The Van-Dweller’s Edge
Amity Warme is one of the most accomplished big-wall climbers in the world. She lives in a van. Tacked to the wall of that van is a scrap of paper with five words that carry more weight than any financial plan:
“Do my choices support my goals?”
It’s a deceptively simple question. It’s also the one most people, myself included, fail to answer honestly every single day.
In the world of finance, we love to bury the simple truths under a mountain of complexity. We obsess over investments, tax alpha, and market volatility while ignoring the fundamental disconnect between our bank accounts and our actual lives. We claim we want freedom, then tether ourselves to choices that create friction.
My goal for this newsletter, and for every client I serve, is to strip away that noise.
Financial planning isn't about the math; it’s about alignment. If your daily financial choices aren't moving the needle toward the life you actually want to live, then the "strategy" is just theater.
If your current advisor is focused on the ticker symbols but missing the "whole picture", the part where your money actually serves your humanity, let’s talk.
It might be time to pin a new question to the mirror.
Shameless plug for my daughter's Girl Scout cookie efforts. Here is her storefront.
Are you a business owner tired of 20% plus increases in your health insurance costs? Watch this.
Fascinating Perspective by McKinsey CEO. This seems to be the future of white-collar work that affects most or all of us reading this.
The Most Crowded Room in History
Torsten Slok, the Chief Economist at Apollo, just released a chart that should make every "passive" investor a little bit twitchy.
It shows the S&P 500, the index we’ve all been told is the gold standard for "diversification", reaching a level of concentration we haven't seen in modern history. Nearly 40% of the entire index is now just ten companies. If you own the S&P 500 today, you aren't betting on the American economy; you’re betting on a tiny, elite club of AI-adjacent tech giants.
We have a name for this: The Illusion of Safety.
Most investors think they are "diversified" because they own 500 different stocks. In reality, they are walking into a room with 500 doors that all lead to the same basement. If that basement, AI sentiment, starts to feel a little damp, everyone tries to squeeze through those doors at the exact same time.
This isn't a "sell everything" warning. Tech is a miracle of modern productivity. But if you already have a meaningful slice of your net worth in these names, and you have new money to put to work, you have to ask a Michael Lewis-style question:
Am I buying value, or am I just following the loudest guy in the room?
What I've Enjoyed Recently
Two wildly different perspectives on life and business. Jerry Jones vs. the Baltimore Ravens' Owner. Let's all be more like Steve Bisciotti and not be willing to do whatever it takes for success at the cost of family feuds or worse.
His and Hers Netflix
Ladder: A fascinating business story about a pivot and taking one thing very seriously. So many great business lessons here.
How to fix your life in 1 day. So many lessons here.
See Ya Soon
-Matt Magee
