The American Dream now requires $5 million in lifetime earnings. Unless you live in NYC or San Francisco. Then it’s $5 million and 2 roommates.

I don't publicly endorse anonymous accounts, but this is a pretty good list.

Cliche, but very true. Time is your most valuable asset. Impossible to earn more.

Something I should be more vocal about as I grow my boutique wealth management firm: I founded, built, ran, and sold a company. Not many advisors can say that. I know what it feels like to be in the trenches. The emotions, the pressure, the constant second-guessing that business

I'm not Dave Ramsey and (thankfully) my client base doesn't needs that level of handholding with their budget. I recently learned about the “Buy Once, Cry Once” philosophy. The idea is simple: it’s better to buy the highest-quality item that lasts forever (and complain about

Do you live in a high-tax state (CA, NY, NJ, OR, etc)? If you’re in the accumulation phase of life, think carefully about owning investments that generate distributions taxed as ordinary income in taxable accounts. As I always say, everyone's situation is different and there

Can anyone recommend a good video-editor for four 10minute videos per month? Don’t need a dull agency, more focused on quality editing.

One of the things I keep being reminded of: The faster a new business can generate revenue, the more likely it will face long-term competitive pressures due to limited barriers to entry.

2 weeks without my phone in the bedroom. No scrolling. Reading a lot more. Relying on retro alarm clock. Would recommend.

A lot of people want to help their kids buy a home or invest in a business. Most families don't just write a check for $500k. There’s a cleaner way to transfer wealth. Intra-family loans. Here’s how it works: 1. Instead of gifting money outright, you lend it. 2. But

I've converted 5+ excel junky finance professionals to use Monarch at this point. I still manually track my balance sheet every month, but for spending, it's impossible to beat Monarch.

I just fat-fingered my son's 529 plan contribution. Reminds me of the time that I messed up the hedge on an FX option trade while working at Deutsche Bank. My boss pulled me off the desk for the rest of the day. Thankfully, the GA 529 support team was considerably nicer.

My wife and I welcomed our daughter, Ocie Hazel VandenBerg, six weeks early on October 19th. Mom and baby are both doing well, though we’ll be spending the next few weeks in the NICU. I’ll be a bit quieter here as we focus on our newest (and tiniest) family member.

If I had to take a drink every time I said "it depends" on a prospect call, I'd be in trouble.

I'm not a natural salesmen. I knew that was going to be my biggest challenge as I build this business. I focus on providing a lot of value. But, I need to get better at a "pitch" after I provide value. All part of the process.

Maybe having everything in the S&P500 isn't the best strategy?

One of the key values of having a long-term wealth advisor is support with "big decision analysis." I'm often asked what that actually entails. It's numbers (and psychological) support with: 1. Primary (or vacation) home purchases 2. Job changes 3. Moving 4. Family planning

One (of many) examples of why you should likely trim employer stock holdings and not double down on your employer.....