Suman Jana (2026)

05/09/2026

For the first time in recorded history, the world has more than 65 million children under five.

And I think that number says something much bigger than most people realize.

When we talk about the economy, we usually talk about inflation, interest rates, stock markets, GDP, and jobs.

But sometimes the most important economic story is sitting quietly in a grocery store, a crowded apartment, or a family wondering how they will afford the next month.

Because children experience the economy differently than adults.

They don't understand inflation.

They don't know what a recession is.

They just know when the refrigerator has less food.

Here is the uncomfortable reality.

In the United States, 18.4% of households with children experienced food insecurity in 2024. That represented 6.7 million households. In 3.3 million of those households, both adults and children experienced food insecurity at some point during the year.

Even more disturbing, USDA researchers found that in 318,000 households with children, food insecurity became severe enough that children experienced reduced food intake or disrupted eating patterns because there wasn't enough money for food.

That's the part I keep thinking about.

Parents often go hungry first.

The USDA specifically notes that parents frequently shield their children from food insecurity, meaning the statistics may hide the sacrifices happening behind closed doors.

Historically, humanity has never had more resources, technology, wealth, or productive capacity.

Yet UNICEF estimates that around 50 million children in high-income countries live in relative monetary poverty, representing about 23% of children across 37 high-income countries studied.

That comparison matters.

This isn't simply a problem of whether the world has enough resources.

It's increasingly a question of how those resources are distributed and whether economic growth is reaching families raising the next generation.

My personal view is simple.

We spend enormous amounts of time debating billionaires, markets, elections, and corporate profits.

But perhaps one of the clearest measures of whether an economy is actually working is much simpler:

Can ordinary parents raise their children without constantly fearing hunger, eviction, or financial collapse?

Because children don't get to choose the economy they are born into.

They simply inherit it.

And someday, they will inherit the consequences of what we chose to prioritize.

05/09/2026

Sometimes it feels like America charges you just for existing.

Wake up.

Rent is due.

Food costs more.

Gas costs more.

Insurance wants its money.

The electric bill is waiting.

Your phone bill is waiting.

And somehow, before you’ve even done anything that day, your money is already disappearing.

That’s why $123 a day doesn’t sound crazy anymore.

It’s almost like life comes with a daily subscription.

Except you can’t cancel it.

And the scary part?

You can be making more money than your parents did and still feel like you’re falling behind.

Because the question isn’t just:

“How much do you make?”

It’s:

“How much of it actually stays yours?”

05/09/2026

I think this is one of the clearest examples of how the American housing market changed faster than American incomes did.

I remember when a $200,000 starter home felt expensive.

Today, $200,000 barely gets mentioned in many housing conversations.

The national median price of an existing home was about $434,100 in July 2026. In the second quarter, the median single-family existing home was $434,900.

And that is the national number.

In many cities, the entry point is far higher.

The crazy part is what happened after 2020.

The FHFA says U.S. home prices increased 58.8% on average across 410 metro areas between Q1 2020 and Q3 2025.

So if you were saving for a house while prices were climbing, you weren't standing still.

You were running toward a moving target.

And then mortgage rates made the problem even worse.

A buyer today is facing a 30-year mortgage rate around 6.66%, according to Freddie Mac's August 27 survey.

That means today's buyer isn't just paying more for the house.

They're paying more to borrow the money to buy it.

And this is why comparing today's home prices with your parents' or older siblings' experience can be misleading.

A $200,000 house in 2018 wasn't necessarily easy to afford.

But the combination of lower prices and lower borrowing costs created a very different monthly-payment environment.

The problem isn't simply that houses got expensive.

It's that home prices, interest rates, down payments and incomes stopped moving together.

NAR's latest affordability data shows just how much pressure first-time buyers face. A typical starter home was valued at $343,700 in early 2026, requiring about $1,943 a month in mortgage payments with 10% down.

So when someone says, “Just buy a starter home,” I think we need to remember that the definition of starter home has changed.

The house didn't necessarily get dramatically better.

The price did.

And for a generation trying to save its first down payment, that's a massive difference.

The hardest part of buying a home today isn't always finding a house you like.

It's finding one your income can actually keep up with.

05/09/2026

A 2% raise can actually mean you’re getting poorer.

Your paycheck goes up 2%.

But if rent, groceries, insurance, gas, and everything else you buy goes up 4%...

You didn’t really get a raise.

You got a pay cut disguised as a raise.

And that’s what makes inflation so frustrating.

Your employer can tell you, “Congratulations, you got a raise.”

Meanwhile, your money buys less than it did last year.

I’ve learned to stop asking, “Did my salary go up?”

The better question is:

“Did my purchasing power go up?”

Because a bigger paycheck doesn’t mean much if your life gets more expensive even faster.

04/09/2026

I’ll never understand charging people just to park at a hospital.

You’re already walking in because something is wrong.

Maybe you’re there for an emergency.
Maybe you’re taking your child to an appointment.
Maybe you’re sitting beside someone you love who’s sick.

And somehow, before you even make it through the doors, there’s another bill waiting for you.

I understand that parking lots cost money to build and maintain.

But a hospital feels like the last place where parking should be another expense.

You’re already paying for the doctor.
The tests.
The treatment.
The medication.

Do we really need to pay just to park the car?

I’ll probably never change my mind on this one.

04/09/2026

$8,000 invested is a bigger flex to me than a $900 car payment.

Because one says:

“I’m building wealth.”

The other says:

“I can afford the payment.”

That BMW might look good sitting in the driveway.

But $8,000 invested can quietly grow for years.

I’d rather have an investment account nobody sees than a car everybody notices.

Looking rich and becoming rich are two very different things.

What’s the bigger flex to you?

04/09/2026

this is one of the strangest parts of homeownership in America.

You can spend 30 years paying off your mortgage.

You can finally own the house outright.

And then the government can still send you a bill every year simply because you continue to own it.

In 2024, the median property tax paid by U.S. homeowners without a mortgage was $2,663 a year, according to Census data. That is about $222 a month after the mortgage is already gone.

But $2,663 is a national median.

In high-tax areas, the number can be dramatically higher. Tax Foundation data shows effective property tax rates vary enormously across states, with places such as New Jersey and Illinois around 1.88% of owner-occupied home value in 2024.

That creates a real problem for retirees.

Your house may be paid off.

But your income may now be mostly Social Security, a pension, or retirement savings.

Meanwhile, the property tax bill doesn't care whether your paycheck disappeared when you retired.

And there is an important detail people miss:

Property taxes are paying for real local services.

Schools. Roads. Police. Fire departments. Libraries. Parks. Local government.

So eliminating property taxes entirely would simply force communities to find another way to pay for those things.

The better question may be:

Should someone who has lived in the same home for 30 or 40 years be forced to sell it because the home's value increased faster than their retirement income?

There are already programs designed to address this. AARP Foundation says more than 9 million Americans may qualify for property tax relief, with some programs providing hundreds or even thousands of dollars in assistance.

To me, that's where the conversation gets interesting.

Owning your home outright should provide financial security.

It shouldn't automatically mean you're financially secure enough to keep paying whatever the local tax bill becomes.

A paid-off mortgage is freedom from debt.

It isn't freedom from the cost of owning the land underneath your house.

And that distinction matters more every year.

03/09/2026

I used to hear “$53 an hour” and think, that person has made it.

Then I started doing the math.

$53 an hour × 40 hours a week = $110,240 a year.

Six figures.

A number that still sounds rich when you say it out loud.

But in 2026, six figures can disappear a lot faster than people realize.

For a single worker earning $110,240, federal income tax plus Social Security and Medicare can take roughly $23,800 a year before even considering state taxes, health insurance, retirement contributions or other payroll deductions. The IRS puts the 2026 Social Security and Medicare employee rate at 7.65%, while the standard deduction for a single filer is $16,100.

That leaves roughly $86,400 a year, or about $7,200 a month, before those other expenses.

Now subtract $2,200 rent.

Then groceries.

A car payment.

Car insurance.

Gas.

Health insurance.

Utilities.

Phone.

Retirement.

Student loans.

And suddenly someone making more than $110,000 can still be sitting at the kitchen table wondering whether they should spend $100.

That is the part that shocked me.

We still use income numbers from another era to decide who is “doing well.”

But your salary doesn't exist in a vacuum.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that the average U.S. consumer unit spent $78,535 in 2024, with housing and transportation alone accounting for more than half of total spending.

And averages hide something important.

Where you live can completely change what a six figure salary feels like.

$110,000 in a low cost area is not the same financial life as $110,000 in New York, San Francisco or another expensive metro.

This is why I think the phrase “six figures” has lost some of its psychological power.

The paycheck got bigger.

But so did the bills surrounding it.

And earning more doesn't automatically create wealth.

Wealth is what remains after your lifestyle takes its share.

That is why I care less about saying “I make six figures” and more about asking:

How much of that income is actually building my freedom?

Because a big paycheck can make you look rich.

A growing net worth is what actually makes you rich.

03/09/2026

I used to think having $1 million automatically meant you were rich.

Now I realize it depends on what that $1 million actually has to support.

You could have a paid-off house, a decent investment portfolio, and still think twice before spending $100.

That’s because $1 million today doesn’t buy the same lifestyle it once did.

Housing is expensive. Healthcare is expensive. Raising kids is expensive. And inflation has quietly changed what “wealthy” feels like.

The number in your account matters.

But what that money can actually buy you matters even more.

Would you still consider someone with $1 million truly rich today?

03/09/2026

Fashion is basically a time machine with a 20 year delay.

You’re born wearing baggy jeans.

Then suddenly everyone tells you skinny jeans are the only acceptable option.

A few years later, baggy jeans come back and people act like they just discovered them.

I’m starting to realize trends don’t actually disappear.

They just wait for an entire generation to forget they existed.

First it was skinny jeans.

Then low rise came back.

Now oversized everything is everywhere again.

Give it another 10 years and we’ll all be wearing something our parents swore they’d never wear again.

What fashion trend are you convinced is coming back next?

Suman Jana

05/09/2026

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