The Ascend Letter

Planning Corner: Building for Everyone but Yourself

Working with young entrepreneurs is one of the most fascinating parts of my job. I get to be surrounded by deeply motivated people who are pouring everything they have into a purpose bigger than themselves. They spend every waking minute building a life on their own terms rather than someone else's.

But there is a shadow side to that drive. So much of their time goes into building a business, a team, or a movement that lifts everyone around them, that they often forget to build one thing. Their own wealth.

I spoke recently with someone who has spent the last couple of years stretched across at least five different ventures. He told me his goal is to retire his dad by growing these businesses. What a noble cause to chase. His father gave him everything growing up, and now the son wants to return the favor.

In just a short conversation, we found a few small things that could move him closer to that goal. Because here is the real challenge: without a roadmap, there is no sense of where to start or where to focus. All that drive, and no direction to point it.

The goal itself is noble. But if we are not careful, we can sacrifice our own progress in the pursuit of it. And for a lot of entrepreneurs, that trade is worth it, if the goal truly is their purpose.

But what if you did not have to choose? What if there were a way to reach that goal without starving your own wealth creation? Or better yet, what if your own wealth creation is the very engine that gets you there?

That is why I love working with business owners. They are some of the most talented people in their field, and they have proven it by building something from nothing. But that building comes at the cost of other parts of their lives. And that is exactly where I find my own purpose. Being someone to carry the financial and investment thinking, so the founder can pour their energy into the thing they love most. Their purpose.

The Macro

After a month of eerie calm, volatility is back. The VIX, the market's fear gauge, has started to climb again. That is no great surprise, September is historically the market's most turbulent month.

Friday's inflation report is a big reason. Headline inflation came in at 3.4%, and on the surface that looks hot. But dig in and a large chunk of it is gasoline, which has spiked on the renewed Middle East conflict and oil pushing back above $100. Strip out volatile food and energy, and core inflation is a more modest 2.4%. The underlying economy is still going strong. In a way, the real story, a resilient economy and the march of AI, is being overshadowed by oil and geopolitics.

The market did not take it well. After the report, the odds of a rate hike at this week's Fed meeting jumped to around 85%. That would be the Fed's first rate hike since 2023.

Here is where I part ways with the crowd. I think we get another hold, not a hike, and that this eventually gives way to cuts over the next year. Warsh has talked tough, but raising rates just weeks before the midterms, on inflation that is largely transitory, is a hard case to make.