Pleased New 12 months 2026 everybody! With one other yr wrapped up, I assumed I’d do a 2025 yr in evaluation so I can sooner or later look again fondly as an previous man. Total, I give the yr an A for effort, which is all I can actually management. Sadly, the outcome didn’t match the trouble, as I give it a B minus, possibly even a C plus.
The principle purpose for the B minus is ongoing household points that negatively affected my spirits. I’m naturally a contented and joyful particular person – a steady-state 8 out of 10. However for a lot of your complete yr, I felt quite a lot of grey clouds and wet days hanging overhead.
The factor is, even if you’re glad, when somebody in your loved ones is beneath duress, your happiness will inevitably decline. From every little thing from growing older to taking good care of youngsters and sick mother and father, the happiness dip for the sandwich era is actual.
Getting into The Trough Of The Happiness Curve
Simply have a look at this nice chart summarizing seven main surveys of 1.3 million randomly sampled individuals throughout 51 nations. Between ages 45 and 55 is the place happiness is lowest – and my spouse and I are 45 and 48.
I wrote this put up first earlier than on the lookout for happiness curves to see the place we stand. It’s comforting that we’re not alone.
However gosh, I assumed I might have the ability to keep away from this trough by retiring earlier. In actual fact, I wrote a put up stating the very best purpose to retire early is bigger happiness sooner and for longer. That section lasted about 11-12 years, however it has now light.
2025 actually made me respect, as soon as once more, how cash can’t purchase happiness after your primary wants are met. I used to be annoyed this yr that, regardless of how exhausting I attempted, the melancholy nonetheless lingered.
It’s unhappy to appreciate that even should you dwell in a pleasant home, have minimal debt, have your well being, don’t really feel caught at work, and have glad youngsters, you possibly can nonetheless really feel down generally. This disconnect additionally feels embarrassing, particularly should you’ve grown up in a growing nation with an amazing quantity of poverty and inequality.
Everyone knows the options: follow gratitude every day, take steps to remove regrets, stroll and train every day, scale back want, and decrease expectations Nonetheless, in addition to continuously displaying up, there’s generally nothing you are able to do when uncontrollable circumstances happen.
Now on to my 2025 evaluation, categorized by Investments, Household, and Ikigai (purpose for being).
Public Investments – Grade A
Total, 2025 was a stable yr financially thanks to a different bull market. My mixed public fairness portfolio rose by about 22%. The rationale for its 5.5% outperformance in comparison with the S&P 500 was attributable to my obese positioning in Google, Tesla, and Nvidia. On the draw back, my shares in Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Nike underperformed the S&P 500.
That is now three years in a row of 20%+ returns, which appears like a lottery win after a tough 2022 (-24% for my tech-heavy equities). The after-tax features alone are capable of pay for about 4 years of regular dwelling bills for my household of 4 right here in San Francisco.
The issue with a 22% return is that it took quite a lot of effort to get there as an energetic investor. And albeit, I assumed I had returned much more earlier than crunching the numbers. In my thoughts, I assumed I used to be up nearer to twenty-eight% after shopping for the dip in March and April. Nonetheless, that was solely with my taxable brokerage account, which at the least, is my most essential portfolio.
If I had simply invested all my cash in an S&P 500 index and completed nothing, I might have made about 16.5%. I’m unsure if the trouble to make an additional 5.5% is value it, particularly since I may have simply underperformed like I did in 2022. However I keep energetic as a result of some huge cash is at stake as DUPs with no regular energetic revenue.
Going by the whipsaw of the April tariff tantrums, adopted by making an attempt to continuously determine whether or not the financial system would actually be OK amid stagflation fears, took a toll on my psychological power. However I would like to acknowledge {that a} ~5.5% outperformance has purchased us a bit over one yr of dwelling bills. I simply have to be cautious not shedding an excessive amount of this yr.
Non-public Investments – Grade A Minus
As for my personal investments in enterprise debt and enterprise capital, it’s more durable to gauge returns since a lot is illiquid. I do know one 2018 classic enterprise fund holds Rippling, which is doing nice. However the remainder of the closed-end funds stay unclear as many investments are nonetheless within the early stage.
Fundrise Enterprise was a standout performer. It rose over 45%, making it my top-performing fund funding of the yr. I had about $150,000 invested at first of 2025, and invested $100,000 on June 20.
In July/August, I additionally determined to reinvest $200,000 value of expiring Treasury payments and open a brand new private account earmarked for my youngsters’s future. I figured, if I am keen to take a position over $200,000 in a 529 plan, then I’d as effectively spend money on the very expertise which may make their faculty educations out of date.
My major remorse is just not investing extra initially of the yr once I had a windfall from promoting a property. However out of self-discipline, I preserve personal funding allocation to at most 20% of my investable capital.
The rationale I don’t give my personal investments an A is that one enterprise debt fund (out of three) closed out at a 12% IRR, underperforming the S&P 500. In the meantime, my personal business actual property investments noticed one other flat yr, though there are optimistic indicators of life.
Bodily Actual Property – Approach Too A lot Effort
2025 was the most tough yr I’ve ever had as an actual property investor.
The principle purpose is that I had three tenant turnovers out of 4 properties, which required my spouse and me to arrange every property both on the market or for lease. Then I did one other reworking job. The time, coordination, and emotional power concerned have been vital.
Property #1: Most Latest Main Residence Turned Rental
The primary property required about two months of preparation and finally offered by way of a preemptive supply. I hit my sensible goal gross sales value and felt terribly relieved that we offered it, particularly after the devastating January fires in Southern California. It was a fantastic property with ocean views, however the rental yield was low because of the excessive value level and the necessity to handle 4 tenants annually was annoying.
After this sale, which solely had a 13-day shut, I assumed the remainder of the yr could be straightforward avenue with regard to property administration. Oh, how improper I used to be!
Property #2: Summer season Transform Job
Given we determined to go to Hawaii for 5 weeks for summer season faculty and see my mother and father, I figured it was time to rework the uncared for two-bedroom in-law unit linked to my mother and father’ home. It was my aunt’s previous dwelling house, and it hadn’t been inhabited for over 13 years. The place was piled with stuff, crawling with bugs, and had damaged taps and defective wiring in every single place.
I assumed the rework would take two or three weeks and value possibly $25,000. However it ended up taking 4 weeks whereas I used to be there and one other week after I returned to make the place totally livable, with furnishings, a fridge, and home equipment.
After gut-remodeling a property from 2019–2022, I swore I’d by no means rework one other property once more. It’s a horrible course of, and I might fortunately pay a premium for a completely reworked house. Nonetheless, I felt my summer season in Hawaii was a now-or-never second to get to work as a result of no one else would after my aunt handed a number of years in the past.
The silver lining is that I obtained the place completed and totally furnished, offering my spouse and youngsters with a extra comfy dwelling association throughout our 10-day winter vacation journey. That mentioned, I did nearly burn down my mother and father’ home twice in a single week attributable to defective wiring for the dryer. Ah, extra stress.
Property #3: Partial Rental Turned Full Rental
After returning from Hawaii in July, I wanted to relaxation as a result of the journey was additionally exhausting on my spouse. I additionally felt unsettled for the reason that eating room furnishings, fridge, and washer and dryer weren’t going to reach till early September, after which have been pushed again till the top of November.
Sadly, throughout our time away, our long-time tenants since 2019 at one other property discovered one other place to dwell. They have been stable renters who occupied the upstairs portion of a home with two bedrooms and one toilet. They wished a whole single-family house attributable to having a child.
To accommodate, earlier than we went to Hawaii, I provided to lease them the downstairs portion as effectively, giving them three bedrooms, two bogs, and an workplace. Maintain df, Even after providing a reduction to comparable market rents, they determined to lease a smaller home farther south for much less. No drawback, however not best for me.
The method took about 5 weeks to seek out new tenants. As soon as once more, we needed to clear, paint, backyard, and repair some random issues in preparation for brand new tenants. I additionally hosted a number of personal showings for events. Happily, we discovered a fantastic household who’s respectful and had beforehand owned property within the space. They relocated again to San Francisco attributable to higher enterprise demand after shifting away throughout COVID.
The optimistic of our tenants shifting out was our semi-passive revenue elevated by $3,500 a month. This was due to charging market lease after a number of years of undercharging by ~$1,000/month and renting your complete home as a substitute of simply the upstairs for an additional ~$2,500 / month.
Property #4: The Largest Rental That Was Hardest To Hire Out
Lastly, I assumed I used to be completed after three property turnovers! However no, the true property gods had extra work for me to do. Solely a month after discovering new tenants, I acquired one other electronic mail from one other set of tenants giving their 45-day discover. Apparently, that they had already relocated to Colorado and have been solely returning often. This was a shock, particularly since their youngsters attended a college simply blocks away and so they had moved in solely 15 months earlier.
As soon as once more, I spent about six weeks coordinating cleansing, repairs, and the tenant search. This time it was more durable. The lease was a 35% larger value level than my different rental, which lowered the rental pool. Additional, I used to be looking throughout the off-peak months of October and November, a part of the worst time of the yr to seek out renters.
Happily, 5 weeks after I printed my first advert on Craigslist, a girl reached out saying she and her husband have been relocating to San Francisco for work. One labored at a Collection C personal tech startup, and the opposite at probably the most standard AI LLM firms right this moment, which I’m a shareholder in by the Fundrise.
To my shock, the couple was keen to pay $10,000 a month for a five-bedroom, four-bathroom house. Given their salaries and fairness compensation, the lease was truly fairly inexpensive. They wished two house workplaces and house for a house fitness center.
Attributable to these new tenants, lease for this reworked house went from $9,000 a month for 12 months in 2024-2025, to $9,200 a month for 3 months in 2025, and now $10,000 a month from November 2025 onwards.
Strong Complete Rental Revenue Development
Total, I boosted my semi-passive revenue by about $4,300 a month, supplied there aren’t any unexpected bills. I offered a property bought in 2020 for roughly a 20% web revenue after taxes and costs and reinvested many of the proceeds into private and non-private fairness. Then I made made a two-bedroom in-law unit very nice for all members of the family to remain.
Consequently, I give the true property returns an A, however the effort required an F. I really feel like I did 4 years value of normal actual property administration in a single yr.
Consequently, I’m decided to promote one other property after 2027 once I can benefit from the tax-free exclusion rule. Within the meantime, I hope my tenants benefit from the properties and stay self-sufficient. Actual property was my biggest supply of economic stress in 2025.
The business actual property market additionally appears to be waking up from its lengthy slumber. It’s been a tricky slog since inflation surged and the Fed started climbing rates of interest aggressively in 2022. However valuations at the moment are extraordinarily compelling in comparison with the inventory market, and I’m beginning to make investments extra in personal actual property once more.
Household Dynamics – Grade B Minus
Attributable to some complicated points affecting one beloved member of the family particularly exhausting, a grey cloud hung over my spouse and me all year long. I attempted to be a rock by conserving our funds stable, operating Daddy Day Camp each weekend, dropping off and selecting up the youngsters 95% of the time, and at all times being round within the evenings.
My days would usually run from about 5:15 a.m. till 11:30 p.m. as a result of I wished to write down earlier than the household awakened and after the household had gone to mattress. Sadly, my effort to be a full-time dad didn’t appear to be sufficient. My spouse has so much on her plate, is doing the very best she will, and is genuinely adored by our youngsters. I’m additionally studying the best way to be extra empathetic to issues and organic modifications outdoors our management.
The excellent news is that we’ve got the monetary sources to offer the very best therapy and care potential. One other vivid spot is that our youngsters proceed to develop and thrive. They love their faculty, have mates, and obtain an infinite quantity of high quality time from each mother and father.
In significantly, I spent quite a lot of time educating each youngsters tennis and swimming. They now have decent-looking forehands and backhands, together with improved freestyle strokes. In whole, I gave every youngster at the least 35 one-on-one classes, every lasting one to one-and-a-half hours.
Instructing your individual youngsters requires endurance, inside prayers for endurance, and sheer dedication. However seeing seen progress has been extremely rewarding.
It’s deeply satisfying to have the ability to assist my household and allow my spouse to be 10 years free from full-time work after serving to her negotiate a severance bundle again in 2015. Nonetheless, the load is getting heavier due to persistent elevated inflation, pointless needs, and hedonic adaptation. I have to make changes so as to final.
Ikigai (Purpose For Being) – Grade A Plus
As soon as you permit your day job, you’ll more than likely want to seek out one thing inventive or purposeful to do – your ikigai. I extremely doubt you’d be glad solely watching eight hours of TV a day and enjoying pickleball. Personally, I’ve a have to really feel helpful. It additionally feels nice to assist individuals really feel higher and achieve confidence of their funds.
In 2025, I printed one other 156 articles, 52 newsletters, and roughly 30 podcast episodes. Right here’s a recap of the greatest articles on Monetary Samurai for 2025. What made this significantly gratifying have been two issues.
First was the success of my second nationwide bestseller, Millionaire Milestones: Easy Steps to Seven Figures. It took two years to write down and numerous hours to market. One of many highlights was narrating the audiobook myself. It was probably the most difficult skilled experiences I’ve had.
The problem of the method made me understand how a incapacity or well being difficulty may take away your capacity to earn, so please take nothing as a right. If you’re wholesome, benefit from your capacity to provide earlier than it is gone.
Second was sustaining my publishing streak regardless of Google and AI negatively impacting web site site visitors. As natural site visitors declined, so did income. However as a result of I genuinely love writing, I stored going anyway. I’ve been anticipating this present day for 5 years, and now the existential disaster from AI is right here. I do not assume I will ever totally give up.
Shock Video Interview
Lastly, Enterprise Insider launched a enjoyable video interview that includes my household and two others discussing cash classes for elevating youngsters. The inquiry got here out of the blue and felt like an ideal method to shut out the yr.
As an alternative of paying to take footage and ship out vacation playing cards, I had an Emmy-winning producer attain out and produce a video for us as a substitute.It was a good way to complete the yr and commemorate my mother and father and grandparents.
Cash Is Good, A Pleased Household Is Far Higher
2025 strengthened a fact I’ve identified for many years: the window to dwell your greatest life doesn’t keep open eternally. That is the principle purpose I give up the want to make most cash at age 34 and left my finance job behind. As soon as your primary wants are met, cash not brings incremental happiness.
Household and mates matter way more. They’re additionally the individuals who can harm us or assist us probably the most. To this present day, I’m nonetheless making an attempt to raised perceive my mother and father’ personalities. Particularly, I’m making an attempt to distinguish how a lot of the best way they’re is because of their personalities versus their ages. They function so otherwise than I do this I discover myself looking for clues once I’m with them.
I’m additionally dwelling life for the primary time and am fascinated to see how our views change over time. You’d assume we’d at all times have the ability to steadily enhance our pleasure the extra we obtain, however I’m not seeing this correlation after age 45. As an alternative, the extra we’ve got, the heavier we are inclined to really feel and the extra we undergo. Having ever-higher expectations is a recipe for unhappiness.
Genetically, we’re all constructed otherwise. Based mostly on twin research, roughly half of our happiness is influenced by genetics, setting a “set level,” whereas the opposite half comes from our intentional actions and life circumstances. So I would like to stay aware that we’re all distinctive in our personal methods.
Glad 2025 Is Over, However Additionally Miss The Time We No Longer Have
I’m happy with my effort and my perspective this yr. I referred to as my mother and father recurrently and made time to see them greater than I’ve since I used to be 19. The spotlight was stunning my dad for his eightieth birthday on November 17 by merely showing within the kitchen one afternoon as he got here downstairs.
Well being-wise, I continued to play tennis and pickleball 3 times per week and even began going to Sunday evening basketball at my youngsters’s faculty. I simply have to be cautious to not overdo it to keep away from accidents.
Ultimately, I grew our family funds, spent large high quality time with our youngsters, helped many individuals with their funds, and survived a yr of persistent grey clouds. On the flip aspect, the time spent actively managing our funds throughout a unstable inventory market, discovering new tenants and consumers, and coping with vital automotive issues on the finish of the yr actually beat me up.
A B minus grade feels about proper. However I hope the rays of sunshine will burn off the clouds extra recurrently once more. Subsequent up are my New 12 months’s resolutions for 2026.
How was your 2025? What have been a few of your hits and misses?
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