The Lab
Practical articles for consequential decisions.
The NJL Design Lab blog publishes source-backed guides, models, and operating systems for financial independence, investing, real estate, family finance, AI, and the non-money side of life.
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Filters run across the complete archive. Featured series keep multi-part ideas in a deliberate reading order.
AI & Future of Work
When the First Rung Disappears: How Do People Build Experience in an AI Economy?
If AI compresses the routine work that once trained beginners, where will experienced people come from? A practical framework for paid learning, supervised responsibility, credible work samples, and…
Artificial Intelligence
Who Holds the Keys When AI Runs the Household?
AI can help run a household, but useful delegation needs clear limits. A practical framework for family data, authority, recoverable mistakes, and taking back control.
Wealth & FI
How We Built the AI Trailer: What Worked, What Broke, and What We Learned
Congratulations, AGI Is Almost Here is a fictional, satirical trailer about Walter Sterling, the Bureau of Artificial Intelligence Preparedness and Domestic Continuity, and the Robinson family preparing for…
Artificial Intelligence
Preparing for Different AGI Timelines: What Changes If the Future Arrives in 2, 5, 10, or 20+ Years?
No one knows exactly when AGI will arrive. A resilient household does not need one correct prediction. It needs a plan that works across several plausible timelines.
Artificial Intelligence
AI, Government, and the Social Contract: UBI, Universal High Income, and the Policy Choices Ahead
AI may create enormous productivity gains, but technology alone will not determine how those gains are distributed. Governments will have to decide how income security, public services, taxation,…
Artificial Intelligence
Robotics and the Physical Economy: When AI Leaves the Screen
AI changes information first. Robotics changes the physical world. Understanding the difference explains why economic disruption may unfold in stages rather than all at once.
AI
Building Local Community Resilience in the Age of AI and AGI
AI will reshape communities long before it reshapes civilization. Strong local networks, trusted institutions, and adaptable economies will matter more than ever.
AI
Raising Children in the Age of AGI: Skills, Education, and Human Agency
When information becomes inexpensive and AI can perform many cognitive tasks, the goal of education changes. Children will still need knowledge, but they will need judgment, initiative, relationships,…
AI
The AGI Career Transition Playbook: How to Protect Income Without Trying to Outrun AI
Career resilience does not require predicting which jobs AI will eliminate. It requires understanding which tasks are changing, moving closer to durable outcomes, and building more than one…
AI
What Is AGI? What It Is, What It Is Not, and How to Track Progress
AGI may not arrive through one universally accepted announcement. This guide explains artificial intelligence from the beginning, examines current frontier systems, and identifies the technical, economic, and social…
AI
The AGI Mortgage Trap: Why Location, Debt, and Household Resilience Matter More Than Net Worth
A large net worth cannot protect a household from a payment it cannot carry. This framework helps families evaluate mortgages, locations, careers, and liquidity for an uncertain AI…
AI & Future of Work
Household Self-Sufficiency in the Age of AGI
A practical plan to lower household costs, strengthen food, energy, water, and transportation systems, and preserve flexibility through an uncertain AI transition.