Future Africa Institute of Finance.

06/23/2026

06/22/2026

The story of Alan and Pete is a story that occurs ALL the time in real life. So many people who make a lot of money don't put it to work!

Alan got to spend on average $30k more than Pete per year, but Pete retired with TWICE as much in his retirement. I kept the values constant over time for simplicity, but you could adjust ALL of these numbers up over time with inflation.

Did the extra $30k a year make Alan significantly happier, enough so that he would be happy with retiring with half as much? Maybe. I won't pretend like there isn't any reason to spend more in the moment. I just want people to realize the impact it could have down the line.

The name of the game in personal finance is finding the plan that works for you. YOLOing all your money when you're young is going to lead to a harder and longer work life, but saving every dollar will lead to unnecessary suffering. The point in between those two extremes that works for you is what you need to find!

I personally spend ~$60k per year right now and greatly enjoy my life. Spending an incremental $30k might be nice, but I don't value it more than the security I get from investing so much at a young age. My thoughts on this WILL change over time (as they do for everyone), but for now I've found a balance that works for me.

It's okay if you're Alan or if you're Pete, just make sure you're consciously deciding who you want to be and not spending so much that you'll regret it later!

- Matt

P.S. I'm a HUGE index fund guy, so I made a free index fund guide explaining them and laying out options to create an index fund portfolio at different brokers (Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, etc). Comment "guide" and I'll send you a link to get the PDF!

06/21/2026

We talk a LOT about investing here, but what IS investing?

It's a simple concept - investing is just buying assets with the intent for them to appreciate in value. Where it can seemingly get complicated is understanding the different types of "asset classes," or groupings of investment types.

It may not seem like it, but A LOT of people own 5-6 of these in some form or another. Sometimes it's not as obvious as you may think!

1️⃣ If you have a dollar in your wallet, you own currency

2️⃣ If you own a stock in any form (fund or individual), you own equity

3️⃣ If you have a bond or a target date retirement fund, you have fixed income

4️⃣ If you own your house, you have real estate

5️⃣ If you have a piece of gold jewelry, you own a commodity

6️⃣ If you own any bitcoin or any crypto, you own an alternative asset

For most people, they can build all the wealth they need through equities and fixed income. Real estate is also extremely common through primary home ownership, but investing in non-primary home real estate is not needed for many people to build their wealth.

Alternatives can be fun and exciting, but shouldn't be the concentration of wealth for most people. Alternative asset classes are often much more speculative and aren't value creating, so they have less reliability in their expected returns.

How many different asset classes do YOU own?

- Matt

P.S. Car insurance rates have been up a LOT in the past year. If you haven't price shopped your rate in a few months, comment "car" and I'll send a quick quiz to you on messenger so you can see if you can save any money (free quiz, takes

06/21/2026

06/20/2026

06/20/2026

06/20/2026