Blake | PathwayToFI

Over the past three months, we’ve traveled thru 5 countries, seen amazing architecture, art, and history, and eaten multiple Michelin star meals. But one of our favorite experiences will be playing tag in a big park at night in Spain. The best things in life are often free. Their only cost is time. So buy back your time whenever you can.

The best investment I’ll ever make is not a stock pick or real estate deal. It’s the lifetime of memories my family is making together on our 9-month trip around the world. The ROI is incalculable.

What if the biggest investing mistake isn’t missing the next Apple—but thinking you have to spot it in advance? You didn’t need to predict Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, or Nvidia. You only needed to own the market. Index investing lets you capture tomorrow’s winners without guessing who they are today.

My 5th grade daughter wants to be a veterinarian. So we’re building her education around that interest. 🦈 Field trips to zoos, aquariums, and science museums. 🧬 More emphasis on biology in her schoolwork. 🩹 Letting her play doctor whenever one of us gets a minor injury or illness. We’re using our mini-retirement to give her something traditional school can’t easily offer: an education personalized to her interests. Who knows where it will lead? But I hope she never loses that curiosity.

Do you want to spend 9 months traveling around the world some day? Top 3 reasons my family was able to do it this year: 1. Paid off mortgage 2. Cash flowing rental properties 3. Consistently invested in our 401ks and Roth IRAs for 20 years Big experiences are made possible by decades of small financial decisions.

There are two ways to spend a big raise or bonus: 1. Buy things that make you LOOK wealthy 2. Buy assets that make you wealthy One gives you a nicer lifestyle today. The other gives you more options later. Eventually, you can have both. Just don’t confuse them.

Your greatest investing advantage when you’re young isn’t knowledge. It’s time. You can survive market crashes, recover from mistakes, and let decades of compounding do the heavy lifting. You don’t need to predict the next great stock. You just need to start, stay invested, and give your money time to grow.

The best financial decision for a 22-year-old isn’t necessarily the best decision for a 52-year-old. Early on: • Increase income • Control spending • Build savings • Invest consistently As wealth grows: • Protect what you’ve built • Manage risk • Optimize taxes • Give your money a purpose Your strategy should evolve as your financial life evolves.

Investing is the only way to build wealth. Invest in stocks. Invest in real estate. Invest in yourself. Invest in your business. Keep investing and wealth will follow.

If you skip the 401k match, you’re giving income back to your employer. Who would do this? Apparently millions of Americans, who give a total of $24B back each year.

Trading homes is house hacking for travelers. I’m staying in Spain for 4 weeks out of 8 by trading homes with other travelers. The result? Saving ~$6,000 by putting an asset to work that I’m not using otherwise. Plus, we get to live more like locals in each destination. Sometimes the best way to save money is to make better use of what you own.

The secret to being wealthy… is being happy with what you have.

The Magnificent 7 were valued at $25 trillion at one point this week. That’s more than the entire economic output of every country except the US!! Alphabet trades for ~17 times earnings. Amazon: ~20x Meta: ~27x Nvidia: ~27x Microsoft: ~29x Apple: ~39x Tesla: ~350x Do you think these companies are worth the going price?

The S&P 500 is a great base for a portfolio. But it isn’t diversified. Just 7 companies make up almost 35%: Microsoft Alphabet Amazon NVIDIA Apple Tesla Meta Want to diversify further? The easiest way is to own an International Ex-US fund. International stocks make up roughly 40% of global stock market value and increase exposure to different industries. Diversification means not having to bet your financial future on one country, one sector, or seven companies.

The Sagrada Família is a masterpiece inside & out. It’s taken 144 years to build and is still unfinished. Anything worth building takes time. Patience. Work. It’s never easy. Building meaningful wealth is the same. It takes patience and effort. But it will be worth it if you put it to good use.

Wealth can make your life better. It can also make your life worse. It can buy a home for your family or a mansion to impress strangers. It can fund your freedom or fuel your greed. It can provide security or create a sense of superiority. It can help you give generously or tempt you to hoard selfishly. Building wealth matters. But who you become while building it—and what you do with it—matter more.

Underrated benefit of mini-retirements: You learn how to live without a paycheck while your investments keep working for you. You test your spending. You practice drawing from your assets. You build confidence in your plan. Retirement becomes less a leap of faith and more a transition that you’ve already practiced. Are you planning a mini-retirement before fully retiring?

It’s hard to build wealth with debt hanging over your head. It’s easy to build wealth when you don’t owe money to anyone. Get out of debt. Free up your income. Put it to work for you instead of the banks.

You can’t win the status game on X. There will always be someone richer, driving a nicer car, or showing off a bigger portfolio. But you CAN win the wealth game in real life. Just make freedom the goal, not looking rich. Which game are you playing?

Investing is an act of optimism. You need to believe the asset will go up. You won’t get rich by being a pessimist.