Financial advisor's new book explores the American Dream

A financial advisor who built a multibillion-dollar registered investment advisory firm shared his vision of how to achieve the American Dream.

"Experiencing the American Dream: How to Invest Your Time, Energy and Money to Create an Extraordinary Life" author Mark Matson of Mason, Ohio-based Matson Money rejects the idea that the American Dream is tied only to wealth, he writes in the book, which Wiley published last month. With a stark warning that, in the words of one chapter title, "The Investing Industry is Broken," and a foreword by actor Rob Lowe, the book seeks to explain people's relationship to money and how they can identify and live out their dreams.

"I wrote this book to help save people from speculating and gambling with their money and make academic investing principles accessible to everyday investors," Matson said in an email. "The principles in this book are for everyone. The American Dream is for everyone. I believe the American Dream is a mindset and not about money or a number in your bank account. Instead, it's about finding a purpose for your life that is greater than money. This book can help educate investors on how to build and protect their wealth so they can fulfill their purpose."

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The book followed other recent additions to the wealth management canon, such as a professor's compilation of stories that could make people smarter investors, a historical case for passive asset management and the career memoir of a trailblazing Merrill executive. 

While advisors who are thinking of writing their own tomes should not "expect the book to be economic from a production standpoint," Segment Wealth Management founder Gil Baumgarten, the author of a 2021 book, "Foolish: How Investors Get Worked Up and Worked Over by the System," has clients "who I met specifically because I had written the book," Baumgarten noted in an interview.

"It's a mixed bag, but it has opened some doors for me," he said. "It shows that I have a different way of doing things."

Matson's book begins with a brief essay by Lowe. A mutual connection introduced Lowe to Matson, whose firm has $10.8 billion in assets under management with over 30,000 clients and 500 advisors. As "one of the most hard-working people I know," Lowe agreed to write the foreword to Matson's book when the advisor convened 20 "of the most influential people in my life to brainstorm how we could best bring this message to the world," Matson said. In the opening chapter, Lowe discusses his own ups and downs with money.

"We all have a complicated relationship with money," Lowe writes. "We love it. We hate it. We want it. We're scared of it. We're scared of not having it. We're confused by it. Some are 'ambivalent' about all things financial, which as you will see, can be the most dangerous mindset of all! Mark has spent a lifetime exploring all these matters. And in the end, it boils down to this: How do you make money, and for what purpose? These are simple questions with complicated answers that are found on a journey that is surprising, entertaining, educational and sometimes emotional."

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For Matson, his connection with money goes back to his parents' decision to move to a suburb of Cincinnati from West Virginia. His father "was the person who introduced me to the idea of the American Dream," a financial professional who "believed in creating a better life for himself and his family," Matson said. The book makes a distinction between that and wealth alone.

"Many people view the American Dream as a purely financial endeavor," Matson writes in the book. "Sadly, some believe the American Dream as a form of unbridled materialism based on greed. While it does have a financial and investing component, the American Dream is not about money or wealth. Money is fuel for the dream, but not the dream itself. The American Dream is not something you own, capture, or get — it's a way of being. It's a form of expression. More specifically, it's a mindset or screen through which you see and comprehend the world. And when viewing the world through the American Dream screen you will experience a new sense of empowerment. It will transform your idea of what is possible in your life regardless of the external circumstances of the world."

Unfortunately for many Americans who are clients in an industry that is rife with conflicts of interest, those dreams may be pushed further out of reach through investment decisions that help boost Wall Street's profits at their expense, according to Matson. He came to that realization earlier in his career, when he was working for a brokerage firm.

"It was all about selling products to make money," Matson writes. "Sell 'em, churn 'em, burn 'em, and get 'em to buy new stuff. The model was driven almost entirely by commissions, and everyone in the industry was hooked. It didn't matter if it was annuities, mutual funds or real estate; if it paid a commission, we sold it. So much of what I had bought into and believed since I was a young kid was starting to fall apart. I wasn't an entrepreneur. I was just a salesperson with a high-paying job. Nothing against salespeople, but I wasn't creating a business, and I certainly wasn't helping people. That's what I had wanted to do from the very beginning, so something had to change."

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Matson opened his RIA in 1991, and it reached its current size after starting at zero in AUM. Advisors who unlock the ability for clients to achieve their goals are playing a crucial role in guiding them away from the conflicted advice and the constant noise, he said. Luminaries such as Dimensional Fund Advisors co-founder Rex Sinquefield, Nobel Prize-winning economist Eugene Fama and Modern Portfolio Theory creator Harry Markowitz have already solved many of the financial puzzles involved with achieving the American Dream, according to Matson. The noise may distract many investors from tapping into the opportunities available to everyone.

"Fear and greed sell," Matson said. "With 24/7 news outlets selling panic or FOMO and gamified or DIY investing platforms at the fingertips of investors, it is increasingly difficult for financial advisors to keep pace. It takes courage and fortitude to stay disciplined over a lifetime, even when there is empirically tested research to back it up. Our emotions get in the way and stock picking, market timing and track record investing seem like quick fixes to our temporary problems in our portfolios. If more financial advisors understood the academic principles — and took the time to educate their investors — people would be wiser to follow the science."