The RSU Trap: When Employer Stock Becomes a Hidden Liability
Part 4 of the Rational Compounding Framework A friend at Google had a realization last year that I’ve watched play out more times than I can count. He’d been there…
Why High Earners Still Fail to Build Wealth
Part 3 of the Rational Compounding Framework There’s a specific kind of broke that doesn’t look broke. Last year I came across a thread on Blind where a $350K Meta…
The 3 Engines of Wealth: Income, Investment, and Optionality
Part 2 of the Rational Compounding Framework I know someone who made $400K last year and lives paycheck to paycheck. I know someone else who makes $120K and has $800K invested,…
The Math of Wealth: Why Compounding Rewards the Disciplined (Not the Lucky)
Part 1 of the Rational Compounding Framework There’s a conversation that happens every December at some holiday party somewhere. Someone mentions their portfolio is up 47% for the year. They caught…
The Rational Compounding Framework: A Systematic Approach to Wealth
Somewhere in the last decade, we produced an entire generation of high earners who can’t explain their net worth. Not the number itself — most people know that — but…
The Government Pays You 5%. Most People Still Don’t Know How to Collect It.
I’ve been watching the HYSA rate decline for about eighteen months now and I keep noticing the same gap: families with meaningful cash reserves sitting in savings accounts earning 3.5…
The Market Dropped. Did You Collect Your Tax Refund?
I want to reframe how most people think about investment losses, because the standard mental model is backwards. When a position in your taxable brokerage account goes down, most investors…
The 529 Isn’t Just a College Bet. It’s a Tax Break You’re Taking This Year.
The mental model most parents have about 529 plans goes something like this: put money away for eighteen years, hope the markets cooperate, hope your kid goes to college, get…
The Retirement Account Most Freelancers Don’t Know They’re Ignoring
The IRA contribution limit in 2026 is $7,000. The Solo 401(k) contribution limit is $69,000. Both are available to self-employed people. Most freelancers, consultants, and side business owners are using…
The 5% HYSA Window Is Closing. Here’s Where the Money Still Works.
The peak was October 2023. The Fed funds rate hit 5.5% and online banks were competing aggressively for deposits — Marcus, Ally, CIT, Discover all pushing rates above 5% to…
