FWC Financial, LLC

09/04/2026

What does it mean to network?

I asked this question of a graduating college cohort recently. One of my friends is a senior academic executive for a respected North Carolina university and asked me to provide industry insights to the seniors.

Most of them, when prompted, answered it was to find a good job.

That's a reasonable answer, considering the audience.

I asked them: "As a representative of corporate America, what problem do I have as your potential employer that you are offering to solve?"

Blank stares.

It took some prompting, but I eventually stimulated conversation within their ranks, and some lively banter.

Most of them are destined for mediocrity, not because they are mediocre, but they have set such boundaries on their potential. A billionaire mentor once told me, "you will never achieve anything greater than your highest aspirations."

One of them is a strong candidate as an intern, and if that one turns out to be the case, then I have a great deal to pay forward to a generation that will likely live to see the dawn of the next century.

That is why I network.

08/27/2026

In Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", a group of prisoners are chained to a wall, such that all their knowledge of the world is derived from shadows projected upon that wall.

Their interpretation of those shadows is always wrong.

My wife convinced me to watch all the Marvel films in its storyline order. We just finished Doctor Strange.

I watched DS in the theater when it was released about ten years ago, and enjoyed it for no other reason than I like Benedict Cumberbatch and Tilda Swinton as actors. Of course, being unfamiliar with the Marvel legenderium at that time, I missed many of the in-jokes and cross film references.

Now that I've been watching them in sequence, those connections were easily apparent.

"Story" is designed to illustrate the Truth of the human condition and experience.

The only story worth telling is the salvation of the human spirit.

Strange is a brilliant but egotistical surgeon nearly killed in a car accident that permanently destroys the fine motor skills and control of his hands necessary for his career. The physical pain he experiences from the nerve damage is but a pale shadow of his deep psychic pain.

He finds physical healing in the mystical philosophies of a Marvel generated fantasy world in Tibet practiced by sorcerers using a bizarre blend of Eastern mysticism, martial arts, and science fantasy magic.

Strange evolves from a cynical scientist to a master of the mystical arts just in time to save the world from an interdimensional demonic being seeking to enslave if not bring death to humanity.

Strange realizes the only way to stop this being is to permanently trap him in an endless time loop that Strange creates with his newfound magical powers. He binds himself in an repeating time loop with this demon who does not understand the concept of time. (Cumberbatch provided the motion capture for the demon, so it's his own image he is facing).

When threatened with eternal pain by this being for refusing to break the time loop, Strange replies: "Pain is an old friend. But humanity will be saved from you."

I damn near cried at that line.

The beginning of his salvation occurs during a deeply profound but quiet moment early in the second act, when Strange's mentor says he's been seeing the world all his life through a keyhole.

I went through a similar transformation years ago with my monastic experiences. These were deeply personal moments that would be difficult if not impossible to share in a public forum, but they defy rational explanation to those bound within the limits of cynicism.

As a scientist, I'd find that limiting psychology laughable if it wasn't so tragic and serious. Such people see the world through a keyhole of cynicism, and will *never* face away from that keyhole to see the world for what it is on its own terms.

Doctor Strange is by far one of the better films in the Marvel series, because it holds up a mirror to those who have eternally bound themselves within a prison of cynical living.

In Plato's "Allegory of the Cave", a group of prisoners are chained to a wall, such that all their knowledge of the world is derived from shadows projected upon that wall. Their interpretation of those shadows is always wrong. My wife convinced me to watch all the Marvel films in its storyline order...

08/11/2026

I'm often asked about my take on AI in this industry, and how it should be integrated into investment management.

Social media often comments that AI will take over everything routine.

I'm fond of saying that AI can see down the hallway just fine, but it can't see around the corner.

Here's what I mean by that sentiment.

We have a general expectation in our daily living heuristics of stability and predictability. Today will be much like yesterday. We get out of bed, dress, have breakfast, trek off to work, come home, play with the kids, watch TV, and call it a night.

The majority of people live within the comfort zone of such predictability, and tend to anxiety whenever uncertainty hits life.

Here's the problem with that heuristic.

Life isn't predictable, not really. Chaos happens regularly. Jobs change, loved ones die unexpectedly, natural disasters wreak havoc... we see these things as the exception, but they're really the rule.

What we call the "unexpected" will happen - it's a mathematical certainty.

If you've ever watched smoke rise in a relatively stable manner, then become a little wavy, then descend into chaos - you're witnessing a phenomenon in fluid dynamics called the Laminar-Turbulent transition.

Consider the image below of cigarette smoke rising from an ashtray. You can easily see the L-T transition point in that image.

Computers can predict with precision where the transition takes place based on the environmental conditions, such as air density, air temperature, air flow, and so forth.

AI excels at these types of computations.

At the L-T transition point, chaos mathematics takes over, because the number of variables influencing the behavior of the smoke explodes into infinity. Beyond the L-T transition point... *any* outcome is mathematically probable and equally likely based on the variables.

No amount of AI computing can account for those probabilities.

The L-T transition point is the corner around which AI will never be able to see.

Life works very much this way.

When it comes to investing, my team and I use AI as a tool to assess data within the limits of what we might call the L-T transition point in human behavior.

Because that's all economics is: a mathematical description of your behavior manifested at scale.

AI is a tool that we can use to wonderful effect.

But like any tool, it must be used within the limits of its utility.

08/10/2026

The rules of life haven’t changed much in the almost 20 years since I worked in youth ministry, when it comes to mentoring young men on how to “get ahead” in life.

Most of these were shared by mentors early in my life and career.

All ten of them have served me well, though I’ve had to learn from mistakes in not following some of them.

1. Focus on the “right” work, not “working hard”. You can work hard at the wrong activity.

2. Manage your finances. Never put yourself in a situation to be financially dependent on someone else. Stay out of debt. Invest.

3. Always dress well. It’s better to overdress than underdress for an occasion.

4. You and you alone are responsible for your successes and failures. Own and learn from them.

5. Nobody cares how you feel. Work through your feelings and move forward. Share them with a trusted confessor or counselor. Nobody else. Ever.

6. Stay physically fit and healthy. Eat well and exercise. You get one body. Take care of it.

7. Curate your friendships and influences. It is better to be alone than in bad company.

8. The right woman will magnify everything good in your life. The wrong woman will destroy you and leave you destitute, confused, and despaired. It is better to be single than in a toxic relationship. Never be in a rush for a relationship, even with a potentially good woman.

9. Do what’s right, even when nobody is watching. You will be accountable for everything you do and don’t do in your life. Even if you don’t “believe” in God, your conscience will still judge you accordingly. There is no greater joy than a clear conscience.

10. A good man is morally and physically dangerous to evil men. Be ready to demonstrate an appropriate level of violence, up to and inclusive of lethal force, to defend yourself and the defenseless. Keep it under voluntary moral control. The evil do not fear the harmless man.

05/21/2026

Well, I might’ve done dumber… 🤷‍♂️😂

05/11/2026

Happy Mother’s Day to those who gave us all life!

03/18/2026

The Dangers of AI Powered Decision Making
By Frederick W Cutter

By Frederick W. Cutter An early mentor was fond of saying, in the era before Artificial Intelligence (AI) in social media became available, that computers would eventually be capable of seeing for miles down a long hallway, but would never be able to see around the corner.

03/17/2026

In a dimly lit lab, a volunteer stares at a screen, weighing two financial offers. As she decides, a scanner records the flicker of neural activity deep within her brain. This is not science fiction—it’s neuroeconomics in action, a field that peers into the mind to understand the choices we make.

Neuroeconomics is an interdisciplinary field that combines insights from neuroscience, psychology, and economics to study how humans make decisions. Unlike traditional economics, which often assumes people act rationally to maximize utility, neuroeconomics investigates the biological and cognitive processes that influence choices—often revealing that our decisions are shaped by emotions, biases, and subconscious neural activity.

Researchers in neuroeconomics use tools such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), and behavioral experiments to observe brain activity during decision-making tasks. These studies have uncovered, for example, how the brain’s reward system responds to potential gains, how risk perception is processed, and why people sometimes make choices that defy logical predictions.

The field has practical applications in marketing, public policy, finance, and healthcare. By understanding the neural mechanisms behind choices, policymakers can design better interventions, businesses can create more effective products, and individuals can become more aware of their own decision-making patterns.

As technology advances, neuroeconomics continues to bridge the gap between economic theory and human behavior, offering a richer, more realistic picture of why we choose what we choose.

I have been infinitely blessed to network with some of the most brilliant minds in the world who help contribute to my own studies and research in this exciting field.

Hyperlink to my LinkedIn article and profile:

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/activity-7439464804270014464-pOZj?utm_source=social_share_send&utm_medium=member_desktop_web&rcm=ACoAAAVztaEB-c10zluIxEcDdEcOZ1IAQURCuhM

03/14/2026

Had no idea Anubis could bowl… 🤷‍♂️😂

02/04/2026

To reassure the public and my clients, please know that my office is free of man eating dinosaurs. No dinosaur has walked on this land for over 65 million years.

I am committed to keeping my office free from dinosaurs.

Can’t promise you won’t run into aliens. Spaceships have been seen hovering around here lately.