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Watching Them Grow: College, Markets, and Learning When to Let Go
Today is the first day of school in our house, and this one feels different.
Our youngest is starting her last year of elementary school. That means this is also the last year of elementary school for our family.
It made me think back to 2018, when our oldest started elementary school. I remember walking her all the way to the door while holding her hand. There was something reassuring about being able to walk beside her right up until the moment she entered that new world.
Fast-forward to this morning.
Our youngest jumped out of the car and didn't look back.
Meanwhile, our oldest is starting her final year of middle school. She was incredibly nervous when she first began middle school. This morning, she got out and confidently walked away.
No hand-holding required.
As a dad, moments like these are a strange combination of pride, happiness, nostalgia, and maybe a little disbelief.
You spend years trying to prepare your kids for the world, and then they start showing you that they're ready to take on more of it themselves.
I think—and certainly hope—we're doing it right.
Give Them a Pat on the Back
The timing of today's reading from Ryan Holiday's The Daily Dad couldn't have been better.
The lesson on page 257 is about giving your children a pat on the back.
Kids need to hear that you're proud of them. That doesn't stop when they're no longer little.
As parents, it's easy to become professional problem finders.
Did you finish your homework?
Did you remember everything?
Are you prepared for tomorrow?
What could you have done differently?
Those questions have their place. But sometimes our kids don't need another lesson.
Sometimes they need to hear:
You did a good job. I'm proud of you.
Watching both girls confidently head into school reminded me that growth deserves to be recognized.
It also reminded me that we have another big transition getting closer.
College.
College Isn't That Far Away Anymore
When your children are little, college feels impossibly far away.
Then suddenly you're talking about the last year of elementary school and the last year of middle school.
Those years have a funny habit of moving faster than expected.
College planning is also about much more than figuring out how to pay a tuition bill.
Families have to think about how much they're willing and able to contribute, how college fits alongside retirement savings, what types of accounts make sense, how financial aid works, whether borrowing is appropriate, and how different decisions could affect both parents and children.
There are several tools families may encounter, including 529 plans, Coverdell Education Savings Accounts, education savings bonds, student loans, and education-related tax benefits.
Each comes with its own rules and tradeoffs.
The important lesson isn't that every family needs to use every available strategy.
It's that families should understand their options before the acceptance letter arrives.
College Planning Is Really Family Planning
One of the biggest mistakes families can make is looking at college funding in isolation.
Parents naturally want to help their children.
But there needs to be a balance.
You can borrow money for college.
You generally cannot borrow money for retirement.
That doesn't mean parents shouldn't help pay for college. It means the decision needs to be incorporated into the family's broader financial plan.
How much can we reasonably save?
How much should our child contribute?
What schools make financial sense?
How would financial aid affect the decision?
Would student loans be manageable?
How does this affect our retirement?
Those aren't questions that need to be answered when a child is five years old.
But the earlier you begin thinking about them, the more choices you generally have.
Time creates flexibility.
Saving Is Only One Part of the Equation
The college-planning landscape can become complicated quickly.
A 529 plan, for example, may provide tax advantages when money is ultimately used for qualified education expenses. Other education accounts have different eligibility requirements, contribution rules, ownership structures, and distribution requirements.
Financial aid introduces another layer.
Different assets can receive different treatment when schools evaluate a family's finances. Student loans can also vary based on who is borrowing, whether the loan is subsidized or unsubsidized, the interest rate, and when repayment begins.
Then there are potential education tax credits and deductions.
This is why we don't think college planning should simply mean opening an account and forgetting about it.
It should be part of an ongoing conversation.
As children get older, the plan can become increasingly specific.
Preparing Them Matters Too
There's another side of college planning that has nothing to do with investment returns.
Eventually, our kids need to understand money.
If we're preparing them to leave home, we should also be preparing them to make financial decisions.
What does borrowing actually cost?
How does interest work?
What's the difference between wanting something and being able to afford it?
What does a $50,000 student loan eventually look like as a monthly payment?
What does a particular career typically pay?
What does it cost to live independently?
Those conversations aren't about frightening kids.
They're about preparing them.
The ultimate goal shouldn't simply be getting a child into college.
It should be helping that child become an independent adult capable of making thoughtful decisions.
Which brings me back to watching my daughters walk away this morning.
Preparation eventually requires letting go.
The Same Lesson Applies to Investing
Interestingly, this week's market update carries a similar lesson.
Artificial intelligence continues to dominate the investment conversation.
J.P. Morgan Global Research estimates the cumulative cost of the AI infrastructure buildout could reach approximately $5.5 trillion by 2030.
We're talking about tremendous amounts of capital flowing into data centers, semiconductors, computing capacity, electrical infrastructure, and the other systems necessary to support AI.
That's exciting.
But success can create its own risks.
Technology-related exposure now represents approximately 47% of the S&P 500. The concentration is even greater in venture capital, at approximately 57%.
Investors can own many different investments and still discover that much of their portfolio ultimately depends on the same economic theme.
That's why diversification remains important.
The Rest of the Market Hasn't Been Standing Still
If you only followed technology headlines, you might assume big growth companies were dominating everything in 2026.
The numbers tell a more interesting story.
Through August 14:
The S&P 500 was up 14.54% year to date.
The Russell 2000, representing smaller U.S. companies, was up 24.47%.
Russell 1000 Value was up 23.96%.
Russell 1000 Growth was up 6.22%.
Developed international equities were up 15.20%.
Emerging markets were up 22.96%.
That's diversification at work.
Nobody needed to correctly predict that every one of those areas would perform exactly as it has.
The point of diversification isn't knowing where the next winner will come from.
The point is accepting that we don't know.
What Did You Expect?
That brings me to another Ryan Holiday reading that caught my attention.
Page 246 of The Daily Stoic discusses how we react when unexpected things happen.
Holiday uses an investing example: if your portfolio suffers a significant loss after you've made a large bet, why are you surprised by the outcome? And why were you obsessively checking the market every day in the first place?
That's a useful question.
If you own stocks, you should expect stocks to decline sometimes.
If you own bonds, you should expect interest rates to affect their value.
If you make concentrated investments, you should expect concentration to occasionally hurt.
If you're investing for several decades, you should expect recessions, elections, wars, technological disruptions, inflation, bubbles, bear markets, and events nobody predicted.
We don't know exactly when they'll happen.
But their existence shouldn't surprise us.
Inflation Is Still With Us
This week's economic numbers also remind us why financial planning can't focus exclusively on investment returns.
Headline CPI increased 3.4% year over year, while core CPI increased 2.5%.
Inflation matters because financial planning ultimately deals with purchasing power.
A family saving for college isn't simply trying to accumulate a particular dollar amount. They're preparing for what education might actually cost when their child gets there.
The same applies to retirement.
A retiree spending $80,000 today shouldn't assume that $80,000 will purchase the same lifestyle 20 years from now.
Inflation quietly changes the math.
Energy Is Worth Watching
Energy has been another major story this year.
WTI crude oil stood at approximately $81 per barrel, compared with roughly $57 at the end of 2025.
The Energy sector was up approximately 39.9% year to date in this week's report.
Oil affects much more than the price displayed at the gas station.
Energy costs influence transportation, manufacturing, shipping, agriculture, travel, and eventually household budgets.
It's one more reason we continue watching inflation rather than assuming the problem has permanently disappeared.
Interest Rates Still Matter
Interest rates remain elevated as well.
The 2-year Treasury stood around 4.17%, the 10-year around 4.68%, and the 30-year around 5.25%.
The 30-year fixed mortgage rate was approximately 6.76%.
Higher rates create challenges and opportunities.
Borrowing becomes more expensive. Housing affordability can become more difficult. Businesses face higher financing costs.
At the same time, bonds and other fixed-income investments may provide income opportunities that weren't available when interest rates were near zero.
Again, there isn't a universal answer.
It depends on the plan.
What We're Watching This Week
Housing starts and the latest FOMC minutes are among the economic releases we're watching.
The FOMC minutes may provide additional insight into what Federal Reserve officials are thinking about inflation, economic growth, and interest rates.
Markets will undoubtedly analyze every sentence.
We'll pay attention too.
But we don't believe someone's retirement strategy—or college strategy—should depend upon correctly predicting what the Federal Reserve does at its next meeting.
There are too many variables outside our control.
Which brings me back to Stoicism.
Focus on What You Can Control
Markets will surprise us.
Interest rates will change.
Inflation will rise and fall.
Politicians will change.
Technology will disrupt industries.
College tuition will change.
Our children will grow up.
Some of those things we can influence.
Many we cannot.
What we can control is how we prepare.
We can diversify.
We can save.
We can understand our risks.
We can have conversations with our children about money.
We can build retirement plans that account for uncertainty.
We can review estate plans.
We can think about taxes before decisions have to be made.
We can make adjustments when circumstances genuinely change.
What we don't need to do is react emotionally every time something unexpected happens.
Prepare Them, Then Let Them Grow
That's ultimately what struck me most this morning.
When my daughters were little, Crystal and I couldn't simply drop them off somewhere and expect them to know what to do.
We had to teach them.
We had to answer questions.
We had to hold their hands.
We had to prepare them.
And gradually, preparation becomes independence.
Financial planning works similarly.
You do the work ahead of time precisely so that you don't have to panic when life becomes uncertain.
You build the portfolio before the volatility arrives.
You save for college before the acceptance letter arrives.
You develop the retirement income strategy before the paycheck stops.
You prepare the estate plan before your family needs it.
You discuss insurance before something happens.
And then, at some point, you have to trust the preparation.
Today, our youngest jumped out of the car without looking back.
Our oldest, once nervous about starting middle school, confidently walked toward her final year there.
I couldn't control every experience waiting for them on the other side of those doors.
That's not my job.
My job is to help prepare them to walk through those doors themselves.
Maybe that's the connection between parenting, investing, and financial planning.
Good preparation isn't about controlling what happens next. It's about being ready for whatever happens next.
And today, watching those two girls walk away, I couldn't help thinking that maybe we're getting at least some of it right.
Girls, give yourselves a pat on the back.
Mom and Dad are incredibly proud of you.
And don't grow up too fast.