What's in store for you:

1. Photo From My Life
2. Life Thought:
3. Financial Thought:
4. Good Sh*t

Housekeeping:

I recently received great feedback from my brother about adding a sign-up link on my newsletter for people who received this email via a friend's forward. Brilliant thought. If you have feedback, always share it!

If you enjoy my newsletter, I'd appreciate you sharing it with someone who might find it relevant. I've added the sign-up button right here for this email, and in the future, it will be located at the bottom of the email.

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Photo From My Life:

Life Thought:

It's easy to assume life follows a linear path. Every day will be smooth as you get better, happier, wealthier, etc. Our brain tricks us into this belief because no one wants to struggle.

However, we all know that this isn't actually how it works. As someone who is prioritizing improving my golf game, it's been the exact opposite path. (I went out last weekend and shot a 116!) Overall, my game is getting slightly better, but I still have more terrible days than I'd like to admit.

However badly we want life to be a smooth path, it's impossible. Life gets messy, complicated, and hard. We lose perspective. We lose sight of the fact that while we may be struggling right now, we're actually in a better position than a year ago. Having this perspective makes every challenge a bit easier.

Financial Thought:

It's probably obvious, but sometimes I think obvious things are worth saying. Everyone should love deferring taxes.

If you're a entrepreneur or high-earner, your tax rate is higher right now than it will ever be in retirement. In retirement, ordinary income typically drops and your spending comes from Social Security and retirement accounts (of which a portion will be withdrawn tax-free). The portion of your withdrawals that come from taxable accounts will be considered capital gains and you'll pay a lot less tax on it than you'd expect. I added a chart below from Ben Carlson (one of the best financial bloggers out there) that highlights what your tax rate will look like in retirement:

Sure, maybe this is obvious, but there are some wrinkles that scare people.

1. People are afraid of tax rates massively increasing over the next 20 years before their retirement. Marginal tax rates may increase with inflation, but I'd take the bet that the tax rates on long-term capital gains won't increase by 15-20%. You should take that same bet.
2. Many of my entrepreneur friends are hesitant to max out 401k retirement-style accounts because they lose the ability to access that capital. The belief that they can invest that capital into their own ventures and earn a higher return than the tax savings may be valid. However, I always advise diversification and increased savings when you're an entrepreneur. The benefit of tax savings is massive and should be taken advantage of if possible.

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Good Sh*t:

Most of what I share under the Good Sh*t section are firsthand recommendations. However, I'm making an exception today. Two people I trust and respect independently mentioned this book to me within the last week. Both mentioned how it's meaningfully changed their frame of mind around their life and career.

The book is focused on finding success, happiness and purpose in the second half of life. If this resonates with you, I suggest you check it out. You can find it on Amazon here.

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