Happy Friday, yβall!!! Exciting newsβ¦
Last week I rang the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange!!!!Β Woot woot! I mean, ding ding ding! 🔔
It happened last Friday, Dec 3rd. Hereβs a picture belowβ¦ Iβm the guy in the back right under the cool owl logo. (BTW — Iβm 6 foot 2, and standing on a platform! Usually Iβm the tallest guy everywhere I go, but compared to these giants I look tiny!)
Before I tell you all the details and stuff, first I gotta give a massive THANK YOU to the legends who invited me⦠Taylor and Brett Sohns from LifeGoal Investments! (These are the dudes I met at FinCon a few months back and made a small angel investment with). Also, thanks to my awesome wife for letting me fly off to the other side of the country to party on Wall St. She is the best!
OK, hereβs how it all went downβ¦
Getting Invited to Ring the NYSE Bell
Bell ringing ceremonies happen twice each trading day, when the market opens and closes. The NYSE only invites listed companies to ring the bell (and sometimes non profits), so itβs a pretty big deal to be invited.
Itβs also kind of a last minute thingβ¦ Iβm sure some of the larger ceremonies (like when a company goes IPO) are planned well in advance. But for us they only gave ~48 hours notice! It was last Wednesday when we got the invite call, so I packed my bags that night and flew to New York the next morning.
As I mentioned before, LifeGoal Investments was the company that invited me. They launched some ETFβs in September on the NYSE, and their flagship product is very unique, called the Home Down Payment Investment ETF [Ticker: HOM]. Since this ETF is the first of its kind (you can learn whatβs inside it here), the exchange wanted to host a celebration for LifeGoal and have a bell ringing ceremony.
Itβs a bit random how I got invitedβ¦ When I picture events like this, I imagine invites going out to select bigwigs, important clients, and other fancy suits. Truth be told, I was really nervous because I donβt really fit in with those crowds. I barely own formal clothes! (Donβt tell anyone 🤫 but I had to dust closet mold off of an old suit I stole from my brother 10 years ago β itβs the only respectable thing in my closet that I could wear there! Gross, I know.)
Anyway, the celebration with LifeGoal turned out to be very different than what I expectedβ¦ The founders mostly invited their close friends and family, because thatβs who they wanted to celebrate with. Hereβs another pic below, youβll see founders/brothers Taylor and Brett are standing in the very front and their proud Mum is right in the middle! Most of the others were old childhood friends from the small town they grew up in. A very fun and wholesome group! Iβm proud to call them friends 😊.
And, Brett brought his wife and babyβ¦ who has the bluest eyes Iβve ever seen!
I think NYSE allows you to invite as many people as you want to the ceremony, but only ~15 or so can fit up on the balcony when the bell rings. The rest hang down on the trading floor.
Checking in, the lobby, the ceremonyβ¦
The NYSE is located on Wall Street in the lower part of Manhattan. Outside the building thereβs a large roped off area with a red carpet leading to the main entrance. The party starts about 1 hour before the bell rings, so we got there about 3pm EST.
You might recognize a couple faces of our friends in the PF communityβ¦
On the far left is Joel from the How to Money podcast. Next is Brennan aka Budgetdog. Iβm the nerd in the checkered shirt, and on the far right is Jesse from The Best Interest.
Once you enter the lobby, thereβs a fancy check in station with custom made badges for everyone. These badges are modeled after those worn by traders to display their NYSE member numbers. Theyβre made out of metal which makes it a cool little souvenir we all get to keep :)
Everyone had funny nicknames assigned. Mine was just βThe Bloggerβ, which was nice because people then understood why I was asking all the dumb questions 😂
I wish I took photos of the lobby area! Just imagine a sleek and modern museum, with long hallways displaying historic archives and art. The NYSE opened in 1792 (and moved into its current building in 1903) so thereβs a ton of artifacts and fun history to learn about.
After the lobby, everyone was ushered into a large convention room to have some snacks and drinks. There were massive video displays on all the walls, each displaying the LifeGoal Investments logo with welcome and congratulations messages. A few representatives from NYSE were there to give speeches, present awards to Brett and Taylor Sohns, and tell us more history about the bell ceremonies.
At about 3.50pm, everyone was then taken up to the trading floorβ¦
Trading Floor, Bell Ringing and Fun Facts
The trading floor looks exactly like what youβd think it does β just like in the movies. Flashing lights, computer monitors everywhere, and people bustling about. Except there was no yelling like I hoped to see. Maybe because it was a Friday afternoon and everyone was winding down after a long day β sadly, the market went down about -1% that day 😭. Hereβs a pano pic of the trading floor.
Did you know⦠Prior to a bell, the NYSE actually used a Chinese gong to sound the opening and closing of the markets!? It was in 1903 when they switched to bells. There are actually 4 loud bells, covering each area of the trading floor. They all ring synchronously, controlled by a master switch/bell on the balcony podium.
Hereβs more cool history on the NYSE Bell.
About 2-3 minutes before 4pm, a NYSE representative took us upstairs to the bell balcony. He gave us some last-minute instructions of which buttons to press, when to hammer the gavel, and the bell timing. My job was to just clap continuously for 60 seconds, and then cheer loudly when the market closed. Hereβs a 1 min YouTube video!
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvT1VaRlh38)
After ringing the bell, people can hang and take photos on the balcony for a bit. But before leaving, right behind the balcony thereβs a hallway of stairs with white walls. Everyone stops here and has a chance to sign their name on the wall with a sharpie.
I had a quick look through the names but didnβt recognize any famous ones. Nevertheless, itβs fun to sign my name next to others who were celebrating IPOs or big company milestones.
Trip Costs and Travel
Β I am the luckiest guy in the world. Believe it or not, this entire trip cost me about $108.
Flights were booked with AMEX reward points from travel hacking with credit cards. I ate for free at the airport Centurion lounges in DFW and LGA on both travel days. (I have access to the lounges as part of my Amex Platinum card.)
My first hotel night was an annual IHG rewards night which was going to expire at the end of the year anyway. The other hotel night was comped by the LifeGoal team, and so was the dinner and lunch on Friday.
The $108 I did spend was for Uber trips, catching the subway, and a few random beers and pizza slices while we were out. Gotta have pizza while in NY!
All in all, it was a crazy 72 hours Iβll never forget.
Thank you again and CONGRATULATIONS to the LifeGoal Investments team. Never in a million years would I imagine Iβd be a part of such a rare event.
If any of yβall get an opportunity to ring the bell one day, take it! Even if it costs money and itβs last minute, itβs worth it!
Happy Friday and have a great weekend!
– Joel
Get blog posts automatically emailed to you!
Very cool! Thanks for sharing! I enjoy your blog and reading about your adventures.
Thank you :). Have a great weekend!
OMG that is so cool. So cool. Very well done.
Cheers! All credit to LifeGoal and the team who invited me. I would have never thought I’d ever get a chance to do this.
What an amazing memory you will have – Congratulations!!!!
I’m gonna be the old fart who tells the story to my grandkids over and over. haha
WOW! What an amazing story! Thanks for documenting and sharing your memorable adventure Joel. I remember meeting the LifeGoal guys Taylor at Brett at FinCon and was very impressed with them and wish them nothing but success. Also, you need to frame that badge you got!
Next time I go to NYC I’m gonna bring the badge, put on a suit, and try to sneak back in somehow to another ceremony. Worth a shot?
So epic Joel! I’m peanut butter and jealous! Thank you for sharing such an in-depth story of the behind the scenes. I enjoyed living vicariously through you on this. Very proud! I can’t believe how little notice was given to you. Must’ve been such a crazy 72 hours. Cheers!
Cheers! It was wicked! The only sucky part was traveling without my wife. But we’ll plan a nice trip to explore NY another time I hope!
Have a great weekend FLA!!
That’s freaking awesome and, for me, a new… LifeGoal.
Aaaaah I see what you did there :)
What an awesome experience, glad you got to go while also credit card hacking it to make it cost near nothing! The signature wall is a fun touch, I had no idea it existed.
Some of the building used to be open to the public, but that changed after 9/11. It’s sad that there are so many cool things to see inside, but many will never be able to. Anyway, I am so grateful I got to go!!
To βmy sweet Joelββ¦ Sooo happy for youβ¦ Your favorite kindergarten teacher Murph
Love you Murph. Thank you!