Year in Review

2025 comes to an end

This year was absolutely awesome. Yield to Maturity has more than doubled in subscribers, and I have been getting some solid feedback. As always, if you have anything specific you want covered, be sure to reach out. Reader suggestions are something I always like to address.

With 2025 coming to a close, I wanted to review an incredible year.

First off, I am more than halfway through my Tax Planning Certified Professional™ coursework and exams. Expect much more coverage on tax items to come throughout 2026.

I am also just one semester away from completing my MBA! Thus far, it has been a great experience. Shoutout to a few of my fellow classmates who might be reading this!

Before we get to who I met, I wanted to share some articles in which I was quoted. It may be helpful for my younger audience, and there is a wide variety of content covered in each.

Here are the lines:

1. How to build the perfect investor: 50% Gen X and 50% Gen Z: What today’s younger investors can learn from their parents, and vice versa

2. This should be your ‘last resort’ to cover an emergency expense, financial advisor says

3. With bitcoin down to around $90,000, should you rethink how much crypto to own? Here’s what experts say.

4. How I Broke Into the RIA Space Right Out of College: This young advisor got his big break after seeing an opening on social media.

I have been reading Barron’s since I was 18 or 19. Getting the privilege to put my own words out in Barron’s meant the world.

Now, as far as who I met, this year in particular stands out. I spent a significant amount of time networking, meeting new people, and building real relationships for new insights into everything markets, tax, and personal finance.

I also attended two Future Proof conferences. If you’re in the space and have yet to attend, you’re doing yourself a disservice. It opened the door for tons of opportunities. From there, I attended more local conferences, happy hours, and financial meetups. It was a blast.

Who I met:

Dan Ives and Tom Lee: Some of the ultimate GOATs. Tom and Dan have been at the forefront of the market for a while now. They are two people I always want to hear from, especially when the market gets volatile.

That same day at Future Proof, I had the opportunity to meet with Brent Sullivan. He writes Tax Alpha Insider and is what we like to call a “tax wizard.” His content is absolutely next level.

Always a good time meeting up with my fellow young professionals. Here’s me with the next-gen crew. Caleb Franzen, who writes Cubic Analytics, Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management, Max Motz of Fundstrat, and Chart Kid Matt of Exhibit A! (in that order)

I can’t forget about the awesome live recording of The Compound and Friends that I attended with Jim Cramer, Josh Brown, and Michael Batnick. These guys have been at it a while! It was great to hear their thoughts live.

I even got to get out for a coffee with Phil Rosen. Phil co-founded and writes Opening Bell Daily. It was awesome to catch up, and after about 5 minutes, we were trying to understand how we hadn’t met previously. Looking forward to catching up with Phil in 2026! (Shoutout Todd Sohn for the introduction!!)

Most recently, I got an invite to the CMT Association’s end-of-year party! So you know I had to get a pic with Jay Woods and Sam Ro!

Last but not least! We put together a little happy hour back in November, and I got to meet two awesome people. Hardika Singh and Kevin Brady! Hardika is putting out some of the best market commentary in the game on a regular basis over at Fundstrat. Funny enough, Kevin and I have been connected for years now! This was our first in-person encounter. Kevin is the man and has been offering me guidance over the last few years as I cut my teeth in the industry.

There were many more awesome people that I got to meet, but I’m going to cap it here! YTM is going to be taking a much-needed rest next week for NYE.

Expect a lot more from me in 2026! Hopefully, we can take YTM to the next level! Wishing an awesome 2026 to all of the YTM squad!

This is 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. Opinions expressed in this commentary reflect subjective judgments of the author based on conditions at the time of publication and are subject to change without notice. Past performance is not indicative of future results.