Hey, it’s Frank, Jerry, and Zoltan from Third View Private Wealth, and welcome to the Third View Next Gen Newsletter. This newsletter is designed to simplify personal finance, investing, and wealth building for next-generation wealth holders just starting their financial journey. Hope you enjoy this month’s edition and learn something new.

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Marc Andreessen is one of the most influential people in tech. In college he co-wrote Mosaic, the first popular web browser, then co-founded Netscape. He now runs Andreessen Horowitz, the VC firm behind Facebook, Airbnb, Stripe, and Coinbase.

He's been a builder, founder, and investor, and his essays on careers and ambition (start with "It's Time to Build" and the "Pmarca Guide to Career Planning") are basically required reading for anyone wanting to jumpstart their professional career. His politics and AI takes are polarizing, but few people alive understand how careers actually compound the way he does.

Hot take: We think it’s ok to chase meme stocks and huge crypto returns. But only if it’s done in an intentional way that doesn’t disrupt your long-term wealth-building journey. We call it the 10-10 Rule.

The hardest part about starting your wealth journey is feeling like you’re missing out on home runs. Those opportunities to get rich, fast.

Open Reddit or your group chat, and someone is always hitting on some meme stock that’s up 3,000% or posting how a company like Intel jumped 26% in a single day. Everyone is getting rich around you. At least that’s how it feels, right? And you’re missing out…

Most young people expect financial advisors to wag their finger and tell them, “Shame on you” for feeling like they want to chase massive returns.

We don’t think that’s the right approach. We view it as a BOTH/AND.

Chase the big returns. Try investing in crypto. Just make sure that doing it doesn’t involve more than 10% of your portfolio or account for more than 10% of your time and attention.

The truth about building wealth is that it’s a long-term game. And most of the time, it feels boring. Are you saving/investing about 20% of your income? Are you organized — do you know what you own? And do you care enough to start now? Get those right, and time does the heavy lifting.

It’s the classic idea of taking a penny and doubling it every day for 30 days. You know what happens:

For the first 15 days, it feels like basically nothing. You're still under $200, and it seems like a waste of time. Then it starts to gain momentum fast, and the last few days erupt past $5 million. That's compounding. The “boring” early stretch is necessary to reach the huge numbers down the road. That’s how building wealth works.

So build the engine first: save a fixed slice of every paycheck, automate it, allocate it into diversified low-cost investments, and stay organized. That's the 90%. Commit to it first, then think about the other 10%.

Now the other 10% is where you can try more things (picking stocks, crypto, etc), following the 10-10 Rule: speculate with no more than 10% of your portfolio and no more than 10% of your time and attention.

Both halves matter. Most young people flip it: 90% of their energy goes to chasing the lottery ticket, almost none goes to the habits that actually compound. Keep the ratio right, and the hot stock becomes a side dish. Get it backwards, and it eats the whole meal.

Solidify your long-term wealth-building journey first, then allow yourself the opportunity to experiment using the 10-10 Rule.

There’s no better person to learn from than someone who is already a few steps ahead of you on the journey. The three of us have all had some form of mentorship or someone who’s helped guide us on what to do to succeed, and sometimes, more importantly, what not to do.

How do you get one? Here’s our tips:

Think about where you want to go and identify people who are further ahead of you on that journey. Maybe you want to be in finance, and it’s someone who’s been at an investment bank for a year or two. Or, it could even be someone who’s 10-15 years into their career. Get clear on who that person is.

Instead of asking someone to meet with you monthly as a mentor, start with a smaller ask. Ask them to get lunch or coffee. Ask them for a 30 minute Zoom call. State what you’d like to chat with them about and be specific. Most people are good-hearted and willing to give a bit of time to help the next generation.

A little preparation goes a long way. Have specific questions and topics you’d like their advice and input on. Maybe it’s a specific work situation you’re navigating, or maybe it’s how to position yourself for long-term success in your field. Ask questions that demonstrate you’re thinking ahead and engaged in your career path.

The best way to turn some kind of mentorship conversation into a longer-term relationship is to demonstrate you’re willing to take their advice and act on it. So do it! And let them know what happened as a result. People love knowing they are making an impact.

Have a question you’d like us to answer in a future newsletter? Simply reply to this email to submit it to us.

Check out the new office space we’re building in Westport, CT. Zoltan posted a video preview on LinkedIn 👀

That’s all for this month. If you enjoyed the newsletter, the greatest compliment would be to forward it to someone you think would like it too.

- Frank, Jerry, and Zoltan

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Past performance is not indicative of future results. The material above has been provided for informational purposes only and is not intended as legal or investment advice or a recommendation of any particular security or strategy. The investment strategy and themes discussed herein may be unsuitable for investors depending on their specific investment objectives and financial situation. Information obtained from third-party sources is believed to be reliable though its accuracy is not guaranteed, and Third View Private Wealth makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or completeness of the information, which should not be used as the basis of any investment decision. Information contained on third party websites that Third View Private Wealth may link to is not reviewed in their entirety for accuracy and Third View Private Wealth assumes no liability for the information contained on these websites. Opinions expressed in this commentary reflect subjective judgments of the author based on conditions at the time of writing and are subject to change without notice. No part of this material may be reproduced in any form, or referred to in any other publication, without express written permission from Third View Private Wealth. For more information about Third View Private Wealth, including our Form ADV brochures, please visit https://adviserinfo.sec.gov or contact us at (203) 408-0098.