Reader, Happy Sunday! If this newsletter feels a little shorter than usual, it is because I am writing this while still unpacking our bags. Today is Katie’s 33rd birthday; she's halfway to 66 (she'll hate me for saying that). To celebrate, I put together a surprise weekend trip. I even wrote her a custom riddle to reveal where we were going and who was coming with us: "We’re packing our bags, leaving the Hammer behind, With a compass set south, a new coastline to find. We’ll drive past the...
10 days ago • 5 min read
Reader, Before we dive into the financial deep end today, I have a quick personal update: I officially turned a year older this week. 6 layer cookie cake To celebrate, Katie completely surprised me. She took me out for a lovely dinner and gifted me two very different things: a brand new set of shoes (because she says she wants me to be "cool" 😎) and a new portable microphone for my video content 🤓 It is a hilarious dynamic. On one hand, the wireless mic makes me feel young, like a trendy...
17 days ago • 5 min read
Reader, We are officially back on home soil, my legs have almost fully recovered from the Patagonia treks, and we are diving headfirst back into the deep end of reality. In case you missed last week's edition, I pulled back the curtain on our "Marathon Honeymoon", including a totally transparent breakdown of how we allocated ~$9.5K over, 3 countries, 6 cities in 17 days. You can catch up and read the full breakdown here Also, a massive shoutout to everyone who grabbed a spot in the Adulting...
24 days ago • 3 min read
Reader, We are officially back flying through home soil at the time of this writing. After 17 days, multiple climates, and thousands of kilometers, our "Marathon Honeymoon" has come to a close. When most people plan a honeymoon, the default move is to drop $8,000 to $12,000 on a 14-day, 5-star all-inclusive resort in Mexico or the Caribbean. You park yourself on a beach chair, order mojitos, and don't move for two weeks. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. But Katie and I had a...
about 1 month ago • 7 min read
Reader, I am writing this edition a day early from our hotel in Rio Serrano, deep in Patagonia. We are officially one week into our honeymoon, and the itinerary has been incredible. We started by flying into Santiago, spent a few days sipping wine in the Casablanca Valley, explored the coast in Viña del Mar, and then headed back to Santiago to jump on another flight down to Puerto Natales. I'm sending this out today because tomorrow morning, Katie and I are strapping on our boots for a...
about 1 month ago • 5 min read
Reader, I am officially breaking my own rules today. Usually, this newsletter is packed with charts, market data, and deep-dive financial concepts. But today, I am writing to you from a couch in an Airbnb in the Casablanca Valley of Chile, sipping local wine, and reflecting on our first few days of this long-awaited honeymoon. Not to worry, this writing session is Katie-approved but I'll keep it short because she's eyeing me right now 👀 I want to give you a transparent look at exactly what we...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Reader, We are officially in the single-digit countdown. Katie and I are exactly one week away from hopping on a plane and kicking off our long-awaited honeymoon in Chile 🇨🇱 before heading to Panama🇵🇦 Because we will be away for the holidays, we spent yesterday doing some early Easter celebrations with both of sets of parents and families. It was amazing to unplug, eat way too much food (ohh the scalloped potatoes and chicken korma), and celebrate before the travel chaos begins. Speaking of...
about 2 months ago • 6 min read
Reader, Things are moving incredibly fast in the Valadares household right now. We are officially just two weeks away from our long-awaited honeymoon to Chile 🇨🇱 and Panama🇵🇦 ! I’ll be frank, this is likely the most expensive trip I have ever taken. Yes, even more expensive than the golf trips! But because we plan our finances around our values, we’ve been preparing for this for a long time. (Keep an eye out, I have a brand new Travel Budget incoming, soon to show you exactly how we funded it...
about 2 months ago • 5 min read
Reader if you woke up today feeling a little more groggy than usual, you aren't alone. Last night, we officially "sprung forward" for Daylight Saving Time. We collectively lost an hour of sleep (not for you folks in Hawaii, Arizona, certain parts of BC and Saskatchewan), and it happens so automatically that we just wake up and accept the new reality. It got me thinking about how easily things can vanish without us noticing. Today, we lost an hour of sleep. But in the healthcare industry,...
2 months ago • 5 min read