Five Money Beliefs I Had to Unlearn—and What Replaced Them

Wealth failures usually trace back to one bad core belief, not one bad market call. Here are the five beliefs I had to unlearn—and the one-page policies that replaced them.

1) “More tickers = diversification.”

Reality: count is irrelevant if everything points to the same risk. Run instead: a Concentration Policy—single-name, top-10, and sector caps; track HHI monthly.

2) “Fees matter more than taxes.”

Reality: over a 30-year horizon, tax drag usually dwarfs fees. Run instead: a Tax Policy—asset location map, ±20 % realization bands, harvest rules, withdrawal order.

3) “Forecasts beat systems.”

Reality: predictions crumble; repeatable systems survive. Run instead: a Rebalance System—pre-set drift bands, batch execution days, and a decision journal that records the “why” before every big move.

4) “Products create outcomes.”

Reality: ownership and distribution structure drive results; products follow. Run instead: a Structure Checklist—ownership chart, entity purpose, funding rules, distribution triggers, and a 1031/1035 exit path if you get boxed in.

5) “Succession = documents.”

Reality: documents die in drawers; governance keeps families solvent. Run instead: a Family Huddle Agenda—cadence, owner/date on decisions, 5-minute education slot, and a parking-lot list so nothing festers offline.

What changed once I wrote these as one-pagers

Speed: Decisions moved from “sometime” to calendar-blocked next steps.

Clarity: No more debates about who does what or when to sell.

Resilience: When markets whipsawed, the policies acted; emotions watched.

If a decision can’t fit on one page, it won’t survive real life.

Educational only. Not tax, legal, or investment advice.