https://www.alainguillot.com/hopeless-about-money/

I have a few young friends and family members, and I often try to spark their interest in the stock market, investing, or starting new ventures. Sometimes, I get a few nods and smiles; other times I get an eye roll, but most of the time I get ignored or dismissed.

When I came to Canada, I had one main goal in life: to learn about investments and become a millionaire. Although I’m not a millionaire yet, I’ve learned quite a bit about investing. I am so surprised that my younger friends don’t share the same interest in building wealth.

I think young people are disillusioned with traditional financial goals, especially regarding retirement or buying a house. This attitude is shaped by several factors: housing is expensive, education is expensive and oftentimes it doesn’t get you a good job, and healthcare is difficult to get; wages are not enough to cover the cost of living; and there is a perceived lack of stability in the economy and job market. Additionally, young people are constantly bombarded with advertisements for products and lifestyles that they cannot afford, often leaving them financially hopeless. For all these reasons, the classic vision of “work hard, save, and retire” feels out of reach—and even irrelevant.

While the stock market has become more accessible than ever through apps like Public and Robinhood, these platforms have also created unrealistic expectations. If you aren’t making 100% per year by buying the latest meme stock, or crypto currency, they wonder “why bother?” The typical investment in the stock market that produces a healthy 8% seems to be so inadequate for someone who is struggling to pay this month’s rent.

For young people who are curious about investments, navigating the stock market is often challenging due to an avalanche of information, financial jargon, and unscrupulous advisors who want to sell them financial products with high management fees.

There’s also a persistent myth that real estate is the best way to build wealth. However, with today’s high property prices, maintenance demands, and often modest returns after factoring in all costs, real estate isn’t the wealth-building path it once was. Yet, the myth endures due to cultural conditioning and stories of past successes. This trend means that while the bottom 50% of earners tend to have most of their wealth tied up in real estate, the top 10% are more likely to have their wealth in the stock market or private businesses.

I believe we need to do better in educating our youth on how to become savvy investors, rather than relying on financial advisors or managers who prey on clients’ lack of knowledge. Young people need to understand how the stock market works—and that they can participate in it, even with small amounts of money.

I think financial literacy should be taught in high schools, after all not everyone will need to know calculus, physics, or gender studies, but everyone will need to, at one moment or another, invest the money they earn from their labor.

How would you inspire curiosity in young people about the stock market and investing? What strategies or approaches would you use to make these topics feel exciting and relevant?”

https://www.alainguillot.com/why-elon-musk-turned-to-the-right/ Elon Musk is one of the business leaders I admire most. With the U.S. elections approaching and Elon Musk putting his support behind Donald Trump, I wanted to understand why, especially since he was once more aligned with the Democratic Party. His shift in political alliances is particularly interesting given that only a few years ago, his main concern was to alleviate climate change and that’s one of the reasons why he put most of his energy in creating Tesla. For those who may not know, Elon Musk is the head of Tesla, SpaceX, Starlink, and several other innovative companies. He is also the richest person in the world. There are multiple factors that contributed to this shift to the right, so let’s unpack some of them. It all started during the early days of COVID-19, when Musk became the world’s wealthiest person. Around that time, Senator Elizabeth Warren began attacking him for being a billionaire, labeling him the face of corporate greed. She blamed him for income inequality and accused him of not paying his fair share of taxes. Here is a clip of her criticizing Elon Musk when he bought Twitter. Personally, I believe that if someone contributes enough value to the marketplace to become a billionaire, they should be celebrated. After all, in the process of amassing wealth, they’ve created products and services that people want to buy, they have also created millions of job, and billionaires have made American an economic, global powerhouse. Instead of condemning billionaires, Warren and other politicians should be celebrating the fact that the U.S. allows creative, innovative, and risk-taking individuals to build wealth not only for themselves but for the broader economy. Things escalated further during the Biden administration. Biden, who prides himself on being the “most pro-union president in history,” clashed with Elon Musk over his opposition to unions in Tesla factories. There was a notable incident in Detroit when Biden praised the CEO of General Motors, Mary Barra, for their work on electric vehicles, completely ignoring Tesla—even though Tesla commands 80% of the U.S. EV market. Biden consistently praised GM’s CEO, Mary Barra, as the leader of the EV revolution, despite Tesla’s clear dominance in the sector. Here is a clip of Biden praising Mary Barra. I don’t believe in unions, I believe that unions are harmful for the economy and I think that politicians should not pressure employers to accept unions in their shops. If employees are unhappy with their jobs or think they deserve better, they should seek other opportunities somewhere else or, better yet they should start their own businesses. Another point of contention is the Democratic party’s support for DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives such as affirmative action. The Democratic party believes that blacks and other minorities should get some kind of preferential treatment for the sake of having a more diverse workplace. Elon Musk on the other hand prefers a meritocratic system and insist on doing his hiring based on merit, not on the color, race, or sexual orientation of a person. I also believe it’s problematic to hire people based on their belonging to an underrepresented minority rather than on their merit. The final issue that turned Elon Musk to the right was more personal, Elon Musk has a transgender daughter, a man who dresses as a woman. He claims that California’s liberal policies makes it too easy for a teenager change sex, and interestingly enough transgender people feel more aligned with the Democratic party. This issue turned Elon Musk more to the right. Here is a clip of Elon Musk talking about losing his son to what he calls the “Woke Mind Virus.” Similarly, I tend to believe that a man is a man, a woman is a woman, and that transgender people are people who have mental health problems.

https://www.alainguillot.com/dating-apps/

After my divorce, I decided to give dating apps a try. I went on a few dates and, although I met some wonderful women, I found the whole process exhausting and extremely inefficient. For me, the juice wasn’t worth the squeeze. I spent hours scrolling, sending hundreds of messages, dealing with ghosting, waiting hours or even days for responses, and finally, when I met a woman in person, I often realized we weren’t a good match.

Success Stories Amid the Struggles

However, as a dance teacher, I’ve met many couples who met through dating apps. Good for them—many seem happy, and some even got married.

But I believe that most people feel frustrated, as I did, and they are deleting the apps from their phones and computers, or at the very least, they don’t want to pay for the service.

Investors Take Note: They are not seeing the growth

From an investor’s point of view, this is worrisome. Revenues are not growing any more, if people don’t want to pay, then what’s the point of owning the stock. And this lack of paying members growth is being reflected in the stock prices.

As we can see, while the S&P 500 has risen by 33% over the past 12 months, dating stocks are lagging behind.

Match Group, which is the largest and most established player, has a portfolio of over 20 brands. Each brand is targeted towards specific types of online dating or to certain demographic groups (i.e. Tinder for short-term hook-ups, Hinge for long-term relationships, etc.)

is up only 1%.

Bumble, known for its female-first approach, is down 54%.

Grindr, which focuses mostly on gay and bisexual men hooking up, is up 100%.

So, what’s happening here?

The Reality for Men on Dating Apps

What I hear is that if you’re a good-looking man, you have all the options. Most women will want to date you. If you’re in the top 10% of attractive men, you could essentially have your pick. 50% of the women are liking your profile.

If you’re in the top 50%, you have a decent chance of finding a partner. If you’re in the bottom 50%, you’re likely to struggle and may end up alone.

Why Bumble’s Approach May Be Struggling

I suspect Bumble is not succeeding because, despite the emphasis on female empowerment, many women still prefer to be approached rather than to make the first move. Historically, men have always been the ones to initiate, and they’ve learned to handle rejection. For women, this is a relatively new shift, and many are still adjusting to the idea of occasional rejection.

User Fatigue and Conflicts of Interest

In general, except for Grindr, people aren’t finding what they’re looking for, and many users are dissatisfied. According to various industry sources, the number of daily app users is just not growing.

There’s also an inherent conflict of interest between dating apps and their users. Clients want to find love and leave the app, but the apps profit when you don’t find a match, and they keep you as a paying customer for as long as possible.

Gen Z and the Future of Dating

Demographic studies show that generation Z (those aged 12 to 27) is showing less interest in traditional dating compared to previous generations. They are prioritizing mental health, personal goals, and self-development.

From an economic perspective, the cost of housing is also a serious issue. It’s hard to date someone when you’re living in your parents’ basement or juggling two jobs. Many young people finish their regular day job only to start driving for Uber or work another side hustle just to pay the rent. These challenges make dating less of a priority.

Generation Z is supposed to represent the future of dating, but through dating apps some social norms are changing. Many young men are feeling disengaged or left out, with women under 30 often dating men over 30. Around 64% of men under 30 are single. On the other end of the spectrum, older women are also having difficulty finding partners, with 70% of women over 60 being single. Clearly, there