A bi-weekly newsletter from our Founder & Portfolio Manager, Ryan A. Hughes. Straight talk on markets, taxes, and money. Read by 2,700+ people who value clear thinking.
Key Takeaways: What Retirement Ready Means at Age 55 Reaching 55 with a healthy nest egg can have a strange feeling. You’ve done the work, the balance looks solid, and yet you still can’t answer the one question that matters: whether your next paycheck could be your last. Retiring at 55 can be a gift,...
Key Takeaways: For many professionals in tech, biotech, and other high-growth industries, company stock starts as a valuable part of compensation. It can eventually become one of the largest pieces of their net worth. That ownership may come through RSUs, Restricted Stock Awards (RSAs), or stock options. The challenge is that a benefit designed to...
Key Takeaways: Retirement planning isn’t a single decision you make once and forget about. It’s a string of decisions that starts the day you get your first paycheck and doesn’t end until you’re gone. How early you start saving, what you do with your 401(k) every time you change jobs, and how you manage your...
Key Takeaways: Calculating your retirement number sounds like a simple exercise, right up until you open three online calculators, get three different answers, and start to scratch your head. Those calculators disagree because they’re all guessing at your life. You’re not. When you build the number from a few pieces you know, and hold onto...
Twice a year, in January and July, we record a portfolio update that walks through the markets, how we build portfolios, and where we think things are headed. This is the mid-year 2026 edition. The economy: good, not great The U.S. economy is still expanding. Growth ran about 2.1% in the first quarter, and the...
Key Takeaways: If you are approaching 60 with $4M saved, you have built a strong foundation. For many households, that level of savings creates the opportunity to step away from work and start using the wealth you have spent decades building. However, the real question is not simply whether $4M is enough. The better question...
Key Takeaways: San Diego offers much of what people look for in retirement: great weather, outdoor activities, access to the coast, strong communities, and a lifestyle many want to enjoy after years of working. However, enjoying retirement here also comes with higher costs. Housing, insurance, healthcare, taxes, and everyday expenses can add up quickly, especially...
Key Takeaways: Can you retire at 55 in San Diego with $3 million? In many cases, yes. But the answer depends on far more than the portfolio balance. Housing costs, healthcare, taxes, spending habits, and how many years your money needs to last all play a role. Retiring at 55 is vastly different from retiring...
Key Takeaways: Can you retire early in San Diego with $3 million to $5 million? Perhaps. Though in many cases, the answer is yes. A portfolio of that size may feel like enough, but the answer depends on more than the balance itself. Housing costs, taxes, healthcare, spending habits, and the number of years your...
The upcoming SpaceX IPO has a ton of red flags. I am really, really wary of this deal, and so should you. If all goes according to plan, SpaceX (ticker: SPCX) will be the largest IPO in history. By a wide margin. The company is hoping to raise $75B, which would give the company a...
Stocks have been on a tear lately, which, of course, everyone seems to hate. Pick your poison: a slowing labor market, the Strait of Hormuz closure, a new Fed Chairman, midterm elections, $39T in national debt, etc. There’s plenty to be worried about. On paper, things should be worse off than they actually are. So,...
We get this question a lot. “Is now a terrible time to invest?” It’s a fair question. Everybody has something to lose if it actually is a terrible time to buy the market. Money. We’ve had a number of clients and prospective clients express their fears recently as the U.S.-Iran war unfolded. I get it....
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