Sharkproof | Outsmart the system.Build real wealth

You're losing $5,000/year. Not because you spend too much. Because the system is designed to take it from you. One thing at a time, I'll show you every leak. 🦈 Follow for more.

8% is just the cost of entry. USPS raises its prices two to three times a year, but this extra charge is not one of those times. An increase in July is already expected (regular annual increases tied to inflation). So, do the math: 8% in April. Another rise in July. That's not an extra charge. That's a new lowest price. The USPS even went to the regulators and called this "a bridge to a permanent mechanism." UPS and FedEx already charge 25% to 28% more for fuel. USPS isn't overreacting when they say 8%. It's getting there.

The U.S. Postal Service will charge an 8% fee on all package shipments to offset rising fuel costs from Trump's Iran war. This is the first time USPS has ever imposed fees for fuel costs.

8% is just the cost of entry. USPS raises its prices two to three times a year, but this extra charge is not one of those times. An increase in July is already expected (regular annual increases tied to inflation). So, do the math: 8% in April. Another rise in July. That's not an extra charge. That's a new lowest price. The USPS even went to the regulators and called this "a bridge to a permanent mechanism." UPS and FedEx already charge 25% to 28% more for fuel. USPS isn't overreacting when they say 8%. It's getting there. You are upset about the temporary fee today, but it is the permanent policy they are testing tomorrow.

Groceries. Gas. Now packages. Is there anything Donald Trump hasn't made more expensive? Call it what it is: the Trump Mail Tax.

8% is just the cost of entry. USPS raises its prices two to three times a year, but this extra charge is not one of those times. An increase in July is already expected (regular annual increases tied to inflation). So, do the math: 8% in April. Another rise in July. That's not an extra charge. That's a new lowest price. The USPS even went to the regulators and called this "a bridge to a permanent mechanism." UPS and FedEx already charge 25% to 28% more for fuel. USPS isn't overreacting when they say 8%. It's getting there. You are upset about the temporary fee today, but it is the permanent policy they are testing tomorrow.

BREAKING: For the first time in history, the US Postal Service announces an 8% surcharge on all packages to cover rising fuel costs.

In 2026, car buyers are leaving $2,000 to $6,000 on the table. This isn't because dealers are sneaky; it's because buyers don't check the invoice price. The amount of inventory is up. Demand fell. Markups are going away. But most people still negotiate off MSRP instead of the number that actually matters. That's the bandwidth tax: the extra fee you pay when the system thinks you're too busy to check the data. The buyer has more power in 2026. A lot of people just haven't seen it.

📊 Sources: — 60% → 42% private practice: AMA Physician Practice Benchmark Survey 2024 — 78% hospital/corporate employed: Avalere Health / Physicians Advocacy Institute, Jan 2024 — $198 vs $331: MedPAC site-neutral payment analysis — Medicare reference rates — 67% = the math from those two numbers All primary sources. No extrapolation.

Your doctor didn't change. The same face. Same spot. The same 15 minutes. Your bill didn't. In 2012, 60% of doctors worked for themselves. That number is now 42% and going down. Almost 78% of all doctors in the U.S. now work for a hospital, health system, or business. When a hospital buys your doctor's office, they add a "facility fee," which is a fee for just walking through the door that now has the hospital's name on it. Same doctor. Same room. Same trip. When the hospital takes over, a new patient appointment that cost $198 at an independent practice costs $331. Same structure. Same doctor. A bill that is 67% higher. No change in your care. That wasn't an accident. But here's what most people don't know: When you choose an independent doctor over a hospital-owned clinic, you are making a choice with your money. Independent practices continue to exist due to patient utilization. They go away because patients don't know where to look. The consolidation machine runs on patients not knowing. You don't have to fix the system. But you can stop overpaying for it. Two moves that don't cost you anything: Before your next visit, ask, "Are you independent or hospital-affiliated?" One question. Could save you hundreds. If you already go to a hospital-affiliated practice, ask for a bill that lists all the costs before you pay. Facility fees are sometimes charged incorrectly, charged twice, or not charged at all. But only if you ask. That's how it starts. Don't be shark bait. GetSharkProof

The costs of owning a home are terrible. Data from the application backs that up. In just a week, refi apps fell by 19%. 11.5% of FHA loans were late. 90 days or more late on 850,000 loans. Those numbers are true. But "worse than 2008" needs a certain engine: subprime loans, forced selling, and floods of inventory. There are none of those right now. In 2008, the normal delinquency rate was 11.5%; 1.8% today. In 2008, there were 13 months' worth of homes for sale. 3.7 months from now. 2008: millions of subprime loans with floating rates. Today, more than 50% of owners are locked in at less than 4%. What's really going on is that an affordability crisis is hitting the weakest borrowers the hardest, while homeowners who are locked in stay put. That's a fracture from stress. Not a fall.

As inflation causes homeownership costs to soar, including mortgage rates, insurance, utilities, maintenance, and taxes, real estate prices will crash. The recent collapse in mortgage and refi applications is the tip of the iceberg. What lies beneath is a crisis worse than 2008.

@fbinegotiator Fortune 500 secret for buying: Don't start a meeting with a vendor by asking, "What's your best price?" Find out what problem they are most proud of fixing. You now know their ego and what you can use to get what you want. Same strategy. A bigger table.

Ask what someone loves instead of what they do. It moves them past a rehearsed answer and reveals who they really are.

“The Inheritance.” A Sharkproof cartoon about generational wealth… and generational debt. Follow @getsharkproof for more financial truth bombs.

@mortgagetruth Loss aversion is the name of that asymmetry. Losing $200 a month hurts twice as much as getting $200 a month feels good. The same math. A completely different emotional weight. This is something lenders know. The announcement about the drop in rates is meant to be boring.

It's funny when mortgage rates go up .50%, everyone says we're doomed. But when rates fall .50%, everyone says it's actually not a huge difference in payment.

$4,068 a year is $339 a month. That's the payment for the car. For reference, the highest price for Lifetime's Signature tier is about $329 in most places. So, before you even walk in, you're being quoted more than their best prices. Find out about corporate rates and prices for founding members. The first price is never the last price.

Look I’m very into health and fitness there’s a lifetime gym opening by my house and I was planning on getting a membership, starting price is $339 per month. Doesn’t that seem a little steep or am I just outta touch because I haven’t paid for a gym in a long time??

The 4% rule is based on assumptions about returns, retirement years, inflation, and the risk of the order of events. It's a risk to think that those inputs will act the same way for the next 40 years as they did for the last 100. It's safer to withdraw money at a rate that takes uncertainty into account.

The 4% rule works well for 30-year retirements, with a small likelihood that you’ll end with $0. For those who want financial independence much earlier (for a 40-50+ year retirements), a 3% withdrawal rate is much safer. Or 2.8% per year and you’re 99.99% likely to build generational wealth and continue growing your portfolio.

@R128Stacie @WhoDeanie589 $2,000 a month in premiums, plus deductibles. You are paying for coverage. Then paying again when something really happens. This needs a real talk. Send me a direct message if you want to chat about your specific situation.

Thank you for this! Only one car (the 2019 MBZ) has full coverage, but I'm considering knocking it down to liability and uninsured coverage. I do have a 23 yr old daughter on our plan, a Subaru, and Honda Pilot. I pay over 2k per month for insurance! (House + auto + health) All just so I can pay above market for any fixes (house + auto + health). Plus deductibles on all three!

I pay $1200 dollars a year for insurance on a car worth $3200. I think I’m done.

@R128Stacie @WhoDeanie589 If you have three paid-off cars, the bank can't tell you what kind of insurance to get. That is leverage. And most people don't even touch it. If your oldest car is worth less than what you pay each year to insure it, full coverage costs more than the car is worth. Start there.

@getsharkproof @WhoDeanie589 I pay almost 300/ month for 3 paid-off cars and 3 adults.

@R128Stacie @WhoDeanie589 A $3,200 car costs $1,200 a year, which is 37.5% of its value. Every year. Not normal. Not okay. But not very common either. The math gets bad quickly with older cars, certain zip codes, and a history of not having coverage. This is the perfect time to shop around.

@getsharkproof @WhoDeanie589 37%? Is that typical? Is that annual?

@DrDiGiorgio @mcuban Not letting them off. Just explaining why the inefficiency is sticky. When every new insurer rule creates a new admin job to fight it, bloat becomes self-funding. Fix the upstream incentive, the downstream headcount follows.

@mcuban You’re letting the hospitals off too easy. They run massively inefficiently with bloated admin. They could cover patients with far less cost. They choose not to.

The are a function of health insurance plans. The insurance companies create plans with deductibles that most people can’t afford. So to get to the insurance money from their plan, they will loan the patient money to cover their deductible. That turns the hospital into a sub prime lender. Then the insurer will under pay, late pay and claw back in the contract. Costing the hospital more cash. And costing them in administrative costs even more Then the insurer will delay approvals and deny care, earning interest on the premiums. So then the hospitals. Non profit or not, have to compensate for the issue with insurance companies. So they create ridiculous shit like facilities fees, abuse 340b programs , abuse site neutrality and more. And of course non profits don’t pay taxes And then the biggest provider systems will say they can’t make money on Medicare. Which is a function of them spending like drunken sailors on everything they can. From buildings to consultants. There are more administrators than doctors and in aggregate they make more. It makes no sense that hospitals spend so much money on consultants. It’s a waste. It’s like them want them to give the CEO cover , so they can try to buy more hospitals which leads to more pay for the ceo Break em all up

Agreed. The insurance plan is the original load-bearing wall. Everything downstream: facility fees, 340B games, admin bloat is hospitals engineering their way around a reimbursement model that was already broken. Fix the incentive upstream, the downstream dysfunction loses its justification.

@DrDiGiorgio I agree with you. But it all starts with the insurance plan.

@Swflresident @mcuban That's the core problem. The decision that should happen first (approval) happens last. And the patient absorbs the cost of every delay in between. Right now the system is structured so confusion is someone else's problem. It never is.

@getsharkproof @mcuban You’re touching on it. The governance needs to live upstream of the irreversible decision. Until money moves as fast as approval. Denial/appeal confusion cost is inevitable.