My colleague Nick Maggiulli talks about this topic a lot on his blog and on social media and I brought it up during a recent podcast interview: Nothing about your asset allocation is going to move the needle the way your career will. There is very little reason for anyone in their 20’s to be concerning themselves with the intricacies of portfolio management if they don’t have their work situation figured out. Because the difference between reaching peak earnings of $250,000 and $750,000 ten years from now is going to have a major impact on where you can live, what you can drive, how much you can save for the educations of your children, what sort of vacations you’re taking and whether or not your spouse will need to work full-time, part-time or not at all.

The difference between whether you’re taking 20% or 10% drawdowns due to stock market volatility will not matter at all. Literally won’t. I’m 47 years old and my own 401(k) is allocated 100% to a global stock market portfolio with no cash and no bonds. On top of which I am working in a career where the stock market falling is already the number one risk to my income. But I don’t spend time playing with allocations for myself. I take maximum risk for maximum reward and I spend the extra time I have from not tinkering by taking the sort of actions that will enable me to earn more. This is how I choose to live my life and apportion the time I have. It may not be the right answer for anyone else, but this is where I arrived at years ago and it’s been the right thing to do.

Twenty-something boys and girls need to focus on studying for degrees or designations that could raise their income-earning potential. They need to be researching companies to go work for or laying the groundwork for starting their own business someday. They need to go to their friends’ bachelor and bachelorette parties and go on dates and see shows and have the sort of experiences they won’t have time (or energy) for later.

They need not spend hours poring over a mutual fund prospectus, counting basis points or reshuffling their financial assets. The less time spent in front of a screen while not at work the better. And besides, the stock market stuff won’t matter financially. The career path will. The answer is not in a spread sheet or a chart. It’s outside.

Close the trading app and ask a girl out for a drink. The market will be here for you later.

You want to make a great investment? Invest in yourself. And then double down.

The Ryen Russillo Podcast

Huge thanks to The Ringer’s Ryen Russillo for having me on his show this week to talk about You Weren’t Supposed To See That. We interrupted the sports talk to get into some money and finance stuff, including a special edition of Ryen’s Life Advice segment where I got to answer some audience questions.

Watch it below or listen to it here:

The Boys Are Back In Town

Dan Greenhaus and Sam Ro dropped by The Compound on Thursday for a riotously funny and informationally nutritious new episode of The Compound and Friends. It was a lot of fun catching up with my guys and chopping up the latest market-moving stuff.

Listen on your favorite podcast app here.

That’s it from me, have an awesome weekend, talk soon! - JB