Professor Jessie

Personal Finance Education. Bitcoin, saving, investing, speculating, entrepreneurship. Not financial advice.

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

https://t.co/NLmiJxwoXr

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

How are your personal finances holding up againstn rising costs?

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Inflation isn’t cooling down yet. New data shows consumer inflation came in hotter than expected, and wholesale inflation has just hit levels not seen since 2022, driven largely by surging fuel and wholesale food costs.

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

With prices remaining stubborn, consumers continue to muscle through an increasingly expensive economic landscape.

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

What’s driving it? A massive jump in fuel costs
Rising wholesale food prices translating down the line

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Why does money have a price? Who sets it? Financial markets are just auction houses for capital. Chapter 6 of FIN 3400 — markets and institutions, explained plainly:

https://t.co/JzmwVs618Y

#FinancialMarkets #Finance

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Prices are 275% since 2002; BRRR

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

The question isn’t how many dollars you earn. It’s what those dollars can buy.

#Inflation

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Six grocery items.

2002: $15.44
2026: $57.93

That’s a 275% increase on these receipts.

Inflation erodes purchasing power. Expanding the money supply can contribute to price pressures, especially when money and demand outpace productive capacity.

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Save $10 per paycheck.

Build a $500 emergency fund.

Cut expenses that aren’t serving you.

Find ways to increase income.

Stop adding new debt.

You don’t have to fix everything today.

You just need to stop moving backward.

Financial freedom starts with one small win.

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Being broke isn’t always a spending problem.

Sometimes it’s an income problem.

But you need a plan either way.

Cover food, housing, utilities, and transportation.

Then…
#PersonalFinance #CostOfLiving

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Taxes will be the biggest line item of your entire life. Tax evasion is a crime — tax avoidance is a sport with published rules. Week 7 of FIN 2100:

https://t.co/N2SX1TeaLS

#TaxTips #PersonalFinance

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

The paycheck-to-paycheck cycle works:

You get paid. You pay bills. Something breaks. You use a credit card. You pay the credit card. You’re broke again.

The way out isn’t a motivational quote.
It’s a $500 emergency fund and eventually more income.
#DebtFree #FinancialLiteracy

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Your mortgage, your car payment, your retirement drawdown — all annuities. Chapter 5 of FIN 3400 teaches the math that prices every one of them:

https://t.co/Zn26nFYSCx

#Annuities #FinanceEducation

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

High salaries mean little when housing, food, utilities, and transportation consume nearly everything you earn.

The real measure of financial security isn’t what you make. It’s what you have left.

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

across parts of the South and West, while the Northeast and Midwest show lower prevalence in Bank of America’s analysis.

The biggest factor isn’t income alone. It’s the relationship between income and the cost of living.

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Where in America are people most likely to live paycheck to paycheck?

State-level data from Bank of America and GOBankingRates reveal a striking pattern.

New York: 16.19% of median pay remains after essential expenses.
Oregon: 16.43%
Massachusetts: 16.95%
California: 19.44%

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Maine: 21.17%
Montana: 24.03%

By comparison, residents in these states retain a much larger share:

Wyoming: 44.90%
Minnesota: 44.52%
Texas: 44.22%
New Hampshire: 42.65%
New Jersey: 42.21%
Virginia: 42.02%

Regional data also points to greater paycheck-to-paycheck pressure

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Miami, FL: $108,077
Charlotte, NC: $106,205
Phoenix, AZ: $106,122
Chicago, IL: $105,830

Source: SmartAsset, 2026 Salary Needed to Live Comfortably study.

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

How much do you need to earn to live comfortably in America’s most expensive cities?

SmartAsset’s 2026 study uses the 50/30/20 budget rule: 50% for necessities, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings and debt repayment. These are estimated annual salaries, not just basic survival

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Jersey City, NJ: $127,005
Arlington, VA: $125,882
Los Angeles, CA: $120,307
Riverside, CA: $119,974
Sacramento, CA: $117,021
Portland, OR: $116,106
Washington, DC: $111,155
Denver, CO: $110,781
Raleigh, NC: $110,490
Virginia Beach, VA: $110,448
Plano, TX: $109,242

[Professor Jessie @professorjessie]

Top 25 cities by annual salary needed for a single adult:

New York, NY: $158,954
San Jose, CA: $158,080
Irvine, CA: $151,965
Boston, MA: $139,776
San Diego, CA: $136,781
San Francisco, CA: $134,950
Oakland, CA: $134,410
Honolulu, HI: $128,253
Seattle, WA: $127,296