The personal savings rate sits at 2.6%, and Wheeler and Colin argue it tells you almost nothing. Someone making $100,000 who saves $10,000 is saving at 10%. Someone making $1,000,000 who saves the same $10,000 is saving at 1%. Both count exactly the same in that national number, which isn't weighted by income, doesn't separate working professionals from retirees on Social Security, and says nothing about your own household.

From there, a rabbit hole on GLP-1s and fertility. The US total fertility rate hit a record low of 1.6 in 2024, well below the 2.1 replacement rate needed to sustain the population. Immigration is the only thing still growing the US population, and it's slowing too, with the country projected to peak sometime in the 2030s. That combination is the real risk sitting under Social Security: fewer people paying in, not just more people drawing out.

That leads into a wider debate about optimism versus scarcity, why some friends are opting out of having kids altogether, and whether taxing billionaires is as simple as it sounds. A history lesson on the 1990s luxury yacht tax (it mostly just moved shipbuilding jobs to Europe) sets up Jess's pitch for a "choose your own adventure" tax, where taxpayers could direct a slice of what they owe toward causes they actually believe in.

On the charts: 60% of tech stocks, including Microsoft, Meta, Oracle, Palantir, and newly public SpaceX, are sitting in bear market territory even as the S&P and Dow grind higher. The S&P 500's forward PE ratio is 20.1, above the 10-year average of 19.1 but well off last October's peak near 23, a sign companies are growing into their valuations rather than getting more expensive.

Last up: Bilt Rewards now lets cardholders transfer points earned on rent payments directly to student loan servicers like Nelnet, Mohela, Sallie Mae, and Navient. Wheeler and Colin split hard on whether that's a genuine value-add for renters carrying debt or another hook aimed at a financially fragile group, and Tori weighs in from the actual seat this offer is built for.

Sources:
U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Personal Income and Outlays report (personal savings rate)
CDC National Center for Health Statistics, provisional 2024 natality data (total fertility rate)
Social Security Administration Trustees Report (funding and demographic projections)
Market and valuation data via YCharts (tech sector bear market breadth, S&P 500 forward P/E)
Bilt Rewards program announcement (student loan servicer transfer partners)

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Credits:
Created By: Wheeler Crowley and Colin Walker
Production, Editing and Post-Production: Tori Rothwell