Hey there! Welcome to the Independent Money newsletter 👋 We’ll be exploring the latest financial news and discussing how it affects entrepreneurs like you. Plus, we'll share some awesome wealth creation insights from successful entrepreneurs that you won't find anywhere else.

Let’s dive in! 🏊‍♂️

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In this week’s newsletter, we’ll discuss:

• Entrepreneur’s Corner: Get a behind-the-scenes look at this entrepreneur’s personal investment portfolio after selling his company for (reportedly) eight figures.

• Entrepreneur’s Journey: Learn how this middle school teacher grew an investing newsletter to over 70,000 subscribers, and the common myths he hears about investing.

• Financial Tips and Tricks: Ramit Sethi believes there are three key elements to financial success, and he shares some tips on improving your skill set in each area.

• What’s Happening at Carry: Learn more about the exciting new things happening at Carry!

Entrepreneur’s Corner 📚️

Have you ever wondered how entrepreneurs invest their money after a major exit?

Sam Parr, who sold the Hustle for a significant sum of money (reportedly eight figures according to various sources) recently revealed his personal investment portfolio on the My First Million podcast.

He breaks his portfolio down into the following four categories:

Category 1: “The Big Account” (Earnings From The Hustle Sale)

• 79% in VTI (Vanguard Total Index Fund)

• Short term treasuries yielding 4.9%

• Bonds

• Real estate fund that buys Walgreens

• Roughly 3-4% in a high yield savings account

Category 2: Other Liquid Accounts

• Roughly 100-200k sits in his checking account. Any number above that goes straight to the investment fund.

• He always maxes out his 401k

• Bitcoin

Category 3: Non Liquid Stuff

• Roughly 3.8 million in Real Estate which consists of his house, some vacant land in Austin, his ranch, and various storage deals.

• Angel investing

Category 4: Private Company Stuff

• Course

• Podcast

• Speaking fees

• Hampton (his new company)

Sam currently spends between $25,000 to $30,000 per month and only spends money he earns through courses, the podcast, and speaking fees.

He doesn't plan to touch the principle he made from The Hustle sale and assumes that his new company, Hampton, is worth nothing.

In fact, he says he probably won't assume that Hampton is worth anything until it makes $40 to $50 million in revenue. Sam also doesn't take a salary from Hampton, though he'll likely take a dividend at the end of the year.

Sam also shared various philosophies on money. Here are a few golden takeaways:

1. The best path to substantial wealth is starting a company or owning equity in a company.

2. For the first three years of your business, assume you'll make minimum wage. He only paid himself $20k during the first two years of the Hustle (from 23 years old to 25 years old).

3. He has a lot of HubSpot stock and has no intention of selling any of it within the next five years. Unlike his co-host, Shaan, Sam believes in being patient and letting investments grow.

4. If you angel invest in about 50 businesses, 40 probably won't work. Of the ten that work, roughly three will probably pay back your initial investment and then some.

Entrepreneur’s Journey 💬

Brian Stoffel's investor newsletter, The Long Term Mindset, currently has over 70,000 subscribers, and it all started thanks to a mini-retirement trip to Costa Rica in 2010.

For the first six years of his career, he was a middle school writing teacher, though when he and his wife decided to move to Costa Rica for a year, he had to roll over his 403(b). Unsure how to invest the money, he began reading and teaching himself about the mechanics of investing.

His newfound passion for investing, combined with his talent as a writer eventually led to a writing position at The Motley Fool, where he still regularly publishes content.

"My overarching goal is to cut through the jargon that usually turns people off to investing and use the type of language I wish others did when I was getting started," said Brian.

We had the opportunity to ask him a few questions, and here are some insights he shared.

Have you faced any significant financial setbacks or challenges in the past, and how did you overcome them?

I've been lucky not to face major setbacks in my life, but there have been hiccups.

I had five figures of student loan debt, but I both (1) paid it off, and (2) had a good chunk of it forgiven for teaching after college.

My wife and I also lived well within our means. This has meant living in small apartments/duplexes, and not having a car until we had our first child, but that hasn't felt like a major life sacrifice.

What's one myth about investing in the stock market?

Many people say that investing is rigged to help out large institutions or that it's like gambling.

If you have a truly long-term mindset, the game is actually rigged in the individual investor's favor. But it takes discipline.

What's one money rule you live by?

Think 1,000 times before deciding to do anything that will incur debt.

Want to connect with Brian? You can follow him on Twitter or sign up for his weekly newsletter.

Financial Tips and Tricks 💰️

Ramit Sethi, the author of New York Times bestseller I Will Teach You To Be Rich, recently shared a Twitter thread on the three main skills required to be financially successful:

Here are a few tips he provided on improving your skills in each of these three categories:

Which tip do you plan to implement today?

What’s Happening at Carry?

Here’s what you can expect in the coming weeks

See the full list of events here. ⏰

Want More?

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If you want more resources on building wealth as an solopreneur/entrepreneur, check these out:

• The Solo 401k handbook 

• What is a Solo 401k?

• How to Open a Solo 401k

• Common Solo 401k FAQs

• Solo 401k Contribution Calculator