Newsletter for the Counter-Cultural Retirement Advisor
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Issue #556  |  July 1, 2026
Greetings,
 
Welcome to this week's Advisor Training newsletter. Our goal is to provide training, education and insights for solo/independent Advisors who adhere to our client-first, counter-cultural, and sometimes counter-intuitive investment and business philosophy.
 
If you're not yet part of our AdvisorFirst Group but you'd like to learn more, you can schedule a chat with me.
July 2026  |  8 Page PDF

Prologue from Nick...

 

This issue has one theme only, which you’ll see repeated in the lead essay, in your draft midyear client letter, and (with particular ferocity) in Client’s Corner.

 

Simply stated, the message is the most fundamental belief in our system: namely that the market cannot be timed. Specifically, that no matter how grotesquely you may think the current market is overvalued, overbought and/or overdue for a serious setback, you will not gain an advantage over it by getting out.

 

Because then you have to be right twice. First, you have to be getting out at the right time. Then – infinitely trickier – you have to get back in at the right time. The odds against your being able to do both are staggering. And the consequences of your failing may include permanent harm to your entire financial plan.
“In dealing with your career and its inevitable changes, you must think in the following way: You are not tied to a particular position; your loyalty is not to a career or a company. You do not hold on to past ways of doing things, because that will ensure you will fall behind and suffer for it. You are flexible and always looking to adapt.”    
―from Robert Greene's Daily Law's, Jan 6
LAST WEEK's QUIZ

Who is generally eligible for a Solo 401k?
  1. Only owners and partners (max three).
  2. All owners and up to two employees.
  3. All owners and up to five employees.
  4. Unlimited, but restricted to owners and related family.
  5. Only for one person, the owner.
  6. Owner and spouse, or two partners.

Answer = Choice 6: Owner and spouse, or two partners.
BUSINESS MEMES

Michael Paulding Thomas

Securities Principal & Advisor Development

 

Over three decades of training part-time and full-time financial advisors. Developed 2 $200k-earners, 10 $100k-earners, 15 part-time $50k-earners and built a $1.6M revenue sales force.

Securities offered through Innovation Partners, LLC. Member FINRA/SIPC