What The Wealthy Do

Private markets are where more and more wealth is being created, and most people never get a seat at the table. In this episode, Stephanie Dorsey continues the Margins Capital Fund 1 series by walking through the second investment: Form Energy, a renewable energy company building long-duration battery storage that can discharge energy for 100 hours. You’ll see exactly how the due diligence framewo...

Our first investment in Margins Capital Fund 1 went to zero. This is the investment story nobody talks about. The losses. The lessons. The resilience needed to keep going. In this episode, Stephanie Dorsey walks through Margins Capital's first real investment: Fizz (later rebranded to Mine), a fintech startup solving credit building for Gen Z. You'll see exactly how the due diligence frame...

Private markets are gatekept. Only the ultra-wealthy have access. Only those with connections get in. That's what everyone said. So Stephanie Dorsey decided to blow the gates wide open. In this episode, Stephanie shares the origin story of Margins Capital and how she went from being excluded from private market investing to creating a fund that democratizes access for high-earning women and pe...

The stock market is being propped up by powerful players, government intervention, and artificial conditions. Ken Griffith manipulating markets. Donald Trump tweeting price movements. The government buying bonds to stabilize the system. So how do you invest when you know the game is rigged? In this episode, Stephanie Dorsey breaks down what's actually happening in the market and shares the ali...

Social media is flooded with financial influencers telling you to do more, invest more, take bigger risks. But what happens when you follow advice that doesn't align with who you are? In this episode, Stephanie Dorsey breaks down the alignment framework that separates smart investors from those who end up overwhelmed, anxious, and making investments they regret. You'll learn the three pill...

After a summer of travel and conversations, Stephanie Dorsey unpacks the biggest misconceptions about wealth that are holding you back from building lasting financial freedom. Did you know most folks get wealth completely wrong? In this episode, Stephanie reveals the 3 wealth myths that are costing you money and the 3 truths that will change how you think about building wealth forever. Learn why h...

After taking a well-deserved summer break, it's time to lock in. But locking in isn't about hustle culture or external validation. It's about becoming your idealized version of yourself and living in true alignment. In this episode, Stephanie Dorsey breaks down the five-step framework to lock in and build lasting wealth habits: Know your idealized self (psychographically, not just demographically)...

The wealthy don't ask "How much is in my 401k?" They ask "Do I have multiple income streams across multiple tax structures and asset classes?" In this episode, Stephanie Dorsey breaks down the three pillars of an optimized retirement portfolio: tax diversification, asset diversification, and income stream diversification. Learn age-by-age strategies for building a retiremen...

Stephanie Dorsey reveals the exact framework sophisticated investors use to evaluate stock opportunities. Before you look at numbers, ask yourself two critical questions: Does this company's strategy make sense? Can they win? This episode covers: The two buckets of stock analysis (qualitative before quantitative) Red flags that signal vulnerable companies How to find public information and ana...

Summer Series: The Future of Wealth Is in Private Markets (And Women Are Leading It) The future of generational wealth isn't in the stock market. It's in private markets. And Black women are positioning themselves to lead this trillion-dollar space. Stephanie sits down with Erin Harkless-Moore to talk about where real wealth is being built, how women are gaining access to capital and inves...

Summer Series: The Rooms We're Rarely Invited To: A Black Woman in Private Equity (Part 2)  In Part 1, we went inside the rooms. Now in Part 2, Yashnika goes deeper—revealing who qualifies to invest in alternatives and why your emotional relationship with money matters more than your net worth.  You might already qualify. But there's more to it than just the numbers.  She digs into money t...

She went from criminal law to breaking into private equity at Apollo Global Management. And her story reveals everything about wealth, access, and where the real money moves.  In this conversation, Stephanie sits down with a young Black woman building wealth in spaces most of us don't even know exist. She walked away from law school, landed in real estate private equity, and has since built a...

Summer Series: Are You Living Like a Consumer or an Investor?   Most of us want the lifestyle of a consumer. But here's the paradox: to actually have that lifestyle, you need to think like an investor.  In this episode, Stephanie reveals how wealthy people make every financial decision—and why it's the complete opposite of what most people do.  She breaks down the real difference between s...

Summer Series: Your Mindset Is Everything: The 3 Money Beliefs That Build Wealth  You can have all the strategies in the world. You can know the wealthy framework inside and out. But if your mindset isn't aligned, nothing will change.  In this episode, Stephanie breaks down the exact mindset framework that separates wealthy people from everyone else. She calls it "The 3 Money Beliefs,&quo...

The wealthy don't have a secret. They have a FRAMEWORK.  And in this episode, Stephanie breaks down Margins Capital's proprietary "Wealthy Framework"—7 concrete, actionable strategies that ultra-wealthy people use to build and protect their money. Whether you're just starting or already on your way, this is the roadmap.  📊 THE 7 WEALTHY STRATEGIES: • Capital Allocation Plan (not budgeting—know wh...

Black Women Don't Know They Have Black women control $2.1 trillion in buying power—and that number has GROWN from $1.6 trillion just a few years ago. That's bigger than Spain's entire GDP. But we're still underpaid, under-resourced, and left out of wealth-building conversations. In this episode, Stephanie Dorsey gets REAL about Black women and money. She breaks down the statistics nobody talks abo...

If you have changed jobs in the past 10 years and never rolled over your 401k, you have money sitting somewhere right now with high fees, limited investment options, and zero attention. That money could be working for you. Today we are fixing that. This is Episode 21 of What the Wealthy Do, part of the Step by Step Series. Today Stephanie Dorsey walks through exactly what to do with your old 401k...

Peter Thiel used a Roth account to turn a small investment in PayPal stock into $5 billion the IRS cannot touch. That is not a loophole. That is a strategy. And today Stephanie Dorsey breaks down exactly how Roth conversions work and how to use them to pay less tax over your lifetime. This is Episode 20 of What the Wealthy Do, part of the How Does This Actually Work series. Every dollar in your tr...

If you earn too much to contribute directly to a Roth IRA, the wealthy found a completely legal way around that. It is called the backdoor Roth IRA. And today Stephanie Dorsey walks you through every single step. This is Episode 19 of What the Wealthy Do, part of the How Does This Actually Work series breaking down the exact mechanics of wealth building strategies so you can actually execute them....

You have probably heard that you should open an HSA. But has anyone actually walked you through what to do after you open it? That is what today is about. This is Episode 18 of What the Wealthy Do and the first episode of the Logistics Series, breaking down the exact mechanics of how these wealth building strategies actually work in real life. The health savings account is the only account with a...

This is the episode where everything comes together. This is Episode 17 of What the Wealthy Do, Part 3 and the finale of the Bonds Series. In Part 1 we covered what bonds are and why smart money never ignores them. In Part 2 we broke down how interest rates and the yield curve affect bond prices. Today Stephanie Dorsey builds the actual strategy. How much should you allocate to bonds? The old scho...

Bonds do not exist in a vacuum. They respond to what is happening in the economy, what the Federal Reserve is doing, and what risks are present in the market. And if you understand those relationships, you can predict how bonds will perform, how stocks will perform, and how to protect your portfolio when things get volatile. This is Episode 16 of What the Wealthy Do, Part 2 of the Bonds Series. La...

Nobody is making TikToks about bonds. Nobody is talking about treasuries going to the moon. But the bond market is two to three times bigger than the stock market. It is the foundation of the global financial system. And if you do not understand bonds, you really do not understand how money works. This is Episode 15 of What the Wealthy Do and the first episode of the Bonds Series. Today Stephanie...

Last week was the problem. This week is the solution. This is Episode 14 of What the Wealthy Do, Part 2 of the Retirement Strategy Series. In Part 1 we covered why relying solely on your 401k is risky, how the retirement tax trap works, and what required minimum distributions will do to your money at 73 if you have not planned for them. Today Stephanie Dorsey builds the actual blueprint. The frame...

Most of us think we know what retirement is going to look like. But here is the truth that nobody really says out loud. For most people, a 401k alone will not be enough to fund the retirement they actually envision for themselves. This is Episode 13 of What the Wealthy Do, Part 1 of a two-part series on retirement strategy. If you are between 38 and 55, this episode is for you. Stephanie Dorsey, C...