Author: jwithrow

This past Saturday was the annual “Fall Fun Day” up here in the mountains of Virginia.

Each year in October – just as the humidity disappears and the leaves start to turn – we get together for a day of food, fun, and fellowship. I didn’t count, but I believe we had eight or nine families and eleven or twelve kids running around this year.

The activities consisted of old-fashioned potato sack races, a candy corn relay for the kids, and a Saran Wrap gift ball chocked full of neat prizes.

In total I think we spent seven hours at the event—all of them outside. I can’t help but think that the old-world harvest festivals may have borne some resemblance to this.

And for the sake of memories, everyone was asked to leave their handprint on a tapestry in paint. Here it is:

The older I get, the more I realize that it truly is the simple things that mean the most in life. And I think the same holds true in the world of finance and investing.

Continue reading “It’s the simple things – in life and in finance…”

Fall has descended upon us up here in the mountains of Virginia.

Every day a few more leaves turn yellow, orange, and red… and every day the morning fog seems to be a little thicker. I love it.

For some reason I always think of the frontier days during this time of year.

We are way up in the Appalachian mountains. The population here has always been sparse—and that’s accentuated now that the nearby towns have lost roughly 50% of their population over the last several decades.

Apparently this area was predominantly settled by the Scotch-Irish back in the 18^th century. They must have been the only ones crazy enough to think they could farm such a rugged, mountainous landscape.

It’s also well-documented that several of the prominent American founders made the trek to these lands once a year back then. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were known to visit this area often. They came specifically to bathe in the hot springs which are prevalent up here.

The springs were considered to have healing properties back then. If you ask the local resort, they’ll tell you the springs still do.

I don’t know. Maybe they know what they are talking about. This is the same resort that was around back then. It was founded in 1766. Both Washington and Jefferson would stay there when they visited.

This kind of history fascinates me. But then my gaze shifts…

Continue reading “Through the eyes of a child…”

Fall is upon us up here in the mountains of Virginia. This is by far my favorite time of year.

Humidity has disappeared. Mist slowly rolls across the mountains each morning. A cool breeze blows from the west. The leaves are beginning to turn yellow, orange, and red—one by one.

It’s simply amazing. And invigorating. Every day I say a silent prayer of thankfulness. I’m thankful to be here in this place at this time.

This is my first note to you in over a week. We’ve been busy putting together our first real marketing campaign for our trail-blazing investment membership The Phoenician League. Amidst the hustle and bustle I just haven’t found time to write.

That’s on me. But I’m happy to say that I’ve learned some valuable lessons these past few weeks. The biggest of which is this…

Continue reading “Fall is upon us in the mountains…”

We’ve been talking all week about the need to shift our approach to personal finance and retirement planning. The Age of Paper Wealth has ended… and what worked reasonably well the last forty years is not likely to work well going forward.

Yesterday, we dived deep into the art of asset allocation. And we pointed out that if we want true financial security, a robust asset allocation model is how we get it.

If that narrative shifted your perspective, brace yourself, because today we’ll be challenging a deep-seated notion even further. The entire idea of retirement.

When we say ‘retirement plan’, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

For most, it’s a magic number. Maybe it’s $1 million. Maybe it’s $5 million. Maybe even more…

We’ve been conditioned to believe that if we can just hit our number, we’ll be able to retire early and finally be free from the job. We can hit the golf course in the morning and lounge by the pool in the evening.

But I have to ask… Have we ever stopped to question the very foundation of this idea? Is it really necessary to compartmentalize our life like this?

Let’s consider Mike W. for a minute. Mike was the very first member of our investment membership The Phoenician League. In fact, Mike helped me pioneer the approach we advocate within the membership.

Starting from nothing, Mike built a passive income stream of over $4,000 monthly. All in just a few years—using our approach to “retirement”.

Translate that into a yearly figure, and we’re looking at over $48,000. That’s not eye-popping. But it’s nothing to sneeze at either. Who wouldn’t want an extra $48k coming at them every year?

Plus, Mike’s just getting started. He will continue to grow his passive income year after year after year.

Now, if Mike had utilized Retirement Inc.’s magic number approach, where would he be today?

That of course would depend on how his financial portfolio performed—which we can’t possibly know. But what we can know for sure is this: with their approach Mike would have no passive income today.

Then if Mike needed to tap into his retirement funds, he would have to sell some assets and pay taxes on the proceeds. Talk about a fragile model. You can only do this so many times before you’re out of money. Then everything you spent your life working for is gone.

But with passive income streams, the concept of ‘running out’ becomes obsolete. As does the entire idea of retirement.

This isn’t just theory. It’s a revolution in financial planning.

The concept of retirement is rooted in an era gone by. It’s based on a time when pensions and fixed incomes were the norm. What’s more, it was designed to kick old people out of the work force to make way for the next generation of workers.

In our current economic climate, with its uncertainties and volatility, wouldn’t it be wiser to aim for continuous streams of income, rather than banking on a lump sum that might or might not last you through your sunset years?

That’s not to diminish the importance of savings. But imagine a scenario where instead of chasing a magic number, you cultivated multiple streams of passive income. In this narrative, ‘retirement’ isn’t an end-goal but rather an ongoing journey of financial stability and growth.

It’s about changing gears from saving for retirement to investing for income. With passive income, the concept of retirement fades away. Instead, we witness the dawning of financial freedom, where you’re not bound by age or a set figure in your bank or brokerage account.

Now, this shift in mindset doesn’t come without its challenges. It requires guidance, mentorship, a network, and above all, action. This is where The Phoenician League shines.

We’re not just about information; we’re about transformation. And implementation. Our model helps members transition from the conventional to the revolutionary. Our network and community provide the tools and support to make this shift seamless and profitable.

Remember, many of our members, like Mike W., have started building passive income within just a month or two of implementing our approach. You could be one of them.

As we gear up to open our doors to the wider public next month, a window of opportunity presents itself for those who seek a different path—one where retirement isn’t the destination, but financial freedom is. If you want to be part of this revolution, now’s the time.

Join our waitlist today at The Phoenician League Membership Platform to lock in today’s rates. We’ll be in touch very soon.

-Joe Withrow

Yesterday we touched on the inevitable fall of the Age of Paper Wealth. And we pointed out that it will inevitably lead to a renaissance for real assets. Especially those that produce cash flow.

Today, let’s take it a step further. Let’s discuss how asset allocation can be a game changer in these unpredictable economic times.

Asset allocation is the art of diversifying investments. And I mean true diversity here.

The CNBC definition of diversity is to buy stocks across different industries. Our definition is to build a portfolio around multiple asset classes. This is critical for the economic climate we now find ourselves in.

Consider this: What’s the best way to navigate a storm? By putting all your cargo in one part of the ship? Or by evenly distributing it to ensure balance?

The same logic applies to personal finance. Diversifying your investments across various assets can be a buffer against financial storms. This is how we cope with rising interest rates and volatile stock prices.

But here’s the thing – all assets are not created equal.

Different assets respond differently to market forces, geopolitical events, and economic cycles. Hence, the art of asset allocation ensures that we’re not just banking on one star. Instead, we’re creating a constellation of investments that will persevere no matter what the markets throw at us.

So, how do you begin to craft this art?

It starts with the vision. We need to sit down and draw up a well-defined asset allocation model. It defines exactly which assets we want in our portfolio. And then our model determines how much money we’re going to allocate to each particular asset.

From there, we must know how and where to acquire those assets. And that’s where having a network of trusted experts becomes critical.

Enter The Phoenician League.

The Phoenician League is an investment membership like no other out there. We provide our members with the knowledge, tools, connections, and support they need to craft financial security and ultimately financial independence.

And make no mistake about it – we don’t simply provide information. At The Phoenician League, we specialize in implementation.

We have a turn-key system in place that anyone can plug into. Constructing your asset allocation model and building passive income is just a matter of tapping into our existing infrastructure.

What’s more, the community aspect of The Phoenician League plays a pivotal role.

We have a core group of like-minded members who, like you, are committed to achieving financial independence. We support each other. We share expertise and experiences. And we often provide each other with fresh perspectives on our monthly calls. That’s an invaluable resource in a journey filled with decisions.

You see, the real strength of The Phoenician League isn’t just the assets we introduce our members to. It’s the holistic environment we provide.

This is a place where you get not only a steady stream of investment opportunities but also access to financial professionals whose counsel you can trust. And let’s not forget the camaraderie of a community that’s walking the same path as you.

In a world replete with uncertainties, your financial security shouldn’t be left to chance. With the right asset allocation strategy and the right network, financial success is easier than ever before. There’s no reason why everybody shouldn’t be the master of their own financial destiny.

And here’s the best part…

The Phoenician League will open its doors to the general public next month. We’ll have to raise our membership rates substantially when we do. But before then, we would like to extend an invitation to those on our wait list at today’s much lower membership rate.

And I should add, once you lock in your rate, it will never change. That’s our commitment to you.

So if you would like to learn more about our investment membership, please join our wait list today. You can do so right here: The Phoenician League Membership Platform

We’ll follow up soon with more information. Here’s to your prosperous future!

-Joe Withrow

Yesterday we talked about America’s declining “exorbitant privilege”. Now we stand at a crossroads.

The narrative of personal finance as we’ve known it for decades is beginning to unravel. The Age of Paper Wealth is over.  That means the days of dwindling interest rates and rising stock prices across the board are behind us.

The world has changed. And our understanding of wealth and financial stability must evolve with it.

I often ask myself, why do so many of us place blind trust in virtual numbers on screens, often far removed from tangible realities?

We’ve been conditioned to see wealth as a constantly fluctuating balance in our bank and brokerage accounts. Something that depends solely on the health of the financial markets. But what if we could step away from this illusory chase and root our financial future in something more solid… something real?

In the realm of personal finance, real assets are often overshadowed. But let’s peel back the layers.

Unlike paper wealth, real assets have lasting value. Whether it’s real estate, precious metals, or commodities, these assets don’t just represent value—they are value. And in uncertain times, they can offer a bedrock of stability and predictability.

What’s happened since 2022 in the financial world should serve as a wake-up call for all of us. No longer can we afford to cling to the Retirement Myth that has dominated our financial airwaves for so long.

Why resign ourselves to a future of uncertainty when the tools for financial independence are within our grasp right now? Real assets offer not just a hedge against financial instability. They are an avenue towards sustainable passive income.

I’ve had countless conversations with people who’ve experienced the  power of real assets. Time and again, they echo the same sentiment: “Why didn’t I do this sooner?”

The answer is simple: lack of knowledge and access. Retirement Inc. doesn’t want us to go down this path.

And that’s where The Phoenician League comes in.

Our investment membership isn’t just another information product. It’s a doorway leading to a world of opportunities grounded in real assets. We get our members connected to both investments and vetted financial professionals. That way reclaiming your financial sovereignty becomes as simple as plugging into the network.

And a new chapter is beginning…

We are creating a future where financial independence isn’t a distant dream. Instead, it’s a tangible reality. And at the The Phoenician League, we have a seven-part success path for getting there.

As I mentioned yesterday, we’re going to open our doors to the general public next month. When we do, we’ll have no choice but to raise our membership rates.

Before we do, I’d like to extend one final invitation to you. In a week or two we’re going to invite those on our wait list to join us at our current membership rate. This is lowest price we’ll ever be able to offer.

Are you ready to create financial security and start building truly passive income streams? We can help.

Secure your spot on our waitlist today. Your journey towards a robust financial future starts here: The Phoenician League Membership Platform

More to come…

-Joe

Our financial world has dramatically shifted. America’s “exorbitant privilege” is fading…

Starting in 1944, the US was allowed to print money in exchange for real goods from other countries. And the only limit on this privilege was the dollar’s convertibility into gold.

Then, in 1971, President Nixon closed the gold exchange window. From that moment on, the US dollar became a floating abstraction based on one thing… People’s willingness to use it.

This is what French Premier Charles de Gaulle called America’s exorbitant privilege. Because the US dollar acts as the world’s reserve currency, only the United States could print money at scale to buy real goods from overseas.

That dynamic created what I call the Age of Paper Wealth.

From 1982 until 2022, there was one primary megatrend in the financial markets. Interest rates only went down… and stocks only went up.

Given this dazzling era of paper wealth, our views on financial security and wealth-building centered around the financial markets. That gave birth to the Retirement Myth—the idea that we should all pour our savings into stocks and funds to work up to our magical retirement “number”.

And sure, that approach to personal finance worked okay for a while. But everything changed when interest rates began their climb in 2022.

Now we have to ask – what if the primary megatrend has reversed? What if interest rates continue to trend higher? Will the standard approach still serve us?

To me, the Retirement Myth is a snaky notion. It preaches a life of labor with the promise of relaxation in its twilight. I look at that and I wonder – where’s the meaning? Where’s the purpose?

Then I have to ask—why wait for an uncertain future when you can achieve financial independence now?

And we do that by leveraging real assets that produce passive income for us. As the era of paper wealth fades away, real assets will become more and more important.

And here’s the thing – building passive income with real assets is simple. This is something anybody can do. It’s just that most of us aren’t aware that it’s even an option. Retirement Inc. crowded out all other alternatives.

That’s where our investment membership The Phoenician League comes in.

We’re not just another financial advisory club. We’re a beacon of financial independence with a focus on real assets.

At The Phoenician League, we connect our members to a robust network of financial professionals. These are people who are experts in their field. We also bring our members incredible investment opportunities designed to drive passive income from day one.

I see our membership as the best kept secret of the financial world. We haven’t done any marketing. And we’ve kept our doors closed to new members for the better part of the past twelve months. But that’s all about to change.

We are going to officially open up to the general public next month. The only downside is that we’ll have to raise our membership rates significantly to accommodate a larger group.

And that’s why I’m bringing this up to you today. We are going to give everyone on our wait list the opportunity to join The Phoenician League ahead of our public launch… before our membership rates rise.   

Are you ready to transition from ephemeral paper wealth to real assets and passive income? The Phoenician League holds the key. Join our waitlist today and in the coming weeks we’ll give you the opportunity to join us at the lowest price we’ll ever be able to offer.

And I promise, our current rate is insanely low. Our members recoup their entire membership fee within the first few months of implementing our passive income strategy.

So if you’re ready to unlock your path to financial independence, please join our wait list right here: The Phoenician League Membership Platform. We’ll be in touch very soon…

-Joe Withrow

Today I’d like to share one final excerpt from my new book with you. It’s titled Beyond the Nest Egg, How to Be Financially Independent Outside of a Broken System.

Yesterday we set the stage for the book’s macroeconomic discussion. Today we’ll set the stage for the book’s suggested approach to personal finance.

The thing is – to manage our own finances successfully, we have to understand how all this macroeconomic activity impacts us personally. Here’s excerpt #3:

The Fed has spent the last thirty years consistently pumping cheap money into the financial system. By “cheap,” I mean money that it created from nothing.

In total, the Fed has created at least $8 trillion. That’s what we can verify. And there’s a good chance the Fed engineered even more new dollars through back-channels.

This onslaught of money created from nothing drove interest rates down to near-zero.

Then the commercial banks pyramided credit on top of these trillions of dollars by roughly ten-to-one. In other words, for every new dollar created, the banks could lend out ten dollars against it. And remember, this necessarily creates new money from nothing as well.

This all served to create a massive financial bubble in the US and many developed countries around the world.

Meanwhile, major western governments used this funny money to spearhead massive spending programs… for pretty much anything and everything.

The most obvious spending circled around military and welfare-state programs. But a quick search on the private search engine Brave (search.brave.com) for “most ridiculous government spending programs” will reveal all kinds of other shenanigans. It’s mind-blowing what these people have done.

As a result, many regular folks have been conditioned to see the government as this great cornucopia. Whenever there’s a problem, somehow our society has adopted the idea that it’s the government’s job to fix it. And given its seemingly infinite resources, the government has been quick to acquiesce.

That’s why all western governments are now drowning in debt.

Name any major western country and you can be sure that its debt-to-gross domestic product (GDP) ratio has ballooned in recent decades. In fact, many countries now service a debt that’s near or greater than 100 percent of their GDP.

These numbers are unprecedented historically. Never before have so many countries run up a debt that equals or exceeds their gross domestic production.

This is only possible in a world where central banks can create new base money from thin air. And that world has only existed since 1971. That’s when US President Richard Nixon removed the dollar’s final link to gold.

However, it appears we’ve reached the limit. We’ve come to the point where the economy simply cannot handle any more debt and cheap money.

The problem is, there’s no easy fix to this mess. The great Austrian economist Ludwig von Mises spelled out the dilemma very clearly in his great work Human Action: A Treatise on Economics.

Here’s Mises:

There is no means of avoiding the final collapse of a boom brought about by credit expansion. The alternative is only whether the crisis should come sooner as the result of voluntary abandonment of further credit expansion, or later as a final and total catastrophe of the currency system involved.

What Mises was saying is this…

Once you go down the path of manipulating interest rates lower and printing new money from thin air, you necessarily sow the seeds of a future crisis.

If you keep going down that same path for too long, you’ll destroy the currency and wreck the economy beyond all recognition. This is the worst-case scenario. But if you recognize that your current trajectory is unsustainable, you can make the decision to reverse course.

This will result in a painful economic contraction. Artificially low interest rates and funny money fuel all kinds of malinvestment, and that malinvestment must be liquidated.

That’s what the necessary recession does. It clears out the bad debt and gets rid of unproductive companies. It’s not fun to go through, but it’s far preferable to destroying the currency and the entire economy…

-Joe Withrow

P.S. The new book just hit the shelves at Amazon. You can find it right here: https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Nest-Egg-Financially-Independent/dp/B0CGG5G6XH/nch

We’re going beyond the nest egg all week long.

That is to say, I’m sharing excerpts from my new book Beyond the Nest Egg, How to Be Financially Independent Outside of a Broken System.

Yesterday we covered the introduction. Today we’ll set the stage for the book’s macroeconomic analysis. Here’s excerpt #2:

I spent about eight years in the world of corporate banking. That was my first career. After that, I spent nearly a decade immersed in the world of high-end–investment research. That was my second career. That’s the lens through which I am writing to you today.

The focus of this book is how to get our personal finances right, in lieu of the shifting macroeconomic climate we find ourselves in. My passion is financial independence, but I don’t approach this from a consumerist mindset. To me, it’s all about living a purpose-driven life.

That said, there are forces at work out there that have an outsized impact on the economy and the financial system. And as I’m sure many of us have noticed, these forces have been pushing substantial changes over the last few years.

We are living through an incredible point in history. The sequence of events that take place over the next several years will shape the order of the new world.

I suspect most of us already know this to be true. We can “feel” it. We’ve probably felt it for several years now.

In the next few chapters, I’ll summarize what I think is happening on the world stage… who the major players are… and what it means for us. There are some important actions each of us should take right now to get ahead of what’s coming.

I suspect many of us realize now that the world is not as simplistic as the mainstream news presents it to be. There are power structures working behind the scenes to deliver carefully scripted narratives.

For the last several decades it certainly appeared as though those power structures were uniformly aligned. I’m speaking from an American perspective here.

Fiscal policy (Congress) worked hand-in-hand with monetary policy (the Federal Reserve). They each seemed to align with international interests.

That is to say, what happened in the US appeared to be in line with what the United Nations (UN) and the European Central Bank (ECB) wanted as well. Global policies often appeared to be coordinated. This was especially true when it came to monetary policy and interest rates.

And here’s the thing—this seemed to be the case regardless of which political party happened to be in power at any given time. Political campaigns made all kinds of lofty promises, but nothing seemed to change much once the elections were over. This fueled a belief in some circles that there must be a shadowy, unified organization operating behind the scenes.

Comedian George Carlin would talk about this in his skits. “It’s a big club and you ain’t in it,” he would say.

But it has become clear that this isn’t exactly true…

-Joe Withrow

P.S. If you would like a little more information on the book ahead of its launch this week, just go here: Beyond the Nest Egg Book Launch

AAs I mentioned yesterday, I’m putting out a new book in the coming days. It’s titled Beyond the Nest Egg, How to Be Financially Independent Outside of a Broken System.

As such, I thought I would share a few excerpts with you this week. And I suppose it makes the most sense to start with the introduction. Here it is:

The world has fundamentally changed.

It used to be that a lack of information was one of our biggest challenges. Prior to the internet, finding information was much more difficult and time-consuming. It could take days, weeks, sometimes even months. Today, however, we have the opposite problem. We are inundated with incredible amounts of information all day, every day.

The problem is, most of this information is just noise. Much of it is nothing more than junk. And if we fill our heads with junk, we’re far more likely to make bad decisions.

The advent of the internet and the over-availability of information is just the beginning of how our world has changed, significantly and permanently.

Like me, I suspect many can “feel” that things aren’t going back to the way they used to be. At first, that’s an unsettling thought. What does that mean for us? And by us, I mean the regular folks.

Should we keep doing things the way we always have and hope for the best? Or should we make changes? And if it’s the latter, what changes should we make?

To answer this question, we must understand what’s actually happening on the greater world stage. And to gain this understanding, we must cut through the smoke, the mirrors, and the biases that pervade the information we take in every day.

We must understand that there is a big difference between information—which is common—and insight—which is not. The more we can sift through the information surrounding us and focus only on the insight, the better.

And one of the best ways to do this is to learn how to cut through the fluff and analyze what really matters—incentives.

If we can get a good feel for a person or an institution’s incentives, we are much better able to understand and project future actions. Then we can make our own decisions accordingly.

That is what this book is all about. Over the course of the next several chapters, we’ll talk about exactly what’s happening in the world today.

We’ll discuss the big economic changes that are brewing right now, and then we’ll dig into the various factions that have an outsized influence on both the monetary system and the economy. We’re also going to take a dive into exactly how we can structure our finances accordingly.

But first, let me give you a fair warning…

I’m going to provide you with my independent analysis. It’s not going to look like anything that will ever be presented on television or in mainstream news articles. And I don’t self-censor.

Those who automatically reject anything that doesn’t immediately conform to their pre-existing beliefs and worldview may be a bit uncomfortable with my analysis. But if you’re willing to give it a hearing, you will find that the incentives I have uncovered are hard to refute.

So, if you’re willing to accompany me, let’s carry on. But please buckle up. There are no paved roads where we’re going…

-Joe Withrow

P.S. If you would like a little more information on the book ahead of its launch this week, just go here: Beyond the Nest Egg Book Launch