The warm month of July. We spent half of the month traveling and half of the time in Paris. It’s been a wonderful month. It’s summer, people seem so much happier and content with life, BBQs outside, and, if you turn off the news, life is simply awesome. And on that awesomeness note, I’d like to start Captain Finance’s July Summary of some of the most interesting events in July 2017. Summer is all about sharing time with friends – whether it is in a beergarden, playing sports, on the beach, or a memorable holiday, thus the fact that spending money on those you love increases happiness fits very well.
A couple of studies have found ways to increase your happiness. Many Europeans are probably also enjoying greater levels of happiness as their savings are growing, maybe even helped by a artificial intelligence savings app called Plum, particularly as some great savings accounts are as rare as fairies. If you are into ethical investing, the Wall Street Journal created a little quiz to test your knowledge, alternatively you can also opt for bitcoins that whose prices have again gone up due to Segwit. Finally for all those living or investing in France, a number of changes are being introduced by the new French government.
I hope you get to read some of the most interesting stories of July 2017 somewhere on some sandy beach:
1. If you really want to be happy, go out and spend money on others. A recently published study shows that those who spend money on others showed a neurological change in happiness. The ventral striatum and the temporo-parietal junction activities are both significantly elevated if you spend money not on yourself but on others. So next time you pass someone needing money in the streets, give him or her a bit. It will help them to survive and it will help you to up your happiness.
2. On a similar note: want to feel even happier? Get a cleaning lady and declutter your home. Apparently two studies have found that if you free up your personal time by employing a cleaning lady or similar to do the household chores for you, you’ll be happier. And decluttering? Come on, as a minimalist myself, I have always believed in being thoughtful of how many material items you clutter your house with. The more you have, the more stressed you are, the more you feel, well, cluttered.
3. It’s always great to see the European Union come together, especially when the people who make the Union enjoy a better life. Thanks to the improved economy European citizens are able to save more.
4. An interesting concept: using artificial intelligence to increase your savings and analyze your savings patterns. A start-up called Plum promises to do just that and invest your money in peer-to-peer lending schemes.
5. Something most of us don’t think about. When looking for savings accounts, we’ll turn to the traditional websites, namely our banks, and look for what new savings accounts are on offer to increase the return on our savings. This article shows that the best savings accounts are like a fairy, popping up for a brief period and unless caught, disappear into the dark.
6 .Interested in ethical investing? Here’s a little quiz from the Wall Street Journal on ethical investing. Did you know it all?
7. Some of his “insights” are funny, some opinions questionable, but in general I enjoyed this column by Matt Levine over at Bloomberg. Maybe worth giving it a glimpse and take it with a pinch of salt.
8. A female entrepreneur on passion. I think this is the secret to living a happy life in general: passion for what you do, with whom you are, and for life itself.
9. Bitcoin prices are rising again with the support for Segwit reaching new highs .
10. In case you’re holding money or stocks in France or are amongst the wealthy, France is driving forward its new goal to becoming a business hub by cutting taxes on wealth and a flat tax on dividends of 30%.
