The Creator Economy Is Mad

Gumroad's new pricing and BIG changes to retirement accounts

Author

Tom Harari
December 23, 2022

GM. This is the Generational, the wealth building newsletter that's warmer than a hot chocolate on Christmas Eve.

Let’s get into the good stuff! 

Creator Economy Is Furious With Gumroad

Gumroad, a popular tool for selling digital products, was once the darling of the creator economy.

Sharing your Gumroad earnings was a rite of passage amongst influencers.

Then Gumroad announced new pricing and....it got a little 🌶

Here's why they did it:

  • The platform does +$200M GMV (the amount creators make using Gumroad)

  • Gumroad has historically taken a small bite of that and now wants more

  • Something about the last 10 years being a zero interest rate environment

  • Sahil, the founder, not wanting to IPO or sell secondary shares of his stock and instead wants dividends

There's a saying that its easy to grow fast selling $1 for $0.75. Maybe Gumroad realized it was giving away the cow and no longer wanted to be a public service? That's their right!

But it's also a fiercely competitive space and the moment the news hit a bunch of competitors started raising their hands asking for the business.

Arvid Kahl is a respected creator, bootstrapped founder, and podcaster had Sahil on his show to talk through the news:

The Bootstrapped Founder | [Bonus] Sahil Lavingia — Gumroad’s Pricing Disaster

Arvid asks Sahil why Gumroad changed their prices and how he's dealing with the community backlash.

https://share.transistor.fm/s/9cfd7987

Secure 2.0 Changing The Retirement Game

Congress is finally getting around to passing the monster $1.7T (yes, trillion) spending bill.

A big part that's getting a lot of press? Updates to the 2019 Secure Act which deals with retirement account(s).

  • Auto-enroll into 401(k)

  • Increased age for "required minimum distributions" (RMD)

  • Increased catch-up contributions

  • Increased ability to create emergency savings

A great Twitter thread by @CPAPlanner here:

Bite Sized Snippets

  • Secure 2.0 changes to retirement savings (CNBC)

  • 29% of US adults anticipate their finances worsening in coming year (FOX Business)

  • Higher rates continue to weigh on homebuying demand (Business Insider)

  • The top 10 real estate markets seeing the biggest changes (USA Today)

Meme of the Day

That's a wrap for today, ladies & gents. Wishing you a Happy Holiday and Merry Christmas. See ya Tuesday!

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