Some things and ideas: March 2025
My monthly overview (Monthly recurring piece)
I consider YAVB my “empire” with four core pieces: this blog / substack (the free side), the premium side of this blog, my podcast (also on Spotify, iTunes, or YouTube), and my twitter account. You can see my 2025 vision and goals for the empire here. If you like the blog / free site, I'd encourage you to check out the pod, follow me on twitter, and maybe even subscribe to the premium site!
A bonus note: I get asked from lots of people about how to break into the finance industry. I detailed it more here, but my top advice would be to go out and start a substack (substack recently gave me a referral code if you start one; if you use that, awesome! But I’ve been recommending starting a substack long before they offered referrals!). If you do launch a substack, please let me know so I can try to be helpful.
Welcome to Miami
I’m going to Miami later this week (April 3+4). The schedule is filling up a bit…. but if you’re down there and would like to meet up, shoot me a note and we’ll try to make something happen (we’re staying in the Brickell area, so something around there is ideal, but obviously uber exists so I have some flexibility!). And, if a meet up doesn’t work out this time, no big deal: I mentioned in my mid-March ramblings we’re thinking of moving to Miami, so there’s every chance in the near future you’ll have an unlimited chance to see me down there!
Fitness
Mentioned this a bit last month…. but, like every Joe Schmo, at the start of the year I try to eat clean / lose some weight. I did an Inbody (a body fat scan) on January 8th and came in at 222 pounds with 22.6% body fat; obviously I was not super thrilled with those numbers / that’s just not healthy. So I’ve been trying to improve my diet, mainly by completely cutting out sugars (I don’t drink so alcohol has already been removed) and being pretty regimented on my diet (I eat three meals a day, and I try to keep it really structured and just have breakfast be Kreatures of Habit overnight oatmeal, lunch be a high protein Factor box, and dinner be a salad with a heck of a lot of grilled chicken. Between that plus a protein shake, a protein bar (I’m an enormous fan of the David protein bars; they’re the perfect balance of don’t taste terrible and packed with protein with no filler…. though they ain’t cheap!), and maybe some greek yogurt, I’m between 180-200g of protein and ~2k calories every day).
The results so far have been excellent. My second inbody read was Feb 19; I was down to ~214 pounds with 18.7% body fat (also gained almost a pound of muscle, which ain’t easy in a month!). My third inbody is scheduled for Wednesday (April 2; just in time to head to Miami!). I think I’m coming in around 207 right now, so I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m pushing towards 15% body fat….. but who knows? I will tell you that I feel jacked as all heck and am definitely starting to see some outlines of my ab in the mirror. Will report back exact results next month!
Unrelated but while I’m spilling the beans on fitness…. I’m doing the NYC Hyrox at the start of June. If you’re doing the Hyrox (or you’re just into fitness), I plan on doing some hyrox focused training classes in April / May and company is always welcome. Also, I have not run much since I hurt my knee in the fall, so even if you’re not doing Hyrox you can probably catch me jogging (very slowly) around Central Park the next few months!
Fintwit Book Club
One of my favorite things I’m doing this year is my book club with Byrne Hobart from the diff. March’s book club (on Diary of a Very Bad Year) will be released in the next day or two; I’d encourage you to check out February’s book club (on Advanced Portfolio Management) if you can’t wait for March’s but haven’t checked Feb’s out yet!
We’re always looking for recommendations on new books for upcoming months; if you have any ideas or suggestions, please hit me up!
A quick, nerdy recommendation
Long time readers / listeners know I love escape rooms. A few years ago, Neil Patrick Harris (of How I Met Your Mother / Doogie Howser fame) released “Box 1.” As you might expect from a lover of puzzles (and How I Met Your Mother!), I bought it basically the moment it came out and really liked it. Earlier this year, he released box 2….. and I loved it as well. Note that I played both with my wife, and she loved them too, so it’s not just me saying it! If you’re into puzzles and looking for something a little different, I’d give both my seal of approval!
State of markets (Monthly recurring piece)
It’s not a perfect indicator, but I like to use the CNN “Fear & Greed” Index just to quickly quantify where the markets are.
Things got pretty rough this month… so rough that I put out my own little mini “Markets in turmoil piece”. That seemed to mark the bottom…. until the past few days, when the markets turned right back down and approached their mid-month lows.
I don’t think I have a ton to add to that mid-March piece. People seem very, very down right now. The near term path is certainly rocky; honestly, gun to my head I’d bet we’re going lower before we’re going higher….. but it’s when you’re hearing / thinking things like that that things are most primed for a bounce back. And I continue to think there are many, many opportunities out there, and on the whole buyers at today’s prices probably make out well in the medium to long term!
Nerd Corner (Monthly recurring piece)
There’s no hiding it; I’m a massive nerd. I read 3-4 fantasy books a month, my favorite pastime is playing board games with my wife and friends, and I was an eager supporter of the Brandon Sanderson (original) Kickstarter (yes, I splurged and went for the hardcover books).
I didn’t support Sanderson’s DND-style board game…. but only because my wife would murder me if I bought another board game when I have a whole Dungeon Master kit collecting dust. Still, I wanted to highlight it because between the two Kickstarters Sanderson will have raised >$50m for new projects; if you’re a fan of fantasy and that type of fan enthusiasm doesn’t encourage you to give him a try, I don’t know what will! As I mention below, if you’re trying him out, I’d probably start with Mistborn, though Tess and the Emerald Sea is basically a standalone book and might be my favorite book he’s written
Anyway, I figured a few of you are nerds like me, so I started this segment to give recs of what I’m nerding out over currently, with the hope that you’ll either try it and enjoy it or recommend me similarly nerdy things that I’ll enjoy. This month’s recs:
I finished Dungeon Crawler Carl book 7. The series is so good / so much fun that I’ve decided to add it to my list of perma-recommendations below. Outside of that, I read Metal Slinger. I had no clue what I was getting into when I read it; I just saw multiple fantasy threads that it had the best twist they’ve ever seen. And, I will admit: the twists (and there are multiple) are very good, and the twist is very good. I liked the book, but I can’t whole heartedly recommend it. It’s a romantasy (a la fourth wing, but no where near as smutty), which I did not know going in! If you’re into that type of book and / or a really interested in some big twists, it’s probably worth reading (and if you do, please email me; I need someone to discuss the twists with!). If not, go get started on Dungeon Crawler Carl!
PS- outside of my monthly recs, I constantly get asked what my favorite fantasy books are. So I’m just going to throw this list out monthly:
Anything Brandon Sanderson writes; he’s by far the best fantasy author out there. I’d probably start with Mistborn, though Tess and the Emerald Sea is basically a standalone book and might be my favorite book he’s written. The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England is also a standalone book and a very fun and fast read. Most of his works are interconnected through something called “the cosmere;” if you’re feeling crazy, here’s how to read the cosmere in order.
Kingkiller is probably the best series I’ve ever read; waiting for the third is agony.
Gentleman Bastards is right up there with Kingkiller; the mix of fun and world building is outstanding.
Red Rising series is more sci-fi, but my god is it good. I would literally stay up all night to read every book the day they came out (note: I’ve only read the first trilogy; I’m going to read the second when the last book comes out later this year).
If you’re looking for something a little more under the radar (most of the books above are widely regarded as some of the best fantasy books / series ever), the Licanius Trilogy was fantastic.
First Law trilogy is excellent. It can get a little brutal / graphic though; there are a bunch of sequels and spins, but I’ve never been able to finish them because one of them got so brutal I just put the book down and never picked it up again. But the first trilogy is really, really great.
The Cradle series probably isn’t as “good” as the books above, but I binged them and every fantasy fan I’ve recommended them to has said something along the line of “I read all ten books in two months after I opened the first one.”
I’ve also really enjoyed that author’s newest series, Last Horizon!
The Wandering Inn series isn’t for everyone, and the first ~150 pages of the first book need to get powered through…. but, if you can power through them, the world building here is incredible, and I’ve had so many friends get hooked by this series. If you like hard fantasy, I can near guarantee you’ll like it.
Similarly, Dungeon Crawler Carl won’t be for everyone, but it’s probably the most fun series of books I’ve ever read, and some of the scenes in the later books carry a surprising amount of emotional weight.
The Silvers Epic (Flight of the Silvers, Song of the Orphans, War of the Givens) is more sci-fi than fantasy, but it’s one of my favorite series I’ve ever read and I think is wildly creative in how they use time travel / multiverse as a plot point (the last book was a little slow, but the ending wrapped everything up beautifully / it got a little dusty in the room I was reading).
Other things that caught my eye (monthly recurring piece)
