10 Reasons Why It's Better Than We Think
I get it: between politics and the news these days, it can be tough to see the forest through the trees.
But consider the possibility that we are all so fortunate.
- To be part of the richest 1% of people on earth, you only need an annual income of $49,210 (source: US Dept of Commerce, 2024)
- 91% of US adults own a smart phone (source: Pew Research)
- Less than 24% of Americans are daily smokers, down from 43% in 1965 (source: World Population Review)
- For most of human history, average life expectancy at birth was about age 30. Today it is about age 80 in the US, and about age 73 worldwide (source: MacroTrends)
- Time spent on laundry fell from 11.5 hours per week in 1920 to 1.4 hours in 2024 (source: Fee.Org)
- In 1920, only about 35% of U.S. homes had electricity. Today, nearly 100% of homes are electrified (source: Hoover.org)
- In 1920, only 16% of Americans graduated high school. Now, over 92% of adults have completed high school (source: OECD)
- Diseases like polio and smallpox have been all but eradicated in the U.S. thanks to science (source: Hoover Institution)
- The average workweek in 1920 was about 57 hours. Today, it's closer to 34 hours. (source: US Bureau of Labor Statistics)
- $100,000 invested in stocks 10 years ago is worth about $320,000 today (source: factset, s&p 500 index)
If you are reading this Marketmail, odds are you are amongst some of the most graced people to ever live.
And I know the world has become hyper-politicized and addicted to news, which creates a ton of white noise……and for some people a lot of unhappiness. Please know that if you ask me about politics and I don’t really engage, it is not because I don’t care about you. I do care, deeply. I just don’t have much interest in politics, so I don’t spend much time in it. My knowledge of the day-to-day political happenings and traditional news is deliberately limited. I have been that way for decades, only because I would rather invest what precious time I have in this great life helping my family, friends, and clients………..and being as happy as possible.
Life is short, live it richly.
And “make sure you have a little fun every day – otherwise what’s the point?” – Rick Wagner Sr. (my father)
Author: Rick Wagner
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