January 6, 2025

Happy Tuesday, everyone! ☀️
Good morning — hope today starts with a clear mind and a steady pace.

Here’s a gentle reminder to kick things off: progress doesn’t usually announce itself.
It shows up quietly — in daily improvements, clearer priorities, and small decisions that don’t feel dramatic in the moment.

Today’s post is about trusting that process, even when results aren’t instant or obvious. Because the work you do consistently — especially when no one’s clapping yet — is the work that compounds the most.

Small steps today. Big wins over time.

— Ryan Rincon, Founder at The Wealth Wagon Inc.

— Eric Schmidt

Market Update: Green was the theme of the day as markets pushed higher across the board. The Nasdaq climbed 0.69%, the S&P 500 added 0.64%, and the Dow Jones gained a solid 1.23%, signaling a confident start from equities.

But the real fireworks came from Bitcoin, which surged 2.72% and continues to show breakout strength, while Gold inched up 0.26%, keeping its steady upward drumbeat.

Not everything glittered, though — Silver dipped 0.76%, and Coca-Cola slid 1.71%, cooling off after recent strength. Microsoft barely nudged into the red with a tiny 0.02% pullback, more of a pause than a problem.

On the bright side, Lucid popped 4.84%, one of today’s standout movers as electric vehicle sentiment made a brief comeback.

Overall, a broadly bullish session with crypto and EVs stealing the spotlight while defensive names lagged behind.

Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro appeared in a New York courtroom, formally pleading not guilty as U.S. prosecutors pursue charges tied to corruption and narco-terrorism. The hearing sets the stage for a politically charged legal battle with global implications.

A new poll reveals deep public division over potential U.S. involvement in Venezuela, with Americans split on whether capturing Maduro is justified or too risky. The data underscores shifting geopolitical attitudes heading into 2026.

The WSJ reports that Trump’s new foreign-policy framework—dubbed the Donroe Doctrine—is reshaping U.S. engagement with Latin America, emphasizing aggressive deterrence, rapid response, and economic leverage. Venezuela is emerging as the first major testing ground.

Analysts highlight two high-yield ETFs positioned for long-term stability—and warn against one whose fundamentals don’t justify its popularity. The focus: defensive income strategies for an uncertain 2026.

Coinbase, Arista Networks, Chevron, and Halliburton headline the day’s most volatile movers as markets react to Fed expectations, energy price shifts, and tech-sector repositioning.

A Michigan resident’s story highlights the rising affordability crisis as ACA subsidies lapse for many in 2026, raising concerns about healthcare access for middle-income Americans.

A pill-based version of Wegovy hits the U.S. market, igniting competitive pricing pressure across the weight-loss drug industry. Analysts expect major ripple effects for insurers, pharma rivals, and consumer adoption.

Nvidia and AMD will dominate the spotlight as AI hardware takes center stage at CES 2026. Investors anticipate updates on next-gen chips, performance leaps, and the expanding AI-PC ecosystem.

Famed investor Michael Burry is reportedly making a significant long-term bet tied to geopolitical instability involving Venezuela. His thesis, years in the making, is now coming into sharper focus amid escalating tensions.

This applies directly to:

Most people think taxes are something you “deal with” once a year.

In reality, taxes are a cash-flow problem that happens every paycheck — and if you don’t manage it correctly, you are giving the government an interest-free loan for months or years.

This article explains how to fix that without doing anything illegal, aggressive, or complicated.

If you:

Then your withholding or estimated payments are wrong.

A refund is not a win.
It means you overpaid.

A big tax bill is not always bad — but it is a sign of poor planning.

The goal is simple:

If you overpay taxes by:

That money could have been:

Instead, it sat with the IRS doing nothing.

Over a 10-year period, this mistake costs real money.

This is critical because each bucket has different rules.

Bucket A: W-2 Employee Only

Bucket B: W-2 + Side Income

Bucket C: Contractor / Business Owner

Bucket D: Investor with Capital Gains

If you don’t know your bucket, you’re guessing.

Here’s the part people miss:

You do not need to predict the future perfectly.

The IRS allows you to avoid penalties if you:

This is called the safe harbor rule.

That means:

Most people don’t do this and end up overpaying “just in case.”

If you’re a W-2 employee, this is where value is unlocked.

Instead of:

You can:

This does not mean you’re underpaying.

It means you’re paying correctly.

Many high earners accidentally withhold thousands too much simply because their W-4 was never updated after:

For business owners and contractors:

Estimated payments are often wrong because people:

You are allowed to:

Estimated payments are not fixed obligations.

They are estimates — and you’re allowed to revise them.

This is extremely important and rarely discussed.

If you earn income:

Then equal quarterly payments make no sense.

The IRS allows annualized income reporting, which lets you:

This improves cash flow and reduces stress.

You are optimizing correctly if:

A perfect outcome is within a few hundred dollars either way.

Anything larger means your money sat in the wrong place all year.

These mistakes are silent, recurring, and expensive.

Interest rates are higher.
Cash has value again.

Every dollar sitting unnecessarily with the IRS is a dollar not working for you.

For people building wealth, this is low-effort, high-impact optimization that compounds quietly over time.

You don’t need:

You just need to stop mismanaging timing.