Michael Tannery CPA CDFA® AIF®

I have a senior on my roster who hasn’t attended my class a single day this semester. She showed up today for the first time. We have 7 days left before grades are finalized for seniors. My administrator just asked me to see what I can do to help her graduate. In case anyone here is a new follower, this is why I’m leaving public education.

I onboarded 17 new clients in 2025, and will likely onboard another 12 in 2026 You have decided you want to interview an advisor Let me walk you through what year 1 looks like for a potential new client starting with the first conversation:

You just got $100k. Inheritance. Bonus. Sold a business. Everyone says "dollar-cost average it in over 12 months to be safe." The math says they're wrong 2 out of 3 times. But the math doesn't account for human behavior. Here's the system that works: ↓

Some things we accomplish in the first year with clients - Action items (25-50 things to get done) - Opening new accounts - New professionals hired on your team - And more But what about after year one? Here's the true value of working with a financial advisor:

Welcome to the most asymmetric trade in modern financial history. The thread below lays out why. The opportunity exists because capital has chased the AI trade while ignoring the physical assets AI requires to run — assets that have quietly become the best-performing asset class of the decade. Since October 2020 when we first called for the commodity super cycle: QCI Total Return +217%, GSCI Total Return +205%, Gold +140%. NASDAQ trails at +130%. S&P 500 at +85%. The top three are all commodities. Yet oil cannot get out of its own way while copper and the broader atom complex prints fresh highs . That is the dislocation. That is the trade. Get long. Buckle in. Hang on for the ride. Forgive the longer posts in this thread — attempting to mimic my old 10-bullet commodity takes. On to it.

No, we are not!

The US just deployed 200 officers, SWAT, canines, helicopters, and drones to chase 3 teenagers. And nobody is talking about what that actually means. 🚨 🚨 🚨 AUSTIN DEPLOYED ITS ENTIRE TACTICAL APPARATUS AGAINST A CREW OF TEENAGERS — AND THE MATH TELLS YOU EVERYTHING 🚨 🚨 🚨 Two suspects: a 15-year-old and a 17-year-old. Pulled over in a stolen car. Third still at large. This is not a gang war. This is not organized crime. This is teenagers. THE WEAPON: → 10–12 shootings across south Austin in under 24 hours → Multiple stolen vehicles — suspects switched cars mid-spree → Fire stations targeted — not just civilians, emergency responders → Average rate: one shooting every 2 hours across a single city → Victims: explicitly random — no pattern, no motive, no target profile → Area covered: bounded by South Slaughter Ln, East McKinney Falls Pkwy, North Ben White Blvd, West Escarpment Blvd → Thousands of residents locked inside their homes on a Sunday afternoon → Shelter-in-place order extended to Manor area as search expanded THE TARGET: → 4 people hit — 1 critically → South Austin residents across multiple neighborhoods → Fire station crews responding to emergencies → A city of nearly 1 million people effectively paralyzed by 2–3 suspects THE MATH: → Nearly 200 officers deployed — for 3 teenagers → SWAT + canine units + helicopters + drones — full tactical stack → Austin cut its police budget by 25% in prior years → The city now needed its entire remaining tactical capacity to respond to what a handful of kids started in stolen cars Read that again. 💀 10 shootings. 3 suspects. 200 officers. One city. One day. 💀 The shelter-in-place covered more ground than most natural disaster responses 💀 Two of the suspects are minors — the system now has to decide what to do with a 15-year-old who shot at fire stations ⚠️ Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis confirmed the random pattern publicly — no target logic, no grievance, no ideology ⚠️ Mayor Kirk Watson confirmed 4 injured and 2 in custody — third suspect was still being hunted when the order was lifted ⚠️ Public reaction immediately pointed to prior budget cuts and DA Jose Garza's prosecution record as context They're showing you the shelter-in-place order. They're NOT showing you what it means when a city's entire tactical response — every helicopter, every drone, every SWAT unit — gets consumed by 3 teenagers in stolen cars for 24 hours. That's not a crime story. That's a stress test of an entire municipal system. And the system passed — barely — with everything it had. You don't deploy 200 officers to a neighborhood because the math is manageable. You deploy 200 officers when the math has already broken. When 10 shootings in 24 hours by minors in stolen cars is the thing standing between a city and something worse. I'll keep you updated as this unfolds, turn on notifications this is EXTREMELY important.