The Last One of 2025: Sinn 104, The Raise I Didn't Feel, and the Surgery I Needed

Good morning {{first_name|Reader}}.

So like none of you read my newsletter from last week. I sent it on the day after Christmas, so you were probably busy. No wukkas.

2025 is almost done. Last week of the year. Looking back at what changed.

This week: a German watch worth considering, the raise that disappeared into index funds, and why I should have gotten surgery ten years ago.

Let's close this year out.

I don't own this watch.

Everyone talks about Swiss watches. Rolex. Omega. Tudor. If you're into watches at all, you know the names. You've seen the marketing and by now, you know the game.

But Swiss isn't the only game. German watch brands don't get the hype, but some of them are just as good. Today I want to show you one: Sinn. Specifically, the Sinn 104 St Sa I at $1,560.

Sinn represents something I respect: independent, function over flash, quality without the waitlist games. They're not chasing trends or playing status games. They make practical watches for people who wear them.

This watch is for the enthusiast who knows. The value hunter. The guy who did the research and doesn't need external validation. You're not buying this to get recognized. You're buying it because you know what you're getting and you don't care if anyone else does.

The problem it solves? High-quality pilot watch with a day-date complication at a price that makes sense. No waitlists or authorized dealer games. No artificial scarcity. You save, you plan, you buy. That's it.

Let's talk about what you're actually getting for $1,560.

The movement is a Sellita SW220-1—a Swiss automatic movement that's proven and reliable. It's not an in-house movement. It's not COSC-certified. And if we're being honest, that doesn't matter to most people. This movement works, it's serviceable anywhere, and it won't cost you $800 every time it needs attention.

The case is stainless steel with a brushed finish. Sapphire crystal front and back. The bracelet is solid link with a push-button deployment clasp. Lug width is 20mm, so aftermarket straps are easy to find. The whole package feels substantial without being heavy.

Compare this to Swiss alternatives at $2,500-$3,000. What do you get with those that you don't get here? You get Swiss Made on the dial. You get slightly better finishing in some cases. You get brand recognition. What do you get with the Sinn that's comparable? The specs. The build quality. The wearability. A watch that will last decades from a company that stands behind their work.

This watch will depreciate. Let's not dance around it. Independent brands don't hold value the way Rolex or Tudor do. You'll lose 20-30% if you sell it in five years. Maybe more. And that's okay. Watches are not investments. Most are not designed to hold value. This is one of them, and that's fine.

For the price, it's a solid watch that will last decades. If you're building a collection you might pass down, there are better choices. If you want one watch to wear with everything and you value function over brand heritage, this is a legitimate option.

I'm not buying this watch. Full transparency: I'm at a point where I want brand heritage and non-depreciating value. I'm prioritizing watches that hold their worth because I'm building a collection I will pass down. That's not a criticism of Sinn. That's just my personal journey.

But if you want a solid tool watch that's different from what everyone else is wearing, this is worth considering. At this price point, you're getting German engineering, quality finishing, and a watch that will last decades. You could wear this every day and not feel like you're missing something. It's affordable enough that you won't panic when it picks up a scratch from daily wear.

Who should skip this? Logo chasers. People who need brand recognition. Anyone buying watches to impress others. If that's you (it's me sometimes, I'll admit it), this isn't your watch.

Who should consider this? Someone who wants one reliable watch to do everything. Someone who values function and quality over hype. Someone who did the research and knows what they're getting.

Great watch from a great company. Just not the watch I'm buying right now. Swiss gets the hype. German gets the work done.

This Week’s Breakdown

(premium subscribers will see our actual numbers below)

I got promoted in September 2024. About 12% overall. 2025 was my first full year at the new pay grade.

Here's the thing: our lifestyle didn't change at all.

No new car. No bigger house. No new subscriptions. We're still in a 1,500-square-foot house with five people. Still driving the Prius. Still shopping the same way we always have.

The money went exactly where it was supposed to go: savings and investments. We automate everything through Wealthfront. The raise never hit our checking account in a way that felt like more money. It just disappeared into index funds and dividend-paying stocks before we could spend it.

Our portfolio was up about 15% in 2025. We collected nearly $4,000 in dividends alone. Basically free money that someone invested for me. That's the raise compounding. That's what happens when you don't let lifestyle creep win.

Most people do the opposite. They get promoted and the first thing they do is justify a bigger house, a nicer car, a better vacation. The raise evaporates into monthly payments and they're right back where they started. More stuff. More stress. Same financial position.

The mindset of "I earn more so I can spend more" is toxic. It keeps you on the treadmill forever. You never widen the gap between what you earn and what you spend. You just increase both at the same rate and wonder why you're still stressed about money five years later.

We've spent the last ten years building habits that don't allow for that. We live far below our means. We save aggressively. Every promotion is an opportunity to widen the gap between what we earn and what we spend, not close it.

12% raise on our combined household income is real money. I'm not going to share exact numbers, but let's say it's enough to cover a car payment on a new SUV. Or a mortgage payment on a bigger house. Or several streaming subscriptions, nicer vacations, and eating out more.

Instead, that money is compounding. $4,000 in dividends this year. Next year it'll be more. The year after that, even more. That's the difference between trading your raise for monthly payments and trading it for freedom later.

No one at work asks why we still drive the Prius. But my parents' generation? They expect us to "move up." Bigger house. Nicer cars. The whole American Dream playbook.

But raising a family in 2025 is not the same as raising an only child who moved out in 2006. The costs are different. Childcare is more expensive. Healthcare is more expensive. College will be more expensive. You’re probably feeling it, too!

The only way to win is to not play the game everyone else is playing.

Instead of the raise changing our life, it changed our future.

In May 2025, I had major back surgery. ALIF surgery. Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion. Six hours under the knife. Overnight in the hospital. They went in through my abdomen, removed what was left of my L5-S1 disc, and fused my lower spine with hardware.

Watch a guy who is waaaaay smarter than I am explain it 👇

I'd been dealing with this for 15 years. Since the military. The pain got worse every year. Standing hurt. Bending over hurt. I couldn't stand for long without my back locking up.

I tried everything before surgery. Pain injections directly into my spine. Physical therapy. Medication. Rest. Nothing worked. The disc was crushed (see above image again). The nerve was pinched. The X-rays showed a space where there should have been cushion. Just bone on bone grinding away.

I had two choices: live with it for the rest of my life, or get cut open and fix it. I chose surgery.

As soon as the orthopedic surgeon mentioned it was a possibility, I was down. We got it scheduled. I'd exhausted every other option. It was time.

Recovery was supposed to be two weeks before I could go back to work. I was walking the day after surgery. I took the full two weeks anyway. Still sore with limited range of motion for months.

But here's the real gut punch: I couldn't lift. I couldn't run. I couldn't do anything physical. Walking was tolerated. That was it.

Before surgery, I was hitting bench press PRs and biking regularly. After surgery, I was barely moving. Then I had to travel overseas for work for two months. No gym. No routine. No structure.

By the time I got back and was cleared to lift again—about four months post-op—I was barely able to bench 185 lbs. I couldn't squat with any weight on the bar. Hell, could barley even squat the bar.

The first workout back was humbling. Disappointing. Frustrating. I had worked so hard to build that strength. Four months later, it was gone. All of it. The mental frustration was almost worse than the physical loss. I wasn't just losing gains. I was losing the identity I'd built around being someone who showed up and did the work.

But here's what I did get: I can squat now. Actually squat. Before surgery, I couldn't even do bodyweight squats without pain. Now I'm squatting with weight and my range of motion is better than it's been in years.

I can run without my back seizing up. I can stand and play with my kids without counting down the minutes until I have to sit. I can exist in daily life without constant, nagging pain.

I'm still weaker on bench press than I was before. My squat strength is coming back, but I'm not where I was. But I'm also doing things I couldn't do before surgery. Even when I was "stronger."

At six months post-op, I started feeling like myself again. The pain was gone. The range of motion was back. I wasn't rebuilding. I was building something better.

The surgery gave me back mobility I haven't had since my twenties. The strength will come back. The pain-free movement is something I can't put a price on.

I wish I had done this sooner. I spent 15 years telling myself it wasn't that bad. That I could manage. That there was never a "perfect time" for surgery.

But there's never a perfect time. There's only the choice to fix it or live with it.

Your future self will thank your past self for doing the hard thing. 2025 Ian suffered through surgery and recovery so 2026 Ian can hit new PRs and finally join the 1,000-pound club at 38 years old.

Here's what I learned about resilience that I didn't know before: It's okay to step back. It's okay to ask for help. It's okay to heal, even if it feels like you're going backwards.

Progress isn't always linear. Sometimes you have to lose strength to gain mobility. Sometimes you have to stop lifting to fix the thing that's been broken for years. Your body is the only one you get. No one else is going to take care of it for you.

If you've been putting off surgery, or rehab, or fixing the thing that's been bothering you for months or years—do it. Do it even if it's inconvenient. Do it even if you're scared of losing progress. Do it even if you don't know how you'll come back.

Because you will come back. And when you do, you'll be better for it.

You got this. Push through. Fix the thing. Your future self is counting on it.

The Sinn 104 is a great watch. I'm not buying it because I'm allocating that money somewhere else. I got a 12% raise. It didn't change my lifestyle. It's compounding in index funds instead. I had surgery that cost me four months of strength. I got back pain-free movement I haven't had in 15 years.

You can't do everything. You can't buy everything. You can't avoid every setback. So you choose. You choose what you're building. You choose what you're fixing. You cut everything else.

2025 is done. 2026 starts with clarity.

Watches mark time. Your choices make the most of it.

—Ian