Helping Others

June 1, 2026

Why do I write these commentaries every month? What motivates me to write?

I did not intend to write today, but as with most every other month, the thoughts came and I decided to record them.

But before I answer the above questions, I want to express what has been on my mind these past couple of months regarding August Wealth because it deals with the questions above.

August Wealth Update

As many of you know, August Wealth Advisors has transitioned to a fully independent Registered Investment Advisor.

As previously communicated, I consider our relationship as a partnership. Your interests and our interests are aligned; no other institution should sit in the middle or get in the way of our relationship.

• What’s best for you and your family is at the heart of every decision we make.

• By partnering with families and focusing on long term self-reinforcing relationships, we

  never worry about short term profit.

• By focusing our time, level of care, and expertise on serving you, we believe that the

  business will take care of itself.

Our mission is to serve the families we work with at the highest possible level, and with the move to independence we can elevate our offering to you further.

Our more direct relationship with you and your family allows for additional services and resources in concierge travel, trust services, lending solutions, banking discounts, philanthropic guidance, family governance, and enhanced communication.

We are still working out some details, but I am confident they are likely to enhance your relationship with August Wealth in the coming years. There will be more information coming soon. Please reach out if you would like to learn more.

I am very grateful for your trust in the team, and I hope there was not too much inconvenience during our period of transition.

As the AW team knows, I personally want to express my gratitude by ensuring we deliver a higher level of service and investment management to all of you. This was the point of becoming independent and the AW team understands the priority of delivering this to you.

August Wealth Team

I must once again thank our team for their efforts during the transition to independence, and the transfers of accounts from Fidelity to Schwab. Led by Christina George in collaboration with Erika Morro, and the outstanding work effort of Conor Keenan and Brayden Brooks, the team, according to Charles Schwab, “broke records with a completed transition in 29 days!”

Our entire team is likely to joke with me that my expectation was for 29 minutes! I hold all of us to a very high standard because I believe anything is possible.

The team believes in putting the needs of others first, they are fulfilled by the culture of service, they believe in our experience and abilities, they know we are unique, and they see the difference they make in the lives of others.

Hence, I will work on my ability to trust and have more patience, but we all know that my level of effort and expectations for myself and my team will not diminish. I know what we can achieve, and I will continue to work tirelessly in our efforts to serve you.

Back to the Original Question: Why Do I Write?

The cynic in me (and perhaps other cynics) says I write for selfish reasons.

But I suspect the true motivation is that I write to work out my flaws. I write to be less judgmental. I write to reduce my biases. I write to increase my honesty. I write to refine my investment theses. I am writing to find the truth. I am writing to find peace.

Why Do I Share My Thoughts With Others?

By spreading the message that August Wealth is here to serve others, the rest takes care of itself. It’s believing that writing may provoke reflection in others, it’s believing that writing may help others because it’s helped me.

I write because it’s cathartic; I write because it helps my self-awareness, and I write because it helps my investment process.

The cynic in me would say, “Who am I to believe that what I say is important?”

I would say I am not important, but the messages can be quite important. I’m describing what has brought me peace, and what has brought me anxiety; I’m talking about what works and what doesn’t. I share it because we ultimately all go through the same challenges in life; it’s just the circumstances that are different.

I am less interested in giving you my opinion than I am in giving you, my observations.

I’ve been given the gift of suffering in life. This suffering allows an understanding of a deeper appreciation of what matters. It allows for brutal self-honesty. It allows me to strive to be more of a human being.

I realize and understand that not everyone is ready to face the truth in themselves. I know this because I spent many of my early years in self-denial, and I know I can still succumb to its folly. Perhaps through my own vulnerability, I may share glimpses of the truth.

Nowadays, I have little time for defensiveness or cynicism; it just gets in the way of my mission to become a better version of myself so that I can be better at serving others.

What sparked this month’s commentary, and why write today?

There were, as usual, periods of anxiety, stress, and overwhelming feelings, and there were also periods of peace, laughter, and contrition. But I try to be open-minded; I try to reflect and see what’s working and what’s not. I allow myself quiet time and time for not thinking. It’s the space in between thoughts where development and growth happen organically. And then sometimes there is a small spark which illuminates what to write.

I did something for a friend of mine that was suffering some health issues, and my wife mentioned that it was “very nice of me”. So, it made me think: Was my motivation to feel better about myself? Was it to gain the recognition of my wife or someone else?

Why did I choose to help this friend? Essentially, I put myself in his shoes. I thought, if I was in that position, I hope that someone would do this for me. I am in a position where I can help, and I would regret it if I didn’t.

That is all we need to do. Put ourselves in the other person’s shoes. Ask:

• What might they be going through?•

• Am I able to help ease their pain?

• Do I have the time and resources to help?

• Is there a substantive reason not to help?

Then just offer; that’s it.

Do NOT ask:

• Who am I to think I can make a difference?

• I don’t know them well, is it weird that I am reaching out?

• Will others question my motivation for offering help?

• Will I feel awkward in some way?

• Will anyone really notice, and will I receive any recognition?

• What do I get out of this?

It does not matter what you are thinking, how you view yourself, or what others might think of you. All that matters is that you offered help.

Why tell you this?

I am merely trying to convey that the better you understand what motivates me, the more trust you can have in me, and the more trust you can have in August Wealth, its culture and its process that is here to serve you.

It’s hard to accept help if you are always asking yourself: “Why is this person trying to help me? What is their angle?” You are always in an adversarial relationship. I caution people about taking advice from someone that is trying to sell something or from someone looking to benefit at your expense. Relationships can and should be mutually beneficial. Why? That is the ONLY way they can grow. A lopsided relationship is sure to break down.

Trust is essential.

I often say to the families we serve, I hope they are happy about the advisory fee that they pay to August Wealth in return for the time, care, services, and the expertise we provide. Those fees are your part in our relationship; we hope you feel it is a fair deal. It’s a partnership. Without the resources you provide to August Wealth, we cannot serve you and others.

Through this advisory fee, we hope to continue to reinforce our mission. They are used for:

• Compensating the team and developing worthwhile careers.

• Continuously upgrading our resources through reinvesting in August Wealth.

• Non-profit work that aligns with our mission to help support others in need.

It really is this simple

• Be grateful for the gifts you have been given.

• Take good care of yourself and your gifts.

• Put your narrative and inner monologue of yourself aside.

• Put your opinions, wants, needs, and desires aside.

• Put your own comforts aside.

• Offer to help others recklessly without consideration of yourself.

If you can take care of the above, you needn’t worry about anything. You will find success and peace.

Quick Observation of Markets

• This year has been a wild ride for the S&P 500 Index. The concentration of the 10 largest companies in the index continues to grow. There are some concerns about the concentration risk of the index, and perhaps rightly so. I cannot tell you what might happen, but my advice would be to understand your risks if you mainly own the index. We do know that the abundant cash flow of these mega technology companies is being poured into capital expenditure like never before, and that is a change. August Wealth clients are far more diversified across various industries, companies, and geographies. If the goal is to produce steady rates of return to protect purchasing power of your wealth, it is important to focus on the diverse drivers of domestic and global economic growth.

• Technology continues to amaze us at August Wealth. We are blessed to have people on our team spending much of their time deploying Artificial Intelligence tools for both market research and making our internal processes better. What we can do today takes a fraction of the time it would have taken just a year ago, and substantial new improvements of these tools happens weekly. But when it comes to headlines in the news of jobs being cut, they don’t consider that it’s unlikely people will work fewer hours, they will just end up doing more. New industries will be created which cannot be foreseen. Life and work will change, but opportunities are abundant in a place like the United States.

• As I have been saying for the better part of two years now, the world is likely to become a much safer place to develop in the coming years:

  • The menace of the Middle East, Iran is likely to be isolated and forced to change. Its proxies will no longer be tolerated. The war may be unpopular in the press and with much of the electorate, but I suspect most politicians both domestically and internationally understand the benefits from a decapitated Iranian leadership. People have very short memories and attention spans these days; if things start to improve, the negative news cycle will drop off.

  • Food and energy price rises are likely to prove short lived, economic development in the middle east will likely continue its growth path, and companies that benefit from global growth should benefit.

• The western hemisphere looks increasingly likely to fall under the scope of the United States. Venezuela looks to be heading in a positive direction, and it looks like Cuba will be next. China and Russia will likely lose influence in the region.

• China and the USA will likely have a period of more economic engagement. Areas where the two powers can engage are likely to be beneficial for everyone. There are reasons to believe that the two global powers will find areas of common interest, but the problem of China and its goal of dominating global supply chains long-term are not going away.

• Europe still appears to be the big loser in all of this, but I still suspect they will ultimately have to move closer to the USA economic and military leadership. Even if they don’t like it

  today, they are falling behind rapidly, and they are not making changes fast enough. Europe is still very much part of western liberal democracy.

In Gratitude

On this Memorial Day weekend, and the 250th anniversary of the United States, I want to express my sincere gratitude for all the young men and women who serve our country; especially those who have lost their lives at a young age in the service of the United States to secure the Blessings of Liberty.

Not only do I express my gratitude, but it is also my personal responsibility to ensure my actions show appreciation for your sacrifices. You willingly gave of yourself to give me this opportunity to serve others on your behalf. Hopefully, I will do it well.

With lots of love,

Joe

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