pays just over 3% per year.
17:48
Inflation Erodes Savings
Highlights the real cost of low savings rates vs inflation, a key economic insight.
00:15Bonds vs Equities
Clear explanation of fundamental investment types, essential for beginners.
02:43Risk-Free Nature of Treasuries
Explains why US debt is considered safe, a cornerstone of global finance.
06:26Foreign Bonds with USD Peg
Introduces a strategy to earn higher yields with mitigated currency risk.
09:24Tax-Free Municipal Bonds
Highlights tax-efficient investing for high-income earners, a practical tip.
16:22[00:01] to stay higher for longer. And while most people are upset they're not going to be able to finance their mortgage, it's going to make some people a lot of money. Right now, the average savings account pays 0.4% a year in interest. At
[00:15] the same time, inflation is right around 4%, which means the average person working hard to save money is slowly becoming poorer because the prices of things, that's what inflation is, is growing 10 times faster than your
[00:29] savings. That means the $100 you have in your savings account is going to buy you can today. This is where things could be shifting in our economy because for the last 15 years, saving your money like this has been a punishment because your
[00:43] savings rate has been lower than the inflation rate, which means the average things started to change after the pandemic because we saw such high inflation in 2020, 2021, 2022. We all remember that, right? And in response,
[00:57] something had to be done. So in 2022, we saw interest rates go up as a way to fight inflation and they went up to the highest levels we have seen in 15 years. But then things changed again in 2025 when President Trump entered the White
[01:11] House because he promised that we are going to see extremely low interest rates again. That's good news if you want to borrow money, but not so good news if you want to save your money. So in 2020, interest rates went down to
[01:23] stimulate the economy because of the pandemic. In 2022, interest rates went back up in order to fight the inflation because of the pandemic money printing. rates went down to stimulate the economy. And now here we are in 2026 and
[01:38] the Federal Reserve Bank is hinting that we might see higher interest rates for longer. And we might even see interest rates go up in 2026. something a little bit different that I don't actually talk about very often on
[01:52] this channel, which is how you can use higher interest rates to generate interest on your savings. I'm not talking about using a savings account or anything like that, but I can actually generate more interest in an environment
[02:04] longer. So, let me break this down. By the way, I'm going to go over some here to tell you what to invest in. I'm not a financial adviser. I'm just a random guy on YouTube. Investing has risks. You are never guaranteed to make
[02:17] lose money at some point. So, make sure you always your own due diligence and never blindly trust a random guy on YouTube. I'm going to break this video up into five different investment categories. But before I do, final
[02:29] reminder. Today, July 8th, I'm in downtown Manhattan doing a free meet and greet. If you are around at 5:00 p.m. in downtown Manhattan on July 8th, I invite see where it is. I have a link to a short Google form that you can complete
[02:43] down in the description below. But just so we're on the same page, let me make sure you understand the difference between a bond and an equity. An equity is the fancy way of saying a stock. And when you buy a stock, what you're
[02:55] actually buying is ownership in a company. So if we talk about the Apple company we're talking about, Apple is broken up into millions of little pieces called shares. So when you buy one share
[03:09] of Apple, you become one of the owners of Apple. Now, as the owners of Apple, limit to how much money you can earn, but you can also lose all of your money. investing in a stock, which means you get a piece of ownership in the company
[03:25] and you are working for profit. That is the key thing that you're trying to get is that as a stockholder, meaning as equity holder, you getting your share of the profit. A bond is different where bonds are loans. The same company Apple
[03:40] also works to raise money by getting debt. They might go out and say, "We need to raise a billion dollars of debt. That way, we can go out and build this new iPhone that we want to create." Well, if you wanted to lend money to
[03:53] Apple, you can also do that by buying some of Apple's bonds. And in exchange, because you're not an owner of the company. You're going to be a lender to Apple. And so in this instance, you are working for interest. And so this is a
[04:09] little bit different because there is a set payment amount. It might be 5% in and sells millions and millions of these phones and makes billions and billions of dollars, the most you're going to make as a bond holder is that 5% a year.
[04:24] But this is where things get interesting. If Apple loses money, you still have to get paid because as a bond holder, you have a contract where Apple has to pay you that 5% a year. If they don't pay you, then they go bankrupt.
[04:37] So, here as a bond investor, it's less risk for less return because now you're money and you were the first person to get paid because Ample has a contract that says they have to pay you first on the interest that you agreed to. Here,
[04:52] as an equity holder, when you buy stocks, it's different. where now you're You're sharing in the risk of the company. If Apple makes a lot of money, you make a lot of money. If Apple loses money, you lose money and you only get
[05:06] paid now if the company is actually making money. For this video, because we're talking about interest, we're going to be focusing here on the bond side with number one, the most obvious. We'll talk about lending your money to
[05:18] United States Treasuries. Let's start with number one, lending your money to the government's finances work. The United States government has one source of revenue. It is tax dollars from taxpayers. And in 2026, the government
[05:32] is going to collect something like $5 trillion in taxes. The problem is the government does not have a balanced financial sheet, which means it doesn't spend $5 trillion or $4 trillion. In fact, in 2026, it's going to go out and
[05:47] spend something like $7 trillion, which means there is a $2 trillion gap. And that $2 trillion gap? Well, they're not raising your taxes because President
[05:59] Trump signed the biggest tax cut bill in history in 2025 called the One Big what the government does is they go out and they borrow this money. And this is where you can be one of the people that
[06:13] government and in exchange you're going to get paid back with interest. Now the this is that this is called a treasury. Lending money to the government is called a treasury. And every economics
[06:26] textbook will tell you that this lending money to the government is the safest investment that you can make. Why? Because the government can just raise economy in the world. So the government will always have the ability to pay
[06:40] doesn't want to raise taxes, they can work with their central bank called the Federal Reserve Bank to just get that money printed and pay you back. That's why it's called the riskfree investment because it is a safe investment because
[06:54] if the government did not pay back that debt, the entire economic system, not in the United States, the entire global economic system would collapse. That's why the government has to keep paying back this debt. Now, because it is not a
[07:08] very risky investment, the returns aren't the best either. Remember, higher risk, higher potential return. Lower risk, lower potential return. So, what government website called the Treasury Direct, and you can lend money to the
[07:21] government for a certain period of time, one year, 2 years, 5 years, 30 years. But that can be a little bit complicated to do that. Instead, a simpler way to do do, but a simpler way to get the returns without actually giving the money
[07:35] directly to the government, is to use an ETF on the stock market that's giving you exposure to shortterm treasuries. For example, SGOV is an ETF that gives you exposure to short-term treasuries. At the time of
[07:49] recording this video, SGOV is paying an interest rate a little bit under 4% a year. Or example number two is USFR. This is another ETF that's going to give you exposure to these treasuries, it's also paying a little bit under 4% a
[08:02] year. And here, if the Federal Reserve Bank raises interest rates, the interest going to go up. Now, here's where things you're investing in these ETFs, the ETFs don't actually move in price besides
[08:16] SGO, the interest is paid every single down every single month just when the interest is paid. Again, these ETFs are backed by the United States Treasury. So, the risk is that the government
[08:29] globally, or another risk is one of these ETF creators also fails. It's not FDICsured because it's not a bank. But the risk here is that the government fails. But there is one more benefit to these type of US Treasury ETFs. They're
[08:45] paying a little bit under 4% a year, but you don't have to worry about state or local taxes. So, for those of you that live in states with high state taxes, California, New York, when you earn money, you have to pay your state taxes.
[08:58] And if you're a high income earner, you might even have higher state taxes. Well, [snorts] here you can earn steady interest on your money. And you don't have to worry about paying state or local taxes because treasuries are
[09:11] exempt from state or local taxes. And I can tell you this as a licensed attorney who is not your attorney. But that's one of the benefits here compared to a high that you can generate interest on your money is by lending your money to a
[09:24] that, that's going to sound very risky and very scary, but this is where there are ways to mitigate some of your risk. Because there are some countries around the world that are essentially protected by the United States. And not just that,
[09:36] their currency is also protected by the United States dollar because their currencies are pegged to the United States dollar. So, they're protected by the United States. Their currencies are protected by the United States dollar,
[09:48] but because it's a foreign country, they're generally paying higher interest rates than the United States. So, this can create the opportunity for you to returns without having to take on a whole lot of other risk. Let me give you
[10:02] an example. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Qatra, otherwise known as Qatar. These three countries are pretty close allies with the United States and are protected militarily often by the United States. But not just that, their currencies are
[10:16] also pegged to the United States dollar, which means they have the currency of protection as well. So you can lend money to countries like these because their countries also need to borrow money. And now you're protected with the
[10:28] back of the United States dollar and the United States Treasury, but they're which means you can get a better return on your money. Now, of course, there's more risk there because it's not the United States, but you're mitigating
[10:41] protection of the United States. Now, here's the thing. You can go and individually lend your money to one of these countries directly. It's more work. You generally need more money. There's no easy direct way to do that in
[10:53] that are going to give you broader exposure to different countries, about, and some not protected by the United States. But these funds can they come with some higher risk. Let me go over a few examples. Number one is
[11:08] EMB. This is an ETF created by Eyesshares, and this is giving exposure to their USD emerging markets bond. With this ETF, you're investing in loans that are United States dollar denominated to foreign countries. At the time of
[11:22] recording this video, EM is paying around 5% a year in interest. And just so you know, this does have volatility in the fund price. So you will see the fund go up and down in price as well. Another example a little bit more risky
[11:35] a little more broad would be PCY. This is giving you exposure to the Invesco emerging market sovereign debt bond. Again this is giving you exposure to denominated and lending money there working to generate interest but you are
[11:48] the fund. This brings me to the third way that you can get interest on your money which would benefit if interest rates go up which is directly lending your money to big companies in the United States. Now, I do want to let you
[12:00] where I go over how you can start investing in this changing economy that a perfect storm that we're going through dollar and the Federal Reserve Bank. If you want to watch the master class for
[12:13] the description below. And when you [clears throat] sign up for it, you're briefs, which is my newsletter for investors, completely free. So, if you you down in the description. In the beginning of this video, I talked about
[12:25] Apple and how you could go out and invest in the Apple company. where now and also take on the risk if Apple goes down. The other way that you can invest in Apple is by investing in Apple bonds which is you're lending money to the
[12:38] bankrupt and you're not going to get paid back but you as a bond holder get paid before the equity holder because Apple has a contract to pay you back. It their shareholders. There's still risk but less risk as somebody who is
[12:54] investing in the bonds. Less risk comes with less potential return because if limited by whatever your interest rate is. But you get the idea. Now, now you companies, which is more work. But in this video, I'm going to focus in on the
[13:08] ETF side of how I can get exposure to corporate bonds, which would be a basket generate interest from them because if interest rates go up, well, there could be a way to generate some more yield as well. Example number one is LQD. This is
[13:23] an ETF that's created by Eyesshares that's giving exposure to investment grade corporate bonds. This is companies like Microsoft, Apple, the big banks just so you know, you can buy and sell your way out of these ETFs whenever you
[13:36] want. But this ETF particularly is working to invest in more longerterm loans. And because you see that, you'll generally see more price movement up and volatility here. At the time of recording this video, LQD is paying out
[13:51] between four to 5% a year in interest. Then example number two is VCSH. This is an ETF created by Vanguard which is working to give you exposure to see is that because this is giving exposure to more of the short-term
[14:05] volatility in the price of the ETF. Again, you can buy and sell it anytime that you want, but you're going to see more of a steady price of the ETF generally, not always. That's the goal here. This is also going to pay you
[14:18] the time of me recording this video. Then we have option number four, which is investing in junk. Now, when I say junk, I'm not talking about garbage, per se. I'm talking about junk bonds. And junk bonds is a kind of a a way to refer
[14:33] to highrisisk bonds. These are companies or things that are likely or more likely Dusp, why the heck would anybody want to invest in these type of junk bonds?" Well, the reason why some people like these junk investments, junk bond
[14:48] investments, is because they pay out higher rates of returns. There's a chance you will get paid. If you do get paid, you're getting a higher rate of return to justify the added risk. So, for some people, they like it. For other
[15:00] people, they hate that idea. So, if you wanted an interest investment that could comes with higher risk, and you understand the risk of a junk investment, let me go over a couple examples. Number one is HYG. This is an
[15:12] ETF created by Eyesshares. This is going to give you exposure to high yield junk bond fund and at the time of recording this video is paying a little bit under 6% in interest a year. Option number two is JNK short for junk. This
[15:27] an ETF created by Spider, SPDR. This giving exposure again to high yield bonds. This is another big one giving exposure to junk bonds. Again, higher little bit more than 6% a year in interest at the time I'm recording this
[15:41] video. Higher returns which come with a lot more risk. Now the last piece of information that I should tell you about junk bonds is that people like investing in junk bonds during times that they believe is a booming economy because
[15:53] during a booming economy companies are less likely to go bankrupt. So they like junk bonds then because during a booming economy there's less chances of them higher rates of return. But as soon as the economy turns down, those companies
[16:07] that are higher risk generally go bankrupt first and then those junk bonds understand the way that that investment system works. And then we have number especially for those of you that are higher income earners that are making a
[16:22] taxes and you were wondering, is there a way for me to generate interest and not number one, US treasuries, we talked about how these bonds, you don't have to pay state or local taxes, which is good for people that are making a lot of
[16:37] money in high tax states. But for those of you that are not necessarily in a high tax state, you just don't want to worry about federal taxes, which can be extremely high. I mean, the top tax rate is 37%, you're making a lot of money,
[16:49] Well, that's where these tax-free bonds come into play. Now, this would be municipal bonds, which means more local bonds as opposed to the federal less risky investment. It's not as safe
[17:04] the government, if that were to default, you'd see a crisis globally, but states and cities also don't go bankrupt very often. I mean, we did see the city of that. I mean, if you're from Detroit, you know that. But cities and states
[17:19] don't go bankrupt very often. So, it is still a very safe investment, but it allows you to bypass and not pay any federal taxes on the interest and you might be able to bypass the state interest as well depending on where you
[17:33] live. The state is dependent on where you live. Different places have pay any federal taxes. Let me go over a couple examples. Number one is VTEB. This is an ETF created by Vanguard giving exposure to the taxexempt bonds.
[17:48] At the time I'm recording this video, it is paying around 3.3% a year in interest, which again is tax-free on the federal level. Example number two is federal level. Example number two is MUB. This is another ETF. This time is
[18:01] created by Eyesshares, giving exposure again to municipal bonds. At the time of recording this video, is paying just over 3% a year in interest. Again, tax-free. So now if you are a high income mariner you can factor in how
[18:13] much are these taxes worth and see if you would be more valuable more waiting here generating money at this free rate of interest versus not. To put it into perspective if you have an extra million laying around and you put that in a high
[18:27] yield savings account paying 3% a year in interest. That's $30,000 in interest you're going to make which sounds good. But if your top tax rate is 37%, well now a third of the $30,000, about $10,000 is going to go directly to
[18:39] interest. In this case, you're getting about the 3% a year again, but you get to keep that $10,000 that would have gone to the government in taxes. So the this can be. Investing your money is hard, and on this channel, I teach how
[18:53] you can start investing your money yourself. But for some of you, working is a professional will be a better option because now it's more hands-off will manage and invest your money for you. And that's why I partnered with my
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[20:13] you want to learn more, I have that link for you down in the description. What we talked about in this video is that we could be seeing higher interest rates going to happen in the future, but this is based off of what we know today. If
[20:26] we see those higher interest rates, well, then interest investments could win as a result. In this video, I went over five different ways that you can more riskier than others. Again, I'm not here to tell you what to invest in, but
[20:40] different options are so you can be a smarter investor. Option number one is government through the stock market. We talked about SGOV and USFRs. Two ways to get exposure to US treasuries. A lowrisk option as a way to generate interest
[20:54] state or local taxes. Option number two is investing in countries that are protected by the US. United States denominated bonds and in this place it is more risk for more potential return. We talked about EM PCY. Then we tied up
[21:08] investing in big companies, big corporate bonds. Now you're not owning to the company in exchange for interest. The idea being if interest rates go up, interest on those loans. We're talking about LQD, VCSH. Then we talked about
[21:22] for those of you that believe the economy is going to boom and these junk a couple examples for you. risktakers are HY and JNK. Then we talked about the where you don't have to worry about federal taxes. That way, if you are a
[21:39] money and you want to just generate some interest taxree, here are a couple interest taxree, here are a couple options for you. VTE M Ub. If you got you is a referral. So, if you could please share this video with a friend,
[21:51] investor. That way, we can continue to spread this type of financial education. Thank you. The United States government is approaching $40 trillion of national debt. And while most people are worried about how much money the government is
[22:04] spending, there's a quiet shift happening with our money that most people are completely missing. I'll show you. In the past, when the United States have, it would borrow money from countries
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