Field Notes | Essays on Money, Behavior & Life | StandUP Advisors

Field Notes

Straight talk about money, behavior, and the life it's supposed to fund.

One essay a month. No fluff, no upsells, no clickbait. The same essays I'd write to a client if I had time — about money, behavior, and what the spreadsheet keeps getting wrong. Free. Unsubscribe whenever.

The Archive

Two featured essays — the ones I'd hand someone first — live on the homepage. The full archive lives below.

Dinosaurs and Spaceships

Two S&P 500 index funds. Same 500 stocks, same proportions, same index. One charges 0.02%, one charges 0.85%. Why the old commission-driven advice model is still the dominant species.

You Just Hit the MegaMillions Lottery. Now What.

$1.6 billion. Your hands shake, your wife screams, your phone won't stop ringing. The math that decides whether the money lasts — or destroys you.

Take a Hike — Become a Better Investor

14,115 feet up Pikes Peak with zero training and maximum optimism. The investing lesson that only comes from finishing what you can't quit halfway through.

Millennials: Investing Through the (Next) Crash

Every week someone asks: should I wait for the crash before I start investing? Short answer: no. The math for why waiting costs more than the crash itself.

S&P 500 Annual Returns Get People Sick

Pull up the chart of annual returns since 1928 — it looks like an EKG from someone having a panic attack. That same chart is how every dollar you have should grow. Why the noise is the point.

1 Ice Cream Now or 1,500 Later

Every "small" purchase is a vote against your future self. The actual compound cost of a $5 daily habit, run on the real numbers.

How I Lost $1M (And I Just Turned 30)

A few thousand dollars of avoidable spending in my twenties — and the seven-figure compounding math that quietly follows you to 65.

Keep Fear in the Corner

Fear doesn't go away when you build wealth. It just changes targets. A framework for keeping it in the room without letting it run the meeting.

We StandUP for Financial Literacy

I quit a perfectly good job, sold most of what I owned, bought an RV, and drove across the country. People thought I was having a midlife crisis. It was the opposite — it was the start of the firm.

Reading is the easiest way in. The work happens in the conversation.

When you're ready: take the 10-minute Da Vinci Index, or book a 30-minute call.

Take the Da Vinci Index → Book a 30-min Call About Genti