Five Thoughts

The flu hit me hard on the evening of December 30th. Today, January 10th, my brain fog has finally lifted. The last time I was sick was at least ten years ago, so this illness had me more upset than unwell. If you're wondering where I've been, I've been sick.

Here are five random thoughts and announcements from the past few weeks.

Growth

We added a team member on January 5th. Here’s the email we sent to clients this past week.

Arman Hundal joined us as an Associate Wealth Advisor.

Before I tell you about Arman, a quick reassurance: I'm not going anywhere. I will continue to be your advisor. Carey's been running the administrative side for over ten years and she's not going anywhere either. Arman will be learning from both of us.

When I started in this industry, I was thrown in the deep end, cold-calling strangers with no training, micromanaged on the small stuff but left completely alone on what actually mattered. I had no seat at the table with existing clients and no real understanding of how the business worked. It was brutal, but I learned. And when it came time to bring on an associate, I knew exactly what not to do.

Arman isn't being tossed to the wolves. He'll sit in client meetings, learn our approach, and absorb how this business actually runs. I'll be hands-on at first, then step back as his confidence and competence build. The goal isn't to create a mini-me. It's to develop an advisor who knows our standards, our processes, and our clients.

Arman was part of the team that helped Carey and me move from our previous firm to Raymond James. It's not often I'm impressed by someone's work ethic. Arman showed up early, stayed late, and caught mistakes before you ever saw them. His bio will be live on our website soon, listing his education and experience (it's impressive).

1976

We live in interesting times. We always do.

I try to avoid the news. I can't remember who said it, but I'll never forget this: "When I watch the news, the world's problems turn into my problems; and I already have more than enough problems." Still, I've heard a lot about what's happened ten days into 2026.

I'll never forget what one of my economic history professors told me close to twenty years ago. He said that whenever you think what might be an historical event takes place in your life, look at what happened fifty years ago. Then take everything into context.

Here are just a few things that were happening in 1976: the Cambodian Genocide, the "Dirty War" in Argentina (I wrote a term paper about this in university), a potential New York City bankruptcy, Son of Sam, double digit inflation, and a separatist party winning power in Quebec.

Now imagine social media was around and all those things were amplified every second of every day and you were living in it.

Other interesting things took place in 1976 too: Apple Computers was founded, Microsoft registered as a business, Rocky debuted, and a Californian wine beat a French wine in the Judgment of Paris (an absolute travesty, by the way).

The New York City Subway Rule

Carley and I went to New York City for Christmas (it's probably where I got the flu). We rode the subway a lot. There are plenty of interesting characters "under the city." For the most part, though, everyone keeps to themselves, with eyes down and ear plugs in.

Every so often, though, you can't help but notice people staring at you. There's an unwritten rule when riding public transit anywhere: don't make eye contact with strangers. If you do, you put yourself into a potentially bad or volatile situation.

Whenever I tell my clients how important it is to not pay attention to their investments, I tell them about what I call the New York City Subway Rule. If you avoid making eye contact, you avoid putting yourself in a bad or volatile situation. So, please, stop looking at your investments more often than you check your blood pressure.

Carley and I only once had to change subway cars because of an uncomfortable situation. Considering how often we used it, I'd say that's not too bad.

Fiction

I used to read a lot of fiction but stopped during the pandemic for some reason. This past summer I started again. I read The Passage Trilogy, a few short story collections, Mary and O'Neil, and a few Stephen King books.

The character of Annie Wilkes in Stephen King's Misery (also a movie starring Kathy Bates and James Caan that I haven't seen) epitomizes the stock market. Annie is a perfect antagonist. She's unpredictable, dangerous, and impossible to reason with. I'll spare you spoilers and won't consider the character of Paul, but here's why Annie is the stock market:

She causes pain and anxiety if you try to outsmart her. When you feel good, she wants to make you feel even better. Without warning her mood can change, and you can't help but get caught up in the euphoria and despair. Sometimes the pain she inflicts can be catastrophic. It's best to respect her (even if you don’t), but more than anything – ignore her.

Bad Businesses

I'll be careful how I write this one. Imagine a business you don't frequent. It could be a restaurant, bakery, grocery store, the list goes on. Now imagine that business puts out a promo: "If you only buy from us, we'll give you an iPad or $500."

I don't know about you, but I'd think there was something wrong with that business.