The Sunday Best (01/05/2025)

Welcome to another edition of the Sunday Best, where we read through the internet and blogosphere to bring you the best of everything. 

In this week’s edition, we reflect upon the stock market, humanity’s ability to imagine its own demise, limitless hope, and what we strive for in the future. Tune in to the latest on bird flu, our Monday Market predictions, and more ideas about our health and wellbeing. 

The Sunday Best (01/05/2025)

Physical decline is inevitable. But far too many people go harder in their careers in their 30s and 40s at the expense of their health. Then, a decade or two later, they realize an unfortunate truth — they have more money than they ever needed and less health than they ever wanted.

What do you want to last longer, your money or your life? It turns out that spending more money on certain items in retirement may add years to your longevity.

Could the H5N1 bird flu cause the next big pandemic? If so, how bad would that pandemic be?

2024 was another good year in the stock market. We could be setting up for another late-1990s boom time where 20% gains every year were the norm but we’ve already been on a fantastic run. 

We hardly know anything about next week, even less about next month, and practically nothing about next year. It is especially true for strategists and forecasters at large brokers and banks.

We’re big fans of retirement here at Physician on FIRE. But what if there’s a case to be made about never retiring? Or, more specifically, never stop creating? 

How do we equip ourselves for the losses that inevitably come our way? Despite a picture that may seem bleak, there’s plenty of space for hope. When life is harsh, we humans seem to draw on a resilience that can handle all manner of misery.

Maybe you have a pile of cash to invest, but you’re terrified of putting it into a U.S. stock market near record highs. Or you’re worried about a market reversal and wondering if it’s time to cash out. Either way, do what banks and brokerages do when issuing their stock market forecasts: Bet on the market moving higher.

We are terrified of the future yet we also secretly long for the arrival of the catastrophe because only it can release us from the anxiety of waiting. Humans love to imagine their own demise.

People are passionate about their cars. Here’s everything you need to know about the basics of owning one.  

Don’t forget to tune into Physician on FIRE Monday Markets: Exploring 2025’s First Crossroads!