What's in store for you:

1. Photo From My Life
2. Financial Thought: Money is Not the Answer
3. Life Thought: Resilience is a Muscle
4. Good Sh*t: Ignoring Emails

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Photo From My Life:

Financial Thought:

Money is Not the Answer: I’ve had a lot of conversations lately with people who believe money is the goal. They come to a wealth manager hoping that financial clarity will solve their life. If they just invest right, save enough, or hit a certain number, everything else will fall into place.

It’s not a bad instinct. Money does matter. It can create peace of mind, reduce stress, and allow you to take care of your family. But somewhere along the way, a lot of people start chasing money as the end, not the means.

The truth is: money won’t make you happy.

It won’t solve your relationship problems. It won’t give you deep friendships. It won’t tell you how to spend your time when you wake up in the morning. If anything, obsessing over it often leads people further from the things that actually make life feel meaningful.

When I sit down with clients, I try to reframe the conversation. Money isn’t the goal. Living a wonderful life is. A life where you feel proud of how you spend your time. A life filled with people you love.

What does that mean about my career? It’s not about beating benchmarks. It’s about helping people build a life they’re genuinely excited to live. And most importantly, ensuring their finances support that vision.

That’s a pretty cool job description.

If you’re reading this and these thoughts resonate with you, I’d encourage you to reflect on this for yourself. Maybe do it over dinner with your family tonight. Or, spend some time journaling. Ask yourself a few hard (but important) questions:

• What does my ideal day look like?
• What would I do with my time if money weren’t an issue?
• What does enough look like for me?
• Who do I want to spend more time with, and what’s stopping me?

These questions don’t have easy answers. But asking them is the first step toward defining the life that you want. It's much easier to solve for money than solve for a happy life.

Life Thought:

Resilience is a Muscle: I've started to realize that resilience isn’t something you’re naturally born with. It’s something you build over time through experiences.

When our daughter Ocie ended up in the NICU earlier this year, it was one of those moments where life throws a punch you can’t really prepare for. But surprisingly, we were okay. Not in the “this isn’t hard” kind of way, but in the “we’ve been here before and we know we can get through it” kind of way.

Our son Henry had also arrived early and spent time in the NICU. That experience was terrifying and overwhelming. But this time around, while still hard, we carried something with us we didn’t have the first time: resilience and experience. It made all the difference.

I wouldn’t wish loss on anyone, and I’ll never say I’m grateful that my dad passed away when I was 15. But going through something like that teaches you how to recover. It teaches you how to keep showing up. It taught me that no matter how painful something feels in the moment, you eventually come out the other side. You're changed by the experience, but you come out stronger.

Those are the big moments. But I think we all build resilience in small, invisible ways every single day. Getting up early when we’d rather hit snooze. Choosing the hard workout when no one is watching. Finishing the thing you promised even when you’re tired.

I’m still learning this. But I've started to realize that every time I flex that resilience muscle (whether it’s in the NICU or just on a Friday when I don’t want to work) I remember that it's there, and it’s gotten stronger.

If you’re going through something tough right now, I hope you can appreciate that too. You’re building something that will serve you for a long, long time.

Good Sh*t:

Ignoring Email:

I’ve been trying something new that’s surprisingly hard, but incredibly worth it: I ignore email for the first hour of the day.

You’ve probably heard this advice before. Don’t start your day reactive. Focus on what matters. Live from your to-do list, not your inbox. But if you’re anything like me, you still open your email, see a bunch of unread messages, and fall right into email triage mode. It feels productive. It feels necessary.

It’s not. At least for me.

That first hour of the day when your brain is sharpest and your willpower is highest is prime real estate. If you give it to your most important work, you’ll stack real progress. If you give it to email, you’re letting someone else dictate your priorities.

Sure, if you work in support or sales, urgent responses may be part of the job. But for most of us, 60 distraction-free minutes spent on deep, meaningful work will put us miles ahead.

Give it a try. Set a timer. Mute Slack. Close your inbox. See what happens.

Disclaimer: VDB Wealth is a registered investment adviser. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

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