Hey friends - happy Friday. Thanks for giving me the week off last week. It was 110 in Dallas but 68 inside the conference center, so I saw exactly none of the city. I will have to return to try the BBQ and TexMex. Met some great CFPs from the Financial Planners Association and showed off our newest tools for planners and advisors.

🌎 The Big Picture

Some good, bad, and weird things for you this week:

✅ Renting's gotten a bit more manageable lately. 

Realtor.com found that the national median rent hit $1,695 a month in July, down 1.4% from a year ago and the 36th month in a row of declines. Studios, one-bedrooms, and two-bedrooms are all running 3% to 5% below their 2022 peaks, which is real relief after years of brutal increases. That said, renters are still paying about 15% more than they were pre-pandemic.

If you're trying to decide between renting and buying, renting's still the cheaper monthly option. 

Renters paid $858 less per month than buyers in July, though that gap's shrunk from $923 a year ago as sellers cut prices and mortgage costs came down a bit. Buyers paid about $89 less per month on a starter home this July compared to last year. In eight metro areas, wages have climbed enough and home prices have come down enough that buying's starting to make real financial sense, even if renting's still the more affordable call for most people right now.

🤔 Young investors are increasingly confusing gambling with investing, and it's costing them. 

A new Betterment survey found that nearly one in four Gen Z investors treat sports betting as a deliberate part of their long-term financial strategy. Gen Z is way more likely than older generations to weave sports betting into their financial plans. More than half of young investors moved money they'd set aside for investing into sports betting over the past year. Only about a third of Gen Z investors said they avoid sports betting altogether, compared to 63% of all investors surveyed.

Betterment's CEO put it plainly: sports betting keeps people chasing a quick win instead of building real wealth over time. For young investors, that's a genuine cost, as money going toward bets isn't going toward retirement or long-term goals, right at the moment when building that foundation matters most.

The most important thing: know where this money fits within your budget. It is an expense, not an investment.

Spending money on stuff for entertainment is totally worth it, but you just have to monitor how much you’re spending. Investing in diversified stocks has always been a win over the long term. Sports betting is almost always a loss.

And if you’re doing it on an app, really pay attention.

Big tech corporations are currently paying tens of billions to settle lawsuits over how they made looking at photos of your friends addictive. What do you think they’re capable of doing with something that was already profoundly addictive?

🍻 Americans are quietly drinking less, and the alcohol industry's not loving it.

Gallup found that just 54% of Americans say they drink today, down sharply from 62% in 2023 and the lowest share in recent decades. It's finally leveled off after three years of steady decline, but the damage is already done. Brown-Forman, which makes Jack Daniel's, along with Molson Coors and Boston Beer, the company behind Samuel Adams, have all reported falling sales and sliding stock prices.

It's a mix of tight budgets, shifting attitudes, and new competition. 

More than half of Americans now see alcohol as harmful, up from fewer than 30% before 2020, and THC beverages have pulled in people who used to reach for a beer or cocktail. For anyone in hospitality, this doesn't look like a passing trend; it looks like a lasting shift in how Americans spend on food, drinks, and lifestyle.

✅ Americans earned meaningfully more in July.

The Bureau of Economic Analysis reported households took home 0.4% more income in July after adjusting for inflation, the strongest increase since January.

But higher prices are eating through those gains.

Actual spending barely budged once higher prices were factored in, pulling back after strong buying in May and June. With prices 3.7% higher than a year ago, well above the Fed's 2% target, more of that bigger paycheck's just going toward covering everyday costs rather than buying more.

And families are still saving way less than they historically have.

Households did save a little more, setting aside 3.0% of their income in July, up from 2.7% the month before. That sounds decent, but it's still less than half of what Americans typically saved each month historically.

🏭 The Companies Everyone’s Talking About

❔ The Big Question of the Week

Scoops app users: We have taken the beta app offline for a short period for some major updates. Can’t wait to show you all what we’ve been working on! Reach out if you have any questions.

We’re going to switch up the content in this spotlight for a bit to make sure you all have the info you need to master your week.