Inspired Money

Your dollar lost 87% of its purchasing power since 1968.

And it started with a single signature.

58 years ago today, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed Public Law 90-269, eliminating the requirement that the Federal Reserve hold gold reserves to back U.S. currency.

March 18, 1968. The White House.

The U.S. was hemorrhaging gold. Foreign governments were exchanging dollars for bullion at an alarming rate. The London Gold Pool had just collapsed. Something had to give.

Johnson's solution: remove the 25% gold backing requirement for Federal Reserve notes. With one stroke, the dollar became untethered from anything physical.

Here's what most people missed:

This wasn't the end of the gold standard. That came in 1971 when Nixon closed the gold window entirely. But this was the critical first step. It gave the Fed unlimited flexibility to print money without gold constraints.

The result? In 1968, $100 bought what takes roughly $900 today.

💼 What this means for your wallet:

Right now, the Fed is navigating sticky inflation, elevated oil prices, and pressure to cut rates. Sound familiar? The same tension between monetary flexibility and currency stability that drove Johnson's decision is playing out again.

The lesson from 1968: governments will always choose flexibility over constraint when backed into a corner. Your job as an investor is to plan accordingly.

→ Cash loses purchasing power over time. That's not a bug, it's a feature of the system
→ Hard assets, equities, and real estate have historically outpaced inflation
→ The dollar's decline isn't a crisis, it's a 58-year trend

Johnson thought he was solving a short-term crisis. He was setting the trajectory for the next six decades.

What's your strategy for protecting purchasing power in an era of unlimited monetary flexibility?

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4 days ago | [YT] | 3

Inspired Money

In 2008, the government saved some banks and let others die. Investors who trusted "too big to fail" learned the hardest lesson in finance.

History's most famous betrayal happened 2,070 years ago today.

March 15, 44 BC. Rome.

Julius Caesar walked into the Senate chamber surrounded by men he trusted. Senators he had promoted. Allies he had enriched. Friends who owed him everything.

Within minutes, 23 stab wounds. The most powerful man in the world, dead on the floor.

Caesar didn't die because he lacked intelligence. He died because he concentrated his trust.

Here's what most people missed:

Caesar had received warnings. A soothsayer told him to beware the Ides of March. He ignored it.

He believed the Senate would never turn on him. He was wrong.

I watched this same pattern destroy portfolios in 2008.

Bear Stearns collapsed in March. The Fed helped arrange a shotgun merger… shareholders lost almost everything, but the system held together. Investors exhaled. At least it was orderly.

Six months later, Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy. No merger. No intervention. $639 billion in assets, gone overnight. The largest bankruptcy in American history.

The message was clear: some institutions get an orderly death, others get sacrificed. And you won't know which is which until it's too late.

Investors who concentrated their trust in "too big to fail" learned the truth the hard way.

💼 What this means for your wallet:

Caesar's mistake wasn't trusting people. It was trusting too few people with too much.

The same principle applies to your portfolio:

→ Don't assume any institution is too big to fail
→ Don't concentrate your holdings in names that "can't go down"
→ Build resilience before the crisis, not during it

The Ides of March reminds us that betrayal doesn't come from enemies. It comes from the people standing closest to you.

In markets, your "trusted allies" are the institutions, ratings, and assumptions you never question. They can turn on you without warning.

Diversification isn't just about asset allocation. It's about not concentrating your trust.

What's a lesson from 2008 that still guides your investing today?

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1 week ago | [YT] | 3

Inspired Money

NVIDIA is worth over $4 trillion. Everyone's chasing AI stocks. But the real wealth is being built where nobody's looking.



71 years ago today, a quiet announcement changed everything.



March 14, 1955. Bell Labs, New Jersey.



Engineers unveiled TRADIC (TRAnsistor DIgital Computer), the first fully transistorized computer. No vacuum tubes. Just 800 tiny transistors running on less than 100 watts of power.



Most people shrugged. A computer for the Air Force? Who cares?



Here's what they missed:

→ Vacuum tube computers filled entire rooms and consumed 20x more power
→ TRADIC proved transistors could replace tubes reliably
→ That breakthrough became the foundation of every chip, phone, and AI system today



The transistor didn't make headlines. It made everything else possible.



💼 What this means for your wallet:



During the California Gold Rush, most miners went broke. The ones who got rich?

They sold picks, shovels, and jeans.



The same pattern is playing out in AI right now.



Everyone's betting on which AI company will "win." But the companies building the infrastructure, the chips, the data centers, the power systems, are quietly compounding wealth while the spotlight chases flashier names.



NVIDIA didn't become a $4 trillion company by building chatbots. They built the picks and shovels.



The lesson from 1955 still applies. The most transformative technologies rarely look exciting when they launch. And the biggest returns often go to the builders of infrastructure, not the users of it.



What's the "boring" infrastructure play you're watching right now?



Featured image is an AI-generated historical illustration, not a period photograph.



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1 week ago | [YT] | 2

Inspired Money

Everyone's hunting for "the next Microsoft."

Forty years ago today, they found it. Most people sold too early.

March 13, 1986. Bellevue, Washington.

A 30-year-old Bill Gates watched his company go public at $21 per share. Microsoft had around 1,300 employees, a dominant position in PC software, and a vision most Wall Street analysts didn't fully understand.

The IPO raised $61 million. By the end of the first day, the stock had peaked at $35.50.

Here's what most people missed:

The real test wasn't buying Microsoft. It was holding Microsoft.

→ The stock dropped 35% during the 1987 crash
→ It went sideways for years in the early 2000s
→ Analysts declared the company "dead" when mobile took over

Through every crash, every headline, every "Microsoft is finished" prediction, the fundamentals kept compounding.

$1,000 invested on March 13, 1986 is worth $5.5 million today.

But here's the uncomfortable truth: most early investors didn't see that payday. They sold during the first dip. They cashed out when it "stopped growing." They moved on to the next hot thing.

The wealth didn't go to the people who spotted Microsoft first. It went to the people who refused to let go.

💼 What this means for your wallet:

Right now, billions are pouring into AI companies. Everyone's searching for this generation's transformative investment.

Some of these companies will change the world. Most won't.

But even if you find the right one, the Microsoft lesson still applies: the hardest part isn't picking the winner. It's staying in the seat for 40 years while everyone around you panics, pivots, and sells.

Patience isn't passive. It's a strategy.

What investment have you held the longest, and what made you stay?

Featured image is an AI-generated historical illustration, not a period photograph.

1 week ago | [YT] | 3

Inspired Money

Over $3 billion stolen from crypto platforms in 2025. The biggest heist? $1.5 billion from a single exchange in minutes. Hackers didn't need guns. They needed keyboards.

Here's the history lesson we're ignoring.

March 11, 1927. Bethel Township, Pennsylvania.

A Brinks armored truck carried $104,250 in payroll toward the Coverdale coal mine. The Flatheads gang had been watching for weeks.

They didn't use guns. They buried explosives under the road.

When the truck passed, two massive blasts launched the armored car into the air and flipped it upside down. The guards were knocked unconscious. The gang rushed in and vanished with the cash.

It was the first armored car robbery in American history.

The crime shocked the nation. Armored trucks were supposed to be impenetrable. They weren't.

Here's what most people missed:

That single robbery transformed an entire industry. Armored car companies redesigned their vehicles from the ground up. The criminals exposed a vulnerability no one had imagined. The industry had no choice but to evolve.

The same pattern is playing out right now, except the vaults are digital.

→ North Korean hackers stole over $2 billion in crypto last year alone
→ The Bybit breach drained $1.5 billion in a matter of minutes
→ Only a fraction of stolen funds have been recovered

We're living through the digital equivalent of 1927. The "armored trucks" of today—exchanges, hot wallets, cold storage—are being cracked open. And just like in 1927, the security industry is scrambling to catch up.

💼 What this means for your wallet:

If you hold crypto, your security practices aren't optional. They're survival.

→ Use hardware wallets for significant holdings
→ Enable every layer of authentication available
→ Treat exchange accounts like temporary parking, not permanent storage

The Flatheads gang forced an entire industry to rethink security. Today's hackers are doing the same thing—at a scale those 1927 criminals couldn't have imagined.

The question isn't whether digital security will improve. It's whether you'll protect yourself before the next breach makes headlines.

What security step have you been putting off?

Featured image is an AI-generated historical illustration, not a period photograph.

1 week ago | [YT] | 2

Inspired Money

AI companies are filing patents on technology that doesn't fully work yet.

150 years ago, Bell did the same thing, and it changed everything.

March 10, 1876. Boston, Massachusetts.

Alexander Graham Bell hunched over a crude device in his workshop. Three days earlier, he'd won the race to the patent office. But a patent is just paper. It doesn't prove anything works.

Legend has it he spilled battery acid on his clothes, though Bell's own journal doesn't mention it. What we know for certain is what he said next:

"Mr. Watson, come here—I want to see you."

His assistant Thomas Watson, working in another room, heard every word through the wire. The telephone wasn't just an idea anymore. It was real.

Here's what most people missed:

Bell filed his patent before he had a working prototype. He bet everything on a concept he hadn't fully proven. That gamble paid off, but only because he kept building after the paperwork was done.

The patent made him legally protected. The working call made him wealthy.

This same pattern is unfolding right now.

→ AI companies are racing to file patents on agents, reasoning systems, and interfaces
→ Microsoft, Google, and Anthropic are staking claims on technology still being built
→ The patents are piling up. But who will actually make it work at scale?

💼 What this means for your wallet:

A patent is a starting gun, not a finish line.

When you invest in transformational technology, you're not just betting on who files first. You're betting on who executes after.

Bell could have stopped at the patent office. Instead, he kept tinkering until those famous words proved his invention worked.

The AI companies racing to own the future still have to prove their inventions work. The ones who do will capture generational wealth. The ones who don't will become footnotes, just like Elisha Gray.

Three days separated Bell's patent from his proof. In today's AI race, that gap is measured in billions.

Who's building, and who's just filing?

Featured image is an AI-generated historical illustration, not a period photograph.

1 week ago | [YT] | 2

Inspired Money

The economy is slowing. Tariffs are rising. And the Fed is stuck between inflation and recession.

250 years ago today, a Scottish philosopher published a book that explains exactly why.

March 9, 1776. London.

Adam Smith released "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations." It was over 1,000 pages. Most people never read it. But the ideas inside changed how the world thinks about money.

Smith argued that free markets, not government control, create prosperity. He introduced the "invisible hand," the idea that individuals pursuing their own interests naturally benefit society.

But here's what most people missed:

Smith wasn't anti-government. He warned that markets need rules to function. He criticized monopolies, crony capitalism, and merchants who rigged the system in their favor.

He also predicted exactly what happens when governments manipulate trade: prices rise, innovation stalls, and ordinary people pay the cost.

Sound familiar?

Right now, we're watching Smith's warnings play out in real time.

→ Tariffs are pushing prices higher on everything from cars to groceries
→ Supply chains are being rerouted based on politics, not efficiency
→ Central banks are trapped between fighting inflation and supporting growth

Smith understood that markets aren't perfect. But he also understood that political interference often makes things worse.

💼 What this means for your wallet:

When governments pick winners and losers, consumers usually lose. Higher tariffs mean higher prices. Trade wars mean supply disruptions. And uncertainty means volatility.

Smith's core insight still holds: prosperity comes from production, trade, and competition… not from protection.

The book that launched modern economics is 250 years old today. The lessons inside have never been more relevant.

Are we learning from history, or repeating it?

Featured image is an AI-generated historical illustration, not a period photograph.

1 week ago | [YT] | 2

Inspired Money

Everyone's waiting for the "right time" to invest.

Meanwhile, someone else is already moving.

March 8, 1927. Mt. Moosilauke, New Hampshire.

Seventeen Dartmouth students hiked up a 4,802-foot mountain in the freezing cold. No ski lifts existed. No groomed trails. No safety nets.

Then they pointed their skis downhill and raced 4½ miles to the bottom.

Charley Proctor won in 21 minutes. He'd later become an Olympian. But on that day, he was just a college kid willing to go first.

That race became the first national downhill championship in America. It helped launch a sport now worth billions annually.

Here's what most people missed:

Those 17 skiers weren't the best athletes in America. They weren't even the best skiers. They were simply the ones willing to climb when everyone else said it was too cold, too steep, too risky.

I almost made the same mistake with skiing.

Thought it would be too much hassle with young kids… hauling gear, the cold, the logistics. My wife convinced me to just start. I taught the kids myself. She was right. We've skied together as a family for years now, and those memories are priceless.

The same pattern repeats in markets.

→ Amazon went public in 1997 at $18/share when most said e-commerce was a fad
→ Apple nearly went bankrupt in 1997 before Steve Jobs returned
→ Bitcoin traded under $1 in 2010 while experts called it a scam

First movers don't wait for perfect conditions. They create them.

💼 What this means for your wallet:

The biggest gains rarely come from waiting for certainty. They come from calculated risk when others hesitate.

Those Dartmouth students didn't have better equipment. They had better timing and more courage. They saw an opportunity before it was obvious.

In investing, the "right time" usually looks terrifying in the moment. The 2009 market bottom. The 2020 COVID crash. The moments that felt most dangerous often delivered the best returns.

You don't need to be first at everything. But you do need to move before the crowd tells you it's safe.

The mountain is always there. The question is whether you're willing to climb.

What opportunity are you waiting on that might not wait for you?

Featured image is an AI-generated historical illustration, not a period photograph.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 1

Inspired Money

Google and Anthropic are fighting over who owns your mouse. Microsoft has 20,000 AI patents. The winner won't just build the future. They'll own it.

Here's why I'm thinking about that today.

March 7, 1876. Washington, D.C.

Alexander Graham Bell rushed to the U.S. Patent Office with his application for the telephone. What he didn't know: Elisha Gray was filing a similar patent that same morning.

Bell arrived first. By roughly two hours.

That two-hour gap changed everything. Bell became a household name. Gray became a footnote. The telephone created an industry worth billions, and Bell captured nearly all of it.

Here's what most people missed:

Gray's design may have actually been superior. Some historians argue his liquid transmitter worked better than Bell's original concept. But in patent law, "better" doesn't matter. First matters.

Bell understood something Gray didn't: the race wasn't to build the best technology. It was to own it.

The same war is playing out right now.

→ Google and Anthropic are battling over AI agent patents, fighting for who controls the interface where work happens
→ Microsoft holds over 20,000 AI patents and invested $13 billion in OpenAI
→ China now controls 60% of global AI patent filings

This isn't about who builds the smartest AI. It's about who owns the legal rights to deploy it.

💼 What this means for your wallet:

When you invest in transformational technology, you're not just betting on innovation. You're betting on who controls the intellectual property.

Bell didn't invent communication. He owned the patent on how it scaled.

The companies that will capture the most value from AI won't necessarily be the ones with the best models. They'll be the ones who locked up the patents while everyone else was still building.

Two hours made Bell one of the wealthiest Americans of his era. Gray died in relative obscurity.

In technology, timing isn't everything. Ownership is.

Who do you think is winning today's patent race?

Featured image is an AI-generated historical illustration, not a period photograph.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3

Inspired Money

Hyperscalers are spending $700 billion on AI this year. Everyone's asking: who's the next Apple?

The answer might be hiding in a garage. Or a Discord server. Or an open-source project you've never heard of.

Here's why I'm thinking about that today.

March 5, 1975. Menlo Park, California.

Thirty hobbyists crammed into Gordon French's garage to geek out over a computer kit called the Altair 8800. No business plans. No venture capital. Just people who loved building things.

Steve Wozniak soon became a regular.

He was so inspired by these gatherings, he started designing his own computer. He gave away the schematics for free at club meetings. Anyone could build one.

His friend Steve Jobs saw something different: a product.

Within a year, Apple was born. Within a decade, personal computing changed the world. The hobbyists in that garage created companies now worth trillions.

Here's what most people missed:

Wall Street wasn't in that garage. Neither were the analysts or the headlines. The revolution started with builders who weren't doing it for money. They were doing it because they couldn't stop.

The same pattern is playing out right now.

→ Open-source AI models are being built by passionate communities
→ Developers are shipping tools in Discord servers and GitHub repos
→ The next trillion-dollar company might be three people in a basement

💼 What this means for your wallet:

When you're trying to spot transformative technology early, don't just follow the money. Follow the obsession.

The best investments often start with people building things for free because they can't help themselves. The commercial potential comes later.

Wozniak gave it away. Jobs saw the business. Both were essential.

The $700 billion question isn't just about who's spending the most on AI. It's about who's building with that same garage energy... before Wall Street notices.

Where are you seeing that kind of obsession today?

Featured image is an AI-generated historical illustration, not a period photograph.

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 2