I wanted to mark this date and time, 5/17/24 10:40 a.m. as the first time I used the ChatGPT App on my iPhone to have a verbal conversation with ChatGPT 4o. I believe this technology will change everything. I just wanted to make a note of it like a journal entry.
This moment is similar to the moment in 1985 when I started my IBM PC/XT for the first time at Spear Oil Company. Dad was computerizing the company’s accounting and one of the consultants showed me how to boot it up. I remember the computer beeped while starting up and I jumped because I was so excited. I was 14 years old and had only heard about the wonders of a personal computer. Seeing it live and in action for the first time was thrilling. This moment coincided with the opening of the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. I went to the opening play, “A Midsummer Nights Dream” that night, but couldn’t stay focused because all I thought about during the play was getting back to that PC to play around with it and see what it could do.
It thrills me to follow OpenAI’s development to see and experience how this new technology will be used for good. AI will automate the mundane so that we may focus on more meaningful work leading to more meaningful lives. This is but the beginning of something very good.
Pretend I invested $10,000 in the stock market and $10,000 in real estate in 1990. What would each investment be worth today?ChatGPT
ChatGPT
To estimate the value of your investments in the stock market and real estate from 1990 to today, we’ll need to consider the average annual returns for each sector over that period.
Stock Market Investment
For the stock market, a good proxy for general market performance is the S&P 500 index. According to historical data:
1990 Starting Point: The S&P 500 started around 353 points.
2023 Endpoint: As of late 2023, the S&P 500 was around 4,300 points.
Average Annual Return: The annual return of the S&P 500, including dividends reinvested, averages about 10% per year over long periods.
Using this average return, we can estimate the growth of a $10,000 investment in the stock market from 1990 to 2023.
Real Estate Investment
For real estate, the U.S. national average can be considered through indices like the Case-Shiller Home Price Index:
1990 Starting Point: We’ll base this on general historical data that shows significant growth in U.S. housing prices since 1990.
2023 Endpoint: According to the Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED), average U.S. housing prices have seen substantial growth, particularly in the last decade.
Average Annual Return: The average annual return for real estate varies by location, but a national average might be around 4% per year.
We can calculate the estimated value of a $10,000 real estate investment using this average return.
Calculations
Let’s calculate the compound growth for both investments over 33 years using the formula:
Future Value=Present Value×(1+rate)number of yearsFuture Value=Present Value×(1+rate)number of years
Let’s perform these calculations to see the estimated current values of these investments.
Based on the average annual returns over the past 33 years, the estimated values of the investments would be as follows:
Stock Market: Your initial $10,000 investment in the stock market would have grown to approximately $232,252.
Real Estate: Your initial $10,000 investment in real estate would have grown to approximately $36,484.
These estimates show that the stock market, particularly when tracked through an index like the S&P 500, would have provided a significantly higher return compared to the average real estate investment over the same period. This disparity highlights the higher average annual growth rate of the stock market, which includes the compounded effects of reinvesting dividends.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is a psychological theory proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper “A Theory of Human Motivation”. It’s often depicted as a pyramid and consists of five levels of needs:
Physiological Needs: These are the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as food, water, sleep and warmth.
Safety Needs: Once physiological needs are met, the individual’s attention turns to safety and security in order to be free from the threat of physical and emotional harm. This includes health, employment, property, family, and social stability.
Love and Belonging Needs: These involve feelings of belongingness, love and affection. People need to have a sense of belonging with their social groups, whether these are families, friends, or colleagues.
Esteem Needs: This level of need pertains to feeling accomplished and recognized. They involve the desire for reputation or respect from others, status, recognition, and respect from others.
Self-Actualization Needs: This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy and refers to the realization of a person’s potential, self-fulfillment, and the desire to become creative in the full pursuit of one’s passions and goals.
It’s important to note that, according to Maslow, an individual must satisfy lower level needs before they can move on to meet higher level growth needs. However, this theory has been evolved and refined over years, and the strict hierarchy is not always considered to be the most accurate model for understanding human motivation today.
