A Space For More Success

"Tom, there is no such thing as a perfect portfolio."

Years ago, when I was in my mid-twenties, my dad walked into my office and poured some cold, hard truth on my head.

He said, "There's no such thing as a perfect portfolio."

Now, this may sound obvious to you, but at the time, I was fresh out of business school and early in my career. My job working alongside my dad involved reviewing portfolios, creating reports, and making recommendations on how to improve them for clients.

With what he taught me, combined with my business school education and experience at a Swiss bank staffed with legions of analysts, I believed perfection (or near perfection) was achievable.

I spent a lot of time meticulously reviewing client accounts, researching positions, adjusting allocations, calculating income needs, assessing risk, and optimizing tax efficiency.

I’d finish my work and pass it off to my dad to review and bring to the family.

I did this over and over.

When my dad said there wasn’t a perfect portfolio, here’s what he meant: financial lives, building businesses, retirement, and investing aren't one-time projects.

Instead, they're more like crafting a fine piece of furniture.

Your financial life is as unique as you are.

As you lie awake at night or stand in the shower thinking about your future, family, work, and health concerns come to mind alongside the financial questions you have.

These issues live in your head and your heart. You discuss them with your spouse or closest friends, search the internet, and increasingly turn to AI chatbots for direction.

But no matter your method, you need a dedicated space and intentional time to address life’s dreams and problems.

Humans have always had a knack for creating spaces to solve problems.

• Kitchens are where we sustain ourselves

• Churches are where we go to practice our faith

• Mechanic shops are where vehicles get fixed

• Etc

Here's a picture of our office:

It's practical, beautiful and something I'm deeply proud of. But it's more than just an office.

It’s a financial workshop where real families bring their dreams, assets, problems, tax returns, estate plans, and budgets.

Together, we lay it all out and work toward finding ways to create:

Stable and predictable incomeRisk-appropriate investment strategiesThoughtful tax strategyA plan to preserve family unity across generations

This takes time, trust, and effort—and a space to create more success.

This work is worth it and it's proven effective. My family has served some families for over 50 years, helping them navigate everything from market crashes to family business transitions to multi-generational estate planning.

You probably live a thousand miles from me.

We may never meet in person.

But you are a part of the 24,000+ tmrw community, and that means the following:

You are interested in financial freedomYou want stable and predictable passive incomeYou like investingYou don’t want to pay more taxes

While this newsletter’s job is to give you better context surrounding the major financial decisions you’re making, I’ll never be able to talk with you directly here in email form, and you’ll never know what other readers are working on.

That’s where Wealth Workshops come in.

You've been invited to Wealth Workshops before, and we're now doubling down on this effort for you.

Wealth Workshops are digital Zoom sessions where Jacob Radke, Dan Schuster, and I answer your questions live every Tuesday.

What makes these valuable isn't just getting your questions answered.

It's hearing how other high-net-worth families are working through complex situations you might face tomorrow.

Here are some examples of recent questions we've tackled:

"How do I not worry about my retirement given the certainty of inflation?""What are the best ways to draw from my portfolio while handling taxes?""When should I convert my Roth IRA to avoid taxes later?""My wife and I are currently making some changes to address both sides of our personal balance sheet, including selling our home at the top of a high-priced market in favor of a more cost-effective rental in a more affordable city. With a good chunk of proceeds from the sale that we’ll likely want to use for another home purchase or business investment 1–3 years down the line, what's the best place to park this money so we're reaping rewards from compound growth, but also limiting risk and staying relatively liquid?""What are some smart ways to transfer wealth to my children without triggering large tax burdens, and how often should I revisit my estate plans?"

Here are the logistics for you:

Time: Every Tuesday from 11-11:30 AM CT

Location: Fjell Capital’s Zoom

How to Participate: submit your questions ahead of time or ask live. You can attend just to listen in too.

Who is this for: Members of the tmrw community. My perspective comes as a financial professional running a successful wealth management business serving families with $1-10m in assets.

How to Join: Click Here To Register

Here's why this matters now:

In just a few years, there will be as many AI agents around the globe as there are people. We will struggle to discern what's real and what's not.

While AI is impressive and will only get exponentially better, it will never truly be human.

I was watching a video last night from a founder who bootstrapped an AI company to $1 billion in revenue, and he said this:

“AI is good at answering SAT-like problems, but it is not good at tackling human problems.”

Edwin Chen, Surge AI CEO & Co-Founder

Its understanding of your experiences is merely mathematical equations, 1s and 0s behind the text it generates.

AI doesn't have a soul, a sick child to care for, a mortgage payment, the sorrow of losing a father to cancer, the joy of a promotion, or the anxiety of missed opportunities.

We're doubling down on Wealth Workshops to provide you a dedicated space to ask real questions to real humans and learn how other real people are navigating their financial lives.

This is about trust.

Every Tuesday, you'll have access to Wealth Workshops. We'll post the link right above each newsletter edition, so you can easily submit questions, join live, or listen to the replay on your way home from work.

Our approach is simple: bring your real situation, get practical guidance from advisors who've helped families through decades of market changes, economic shifts, and life transitions.

As AI continues rapidly changing our lives, our team's commitment remains clear: providing you every resource necessary to make confident financial decisions.

See you Tuesday,

Tom

PS - Many of you have scheduled Private Wealth Sessions with me over the past month, if you want to see if you qualify for this complementary call where you speak directly with me, click here.