No complaints

And just like that I turned 45 years old today. I’m healthy, happy and love my work. I’m surrounded by family and friends everywhere I go.

Every weekend there’s something fun to do. Every vacation there’s somewhere cool to travel to.

I wear whatever clothes I want seven days a week. Nobody can tell me how to spend my day.

I read and write and speak for a living, three of my favorite things to do.

My three partners are three of my best friends. Who could ask for anything more?

Live in the same house since 2008, no mortgage.

Live with the same girl since high school and she still likes me. Our kids have her looks (thank god) and my sense of humor, they’re going to be fine.

Drive the car I want. Eat at the restaurants I like. Listen to podcasts and music all day. Have lots of people in my life who make me laugh.

Anytime I feel like saying something publicly, I can say it to an audience of millions. Anytime I feel like saying nothing, I can disappear for days at a time. I own my own media. My YouTube channel is 100k subs and growing. Millions of downloads of the podcasts. Millions of unique readers hit the blog network every month. I don’t need “access.” I don’t have to impress any gatekeepers.

I don’t do anything for “exposure” anymore. If anything, I want less, not more. Hired StreetCred PR this year and their only job is to politely decline. Everything. Jimmy Moock‘s gonna end up setting his auto-responder with “Unfortunately…”. If you see me appearing on someone’s show, it’s because I like the show. Or I’m helping them out, doing a favor for a friend.

I have no enemies. No opps. If you think you’re my opp, you’re not. And I’m not your opp. I don’t fight with people because I don’t give a shit. Steve Weiss and I are cool in real life. He can lecture me all he wants on the Halftime Report, I just smile. I’m cool with just about everyone I know in real life. I don’t hurt anyone. I help a lot of people. If you know me in real life, you probably like me (or, at least, don’t actively dislike me).

I don’t do internet stuff. Not a part of anyone’s fake community. You will never see me in someone’s mentions anywhere on the internet unless I’m saying “happy birthday!” or “congrats!” I don’t have a bad word to say to anyone. I don’t want to “join the conversation” or “be heard in the debate” or any of that bullshit. No virtue signaling, no piling on, no co-signs, no group DMs, no clout chasing, no influencing, no being influenced, no pseudonymous burner accounts, no online persona. I’m busy.

Left all my doubters in the dust. I’m not mad. I don’t blame them. On paper, they would have been right. I would have doubted me too. But life isn’t lived on paper. You can’t pick winners that way. That’s why they have to play the game. I played. They never saw me coming. Bye bye.

The highlight of my day, most days, is being brought in on a conversation with my advisors and their clients. As much as I have to teach them about investing, our clients have much more to teach me about a life well lived, a career well spent, a family well tended to and a life beyond raising one’s children or building one’s company. They’re mostly older than me. I pay close attention.

I can see the next phase of my life stretched out before me and I’m excited about it. The older I get, the more freedom I attain for myself. It’s a fair trade. I can live with it.

Linette told me yesterday she thinks our mutual friend Howard Lindzon is aging in reverse. Yup. His kids are grown up and he was an angel investor in Robinhood. It all worked out. If and when I get there, I’ll feel younger too. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor knew how to avoid getting pinned down in an abortion debate. When a reporter asked her “When does life begin?” she replied “When the kids are out of college and the dog dies.”

I’m getting into more venture-backed startups and private investments with my own capital. I’m not just the money in these situations – sometimes I’m the advocate, sometimes the advisor and sometimes the megaphone. Founders know I can be all three. In fact, I can probably do more for a wealthtech startup I’m invested in than any other individual shareholder they could go to. The deals are pouring in. Call us!

Bought a condo in South Florida last week. New construction. It won’t be ready til Christmas 2024. Perfect timing, the girl will be in college and the boy will be in 10th grade. We’ll go back and forth. I’ll be seeing less and less snow each year as the winters go by. More time reading on the beach, riding on bike paths, clinking cocktails in front of a setting sun. I’ve been paying my dues in this business since I’m 19 years old. I deserve it.

Today I get to wake up with my family, spend the morning writing and the rest of the day running the company. This afternoon I’ll be on CNBC for the Closing Bell. Tonight I’ll be at Madison Square Garden to watch the Knicks lose to the Heat. It’s fine.

I’m doing okay. No complaints. There’s some stuff that’s not so great but you don’t want to hear about any of that. You got your own things going on.

Thanks for reading and watching my stuff. I appreciate you all beyond any words I could possibly use to express it. You’ve given me everything I have and I love you for it. And may you wake up on your birthday feeling as grateful as I do today.