Do You Want to Be Rich — Or Just Look Rich?

👋🏻 Good morning, dear reader. I sincerely hope you’re having an excellent week.

1. I will get back to everyone’s emails. It just takes time.

2. If there’s a stock or investment idea you’d like me to write up, email me.

Intro:

Today’s letter is a bit different from our usual investment deep dives (we’ll get back to that next week). No tickers. No charts. But perhaps something even more important.

Because value investing isn’t just about compounding your money. It’s about growing as a person.

In my view, you cannot consistently compound wealth over decades unless you live by a certain internal code — one rooted in self-awareness, humility, and discipline. So from time to time, I like to zoom out and talk about the human side of investing with you.

And this isn’t me preaching from some enlightened perch. Like you, I’m just a work in progress.

But there’s a fundamental question every investor — probably every ambitious adult — has to ask themselves at some point:

Do you want to be wealthy, or just look rich?

The $5 Million Man

A family friend recently relayed a story that stuck with me.

Years ago, they worked alongside a man who was making serious money — about $5 million a year — at a pod shop in New York. Married. Kids. Big job. Beautiful life. The full optics of success.

But he was living on about $7 million a year. Engaged in an arms race of social signaling (yikes).

This went on for years — until the interest payments caught up with him. Eventually he declared bankruptcy and his wife left. Apparently, he’s doing better now. Mellow. Humbled. Happier.

Now it’s one thing to know these stories technically exist, but it hits a little different when you’re only one Kevin Bacon away from the guy.

Yeah, most people don’t earn $5 million a year — but they play the same game.

• They spend more than they make.

• They buy cars they can’t afford.

• They buy homes they don’t need. Homes they can’t even afford to replace the roof on.

• They swipe credit cards to project success.

• Savings / investments are an after thought.

In America, appearances have become a form of currency. I guess most people would rather look like they’re winning than actually win.

And beyond that much of it is self-deception. We convince ourselves we “need” these things. We justify luxuries as necessities. We devolve into selfishness and arrogance and call it “a reliable car” or “a vacation” (You financed a trip to Amalfi. For Instagram. You’re not even supposed to go there without a boat. You’re an idiot.)

And then people wonder why they feel stressed, anxious, or stuck.

Investing isn’t just about financials. It’s about morals and principles.

When you buy a car you can actually afford instead of financing an $80,000 hunk of shit from GMC, you’re not just saving money that will compound over time — you’re practicing humility.

When you understand a home purchase is most often a liability, not an asset, you’ve engaged in critical thinking. (Instead of letting the bank, that’s selling you a 30-year mortgage, that you’re somehow wining lol).

When you quietly invest an extra $500 instead of blowing it at Matsuhisa (I love Matsuhisa), you’re performing an act of delayed gratification — the most underrated magic in wealth building.

These aren’t just financial decisions. They are personal wins. Wins that will make your life more fulfilling and less hectic. Nothing’s quite as hectic as someone living on the edge of their credit limit to look impressive. Or being 55 wondering how you’re going to retire.

Anytime you’re willing to look a little less impressive in order to secure your future, you’re compounding your capital and your character simultaneously.

So what kind of rich do you want to be?

1. Looks Less Impressive: Buys a house all cash at 45 (the norm for all American history until 80 years ago).

2. Looks More Impressive to Dolts: “Buys” a house by working for the bank for 30 years and pays twice what the home is worth?

I know I’m being a little extreme here, but you can apply this to every aspect of your life. And you should. J

Do me a favor: Take the amount of money you waste every month and plug it into a compound interest calculator.

I really wrote this for the one reader that needed to hear this. Hopefully most of you don’t.

You should watch this today, too. Ramsey isn’t right about everything (mutual funds), but this video is spot on.

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