Graham Stephan

Hey everyone! Here's my weekly email recap of all things money – from the stock market to real estate to personal finance – with research and actionable ideas I'd love for you to join, and it's totally free :) grahamstephan.com/newsletter

If this tweet has exactly 1 like in 24 hours I’ll give that person $10,000,000

@TheICHpodcast Chris said this when AMZN was $200 per share. Now it’s almost $270 🤫

Investor Chris Camillo suggested an 11-year-old invest her entire $500 savings into $AMZN and take $500 of margin on top of that…👀 “If I were you, I would tell your dad to borrow $500 of margin so you can invest $1,000 and put it all in Amazon… That $500 can turn into $2,000 or more”💰

Hypothetically - How easy would it be for someone to manipulate these odds for exposure? Like let’s say someone places a $50K wager on her winning, boosting her odds, and then she gets the equivalent of $1M worth of additional marketing exposure from everyone talking about it?

The stock market tomorrow

@SinaiLawFirm It never made sense to me that a home could sell at $3M when rates were at 3%…then resell for the same price 3 years later when rates are at 6%.

Most houses for sale in WLA today that last traded in the past 3 years are selling at roughly the same price at the last sale All houses for sale today in WLA that last traded >6 years ago are offered at significantly higher prices than the last sale

The US is slipping – Here's how to reinvest. Full post here: grahamstephan.substack.com/p/usa-vs-china

For the last 40 years, the safe bet was simple: Put 100% of your money into the US stock market and wait. It worked because the US had an "exorbitant privilege." This is changing, and so should your investment plan. As we move into 2026, this is the new reality: The Western alliance now controls just 29.6% of global GDP (PPP), while the BRICS nations have climbed to nearly 45%! There are five specific mechanisms threatening to bypass the US dollar entirely. These are the "Dollar-Killers" you need to watch: 1. Bilateral Trade Settlements: China, India, and Russia are increasingly skipping the dollar entirely. By settling invoices in native currencies, they bypass US correspondent banks, avoid transaction fees, and eliminate the risk of Washington "flipping the switch" on their assets. 2. BRICS PAY: Think of this as an alternative to SWIFT. If SWIFT is the Western-controlled email system for international banking, BRICS PAY is a competing encrypted service that escapes US control. 3. Strategic Gold Stockpiling: Central banks are currently buying gold at the fastest rate in 50 years, even with prices crossing $5,000 an ounce. Gold is the ultimate neutral asset. It can’t be sanctioned, and it can’t be printed. It is sovereign insurance against a weakening dollar. 4. The mBridge Project: This is perhaps the most sophisticated threat. It’s a blockchain-based framework being tested by central banks in the UAE, China, and Thailand. It allows for settlement of payments in digital currencies in seconds, without ever touching a neutral third party like the US dollar. 5. The UNIT: A proposed digital currency backed 40% by gold and 60% by a basket of BRICS currencies. It’s designed to provide the stability of a hard asset with the utility of a digital one. If you think this is alarmist, look at what the world’s largest money managers are saying. Vanguard’s 10-year forecast projects US stocks to return just 3.9% to 5.9% annually, while they expect international markets to outperform at 4.9% to 6.9%. The easy money in a concentrated US market (where the top 10 companies make up 40% of the S&P 500) has likely been made. We are moving from a world where the US was THE superpower to a world where it is A superpower. To learn more about how to reinvest in this changed world, read today's post on my Substack. I'll drop the link in the comments.

Roughly 220 billionaires reside in California. They employ roughly 10 million people. If a wealth tax passes, everyone with a billion-dollar idea will think twice about whether they want to build that business in California. But that isn’t even the most dangerous part. When this turns out to raise less money than expected, the bar will be lowered to $100 million. Then $50 million. Then $10 million. Then $1 million. They’ll call it “the millionaire tax.” And since ~80% of the California population isn’t a millionaire, they’ll vote it into existence because “it doesn’t affect them.” But many of those “millionaires” are providing jobs. Housing. Innovation. Buying products and services. They’re a net economic benefit. If you discourage them from living in California, they will leave. Then it becomes a downward spiral where they have to tax everyone else to stay afloat. Not saying the system is perfect. But a simpler solution might simply be: spend less money and encourage more people to move back / create a billion dollar idea.

@theficouple @TheICHpodcast This had nothing to do with it.

@TheICHpodcast This is a huge reason why @GrahamStephan ended up selling all his real estate

Graham Stephan explains why he NEVER raised rents on his tenants👀 “I’d never raise the rents… I hated raising the rent because I’d get really great tenants that would stay 8 to 10 years. They were awesome. I had zero hassle, zero headaches, they always paid on time”

@SinaiLawFirm @TheICHpodcast Loved having you on! More clips to come!

Watch my appearance on @TheICHpodcast on X

@HolySmokas The price just went up to $45,000 now

I sold my Model X to @GrahamStephan for $23,000 last year. He wants to sell me this beautiful Patek Philippe for $35,000 Is he taking advantage of me or fair? I know nothing about watches.

@jjeffrose I get these scam invites all the time from various people. They ask you to give them Facebook permissions for a livestream / collaboration post, once you give them access, they can take over your Facebook account and boot you out.

Even though he's blocked me Dave still wants to pay me $4,000 to be on his show. Hopefully, they'll pay me in Bitcoin.

Where I'm investing after selling my real estate – Full post here: grahamstephan.substack.com/p/2026-investi…

Last week's post about selling my entire real estate portfolio went viral with over 3M views. But a lot of people asked me: “If you’re exiting real estate, where is that money actually going?” It’s a fair question. For over a decade, my identity as an investor was tied to real estate and rental properties. But this mindset that built my initial wealth isn't serving me in 2026. Between insurance costs doubling and the legal landscape becoming a nightmare, the math no longer works. So, here is the mindset I’m using for the Great Rotation: I am prioritizing simplicity over prestige and complexity. Stocks have always been the most consistent part of my portfolio. Now I'm doubling down on them. This is puzzling to some people who are building dry powder – after all, valuations in 2026 could be distorted due to AI hype. But from past experience, every time I’ve tried to be cautious and wait for a dip, I’ve regretted it. Consistency has always beaten timing, and trying to time the market has never worked. I'm also changing the mix of stocks I hold. I’m allocating more into international and emerging markets as a hedge. I think these are undervalued given how much room there is for productivity gains and smartphone adoption as AI scales globally. Over the last year, my international stocks have outperformed the S&P500 and I think there's potentially more asymmetric upside there. This wasn't an easy pivot to make, but this was a necessary course correction. I had to be honest with myself about what was actually working versus what I was familiar with. I’ve just posted the complete, line-by-line breakdown of my new 2026 portfolio on Substack. I’m covering exactly how I’m allocating the real estate proceeds, my increased Bitcoin position, and even the collectibles that are keeping pace with the S&P 500. I'll drop the link in the comments.

@gamahipe @TheICHpodcast The point was highlighting humanoid robots effectively doing the work of maids, dentists, etc. - not that people will be doing this work.

@TheICHpodcast Abolutely, cause neither chefs, maids, dentists or surgeons work for the money. They do it cause it's their calling. And they'll gladly do it for losers on UBI.

Jason Oppenheim reveals EVERYONE will be able to afford private chefs, maids, the best healthcare in 10 years due to AI👀 “Everyone within 10 to 15 years will have a Michelin star chef, a maid, babysitter, a dentist, and the best physician in the world”

I’ve spent a decade telling people to do what I do: "Buy and Hold." Now I've decided to list my entire real estate portfolio for sale and walk away. It started slow. The bills, the maintenance, the tax increases... but the final straw was when I tried to develop an ADU to do exactly what the city of LA claims it wants investors like me to do: Create more housing. You'd think they'd make it easier, but after two delayed inspections, a sewer pipe replacement that needed 75 days advance notice, and a city-owned tree that became my responsibility, I'd had enough. The identity of being a real-estate guy is very hard to walk away from, trust me. For a long time, I stayed just because real estate was my "thing." It’s how I started. It’s what I’m known for. It led to every good thing in my life. But that blinded me to the fact that just because something served me in the past, it doesn't mean things haven't changed in the present. The reality of 2026 finally stripped the emotion away. My LA rentals are netting about 4-5% after the constant background noise of taxes, insurance spikes, and repairs. Meanwhile, a risk-free Treasury pays 5%. The trade-off just doesn't make sense any more. I’m reallocating to a liquid portfolio that actually lets me focus on the work I love. I published a deep dive on my Substack about the ADU nightmare that broke my patience, the exact numbers behind the exit, and where I’m moving the money next to buy back my sanity. I'll drop the link here in a bit.

@Akash_S9 Sent you a message!

Everyone’s asking for details, so now you can hear it directly from the Police.  I was falsely accused and fully cleared. Listen to this recording of the officer confirming my innocence directly to my father. This false accusation, along with the racism, harassment, and bullying has turned my life upside down. Please share this to help prevent this from happening to other innocent people.

Why I'm selling all my real estate – Full post here: grahamstephan.substack.com/p/im-selling-e…

@yoxics Please tag @TheICHpodcast if you’re going to repost our content

Beast Games winner Tyler Lucas says he doesn't feel rich after winning $5,000,000 as he still works a job in the military 👀 "nothing has changed for me in my life.. still working hard, still serving.. I barely see my kids right now, Its just a big number in my bank account"