Menu #57: How we invest as a married couple

TOP FIVE 🖐️ 

Local links we’re enjoying

• ‘Renters are in a strong position’: Houston rental listings reach record high – Active single-family rental listings topped 10,000 in August; leases rose 3.1% YoY, with average rent steady at $2,412. In related news, August home sales are up 11.9% YoY; inventory up 30.4% YoY; median price essentially flat at $335,000.

• HBJ honors Houston’s Fastest-Growing Companies – A wide range of local firms made the 2025 list for standout revenue and headcount growth across Greater Houston.

• GHP cuts 2025 job-growth forecast in half, but says Houston economy still strong – The new outlook expects slower hiring, yet Houston is outperforming most major U.S. metros.

• Investor purchases dip in Greater Houston – Institutional buyers accounted for 7.9% of Q1 home sales (down from 8.7% a year earlier); investors bought 1,989 houses across the region in 2024.

• Apartment boom fuels soaring demand for self-storage – Since 1985, Houston added 240,659 apartments and 27.6M sq. ft. of self-storage; new units are 44 sq. ft. smaller on average than pre-2015 builds.

DEEP DISH 🍕

How We Invest our Money Together

In our last newsletter, I shared how Ahrif and I took the leap and fully joined our finances after getting married. We opened a joint brokerage account and made the decision to invest together. This week, I want to show you what that actually looks like in practice.

Because of how often we get paid, we decided to invest every two weeks. Like clockwork, a portion of our household income is automatically transferred from our checking account into our brokerage account. From there, we invest directly in the market. That rhythm, steady and automated, has become the backbone of our strategy. We are not trying to outsmart or time the market. We just show up every two weeks and stay the course.

Before we ever bought a single share together, we sat down to align on why we were doing this in the first place. We already invest in other financial instruments, including our retirement accounts, but we wanted this brokerage account to give us more flexibility and control over how we build wealth.

Here is what we discussed:

• Our goal: We want to build long-term wealth for our family. We are not looking for quick wins. We are investing with intention and planning for growth over time.

• Our investment time frame: We view this account as a long-term vehicle. Our mindset is to hold investments for 7 to 10 years, or even longer. Some of the strongest returns come from simply being patient and staying invested in quality companies. Wealth is rarely built quickly. It comes from showing up consistently.

• Flexibility: Retirement accounts are incredibly valuable, and we contribute to them regularly. But they have limits. You typically cannot access funds until you are nearly 60, and your investment choices are often restricted. We wanted the freedom to invest in the companies and sectors we believe in, and to access funds if we ever needed to.

Once we had our plan, we spent time researching companies, reviewing financial performance, and narrowing in on a set of investments we felt confident about holding over the long term. We were not chasing headlines. We were looking for companies with strong financial performance and staying power.

Here is our current allocation:

• 30% in an index fund that tracks the S&P 500

• 15% in each of two ETFs focused on sectors we believe have strong long-term potential

• 10% in each of four individual companies we admire and have conviction in

At the end of each year, we revisit our portfolio to review performance and decide whether to make any changes. Most of the time, we leave it alone. The market rewards consistency, and that is what we are focused on.

That said, when we see compelling opportunities, we are not afraid to lean in. During the uncertainty caused by the tariff announcements in April 2025, we chose to invest additional funds. We stayed grounded in our long-term approach, but we also recognized that volatility can create value.

This is the system that works for us: automated, intentional, and built around the belief that showing up consistently matters more than timing things perfectly.

So that is how we do it. A little structure, a lot of consistency, and a shared belief in the power of long-term investing.

MONEY MENU JOB OPPS
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