Update - April 20, 2021

Our Path Is Filled With Opportunity

Today’s a big day for us.

Four short years ago, we officially launched this little letter of ours.

I had no idea it would be such a hit and what impact it would have on our readers’ lives.

In the few years since the letter’s launch, my team and I have heard from countless readers. Nearly every day, we get notes thanking us for publishing our thoughts, ideas and research.

We’ve gone on retreats with our readers. We’ve met with them at conferences. And we’ve conversed through video and, of course, the written word.

With tens of thousands of readers – enough to fill a baseball stadium – it’s quite unlikely I’ll ever meet all of you in person.

That’s too bad.

But know this… This letter would be nothing without our readers. And I have all of you and your best interests in mind each day when I sit down to write to you.

It’s an essential duty.

And before you think I’m getting sentimental… I’m not.

Four years is hardly a milestone. It’s one presidential term. One cycle of the Olympics. Heck, it’s shorter than many prison sentences.

Even so, it’s safe to say we’ve done a lot of heavy lifting over the last 48 months. We’ve opened a lot of eyes to a lot of vital topics.

And now as we embark on what may be one of the most economically transformative periods of the last 80 years, the launch of the Modern Asset Portfolio last fall is leading us ahead… into the next four years and, if you’ll let us, well beyond.

Choose Your Path

Much has changed over the last four years.

A nation that was having trouble regaining its momentum went backward last year. Interest rates that were having trouble climbing higher plunged back to record lows.

The money-printing machine that was never turned off was slammed into overdrive last spring and has been running at full tilt ever since.

The ideas we mused about four years ago are moving from theory to reality – universal basic income, the death of interest rates and massive governmental meddling in the market.

I almost feel guilty for spending so many words in 2019 on the waning effect of the rule of law in the nation.

The ideas not only have come to life but are now threatening the core of our nation.

But if you’ve paid attention over the last four years, you’ve noticed a dramatic tightening of our focus. Where my team and I once mused on the side effects of a society going crazy or the dangers of relying solely on the opinions of others for your health… we’re now focused intently on finance.

That decision has been 100% on purpose.

I’m convinced we’re marching toward a crossroad.

But too many folks believe we’re marching collectively as a nation… as if we’re all going to go in one direction or the other.

I simply don’t believe it.

What’s coming – and, in fact, what may already be here – will be a grand personal choice.

In America, we’re still free to choose our own path. But I fear too many folks have given up on the notion. And nowhere will it be more harmful than in the realm of money and personal finance.

During this COVID mess, I’ve heard far too many folks saying, “Won’t the government just tell me what to do?”

It’s such a dangerous mindset.

It’s how we get to headlines like we’re seeing this week, where numerous cities across the country are quickly making good on the idea of using taxpayer dollars to fund a universal basic income for all citizens.

It’s how we get to folks like Janet Yellen dangerously calling for a standardized global tax on corporations.

And it’s how we get wild market valuations that seem to have left any of the old-school valuation methods for the woods. The strategies of Graham and Buffett are virtually useless when there is $4 trillion in freshly printed money falling from the clouds.

Perhaps that’s why Buffett took our advice last year and decided the best asset to buy… was his own.

Buybacks, as you know, have treated us very well.

While my take on things may seem a bit wild for the rosy-eyed optimist, I’m excited by what’s ahead. The path we’ve chosen is filled with opportunity. We’ve got an ideological system that’s dialed in and working well.

As the people of the nation come to a fate-filled fork in the road, they can choose to go the way the masses seem to be going… or they can strike out on a different trail.

It’s a trail lined with individual thought, the freedom that comes with sound financial decisions and the feeling that they know they did what’s right for generations to come.

The way I see it… my job is to lead as many folks as I can down the right path.

It’s an honor to be given the gifts to do it.

And I’m so glad you have joined us for the journey.

Be well,

Andy