Prosperity-blinded indifference is a term that Charlie Munger uses to describe companies that, when they are doing well, start to misallocate resources to areas that are unimportant to adding value. Individuals do this, too, as they move up the socioeconomic ladder. By understanding prosperity blindness, we can be more mindful of our desires and make choices that are aligned with our values.

Atomic Habits Author James Clear wrote about the Laws of Productivity. I borrowed his framework to look at how Newtonian physics can be applied to get started, use force effectively, and reduce negative forces to achieve financial goals. Not to worry, you don't need an understanding of physics to apply Newton's rules of motion to other areas of your life, including personal finance.

Just thinking about a financial plan can be enough to trigger stress hormones — imagine being handed a two-inch thick, 150-page document to simply begin . To keep it simple (and stress-free), Vermillion Private Wealth created a one-page financial plan to help clients focus on the most important + impactful actions.

The Atomic Habits methodology starts with the premise that "success is the product of daily habits - not once-in-a-lifetime transformations." This doesn't jive with gurus who preach overnight life-altering changes, but it makes a lot of sense.

Clear didn't' explicitly write atomic Habits about personal finance, but the same ideas that help people create habits in other areas of life can help you reach your financial goals.

If you turn on almost any financial news network, you'll see something that looks straight out of The Matrix. Numbers and symbols, charts, and tables. It'd be easy to conclude that data and metrics are the most important investing elements. But they aren't - YOU ARE!

As a financial advisor, the FIRE movement is attractive. It's built on the foundation of delayed gratification, the most critical attribute to overall happiness, in my opinion. 

Extreme savings and investing define the movement. And while attaining financial independence is a worthy goal, one shouldn't pursue it so ferociously that they sacrifice the present.

Financial planning is important, but don't get too caught up in the resulting plan, it's going to change. Embrace the process of thinking about your future but don't expect it to stay on script. Be optimistic and steady, and finances can be empowering not anxiety-inducing.

I recently wrote an article about mistakes. In it, I briefly mentioned a few early investing mistakes I made. Since writing that post, I've talked to friends who are making many of the same mistakes. Whether due to human nature, nurture, or a combination, making simple investing decisions is not easy. I hope you can learn from the mistakes I've made as an investor.

The habitat of the modern human living in the first world is one where nearly everything is available in short order, if not on-demand. Cell phones are gateways to instant information, entertainment, and communication. At our fingertips, we can immerse ourselves in bingeable television shows, enter the endless rabbit holes of social media, and risk money in high-stakes poker or meme stocks.  This environment makes delayed gratification a tricky skill to master.

It happens a lot— an“expert” passionately lectures, declaring a better way and planting seeds of FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt). Later, it’s exposed that they weren’t following their own advice. When alone, without their pulpit, these authorities ignored their own ideas, or worse, did the opposite.

Step 1: Make a lot of money. Step 2: Go live the life you dream of.

That's been the prevailing advice for as long as I can remember. I sense this is changing though as younger Americans increasingly choose to forgo the "money now, life later" approach for a more balanced one.

There’s a plethora of options for someone looking to get into the financial services business, from behemoth multi-national wirehouses to small independent firms, and everything in between. After recently leaving a regional broker-dealer to start my own firm a lot of people have asked me a simple question…why?