<h1>The Importance of Controlling What You Can in Your Investments</h1>
<p>If I could offer you one piece of advice heading into <strong>2025</strong>, it’s this: always control what you can control. I'm Tyler, a former financial advisor and portfolio manager, and I create financial content for free to help guide you on your investment journey.</p>

<h2>Understanding Investment Success Rates</h2>
<p>It may seem simple, but let’s analyze it. If you retire and are invested <strong>75%</strong> in stocks and <strong>25%</strong> in fixed income, you’d have about a <strong>96%</strong> chance of never running out of money. But what happens when you involve fees?</p>

<h2>Impact of Management Fees</h2>
<p>If you pay someone a <strong>1%</strong> fee to manage that money, your success rate drops to <strong>84%</strong>.</p>
<p>If you pay them another <strong>1%</strong> (whether you know it or not), because they’ve placed you in a bunch of fancy mutual funds, well, now you only have a <strong>65%</strong> chance of never running out of funds.</p>

<h2>Recognizing the Irony</h2>
<p>I hope we all see the irony here: if money managers are charging you a percentage of your assets under management and then suggesting you might have trouble retiring, now we know why.</p>

<p>If any of this information is helpful, please like and follow, and I'll continue sharing insights to help you get one step closer to your financial goals.</p>