State of the STACK
Get your stack together. TODAY.
Think of this like a State of the Union. An informal address. A warning and a sign all in one.
The world is always shifting, that’s a given. But most people are NOT prepared for what is to come for EVERYONE. Whether they like it (or even know about it) or not.
Housing costs will continue to rise. And so will transportation. If you’re an adult (all of you are, I know my audience), then you know these are your two big whammies every month. Unless you live in NYC where housing shoulders all of that for you wrapped in one, you’re in the same boat as everyone else. One could argue you are worse off because you’re paying almost double what other people in the US pay for their housing and transportation combined. Rent is rising along with home prices. The cost of owning a home is getting out of reach for most. And even the cost of cars is rising. Gone are the days of reliable Hondas and Toyotas on Facebook Marketplace for $2k and a prayer. You can get a project car there for that much and you better pray it makes it out of the parking lot you’re meeting the owner in.
Groceries are sky high and only just below the cost of eating out. Yes, eating at home is still cheaper.. Just not as cheap as you would think. But if you have kids or just multiple mouths to feed under one roof, it’s getting tight out here. Nothing could prepare us for the lives we live in 2026. If you’re playing the markets like I am, you see these companies are having record profits while you’re in the grocery store deciding between luxuries and necessities. The S&P 500 is going up while a lot of Americans’ spending power is dropping astronomically. SHIT JUST COST A LOT.
High yield savings accounts are NOT yielding 4% or better like we’d all like. Which means we are losing against inflation by just saving. We are in an era where if your money isn’t working while you sleep, it’s leaking like there’s a hole in your account. Which leads me to the reason for this email: GET YOUR STACK TOGETHER.
Whatever your stack is… get it together. Your financial stack, your educational stack, and your mental stack.
You need to be firing on all cylinders out here. The weak will get dissolved. Get your finances together and HAVE/MAKE A PLAN. You need to be saving on autopilot. Investing if you can. Save every single dollar you can and figure out how to make them work for you. Get your education together. Have it together? Aim to elevate yourself with certifications and skills. You can never know too much. Good at something? Get better. Aim for expert PhD level in whatever you’re doing. Become untouchable in your field. God level. GET YOUR MENTAL RIGHT. This should be #1 but to be honest it’s very hard to get right mentally if your money is not right. Even harder to get money with no education. So you understand why I put it last. I lived it. I couldn’t go back to school til I got my money right. I couldn’t get the job I wanted without the education. The job provided me the space and money to get my mind right. Vicious cycle I was in. But it can be broken with a little elbow grease and tenacity.
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So what’s the state of the STACK? I don’t have to tell you, you’re living it. Pockets are a little bit lighter because you’re spending money on things you’ve always spent money on, they just cost more now and you don’t make more unless you’ve been intentionally pushing to do so for the last decade. Not everyone saw this coming. But I bet they see it (and are living it) now. Life just seems harder. It is. Trust me. Timelines have shifted. Time is moving faster. And you are simply either a) trying to stay ahead of the pack like me and mine OR b) you are simply trying to keep your head above water and not drown.
Now is not the time to give up on stacking. This is when you double down on your tactics and become resilient to whatever is going on outside. Let no outside forces deter you from your end goals. Right now is not the time.
I’m very close to finishing my 1st bachelor’s degree. Some people think I’m done. I’m just getting started. I’m going BACK to school for another BS and after that, a master’s degree. I’m aiming to become a disgustingly educated woman. And a double engineer is my goal. What’s yours? That should be what’s on your mind right now. They aren’t handing out those $300k+ salaries to people with no degrees, no projects/resume, and who aim to be average. They want the outliers. People who aim for the impossible. You want to survive this next wave? You have to separate yourself from the pack. Like being a dual threat Cloud & Network Engineer who went back to school to be an Electrical Engineer as well (my path). I didn’t just pull this out of my ass either. I saw the play. I work with engineers who have Computer Science degrees and double majored that with Mechanical or Electrical Engineering or they studied Math and Chemistry. Or EE + a bunch of tech certs. Hybrid engineering (what I like to call it) is here to stay. And it’s not just in engineering or tech. A lot more people are filling their tool belts to keep up with the changing landscape. Do not be one of those people that only has one thing they know about. Take advantage of the free certs. The Oracle Race last summer helped me get the career I have today. DO NOT SLEEP.
Be a hybrid stacker. Multiple skills. Be able to tap into different lanes. And be able to pivot. That’s where you will thrive and not just survive.