Our launch episode. Why this show exists, and the four checks I run before any investment.
Most of us are playing a money game without knowing the rules
InvestBetter™ exists to change that. Here is what the name means, and how to evaluate an investment with four checks before any dollar moves.
I have been an advisor for almost twenty years, and it took me a long time to say this plainly: the system is built to sell products that solve short term problems. Not because anyone is evil. Because that is how people get paid. In our launch episode, Wendell Moon, InvestBetter™'s creative director, asked me why this show exists. The short answer is awareness. The long answer is the Investment Decision Filter below.
What does InvestBetter™ mean?
It is a call out and a call up. The call out is of a system where your CPA is not your financial advisor, your insurance agent solves problems with insurance, and your investment manager gets paid only when you invest. None of that makes them bad at their jobs. It means no one is holding the whole plan to the best possible outcome. The call up is for you. You can no longer hand your plan off completely. You do not need a CFP license. You need better questions.
How To Evaluate an Investment: The Investment Decision Filter
Four checks, in this order, before you put money into a stock, a friend's business, or a real estate deal. It takes about ten minutes. You do not skip one because the answer is uncomfortable.
Risk
Does this match what I can actually tolerate? Most people want the outcome of an aggressive investment but cannot live through the experience. If you would bail before the outcome arrives, it was better never to start. Then look at who is running it. Most deals fail on the person, not the idea.
Performance
Where is the upside, really? A friend's confidence in the break room is not evidence. Ask for the track record, ask for a pro forma with reasonable assumptions, and ask whether the people responsible for past results are still the ones in charge.
Time
How much of me will this require? This is the easiest filter to skip because we are all optimists about our own calendar. Real estate and new businesses usually take more of you than you expect, and a new business can need all of you for a year. If it needs more than you have, set it aside.
Fees
Am I paying for value, or just paying? Fees are only an issue in the absence of value. Everyone has to get paid for something. Know what you are paying, but this filter is last for a reason. Never let it drive the decision.
Do this week
- Pick one opportunity you are considering right now.
- Write one honest sentence under each filter: risk, performance, time, fees.
- Where you stall is the question to bring to your advisor.
My hope is that this framework lives in your head, even if we never meet. That is what InvestBetter™ is for.
Two pages: the big idea, the four filters, a five-point self check, three questions to ask your advisor, and three steps for the next two weeks.
Six areas scored in five minutes, then the one that is costing you most right now.
One short note a week with the new episode. Nothing else.
FAQs
What does InvestBetter™ mean?
It is a podcast and a movement built on one idea: a financial plan should be advice first, products second. Each week we share the ideas we give clients at the whiteboard so you can ask better questions about your own plan.
What is the Investment Decision Filter?
Four checks to run before any investment: risk, performance, time, and fees, in that order. It takes about ten minutes and works for a stock, a private business, or real estate.
Is this episode only for business owners?
No. The filter applies to anyone with money to invest. Business owners and high earners tend to see the most opportunities, so they tend to need it most.
