Principles, Practices and Playthings
- Jason Fang, CFP®
- Oct 31
- 7 min read
Revisiting Our Investment Philosophy
During times of uncertainty and change, it's helpful to revisit the core tenets of our investment philosophy. While others may be drawn to the siren song of the flashy new thing or scared off by the latest headline, we remain confident that our foundation is solid. TerraFirma, after all, means solid ground, so it is appropriate that we start here.
To maintain this unperturbed perspective, let's review TerraFirma’s Three Guiding Principles and Three Core Practices that translate our fundamental beliefs into the long-term growth you need. With each principle and practice is a powerful mantra to help remind us why it is important.
Three Guiding Principles
1. Faith in the Future: The Cornerstone
This is the most important cornerstone of investing, and it deserves to be at the very top. This isn't blind optimism, but a fundamental belief in the enduring power of human innovation, the proven resilience of market-based economies, and the compounding effect of capital and productivity over time.
We are optimistic that the overall future of humanity will be better than it is today, and the economic impact will be profoundly positive. Our investment goal is to participate in that growth.
Mantra: We invest to own a share of tomorrow’s growth.
2. Patience: The Resolve to Remain
Your life goals are long-term, and your investments must be aligned with that reality. True wealth building is a decades-long endeavor that requires us to withstand inevitable periods of stagnation or decline.
We must fight the temptation to take action based on the latest narrative that “this time it’s different,” and instead maintain a disciplined focus on your objectives. By sticking to your plan, you secure yourself against making costly mistakes at the worst possible time.
Mantra: Wealth is the reward for enduring the inevitable market cycles.
3. Discipline: The Engine of Execution
If patience is the resolve to avoid costly mistakes, then discipline is the commitment to execute the winning strategy.
Discipline is the active ingredient in our shared success. It means committing to the actions required to reach your goals and refusing to abandon them, regardless of the market season. While the outside world will have good years and bad years, we will help you stay oriented towards your goals. We stick to tried-and-true strategies for reaching long-term goals and consciously categorize the news as short-term noise.
Mantra: Commitment to the process is the ultimate hedge against market doubt.
Three Core Practices
If our Three Guiding Principles are the north star, the below Three Core Practices are the captain’s orders to continuously steer the ship in the right direction.
1. Asset Allocation: The Foundation of Structure
Our foundational practice is intentional, personalized structuring of your capital, linking it directly to your life's financial timeline. We are not focused on chasing the highest possible return; we are focused on securing the optimal structure that allows you to tolerate market fluctuations while achieving your specified objectives. Establishing the correct asset allocation for you determines how capital is allocated between growth assets and preservation assets, ensuring the mix aligns perfectly with the length and nature of your unique financial horizon and goals.
Mantra: Your portfolio's map is drawn by your goals, not by market currents.
2. Diversification: The Strategy of Full Market Participation
The building blocks within your asset allocation are built upon the intentional act of spreading risk across different asset classes, market sectors, and geographies to achieve portfolio resilience. This practice acknowledges that no single asset or economy always outperforms, and by owning the entire global landscape, we eliminate dependence on any single, unpredictable factor. Even within asset classes, we must diversify to capture broad-based performance rather than relying on a single representative company. This allows the winning horse of each sector to be in your portfolio.
Mantra: We seek to own the market's winners, not predict them.
3. Rebalancing: The Systematic Correction of Portfolio Drift
Rebalancing is the mandatory, systematic process of bringing your portfolio back to its original target allocation. As assets inevitably outperform and underperform, the portfolio drifts away from the ideal risk target designed for your goals. This process forces us to systematically sell high (taking profits) and buy low (adding to what’s cheap), eliminating emotional decision-making. It is the critical mechanism that enables Patience and Discipline to maintain the integrity of your long-term plan.
Mantra: Trade your emotions for mathematical precision.
Summary: Your Solid Ground at TerraFirma
We believe your investment philosophy—your TerraFirma or "solid ground"—shouldn't be complicated. It's a structure designed for peace of mind and strength, built to give you deep, unwavering confidence, no matter what the markets are doing. Together, these six elements ensure we protect the integrity of your long-term legacy, allowing us to comfortably ignore the siren song of short-term fads and deliver growth powered by shared conviction.
💊 Medicare Open Enrollment: October 15th - December 7th
This is a reminder that if you want to make changes to your Medicare plan, you have until December 7th. Any changes will be effective on January 1, 2026. If you need help with this, I can get you in touch with a broker who is very knowledgeable and can help you understand what plan may be best for you based on your specific needs. You can also find out more on the Medicare website.
📈 Social Security Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA)
The Social Security Administration has just released the Cost of Living Adjustment for 2026. Starting on January 1st, the monthly benefits will increase by 2.8%. This is largely in line with the latest reading of inflation at 3%. For the average American who is already receiving these benefits, it is a $56 increase based on a monthly check of $2,064. If your benefit is higher, then you should see a commensurate increase in dollars for your own benefit.
🤔 Built on Lies
Scams generally start with a lie. The FTC released the top three lies that scammers use to try to bait you in. Be aware of these so that you don’t become a victim.
Lie #1: Someone is using your accounts. This lie might start with someone pretending to be your bank, flagging so-called suspicious activity, or pretending to be Amazon with a message about an unauthorized purchase.
Lie #2: Your information is being used to commit crimes. This lie may come from a supposed government officer or agent, warning that your Social Security number is linked to a crime like drug smuggling, money laundering, or even child pornography.
Lie #3: There’s a security problem with your computer. This lie often starts with a fake on-screen security alert that looks like it’s from Microsoft or Apple with a number to call. If you call, they say your online accounts have been hacked.
If someone reaches out to you with one of these claims or something else that is suspicious, take caution and remember these three things:
Hang up and verify. Go to the website of the company that just called and find their phone number to call and verify what you just heard.
Don’t move money. They may tell you that you need to move your money to “protect it”. Never send money to an unknown person or address.
When in doubt, call me. I am happy to be a second opinion on anything financial. I may not have seen every scam out there, but two brains are better than one.
These are all reactive things that we can do. What if you want to be more proactive? You can sign up for a personal data removal service. Your phone number, email and address appear on dozens if not hundreds of data brokers. You can manually request removal from each one individually or engage with a service that does it for you. Below are a few options:
The scammers are still out there. We are well positioned to protect you because we are a live human layer when distribution requests come in. For your safety, when we receive requests for money to be sent out, we will call you to speak with you at a phone number that we know is yours. I generally have an idea of when large purchases are coming up because it is discussed as part of your plan. When a surprise comes up, which often can be legitimate, we verify and do our due diligence to ensure that the request is indeed what you wanted.
Be on the alert for anyone who may be impersonating myself or Kimberly. We will never ask for any of your passwords, as that is against the law. We cannot login as you for any accounts. We will not ask for other private information such as your Social Security number other than when we first open the accounts for you. When in doubt, call us at the phone numbers that you know are good:
Jason: (925) 587-8882
Kimberly: (925) 587-8883
🧸 Hottest Toy of the Season! Completely Sold Out!
Were you lucky enough to see this on store shelves? Odds were slim to none because demand totally outstripped supply. That’s mainly because none were made and this isn’t real, just another lie. This image was generated by AI. It took me all of 30 seconds to make this. I hope that this serves as proof and a reminder that you can’t believe everything you see anymore. One giveaway was the little watermark on the lower right corner. That is the logo for Google’s Gemini AI.
The second giveaway is that the wrinkly part near my shoulder, above the briefcase, used to be a third arm. Oops! I told it to remove my alien arm. That would have been too obvious. The third is that Prosperity Plastics is not a real company. Just some made up name to prevent copyright infringement. I don’t think Mattel would be too happy with AI creating these types of images with their logo plastered all over it. My hope is that all AI generated images are required to somehow be easily identified in the future, but until then be careful out there.
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