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How Moody’s Makes Money: Selling Trust in Global Finance
Introduction When most people think about investing, they think about companies that build products, provide services, or sell software. Very few investors spend time thinking about the businesses that sit behind the financial system itself. Yet some of the most profitable companies in the world do not manufacture anything tangible. Instead, they sell information, analysis,…
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Buying a Business Won’t Automatically Buy You Freedom
As investors, we are constantly searching for opportunities that can improve our financial future. Some opportunities are passive and require very little involvement, while others demand a more active role from the investor. The challenge is that every opportunity comes with requirements, and those requirements must fit the investor’s current lifestyle, financial position, and level…
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Why Your First Business Acquisition Should Be Small
Starting a business can feel very daunting especially for first time business owners. Not because the idea isn’t there. Not because the opportunity doesn’t exist. But because everything feels uncertain. Where do you start? How much do you invest? What if it fails? So most oftemany people look for a different way. Instead of building…
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How This Company Makes Money: Episode 1 – Snapchat
Understanding the Business Behind the App Millions of people open Snapchat every day. Messages are sent.Stories are posted.Filters turn ordinary photos into something playful and shareable. For most users, Snapchat is simply a social app. But behind those disappearing messages sits a carefully designed business model — one built around attention, engagement, and advertising. Today…
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Why I Finally Created an Investment Policy Statement
If you had asked me a year ago what an Investment Policy Statement was, I probably would have given you a technical definition, nodded as if it sounded important, and then gone right back to managing my portfolio the same way I always had — relying on research, conviction, and a belief that I could…
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Focused Finance: The Salaryman Who Built Wealth When Nothing Worked
Most people assume wealth is built in good times. In booming markets where optimism is everywhere. They believe its a good time to build when wages are rising wages. But the price of this kinda of optimism is almost always followed by a collapse. One Japanese salaryman did not share the same sentiment. Kenji didn’t…
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Happy New Year from The Solo Investor. 🎉
Thank you for being here: reading, watching, and building with me. If 2025 taught us anything, it’s this: stability isn’t given anymore, it’s built. So in 2026, we’re doubling down on what actually moves the needle: If you’re starting this year with big goals and a messy starting point, that’s good. That’s how most real…
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12 Money Moves to Make Before January 1
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The Path to Financial Freedom: A Four-Stage Journey
Everyone talks about “financial freedom” as if it’s one big destination.A finish line. A magic number that unlocks peace. But the truth is it’s a journey. Financial freedom isn’t a single point that your magically get there rather it’s a progression. A staircase you climb, one deliberate step at a time. And at every stage,…
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How Interest Rates Shape the Economy (and Your Wallet)
The Quiet Lever That Moves Everything You can’t see them, touch them, or hear them…but interest rates quietly shape almost every part of your financial life. They influence whether companies expand or lay off workers.They decide how much your mortgage costs.They even affect how much your savings earn while you sleep. If money is the…
