http://raymondjames.com/invictuswealthadvisory

John Gusu, 3500 Carillon Pt, Kirkland, WA (2026)

09/30/2026

Midterms are less than two months away. And historically, that means market volatility.

Not because elections determine long-term wealth. But because uncertainty creates short-term fear. And fear creates selling.

Now is the time to revisit your plan.

Here is what usually happens:

Political uncertainty builds. News coverage intensifies. Market volatility picks up. You check your portfolio more frequently. You read more headlines. You start wondering if you should make changes.

Then you make a reactive decision you regret six months later when the market recovers.

The people who do well through election cycles are the ones with plans.

Not because their plans predict the outcome. But because their plans account for volatility regardless of the outcome.

Here is what you can actually do right now:

1. Run a stress test on your portfolio
Assume the market drops 15-20% in the next few months. Can your plan handle it? Do you have enough cash? Are you still on track for your goals?
If the answer is no, you need to rebalance now, not in November.

2. Review your allocation
Are you still comfortable with your stock/bond mix? Or has volatility moved you away from it? If the market drops hard, will you panic or stay the course?

3. Check your cash position
Do you have 6-12 months of expenses in cash or cash-alternatives? If the market declines significantly and you need money, can you access it without selling investments at the worst time?

4. Remind yourself why you have a plan
A plan is not about predicting what will happen. It is about having a response ready for whatever does happen.

The election outcome will not change your long-term wealth trajectory. But panic selling during election volatility absolutely will.

Do not be the person making reactive decisions in November because you did not stress-test your plan in September.

Build your plan now. Test it now. Then ignore the election noise and stick to it.

09/29/2026

How Switzerland Built a Nation of Savers

Switzerland has more millionaires per capita than any other country. Not because Swiss people earn more. Not because they inherited more wealth.

How? Read more, link in comments.

09/28/2026

Many people believe the gap between where they are and where they want to be is an income problem.

It is not.

I have earned well at times and kept almost none of it. For me, the problem was never the number coming in. It was everything that happened to it after it arrived.

Here are the five actual problems:

1. You spend before you think
There is no system. No intention. No percentage that moves to savings before the lifestyle gets its cut. Money arrives and disappears into the same pattern it always has.

2. You close the gap every time your income rises
One common financial principle is to spend less than you earn and save or invest the difference. However, as income increases, some individuals may choose to increase their spending as well. Increased income can sometimes lead to lifestyle changes, such as higher housing, transportation, or discretionary expenses.
The gap closes. Wealth does not build.

3. You are waiting to invest until you have more
Every year you delay is a year of compound growth you cannot get back. There is no perfect time. Start now with what you have, or you are just making excuses.

4. You treat every raise as permission, not as opportunity
A raise is a chance to widen the gap between income and spending. Instead, most people treat it as permission to upgrade their lifestyle. The raise disappears into the same gap it always did.

5. You have no automatic habits
Wealth is built through boring automatic decisions that run whether you are paying attention or not. You do not have automatic savings. You do not have automatic investing. You do not have automatic diversification.
So every decision requires willpower. And willpower fails eventually.

The bottom line:

More money in the hands of someone with broken habits just produces more expensive problems. It does not produce wealth.

Developing healthy financial habits may help individuals make the most of their income and better position themselves to work toward their long-term goals.

09/23/2026

September is prime hiring season in tech.

Summer slowdown is over. Companies are serious about hiring again. But the talent pool is smaller because most people are not actively looking.

If you are thinking about a move, this is the optimal time.

Why September job search works better:

Smaller candidate pool means less competition. Companies that delayed hiring are suddenly urgent. Offers move faster because they need to fill before year-end.

Your leverage is higher right now than it will be in November when everyone is job hunting.

If you are considering a change, September is the time to activate:

Update your LinkedIn. Not aggressively. Just make sure it is current.

Tell your network you are open to conversations. Not job hunting. Just "open to interesting opportunities."

Interview with companies you are curious about. You do not have to accept anything. But interviewing in September gives you data about your market value.

Negotiate aggressively. Because you have leverage. In November, you will have less.

Here is the thing most people do not realize:

Your current job is a great negotiating position. You do not need anything. You are just exploring. That confidence shows in negotiations.

If you wait until you are desperate or burned out, your negotiating power drops dramatically.

Use September's advantage now. Even if you do not move, you will know your market value and have options.

That knowledge alone changes your financial picture.

09/21/2026

Some tech companies do promotions in Q4 based on performance.

If you are in contention, September is when you need to start building visibility, not October.

Here is what some people get wrong about promotions:

They think it is about being good at their job. It is not. It is about being visible to the people making the decision.

Your manager might know you are good. But does the director? Does the VP? Does the person on the promotion committee?

In September, you should consider doing this:

Document your wins. Not bragging. Just facts. What shipped? What shipped on time? What made money? What solved a real problem?

Get visibility on high-profile projects. If there is a project the leadership cares about, volunteer. Get your name attached to something that matters.

Ask your manager explicitly: what do I need to do in the next three months to be in consideration for promotion?

Do not assume. Ask directly. Then do exactly that.

Tell the right people about your impact. One-on-ones with skip-level managers. Demos of your work. Contributions to team presentations.

The promotion window is narrow.

Companies make these decisions in November. That means the positioning happens now.

If you wait until October, you are too late. The narrative is already set.

Start in September. Build visibility. Document impact. Make your case while there is still time.

09/18/2026

September is statistically the worst month for stock markets. *

Not always, but historically, volatility picks up, returns tend to be negative, and people panic.

If you check your portfolio this month and see red, that is normal. That is the market working as expected.

Here is what panic looks like in September:

You see your portfolio down 5-8%. You get anxious. You check it more frequently. You read financial news obsessively. You start wondering if you should sell before it gets worse.

Then you make a reactive decision you regret when the market recovers.

In my experience, people who do well in September are often doing something a little differently.

They know volatility happens. They know it is temporary. They know their plan accounts for downturns.

So, they trust their financial plan.

If you have a well-defined financial plan, seasonal market volatility shouldn't alter your long-term strategy.

Your allocation may still be right. Your contributions may appear to be well positioned to continue.

Are you making changes to your portfolio because of anxiety or based on market changes that make sense for your portfolio?

A well-constructed plan is often designed with market ups and downs in mind. Trust it.

*source https://finance.yahoo.com/markets/stocks/articles/september-historically-worst-month-stocks-173500658.html?

Disclosure: Past performance does not guarantee future results. Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principle.

09/17/2026

The first rate hike is often where investors get nervous. History suggests that's not entirely irrational.

Across the last six Fed tightening cycles (1994, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2015, and 2022), stocks have typically experienced their weakest period in the first three months after the initial hike. The average return over that stretch was roughly -2%, with 2022 standing out as one of the most challenging and aggressive tightening cycles on record.

But the story rarely ends there.

The market has historically looked beyond the first move. By six months, returns have generally improved, and by twelve months, average gains have been meaningfully stronger. In other words, the uncertainty created by the first hike has often proven far more painful than the hike itself.

Today's environment appears less like an emergency tightening cycle and more like a mid-cycle adjustment, with rates already elevated. While short-term volatility would not be surprising, history suggests that periods of weakness following the first hike have often created opportunities for patient investors.

The pattern is familiar: turbulence first, clarity later.

Past performance does not guarantee future results. Sources: Bloomberg, FactSet.

09/16/2026

September is when many tech companies do annual refresh grants.
You have been vesting equity all year. Now the company is deciding whether to give you more and how much.

One option is to wait for the offer and accept what they get.

This can be a big mistake.
Here is another possible approach:
Before the refresh conversation happens, document your impact.
What did you ship? What problems did you solve? What was the business value? Have this ready before you talk to your manager.

Ask for the refresh timing upfront.

Do not just accept "over 4 years starting now." Push for acceleration on the front end if you performed well.
Ask for the amount to be tied to performance.
If you got promoted or exceeded expectations, your refresh should reflect that. Do not assume it automatically does.

Ask about vesting flexibility.
Some companies will negotiate cliff dates or accelerated vesting for key performers. You do not know unless you ask.
Negotiate the equity grant amount itself.
Your base and bonus may be locked. But the equity refresh often has room. This is where you can move the needle if you have leverage.

Get it in writing.
Do not rely on verbal promises. Make sure the refresh terms are documented.

Why this matters:
The difference between an average refresh and a negotiated refresh can be significant over four years.
People can leave money on the table because they do not think to ask.
September is when you might have the most leverage.
Consider taking advantage of it.

09/14/2026

Most superhero movies are about saving the world.

The funniest moment in Spider-Man: Brand New Day isn't.

It's a conversation about health insurance.

"I got the job. I turned it down."

"Don't you want health insurance?"

"Yeah, but at what cost?"

"Depends on your deductible."

The audience laughs because everyone recognizes the absurdity.

For most of human history, people worried about food, shelter, and physical safety. In America today, millions of educated professionals spend an astonishing amount of mental energy trying to answer questions like:

Is this doctor in-network?
What's my out-of-pocket maximum?
Is the lower premium worth the higher deductible?
Should I take the better job or the better benefits?

Somewhere along the way, the vocabulary of actuarial science became part of everyday conversation.

That joke lasts about three seconds.

But it reveals something larger.

The modern economy is filled with invisible complexity. The biggest decisions in our lives often aren't about what we want to do. They're about navigating systems that have become so complicated we've had to develop an entirely new language just to participate in them.

A generation ago, children learned baseball statistics.

Today they learn what a deductible is.

And that's why the joke works.

Not because it's funny.

Because it's true.

09/11/2026

You just got back from vacation. Before the chaos hits, consider doing these three things:

1. Check your equity vesting schedule
Did anything vest while you were gone? Did you miss a refresh announcement? Before you get pulled into meetings, log in and check what you actually own.

2. Review your investment performance
While dips can be common, it's worth taking a moment to review what happened while you were offline. It can take five minutes and it grounds you before you make reactive decisions.

3. Reconnect with your network
Send a few quick messages to people you respect. Not work stuff. Just checking in after time away. This takes 15 minutes and pays dividends all year.

Most people come back and immediately get sucked into their inbox. Consider doing these three things first.

Everything else can wait an hour.

John Gusu

09/30/2026

09/29/2026

09/28/2026

09/23/2026

09/21/2026

09/18/2026

09/17/2026

09/16/2026

09/14/2026

09/11/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Contact The Business

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request