Forget Self-Driving Cars, Think Self-Flying Aircraft

Plus, the crisis of Boomers outliving their savings 

Ric Edelman: It's Wednesday, July 24th. On today's show, Chinese drones. Everybody keeps talking about self-driving cars. We really, though, need to be talking about self-flying aircraft. And China is leading the way with innovation in this space.  

An unmanned passenger drone recently completed its first commercial flight demonstration in China. These things are called eVTOLs, for Electric Vertical Take-off and Landing aircraft. This thing is called the EH216-S model aircraft, and it has completed 42,000 flights. Top speed, 81 miles an hour. China figures that the low altitude economy will add $700 billion to their economy by next year. Low altitude economy? We're talking passenger transport, cargo delivery, fast medical services, emergency rescue, and tourism. Passenger drones have no pilot. Everything is automated. Instead of driving from one place to another on congested roads, you fly there in a straight line, no stopping. A trip that takes an hour on the ground takes ten minutes by air. And these drones are vertical with their takeoffs and landing. So there's no need for a runway. They're smaller than helicopters. And since they're electric, they're silent. You can take off from your backyard. Low altitude, by the way, is considered space that is 3,000 feet above the ground. China already has 1,500 companies in this industry.  

Two big areas of interest? Drone swarms. Imagine dozens, even hundreds of drones operating together in a cohesive unit. Try firefighting. These drones can reach fires with fire extinguishing dry powder bombs or deliver pressurized storage tanks and tow hoses to people on the ground in hard-to-reach places. 

And another area is law enforcement for security patrols, rescue operations, and aerial logistics. Because drones are being used by drug smugglers, police in Canada caught a gang using drones to bring drugs into the US, I'm not even going to mention the potential for this tech to be useful by the military. Okay, I will mention it. Imagine a drone swarm. Ten thousand drones, each of them two or three inches in size. And each of them carrying a single bullet. No question that China is heavily engaged in drone technology. DJI, a Chinese company, has 70% of the global market. And if you own a drone, it was probably built by a Chinese company. 

The US is busy too, though. And although we're not as advanced as the Chinese in this market, we do need to catch up. In the meantime, it's a growth industry worthy of your investment consideration. There are several ETFs that invest in the drone economy and they're worth looking at. 

From my show on the fact that Boomers are peaking, I got a lot of feedback and I'll share with you some of those emails.  

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Ric Edelman: Welcome back. The Truth About Your Future continues. I'm Ric Edelman. Yeah. I told you on a prior podcast that the Boomers are peaking. I caused lots of mail. You can join the party, just email to AskRic@TheTruthAYF.com, easy way to do it is the link in the show notes.  

Christopher Buckley wrote, he said, “Ric, I'm 60 with $40,000 in cash in the bank. That's it. In my estimation, all the older Boomers who will retire are going to cause a reduction in labor, which is going to harm our economy.” I think you might be right about that, Chris. That is a big problem. We already know that we have far more people reaching retirement age than being born in America. 

And yeah, that means fewer workers in the future. And if you have few workers, fewer people paying taxes, but a lot of people receiving government benefits, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, among them – yeah, this is in fact very likely to harm our economy if we don't come up with a solution.  

And D Del Duo has written and says, “Ric, sounds like a lot of people should have been saving more and treating themselves to trinkets less.” Well, you're absolutely right about that. I think a lot of people were spending their money frivolously out of financial ignorance, frankly, financial illiteracy. Nobody warned people who are 70 years old that they were going to live to their 70s and 80s and 90s because when they were born 70 years ago, there weren't very many people who did that. This is why the number one thing people say in their 50s and 60s about money is that they regret not saving more and earlier.  So, I fear that you're right. A lot of people should have been saving more. I don't lament and regret or beat them up at the fact that they didn't. I'm more interested in figuring out ways we can help them now. 

And Vincent Harris wrote, and he said, “A lot of old people will be selling everything in this scenario.” And I'm afraid, Vincent, you're right. He added the word, sad. And it certainly is. A lot of people who have very little in assets, other than perhaps their home, are going to be discovering that the assets they have aren't worth very much. Think about it. What's your TV and sofa worth? But that home? That is worth something. You very well may be forced to sell it in the future. And what's that going to mean for your lifestyle? Frankly, where are you going to live?  

Jay Anderson wrote, “As far as being a burden on government budgets, we paid into the system for 50 years for myself, and the government squandered our money.” Well, Jay, that indignation, if I can infer that from what you wrote, is well placed. And this is why a lot of people are so angry about what's happening with the Social Security system. The bottom line is this. A lot of people, like Jay, said we dutifully, faithfully, contributed a lot of our paycheck to fund Social Security. The government promised we would have certain benefits upon retirement. Now we're being told the benefits aren't going to be there as promised. The government, having wasted money in other areas, to create this problem. Well, I agree it's, um, how do you phrase it? It's inappropriate. It's imperfect. It's impolite. It's unconscionable. It's aggravating. It's annoying. It's infuriating. We can ascribe whatever emotional feeling we want to it, but the bottom line is this – this is the situation we're in. So, we can all complain about the fact that we're in a leaky rowboat, or we can figure out how to plug the leak and figure out which way is land so we can start rowing. 

I'm not diminishing your anger, Jay. I'm simply saying that isn't helping us with a solution. We've got to get past our anger, and even though you were promised something, even though you deserve it, doesn't mean that you're going to get it.  

Cheryl Campbell wrote, “I'm 75 and still work 12 hours a week. I'm bored staying at home.” Well, I love this Cheryl. You've got a little bit more of an upbeat attitude than Jay does. Um, however, this is based on the fact that you not only want to stay active, you're physically and mentally able to stay active, and you aren't burdened by caregiving responsibilities that would preclude you from being able to do it, even though you're physically healthy enough and mentally interested enough in doing so. But it Just does show you that at age 75, working 12 hours a week, Cheryl's probably generating some additional income for her that makes a big difference in her lifestyle and financial security. Unfortunately, not every 75 year old is in as good a situation as Cheryl is. And that's one of the big things we have to look out for. Your personal situation. might not be reflective of what's happening more broadly around the country, and why we have to look beyond our circumstances to those of others. I think Jay and Cheryl could benefit from that examination. 

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Ric Edelman: On tomorrow's show, are you going to be ready when it's time for mom or dad to stop driving? 

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Ric Edelman: Well, finally, the SEC signed off on the paperwork and hallelujah, the Ethereum ETFs have started trading. Now more than ever, you really need to understand this asset class. I've given you plenty of advance notice to get the education you need. But it's not too late. That's the good news. Ethereum ETFs are just the tip of the iceberg. Bitcoin, Ethereum, NFTs, tokenization, the metaverse, DeFi, DePin, Decomp. Do you know what any of that stuff is? Crypto regulation? How about crypto taxation? All this is why you need to enroll in my CBDA course, become Certified in Blockchain and Digital Assets. It's the oldest and largest crypto education program in the world. The program's got a world class faculty and all the courses are online. So you can study at your own pace and then you get to display your CBDA designation. It's on FINRA's list of professional designations. And to celebrate the launch of the new Ethereum ETS, which have 25% as much money in them as bitcoin, you can enroll in the course right now and save, you guessed it, 25%. The links in the show notes. Use discount code ETH25. But hurry, this offer lasts for just two weeks. So hit that link today. 

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Ric Edelman: Today is the day for the much-anticipated webinar, The New Ethereum ETFs: Answers to the Big Questions, hosted by me and Bitwise CIO Matt Hougan. The new Ethereum ETFs have started trading, so at 2:00pm ET, we'll cover everything you need to know about investing in these new ETFs, including how they differ from bitcoin ETFs, what to consider when selecting among the eight available Ethereum ETFs, and the tax implications. We'll also provide insights into expected market impacts, asset flow predictions, and future pricing trends. Plus, earn 1 CE credit! Join us today at 2:00pm ET. Visit DACFP.com to register now. The link is in the show notes. 

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Ric Edelman: I’m glad you’re with me here on The Truth About Your Future. If you like what you're hearing, be sure to follow and subscribe to the show, wherever you get your podcasts, Apple, Spotify, YouTube – and remember leave a review on Apple podcasts. I read them all! Never miss an episode of The Truth About Your Future. Follow and subscribe on your favorite podcast app. 

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Links from today’s show: 

The New Ethereum ETFs: Answers to the Big Questions (7/24 Bitwise Webinar – Register Now!): https://dacfp.com/webinar-the-new-ethereum-etfs-answers-to-the-big-questions/  

Become Certified in Blockchain and Digital Assets: https://dacfp.com/certification/ 

Boomers are Peaking (5/14/24 Episode): https://www.thetayf.com/blogs/this-weeks-stories/boomers-are-peaking  

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