Wes Gray 🇺🇸

As America turns 250, I keep coming back to a simple idea: this country is built on the dream of a win-win. You build something useful, create value, and make the pie bigger; your creation makes someone better off, and they pay you for it. Your gains don't require someone else's loss because by construction, what you build has to be a win-win, or it's back to the drawing board. America’s success comes down to one thing: a win-win culture. But this culture is hard to maintain because it goes against human nature: 1+1 = 3 is wacky math, and coveting your neighbor’s property is instinctual. Nevertheless, despite our worst instincts to think the opposite, a win-win culture makes everyone better off because the pie does get bigger. Alpha Architect fully embraces America’s win-win culture. We started with research, a small team, and a willingness to grind — not expensive marketing, a fancy office, or an army of salespeople, because all that leads to high-priced products (not a win for clients!). Our goal was a win-win: differentiated investment products at affordable prices, paired with the education to help investors understand them and sharpen their thinking. The market owes us nothing. Investors owe us nothing. We have to earn trust every day. We need to deliver value so others can get more, and maybe, if they are feeling generous, they’ll pay us a share of the value created. And we like that arrangement: Win-win. As America turns 250, we know we owe it all to this country and the culture that has been fostered over this time. America offers the freedom to build something useful, serve others, and keep proving that win-win is still possible. Semper Fidelis! Wes & the Alpha Architect team

AI is getting crazier every day.

New Post: Two Accounting Anomalies: One May Be Risk, the Other Is Mispricing alphaarchitect.com/accounting-ano…

The best portfolio is the one you believe in and can hold onto If you are always second guessing it, making changes, reacting, etc. you will end up with poor returns You want the most sustainable long term portfolio you can stick with

@TaxAlphaInsider @MFintwit Yowza.

@MFintwit They are, yeah.

Long/short: seeking comment on margin calls at Schwab following credit/debt ratio policy notice recently. Advisers telling me activity has picked up. My DMs are open.

@EricBalchunas Will be epic.

Great game but brutal loss for England. I've watched Philly teams snatch defeat from the jaws of victory many times so i know the feeling. On flip, Argentina's ability to find ways to win late is special, feels like the soccer gods are on their side. Final should be great.

@grok @egr_investor Quant value and quantity momentum. Im an author on both so provide a summary, but not a good one. We want to encourage him to buy the book so I can get my $1 royalty check

@alphaarchitect @egr_investor Ha, happy to save eager investors $20 and some time! The core message is spot on: live below your means, invest the difference, and let compounding do the heavy lifting. Timeless. What's next on the list?

My friend spoke with a friendly security guard at work who makes about $25 an hour and has kids. He still owes $65,000 on a three-year-old truck, is $10,000 underwater, and wants to trade it in for a $90,000 one. I genuinely don’t know how people make the math work. Lifestyle inflation and easy credit are a brutal combination.

@grok @egr_investor Thx. U saved egr investor 20$

**alphaarchitect** Key lessons from *The Millionaire Next Door*: Most millionaires are frugal, self-made **PAWs** who live well below their means and build far more net worth than peers. **Rule**: Expected NW ≈ (age × pretax income) / 10. PAWs exceed it; UAWs fall short by overspending on lifestyle/status. They prioritize financial independence over appearances, avoid subsidizing adult kids, allocate time/money efficiently, and choose the right opportunities/occupations. Discipline + consistent saving/investing beats high income. Timeless for building real wealth early—smart move for your daughter.

@egr_investor @grok, can you summarize the key learning points and lessons learned from the book "the millionaire next door?"

@egr_investor Its old but extremely pragmatic. I made my 17yr old read it recently. She kinda liked it, oddly enough

@Cole_Smead Yup

Thanks for having me on. After-tax returns matter. The market is saying that out loud!

@TaxAlphaInsider Glad to see everyone else joining in the swimming pool! Room for everyone!

My latest blog looks at the asset managers launching ETF seeded in-kind with appreciated private wealth assets (e.g. Dimensional, with others queued up) and wonders if something obscure (ETF + IRC §351) is finally going mainstream. If not, well there's Erling Haaland and his taxidermy raccoon, and that's something. Link in profile.

While passive equities grabbed the headlines, factor equity has quietly gained more ground! Join us for a live deep dive into our value and momentum ETFs, how they may fit in a broader portfolio, and help advisers grow and retain clients in 2026. Sign up here: us06web.zoom.us/webinar/regist… To learn more about our ETFs, head to funds.alphaarchitect.com/documents

New Post: The Intramonth Momentum Cycle alphaarchitect.com/momentum-cycle

Left out the photo I meant to have at the start of this thread. “Ok boomer”

@bdkoepke @TaxAlphaInsider Ya. Its nuts

@alphaarchitect @TaxAlphaInsider Is amazing how far ahead he was… A lot of the ideas in his 2005 paper are still cutting edge.

A certain type of hedge fund may pass ordinary losses to investors. Not capital losses. Not passive activity losses. Ordinary losses. How does that work? First, ordinary losses are not the fund's objective. But losses are inevitable, and hedge funds using notional principal contracts (i.e., swaps) for capital-efficient exposure have a unique type of tax optionality: • Periodic swap payments have ordinary character: hold the losers. • Termination payments have capital character: harvest the winners. In 2005's "Investing with a Tax-Efficient Eye," Bob Gordon said "I know of no other security for which investors can bank ordinary losses when they lose money, recognize a long-term capital gain when they make money, and have the luxury of deciding when to recognize each of these tax-mitigating strategies." The rest of the mechanics are in today's blog. Link in profile.

@ETFhearsay Godspeed on the recovery. Dealt with that 3yrs ago.

I tore my right ACL recently and am getting knee surgery in a couple weeks, so can't do any regattas until next season. Instead, leisurely sailed in waters between Sardinia, Italy and Corsica, France this past week with family and friends. Here's a view of Bonifacio, Corsica, hanging precipitously over the Mediterranean.

@MrNQDC @ChicagoObserver There are many great tools out and no solution is perfect. That's what makes the tax efficient solutions space so fun and interesting 💪

@ChicagoObserver @alphaarchitect That’s another popular strategy, WC Appreciate you adding that one I’ve written previously about tax aware long/short extensions, aswell as option strategies Here’s one I wrote about L/S — what are your thoughts on this?

$12M in Apple stock $10.5M of gains Sell Trigger a massive tax bill Hold Bet your wealth on one company “Just exchange it” But “exchange” can mean 2 completely different strategies The unlock was knowing which one to choose ↓ ↓ ↓