For those that would rather listen, here’s the podcast version…
Pick up a copy on Amazon or bulk copies on Itasca (there are bulk discounts of 33% and 50% for those ordering 50 or 100 copies).
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When my son was born, I made a conscious effort to be present in his life. My father worked a lot, and I didn’t want that for us. I don’t begrudge my father for it — if anything, it makes me even more proud of him. He was the first in his family to go to college, grew up on a tiny farm with no running water and an outhouse before moving to “town.”
The demands of being a founder and portfolio manager don’t care about LEGO time, though. Especially when you’re competing with incumbents managing trillions of dollars.
So I’ve tried to loop my son into my work life when possible — make it “fun” even when I’m away.
Long-time followers may remember that when I go on TV, I often ask him for a word to work into the interview. “Ninja,” “blah blah blah,” and “MAMA MIA!” confused the hosts more than a little — but absolutely delighted him. I’ve snuck a few Easter eggs into other projects too. (Anyone catch his name hidden on the Shareholder Yield 2nd edition cover?!)
My son has the benefit of a father who works in investing. Most kids don’t. Most will grow up with parents who know very little about money, and while that’s slowly changing, most schools still don’t teach it at all.
I asked him a few years back: “Do you know how many books I wrote before you were born? Five! Do you know how many I’ve written since? Zero!” Worth every minute.
But the markets over the past few years have frustrated — and then inspired — me to pick up the pen again.
Watching young investors (and some not-so-young ones) blow their savings hypertrading options, sh!tcoins, and meme stocks has been genuinely painful. The message is so simple: make a little money, save some, invest a little, and time will do the rest. You’ll end up rich beyond belief.
That message, though, gets completely drowned out by FanDuel ads on every sports broadcast. And now Robinhood wants you to trade sports markets in your brokerage account. Gross.
A few years ago, two of the brightest minds in investing planted the seed for my next book.
Jim O’Shaughnessy — who deserves a spot on the Mt. Rushmore of investors who also educate — talks often about “Time Billionaires”: young people with decades ahead of them and limitless possibilities. I don’t know if he coined it, but the phrase stuck.
Morgan Housel once posted a chart of long-term stock market returns and suggested someone should write a book where every page is identical, titled Shut Up and Invest.
So I set out to write that book — but bigger. Instead of just the US market back to 1900, a global history of stock markets going all the way back to 1600. A beautiful coffee table book investors could turn to when times got scary, one that shows the full sweep of compounding across centuries. Every decade looks chaotic in isolation. Zoom out, and the picture changes completely.
That book is Time Billionaires. Look for it in Q4 or Q1 ’27.
But then I realized: we’re about to celebrate a milestone birthday here in America. A lot of people will want to commemorate the big 250. So we also wrote a US-specific version — Investing in America, out July 4th. Priced at $76 (in honor of 1776) and any proceeds will go to the Invest America charity.
This process has been totally different from my other books, some published traditionally with Wiley and Harriman House, others self-published through Amazon. Since this one is meant to be a high-quality coffee table book, the path was different too. Traditional publishers passed — and it was only after listening to an old Nick Kokonas and Tim Ferriss podcast that we found a better way.
We partnered with Scribe to make it as gorgeous as possible. They’ve been fantastic — I’d recommend them to anyone. I’ll try to do a podcast on the whole process soon for those who are curious.
In the meantime, pick up a copy. Or 50 — there are bulk discounts of 33% and 50% for orders of 50 or 100 copies….applied at checkout
Happy Birthday, America! 🇺🇸
