At the beginning of this year, I wrote about losing my mentor and still holding onto a sense of excitement for how the year might end. It’s safe to say that the year is ending on a higher note, though some of the same somber undertones are still there.I’m officially on winter break now. I finished up my classes and wrapped the quarter with two A’s and a B+. This quarter was brutal, but I made it through.
Building Funds, Milestones, and Long-Term Thinking
On the financial side, we officially reached our goal for one of our private funds by the end of the year and even exceeded it slightly. Looking ahead, the goal for next year is to continue building that fund and add a few more milestones. One of our accounts also hit an important four-figure milestone on its way toward five figures.
Overall, it feels like steady progress, even without focusing too much on exact numbers, I can say we grew our household assets by close to five figures. I’m still not putting exact numbers out there, but it was a meaningful increase. The goal for next year is to grow the accounts to at least five figures at minimum, which I’m genuinely excited about. I’m also back to investing one hundred dollars a month into the S&P 500.
Next Quarter Classes and a New Schedule
Next quarter, I’ll be taking personal finance, judgment and decision-making, and health psychology. My schedule will look a little different than it has in previous quarters, including my first evening class, which runs from 3:30 to 5:40 on Tuesdays and Thursday’s. I’m actually really excited about that change. I’ve also been attending finance events back to back, and the biggest challenge moving forward will be figuring out how to structure everything, gym time, finance events, school, homework, and running this blog. On top of that, I want to make sure my child continues to be part of these experiences as well, attending finance events with me, meeting people, and learning how to network.
Lessons From Relationships and Not Overgiving
I thought I met someone, but it turned out not to be what I expected. Still, the experience taught me a lot, about not overgiving, not overextending, and recognizing areas I thought I had already worked through but still need attention. Sometimes meeting people isn’t really about the outcome at all, but about what you take away from the experience.
In that sense, it feels less like an ending and more like a foundation for something new going into next year. On a lighter note, I’ve also been taking spin classes, which has been a really positive addition to my life. I’ve genuinely enjoyed it more than I expected.
From Qualitative to Quantitative: Expanding My Skill Set
One unexpected shift this year has been my growing preference for quantitative work over qualitative, which is funny considering qualitative was my biggest strength. In my psychology courses, I’ve actually come to enjoy quantitative analysis, especially working with SPSS and learning how to put data together in a meaningful way.
It’s given me another skill in my toolbox, a way to analyze human behavior beyond the classroom. Taking individual data points and understanding how they come together has helped me see people more clearly than I might have without that framework.
Frameworks, Mental Models, and Understanding Human Behavior
Those of you who know me know that I love frameworks. I love understanding how different frameworks come together and how they apply to your own life. It’s similar to what Charlie Munger talked about with mental models, something I’ve written about on this blog before. This feels like just another framework, a way of understanding human behavior through data.
The better you understand human behavior and patterns, the less you get caught up in other people’s drama. And the less you get caught up in other people’s behavior, the easier it is to come back to yourself. That’s something I lost a bit this year. I found myself more focused on others than I would have liked.
At one point this year, I deleted social media accounts like Threads and unfollowed a large number of accounts on Instagram. I shifted my attention back to finance, and that’s when I realized how much grounding I had lost. There’s a reason people who do well in life often operate in a kind of solitude. They tend to surround themselves with like-minded people, not out of arrogance, but because protecting your mindset, your frameworks, and your mental models matters.
Pattern Recognition, Discipline, and Trusting Yourself
A lot of people say they want wealth, but they don’t always understand what it takes to build it, maintain it, or grow it from nothing. That environment matters. It shapes how you think and how you move through the world. I drifted away from protecting that environment for a while this year, but I’ve slowly found my way back, and sitting here writing this post feels like part of that return.
One of the hardest lessons I learned this year was not to overcare. You can’t care more about someone’s future than they care about their own. That’s a hard lesson, especially when you can see where certain choices tend to lead. Not literally, but metaphorically, you can sometimes see the car crash coming.
For those of us who understand mental models and frameworks, we know these aren’t isolated incidents. This is just human behavior. If you eat junk food every day in excess, you’ll gain weight. If you spend everything you earn, you won’t have savings. These aren’t opinions, they’re patterns. Over time, you can often see when someone may end up in a difficult place ten years down the line. People may not like hearing that, and they’ll argue the exceptions, but the patterns are still there.
Going back to mentors like the late Charlie Munger and Warren Buffett, they’ve both spoken about this idea: there may be a thousand people telling you that you’re wrong, but if you truly understand what you know and why you know it, you have to be willing to stand against that thousand. Every time I’ve trusted myself in that way, it hasn’t just led me to be right, it’s also helped me sleep better at night.
Trust yourself. Trust that you understand what’s happening around you. Keep learning, keep growing, and keep evolving. This isn’t about being a know-it-all. It’s about recognizing patterns. We like to believe that human behavior is entirely unique, and in some ways it is, but there’s a reason fields like psychology exist. At the end of the day, human behavior follows patterns more often than we like to admit. If you understand how people tend to operate, you save yourself a lot of unnecessary headache, heartache, and wasted time.
Unexpected Lessons From Everyday Conversations
Another thing this year has taught me is that I truly don’t know who I’ll end up with. This year tested my understanding of myself and what I thought I was ready for. I went into certain situations believing I was prepared, only to realize I wasn’t, and in that process, some things strengthened while other truths were revealed.
One takeaway I’m carrying forward is that every person you meet comes with a lesson somewhere in the interaction. Just yesterday, I met a woman at Taco Bell who had two kids of her own and was babysitting two more. She joked about whether I wanted to babysit, and I laughed it off. Then she looked at my son and commented on how quiet and well-mannered he was.
We talked for a moment, and I mentioned that I homeschooled him for a period of time, though I’m not sure how much that played a role. What I do know is that he was very sick when he was younger, and that experience shaped him. He dealt with deficits coming out of that illness and had to work through them over time. Because of that, he had to grow up faster than most kids, and we became closer than many parents and children do. He relied on me in ways that healthy kids often don’t have to, and coming back from that kind of sickness required a lot of strength. As a result, there are certain things I’ve never really had to worry about with him.
That brief conversation reminded me that there’s almost always something to reflect on or learn from in everyday moments. It also reinforced the idea that you never really know who your person will be. As I get older, and with 36 approaching, I find myself looking at people differently. I’m becoming less critical and much more analytical, paying attention to patterns, context, and growth rather than surface-level judgments.
We’re all guilty of surface-level judgments. Sometimes they keep us safe, grounded, and out of trouble. Other times, we forget that there are moments when those judgments are necessary and moments when they’re not. Learning when to apply them, and when to pause, is one of the hardest balances for anyone to develop.
Emergency Funds, Inflation, and Adapting Without Panic
On the financial side, we now have a long-term emergency fund in place, covering roughly five to six months of expenses. At the same time, I’ve been using our short-term savings more actively as a buffer. Inflation has hit nearly everyone I know, myself included. Even though I’m in a better financial position than I was before, I still feel the impact. Maintaining what I’ve built requires being more cautious about spending and more intentional about decisions.
Because of that, my short-term savings has played a bigger role these past few months than it did a year ago. One adjustment I’m considering is opening a secondary savings account at my main bank, setting aside a smaller amount there for true short-term needs, while keeping the existing fund as a buffer. When the economy shifts and things feel unpredictable, sometimes you have to adapt rather than panic.
The reality is that you might not be in the same position you were a year ago. A year ago, my savings didn’t need to be touched much at all. Now, it’s being used more frequently, and that’s part of adjusting to the environment while staying steady and intentional.
Burnout, Boundaries, and Refocusing Energy
I took about a month off from this blog after getting burned out from juggling school, blogging, finance events, and, honestly, overextending myself to others. This year, I spent a lot of time helping people financially, teaching, guiding, and supporting them as they worked toward better financial positions. Over the past few years, I’ve also extended myself financially to help people through difficult situations.
Going into the new year, I’ve been clear with people that I’ll be more protective of my time and energy. Not in a selfish way, but in a focused one. As I get older and more intentional, it’s become clear that my energy needs to be centered on three people: myself, my child, and my future partner. They deserve the best version of me, and I can’t show up that way if I’m constantly overextending myself, whether that’s with grades, other people, or anything that pulls me away from that core.
Why This Blog Exists and Where It’s Going Next
I truly hope that the articles I’ve shared over the past twelve months have been helpful, whether that’s for you, your loved ones, or simply in helping you better provide for the people you care about, including yourself.
Moving forward, I hope you continue to find this blog helpful. I do plan on expanding it next year. One shift I want to make is using platforms like Threads less for consumption and more as a way to bring people here, not just for visibility, but for education. I see so many people asking how to get started, how to think about finances, and how to approach investing in a way that actually makes sense. That’s what I’m here for.
My goal for next year is not only to grow this blog, but to continue showing up in more finance spaces. I’d like to attend more finance events and collaborate with others who are focused on financial wellness and education. I’ve already had conversations that feel promising, and I’m excited to see what comes from them. If those collaborations turn into something tangible next year, I’d be genuinely honored.
Overall, I’ve been intentional about networking and meeting new people in finance, and it feels like a natural extension of the work I’m already doing here.
Closing Reflections and Looking Toward 2026
With that said, this is the end of this post. I’m genuinely honored to be here and in a position of privilege, able to share the information and knowledge I’ve gained along the way, along with these updates and reflections for the year. I hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year.
See you in 2026.
Thank you for your time.
This blog is read in 50+ countries (and counting). If you’re a student, teacher, or lifelong learner from anywhere in the world, I’m honored you’re here. Economics belongs to all of us.
The Broke College Student 
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