Aspen Money: Understanding Wealth Creation

I’m writing this from a balcony in Aspen, Colorado, sipping overpriced coffee and trying to understand how in the world a place where the average home costs $13.2 million even exists. (Spoiler: it's not because everyone here saved their Starbucks money.)

If you’ve listened to our podcast series The Ladders of Wealth Creation—and if you haven’t, what are you doing with your life? —you’ve heard me say this before: understanding how the ultra-wealthy actually make their money is the single most powerful tool for building your own wealth. That’s why we’ve done not one, not two, but seven podcast episodes and several blogs on this.

Boots on the Ground in Aspen

I came to Aspen for the Aspen Ideas Festival. I wanted to see what it’s like, boots on the ground, and It’s not just that they have money. It’s that they think in terms of systems, not salaries.

The median U.S. household income is about $80,000. That means that, if you did nothing but save for 75 years without eating or paying rent, you could almost afford a home here. Almost. So clearly, we’re talking about people who are playing a very different game.

Getting Off the First Ladder

Most people are stuck on the first ladder of wealth creation: selling their time for money. It’s noble, honest work—but it’s also the slowest, most difficult way to become wealthy.

Let’s be clear: if you’re being paid by the hour, your income is capped by the number of hours in a day. And last I checked, even Beyoncé only gets 24 of those.

To really build wealth—the kind that lets you write a blog from Aspen instead of Aurora—you need to level up:

1. Get paid for results. Commissions, bonuses, performance incentives, these all scale better than hourly pay.

2. Get paid from ownership. Businesses, equity, royalties. Think “I own this” instead of “I did this.”

3. Use leverage. Not just financial leverage but also time, technology (software doing the heavy lifting), and distribution (one product, millions of users).

The Secret Sauce: Scaling

Now don’t get me wrong—getting off that first ladder is no walk in the park. Scaling a business or an income stream requires a delicate cocktail of:

• Conviction (to keep going when the first 14 ideas fail)

• Humility (to accept feedback without crying)

• People skills (because investors and customers don’t like jerks, usually)

• A useful product (that ideally isn’t another AI-powered toothbrush app)

Finding all four is rare. Finding them in yourself is even rarer. But if you do, you’re no longer just working for money—you’re building systems that print it while you sleep.

Final Thoughts from 8,000 Feet

As I sit here watching the Gondola go up and down the mountain, I’m reminded that Aspen money isn’t just about luck or inheritance (though those do help). It’s about mindset, strategy, and systems.

If you want to create abundance, stop thinking like a laborer and start thinking like an owner. Because to have Aspen money, you have to think differently.

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.

Stay put, young man.

As Denver Wealth Management approaches our ten-year anniversary on June 1st, and I approach my 20th anniversary of living in Denver in December, I can’t help but take a minute to step back and think about the community and roots I have grown in Colorado over the past 20 years.  

In the world of remote work, nomadic behavior, and the general American attitude of ‘Go west, young man!” I’ve come to realize that there are tremendous benefits to staying put, building a community, and digging in deep.  

Now it seems like a kind of American heresy to say ‘Stay put, young man.’ Maybe it’s the old age and experience starting to do the talking. Maybe it’s me hoping my three kids stay in Colorado and we get to see each other on more than just major holidays. Maybe it’s that I’ve gone west figuratively from my home state of North Dakota and want all my people to stay around me now that I’m established in Colorado. Motivations are hard to understand.  

But one thing I’ve learned is that growing roots in a community seems to work like a kind of compound interest. The first year the changes aren’t readily apparent – in fact the jet-setting nomad seems to surpass the community-minded person as the networker makes fast and frequent connections. Who among us hasn’t been pulled into the force field of a fast-talking, charismatic businessperson?  

The real challenge of the fast talker is that they promise life-changing or fast results in a minimum period of time. Sometimes it works – sometimes it doesn’t. But where will that fast-talker be 1-5-10-20 years down the road? Far from settling in and helping people who experience ongoing problems, the fast talker has talked his way to the next town or the next big deal.  

Deep Roots and Long-Term Investors  

Long-term compound interest isn’t just limited to living in a community. There is a compound interest that is generated by sticking with a particular philosophy through good times and bad. As a peer in the financial management industry likes to say, “Every strategy works if you’ll stick with it through bad times.’  

When I think about some of the greatest investors EVER, many investors have turned small amounts into quick fortunes. However, the ones that really capture my attention are the investors who are more like marathon runners than sprinters. They run a sustainable pace over a very long distance vs. a very fast pace over a short distance. I’ve never seen a day trader on the Forbes 500, but I do see a lot of business owners.  

Sometimes sprinting is necessary. Paying off consumer debt, finding a job when you’re unemployed, or moving to an acceptable school district are times when it may be better to be a sprinter than a marathoner.  

But when it comes to community, fellowship, and the understanding that you, as an investor or businessperson, WILL BE THERE, it is a feeling that gets measured in years and decades, not with short-term enthusiasm. 

Fresh Roots 

When I started as a financial advisor in 2008, it drove me nuts when I reviewed someone’s expensive, inefficient, underperforming, and neglected portfolio. I’d recommend obvious changes and propose money-saving solutions (index funds are more tax efficient than mutual funds!), and I'd be shocked when the prospective client would say, “We like you, but our advisor has been working with our family for years.”  

What I didn’t realize then is that trust and community are massively valued. While their advisor, who is pushing 70, might be behind the times when it comes to new tax laws, there is something to be said for trusting the guy who trusts the thing that has always worked for them.  

I’ve also learned that trust is contagious. Richard (a partner in our group) trusts American Funds, therefore his clients trust American Funds. When the market drops, no one ever wants to sell American Funds – maybe we’ll sell that new fund with the new fund manager.  

I’ve come to trust good companies with good management. It can be hard to define what good management is exactly, but somehow it is easier to look for the opposite. Bad management is easy to spot, and you don’t have to look very hard. When the market crashes and Apple drops along with it, I trust that the company will continue their strategy, we can all buy more stock, and it has historically worked out. When a management team has an earnings call where it is obvious that they are hiding key information from analysts and shareholders, you know you have a bad management team. Sell.  

Clients trust advisors and companies that are consistent. An investing or financial planning philosophy can evolve as the world does, but values must remain consistent. 

Maybe that’s the hard part about growing trust. Do you trust someone with a rigid philosophy that never EVER changes? A lot of people like that kind of certainty. I think about Dave Ramsey’s ‘Debt is always bad and is never useful!’ What about when interest rates are 2.75% and inflation is 8%? Maybe trusting that someone is wise enough to change course is part of trust?  

Being a long-term part of community means you give up anonymity. If you make a fool of yourself, you can’t hide. Your community will know. But part of long-term relationships is acknowledging that we are flawed, and forgiveness is part of what builds these extra-strong long-term bonds. Why are so many siblings so close? Perhaps you’ve seen all their flaws and good qualities and decided to love them anyway. A good community is like that.  

10 More Years 

As Denver Wealth Management passes the ten-year landmark of providing wealth management services, I look forward to seeing where the next ten years in Denver will take us. As our clients relocate for new opportunities, we go with them – we are in almost all 50 states in 2025. While our client’s physical location is always changing, maybe the roots we are growing for the next ten years are stability. A consistent financial planning process. An investment philosophy that changes as the world does. A stable value system. Simply being present is a good start, but it is not enough. We have the honor of building on ten years of trust.  

Investing in mutual funds involves risk, including possible loss of principal. Fund value will fluctuate with market conditions, and it may not achieve its investment objective.

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. Stock investing includes risks, including fluctuating prices and loss of principal.

Securities offered through LPL Financial, Member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advice offered through Denver Wealth Management, Inc., a registered investment advisor. Denver Wealth Management, Inc. is a separate entity from LPL Financial.

Rethinking International Investing in a Global Tech Era

Over the past 15 years, investors have recited a familiar narrative about international diversification: U.S. and international equities take turns leading performance, and eventually the trend reverses. Charts often show this cyclical dynamic—until recently.

In reality, the expected reversal hasn’t materialized. Except for the first five months of 2025, U.S. equities have outperformed international markets nearly continuously for over a decade. So, what changed?

I believe the traditional way of thinking about where a company is domiciled—as a key driver of investment performance—is no longer useful. Here's why.

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A Brief Detour Through Globalization

To understand how we got here, let’s briefly review the history of globalization, often viewed in three waves:

1. 1870–1914 – Fueled by steam power, railroads, and the telegraph.

2. 1914–1971 – Driven by global institutions (UN, World Bank, IMF), post-WWII rebuilding,and air travel.

3. 1971–Present – Marked by the end of the Cold War, free trade agreements, the rise ofJapan and Germany, and most importantly, the technology revolution.

Throughout each phase, companies grew profits by expanding beyond borders. If French chocolate sold well, why not offer it in the U.S.? And just like that, a regional business became global. Historically, companies faced many barriers—languages, tariffs, regulations, customs—but today, many of these have been minimized, especially for digital-first firms.

Netflix doesn’t face tariffs like physical products. Apple products are engineered in California, manufactured in Vietnam, and sold globally. Language barriers are largely solved by software. Tech companies are no longer bound by traditional geography in any meaningful way.

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The Flawed “Country-Based” Lens

Because of these shifts, using national borders as a primary investment lens no longer provides meaningful insight—especially when comparing U.S. vs. non-U.S. equity performance.

For example, the Russell 2000 (U.S. small-cap stocks) has delivered a 7.6% annualized return over the past 20 years. The MSCI EAFE Index, representing developed international markets, has returned 6.25%. Meanwhile, the Russell 1000 (large U.S. stocks), many of which are global tech giants, would rank among the top-performing “countries” on its own.

Calling Apple, Microsoft, or Meta "U.S. stocks" isn’t particularly helpful when constructing a diversified portfolio. These companies are not just based in the U.S.—they are fundamentally global in revenue, operations, and user base.

Apple manufactures in Vietnam. Facebook operates globally. Microsoft earns revenue from every continent.

If these firms were domiciled in Tokyo or Berlin, would their performance really be different?

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Rethinking Portfolio Construction

Rather than framing asset allocation by geography, consider a more modern lens:

#1 Global Reach

Tech companies are global in user base, supply chain, and infrastructure. Lumping them in with domestic banks or manufacturers to gauge “U.S. performance” is misleading. Instead, we should describe them as "U.S.-domiciled companies" rather than assume their performance reflects the U.S. economy.

#2 Global Revenue

Over 55% of revenue for the U.S. tech sector comes from outside the U.S. (Morningstar). By contrast, sectors like Utilities or Real Estate are far more domestically anchored. Tech’s revenue source is increasingly de-linked from U.S. GDP, policy, or consumer health.

#3 Reclassifying Global Tech

An investor could reasonably argue that these companies remain tied to U.S. regulatory frameworks. That’s fair. But a better approach might be to classify them as a separate category: Scalable Global Innovators—firms that derive the majority of their growth and revenue from outside their home market.

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Why This Matters

Treating large-cap U.S. tech firms as “U.S. stocks” distorts portfolio allocation decisions. In fact, investing in U.S. small and mid-cap stocks today is more akin to investing in the domestic economies of France or Germany—more closely tied to local economic cycles and less exposed to global growth engines.

If you carved the Bay Area out of U.S. equity indexes, long-term performance would closely resemble that of many international markets. The “outperformance” of U.S. equities is really the outperformance of a handful of global tech giants—not a broad-based reflection of the U.S. economy.

Content in this material is for general information only and not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual. All performance referenced is historical and is no guarantee of future results. All indices are unmanaged and may not be invested into directly.

All investing involves risk including loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. There is no guarantee that a diversified portfolio will enhance overall returns or outperform a non-diversified portfolio. Diversification does not protect against market risk.

The economic forecasts set forth in this material may not develop as predicted and there can be no guarantee that strategies promoted will be successful.