Nick Hodge,
Publisher
Aug. 19, 2025
Just keep going.
Tuition’s due tomorrow. Three kids in Catholic school.
Last week, I transferred some money over from each of the three 529 Plans that I’ve set up and fund monthly.
They are all allocated the same:
I chose the New York 529 plan because I live in Washington State, which has no income tax, so fees were more important to me than state tax savings. The New York plan uses Vanguard funds with low expense ratios.
I set one up when each kid was born, fund it on autopilot, rebalance quarterly, and just keep going.
I also manage a few IRAs and 401(k)s. Ever since I began a “real job” in 2007, I have taken advantage of company matches and retirement plans.
When Gerardo and I started Digest Publishing in 2020, we set up an employer-sponsored retirement plan. It’s currently allocated like this:
We set it up to offer a good mix of low-cost Vanguard funds, as I have seen some high-cost plans at previous employers. I max mine out every year, rebalance every quarter based on what’s going on in the markets, and just keep going.
I also manage some IRAs that I rolled over when I left my last employer to strike it out on my own. The strategies I use to manage those are the basis of what I publish in Foundational Profits.
Every month, I publish a list of my current allocations and how much I own of each. That is the Foundational Profits model portfolio, which is made up of 20 or fewer positions. I also publish any changes, additions, or deletions, and why. Here is the performance of the main IRA I manage this way so far in 2025:
That account is beating the S&P 500 by 4x for the year. I revealed the 2025 closed positions last week. The three largest positions are:
- Cash (cash / money market)
- Gold (GLD)
- Gold Stocks (GDXJ)
That portfolio is managed through time no matter what markets throw at it.
When I look at the performance of the 529 plans or the employer plan, they largely mirror the performance of the market. It’s tough to generate alpha when you’re handcuffed to a series of funds meant to match underlying indexes. So the best you can do is minimize costs, allocate well, and rebalance effectively.
In the IRAs where I have more freedom, it’s much easier to outperform. Foundational Profits has beaten the S&P 500 for seven out of the past ten years, and will do so again this year. And in those ten years, the S&P has been down three of them versus our one down year.
So Foundational Profits not only outperforms to the upside, it has proven to avoid mainstream losses as well.
It takes time, work, and dedication. I am strapped to the desk, watching markets most days.
It takes being able to admit when you’re wrong and change your mind. I’ve been wrong on oil twice this year. We don’t own it anymore.
It takes a willingness to buy anything, even if you don’t fully understand it, as long as it fits with your strategy and the prevailing macro sentiment. We currently own Ethereum, a pizza chain, and a storage REIT.
It takes not falling in love with positions or ideas, taking profits, and moving on to the next play with subdued emotion.
And you just keep going.
It’s not for everyone. Most folks are content paying high fees to financial advisors for average performance.
I don’t take a percentage of your portfolio. You pay one low membership fee per year for a monthly issue with macro analysis and portfolio recommendations.
Click here to get the current open portfolio and the eight new recommendations made in the August Issue of Foundational Profits.
Don’t just keep going the same way Wall Street wants you to. Keep going smarter — with us.
Call it like you see it,
Nick Hodge
Publisher, Daily Profit Cycle