Financial Zen

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We help big tech employees get on the fast track to financial independence!

10/17/2026

Friday

"How ya doin?" Gary asked me on my way home Tuesday night.

"F'in spent man. Good day, but I got nuthin left."

"Well you know what George Kittle says: 'If you don't feel like absolute dog s**t after the game, you didn't play hard enough.'"

It was an instant frame reset that's carried me all week.

This is what it's SUPPOSED to feel like.

I AM FRIED... and I'm so happy I am.

10/10/2026

Friday.

Brutal start turned into a sweet finish.

From heavy cortisol, imposter syndrome and total overwhelm to..
..4 massive long-term wins by Friday afternoon.

A microcosm of a lesson I've learned time and time again.

10/03/2026

Friday.

That's it.

E A R N E D. I T.

10/02/2026

I'll admit it.

I'm scared.

I'm scared of failure.

I'm scared of leaving the cozy cocoon of the reality I've known for two decades.

I'm scared of stepping off the edge into the void.

I'm scared that I'm not the leader I tell myself I am.

I'm scared of being exposed as an imposter.

I'm scared that the story I've told myself for 18 years turns out to be bulls**t.

I'm scared I'll flop.

I'm scared to find out I wasn't running a marathon after all... but a long sprint... and the race is almost over.

I'm scared that my team has hitched their trailer to the wrong wagon.

I'm scared that it won't work.

But what I'm most scared of is...

WHAT IF IT DOES???

10/01/2026

Our Foundations Program Month #2 is always my favorite meeting.

Most people come to us convinced they're going to have to work forever.

Not because they've done the math.

Because they've never done the math.

Our first six months with a new member are what we call Foundations. It's where we get everything on the table... cash flow, savings rate, investment accounts, tax picture, the whole thing. We gather all of it, crunch all of it, and then in month two we sit down and reveal how close to Financial Zen they actually are.

And that's when it gets quiet.

Not because the news is bad.

Because the news is almost always better than they expected. Sometimes a lot better.

We've had members come in bracing for 65... and walk out of month two looking at 47.

We've had members who thought they were years behind find out they're actually ahead.

The aha moment doesn't happen mid-call on some random Tuesday.

It happens when someone finally looks at the full picture. All of it. Together. For the first time.

And realizes the story they've been telling themselves... wasn't quite right.

That's the whole point of Financial Zen.

Not to manage your money.

To show you what's actually possible with it.

Individual results vary based on each client's unique financial situation, savings rate, market conditions, and time horizon. This is not a guarantee of similar outcomes.

09/29/2026

THIS is how a Financial Zen Master thinks...

They were already stretched thin... but not for the usual reason.

Not from spending too much.

From saving too much.

Here's the setup.

A Member couple is saving 53% of their income. Already on pace to hit Financial Zen at 46. Already on the far right of the bell curve.

The last big marble we need to drop in their financial jar is long-term disability insurance. About $250 a month.

We discussed it the month before. They said they didn't have $250 a month to spare and wanted to sleep on it.

Next meeting, I asked what they were thinking.

The husband responded without hesitating.

"We just need to figure out where to cut $250 a month from our spending."

S L O W... T H A T... D O W N.

Already saving $95k a year. Already set to retire at 46.

And his first instinct... isn't to save $250 less.

It's to spend $250 less.

90% of people would have done the opposite.

That's the difference. That's how Financial Zen Masters think.

09/26/2026

Friday.

Hit rock bottom this week.

Playering/coaching/ownering myself into the ground.

Typical stuff for an owner trying to let go of the vine.

You hire and train an amazing team and then continue to "help them" do their jobs until you... hit rock bottom.

Team Amanda announcemt coming next week.

09/22/2026

Money Rule #4: No Unmarked Bills.

"Thou shalt not hold money without purpose."

Every penny you have needs a job.

You don't invest to "beat the market."

You don't hold cash because it feels good.

You don't buy crypto because everyone's doing it.

Every dollar needs to be tied to a financial goal. If you don't know where you're going... any path will get you there.

You invest to earn compound interest so someday you can live off the income.

You hold cash because you need liquidity for an emergency fund.

You buy crypto because it's fun. (Recreation is a perfectly acceptable goal... as long as it's a very small percentage of your money.)

Don't let your money wander around aimlessly.

Like a dog off a leash... it will eventually get lost.

09/12/2026

September 11, 2001.

I was 24 years old. Living in downtown Manhattan. Sleeping in.

My then-girlfriend called me on my StarTac.

"We're under attack."

"What are you talking about?"

"Turn on the news."

I turned on the news just in time to watch the first tower fall.

Called my mom. Couldn't get through. Called again. And again. Finally got through.

"Mom, I'm okay. I'm going to walk home now."

"Be careful."

I walked out the door, put on my Discman...

And took the headphones off almost immediately.

It just felt wrong.

This was happening to all of New York. To all of us. And somehow I needed to be out there in it... present... together with my city, even in silence. Even just walking.

So I walked.

As I crossed Broadway to my apartment, I looked left.

A sea of zombies.

Business suits. Business dresses. Covered head to toe in soot. Faces gray. Eyes wide. Tears streaming down their cheeks. Just shuffling north in absolute silence and shock.

The whole city was silent. Eerily, unnervingly silent. A city of eight million people... and you could hear nothing.

And then I noticed the smell. Burning office supplies. Burning hair. Burning everything.

That's when the enormity of it hit me.

I got to my apartment. We made it the meeting point. Friends trickled in one by one. We sat around calling everyone we knew... just making sure they were alive.

The scariest part of the whole day was Keith... my best friend and roommate. We couldn't reach him for almost two hours.

And then he just walked in the door.

We hugged him like we'd never let go.

We all walked over to St. Vincent's to give blood. Packed around the block. They turned us away. Not because they didn't need blood. Because there weren't enough survivors coming in to need it.

That afternoon we went up to the roof. Watched the smoke billow over Brooklyn. Two buildings that had literally been the compass of the downtown skyline... just gone.

The days that followed... vigils at Union Square... candles everywhere... and those posters. "Have you seen..." Plastered everywhere. A photo. A name. A family that still had hope.

I will never forget those posters.

Looking back, I think one of the ultimate takeaways for all of us who were there that day - we only get one life, and it can be gone tomorrow.

And honestly, that experience was no small part of the inspiration for why I created Financial Zen... helping people get to the life they were meant to live as fast as possible. Because none of us are promised another day.

That's everything.

To every family touched by that day...

Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Always.

Never forget.

09/10/2026

The Financial Zen Two Bucket System. Explained to a 5th Grader.

Imagine you have two piggy banks.

Piggy Bank #1 is for spending.

Every month you reach in and pull out what you need to pay your bills, take your vacations, live your life.

You never have to worry about it. The money is just there.

Piggy Bank #2 is for growing.

You never touch this one. You just let it sit and compound. Year after year.

Here's the trick.

Piggy Bank #1 has 10 years of spending money in it.

That means no matter what happens in the stock market... a crash, a recession, a 2008, a 2022... you never have to touch Piggy Bank #2.

You just keep reaching into #1.

And while you're doing that... #2 keeps growing. Quietly. Patiently.

When Piggy Bank #2 grows... we use it to refill #1.

When it doesn't grow... we don't touch it. We just keep living off #1.

For #2 to actually fail us, it would have to not grow for 10 full years.

That has never happened in the history of the stock market.

Not once.

No market timing. No panic selling. No crossing your fingers every time the Fed makes an announcement.

Just two buckets. Doing exactly what they're supposed to do.

Address

600 California Street, 11th Floor
San Francisco, CA
94108

Telephone

+14157920345

Website

http://www.financialzen.com/

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