10 lies the public sold you

The Sandbox Daily (6.11.2025)

Welcome, Sandbox friends.

Today’s Daily discusses:

• 10 lies the public sold you

Let’s dig in.

Blake

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Markets in review

EQUITIES: Dow 0.00% | S&P 500 -0.27% | Nasdaq 100 -0.37% | Russell 2000 -0.38%

FIXED INCOME: Barclays Agg Bond +0.34% | High Yield -0.03% | 2yr UST 3.951% | 10yr UST 4.422%

COMMODITIES: Brent Crude +4.02% to $69.56/barrel. Gold +0.81% to $3,370.2/oz.

BITCOIN: -0.67% to $108,878

US DOLLAR INDEX: -0.45% to 98.654

CBOE TOTAL PUT/CALL RATIO: 0.87

VIX: +1.83% to 17.26

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Quote of the day

“There is no disgrace in honest failure; there is disgrace in fearing to fail.”

- Henry Ford

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10 lies the public sold you

This morning, as I sipped down my obnoxiously overpriced Chai Tea latte from Starbucks ($6 in Annapolis, MD), my mind started to wander through the various trivial pursuits we “waste” our time and money on.

I got to thinking – not just about my own small indulgences, but about all the financial “rules” we blindly follow because someone once said so.

From skipping lattes to never carrying a credit card balance, there’s a lot of advice floating around that sounds smart but doesn’t always make practical sense. And while personal finance is, well, personal, some myths deserve to be challenged.

While there are obvious dos and don’ts in personal finance, at the end of the day money is a highly personal thing based on preferences, lived experiences, values, needs, and goals.

When it comes to sound advice, the world can be loud, confident, and often wrong.

Sure, there are some universal truths in personal finance, but a lot of what gets passed around as gospel just doesn’t hold up in the real world.

Let’s unpack 10 misleading money myths the world keeps selling us.

1. DIY everything. No thanks, I value my time.

2. Rent an apartment and live freely. House ownership isn’t just a money transaction or asset or a liability to service, it’s your family’s home.

3. Never use credit cards. Fear mongerers focus on high interest rates and irresponsible spending, not building credit or points.

4. Cancel your Netflix. It’s $15. Raise your income.

5. Just eat rice and beans. You saved a few bucks while living in misery. Have you ever tasted a tomahawk dripping in butter and seasoning, then wash it down with double-baked potatoes?

6. You don’t need a (nice) car. Maybe, if you live in Manhattan. Try telling that to parents driving their kids all over the place, week in and week out.

7. Get a side hustle. Driving for Uber can help lead to financial freedom, but focus on your primary hustle.

8. Real estate is passive income. No, it isn’t, Grant Cardone.

9. Active management outperforms. Keep it simple and index. As Nick Maggiulli said: just keep buying.

10. Make coffee at home. My financial advisor drinks $6 lattes, but he also kept me invested through every market correction and scary headline over 30 years, compounded my money, and helped me save $10k on my taxes last year.

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That’s all for today.

Blake

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Questions about your financial goals or future?

Connect with a Sandbox financial advisor – our team is here to support you every step of the way!

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Welcome to The Sandbox Daily, a daily curation of relevant research at the intersection of markets, economics, and lifestyle. We are committed to delivering high-quality and timely content to help investors make sense of capital markets.

Blake Millard is the Director of Investments at Sandbox Financial Partners, a Registered Investment Advisor. All opinions expressed here are solely his opinion and do not express or reflect the opinion of Sandbox Financial Partners. This Substack channel is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice. The information and opinions provided within should not be taken as specific advice on the merits of any investment decision by the reader. Investors should conduct their own due diligence regarding the prospects of any security discussed herein based on such investors’ own review of publicly available information. Clients of Sandbox Financial Partners may maintain positions in the markets, indexes, corporations, and/or securities discussed within The Sandbox Daily. Any projections, market outlooks, or estimates stated here are forward looking statements and are inherently unreliable; they are based upon certain assumptions and should not be construed to be indicative of the actual events that will occur.

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