Sustainable wealth isn’t built overnight. It grows through hard work, discipline, and long-term thinking. Earning money is only the first step. Maintaining and growing that wealth means harnessing the power of compounding, investing consistently, and making smart, intentional decisions.
That includes choosing assets that preserve and grow real purchasing power — because inflation quietly eats away at wealth. It also means managing taxes wisely, because how much you keep matters just as much as how much you earn.
That’s where this blog comes in: to help you understand the numbers, build a sound plan, and take control of your financial future — especially if you’re just starting out. The earlier you begin, the more powerful the results can be.
I’m Kevin. I’m a PhD engineer, a data guy, and a lifelong student of financial behavior.
I started A Man of the Numbers to teach people how to use disciplined investing, historical perspective, and smart tax-aware planning to achieve one of the most powerful goals out there: financial independence.
This blog isn’t about hype. It’s about understanding what really builds wealth — and how ordinary people can use proven strategies to gain control over their financial future. My goal is to demystify investing and show you how the numbers work, so you can make decisions with confidence.
Why I Started This Blog
I’ve always liked math. Even as a kid, the world made more sense to me when it was made of numbers. I was drawn to patterns, logic, and solving problems that had clear answers. That mindset stuck with me — and over time, I found myself applying it naturally to finance.
But I didn’t start this blog just because I enjoy running numbers.
I started it because I want to make people’s lives better.
I’ve seen firsthand and experienced the real benefits that come from financial discipline and sound principles. They bring clarity where there’s confusion, freedom where there’s fear, and long-term peace of mind in a world full of short-term noise.
I’ve also been privileged to have a father who taught me the importance of saving, planning, and investing from a young age. Those early lessons gave me a foundation I could build on — and over the years, I’ve been able to grow and accumulate wealth not through luck or gimmicks, but through consistent habits, patience, and a long-term mindset.
I launched my career in 2001, right as the dot-com bubble burst. A few months later came 9/11. The years that followed were brutal for investors — flat or even negative real returns for nearly a decade.
Even my older colleagues — people who had been saving for years — used to joke that putting money in their 401(k) felt like tossing water onto a hot frying pan. It just sizzled and evaporated. No growth, no payoff. I knew the markets were on sale and that buying low was the right move — but it was still discouraging.
I never questioned how wealth really grows — I trusted the math. But living through those years taught me that discipline isn’t just about making good decisions — it’s about sticking with them when there’s no visible reward. I spent nearly the first decade of my career seeing almost no growth from investing — the only real progress came from saving aggressively and staying consistent. That wasn’t easy, but it was foundational.
That experience deepened years later when I helped my dad review his finances. He had retired in the late ’80s with a fixed pension that sounded secure at the time. But by 2022, inflation had quietly eaten away more than half its value. What looked like safety turned out to be slow erosion. It drove home the importance of planning — and staying informed.
That’s why I write especially for younger professionals and early-career earners. The habits you build early have a bigger impact than any investment pick. You don’t need perfect timing — you need a solid plan, discipline, and time on your side.
Money is a tool. It’s meant to serve us — not control us. We work hard to earn it, and then it should work just as hard for us. When managed with purpose and perspective, it creates options, opportunities, and ultimately freedom. That’s what A Man of the Numbers is here to help with.
What You’ll Find Here
This isn’t a hype-driven investment site. It’s a clear, honest look at the numbers behind personal finance — especially retirement and long-term growth.
Here, you’ll find:
- Historical analysis of stock and bond performance
- Side-by-side comparisons of strategies like 60/40 vs. 100% equity
- Deep dives into withdrawal strategies and what really happens in bad decades
- Tax-aware investing strategies to help you keep more of what you earn
- Simple, disciplined principles that work over time
If you want data over drama, and clarity over clickbait, this blog is for you.
Who I Write This For
Whether you’re:
- Just starting your career and want to build wealth the right way from day one
- Planning your retirement and unsure if your strategy is enough
- Feeling uneasy about inflation, taxes, or when to make a Roth conversion
- Or simply trying to cut through financial noise and make smart, disciplined choices
You’re in the right place. This blog was built for you.
A Little More About Me
I live in Texas with my wife and three kids. I have a PhD in engineering, and I’ve spent my career analyzing complex systems and solving practical problems. I still think in spreadsheets. But my real passion is helping people make sense of the financial world — not with guesses, but with grounded analysis and lessons learned over decades.
