Cash Strapped Millionaires

Here's one reason that millionaires with $1-2 million in net worth don't feel wealthy: they don't have much free cash.   

Most of their net worth is not liquid nor easily accessible.  On average 39% of their net worth is their home, as a result of significant appreciation since 2020 and 33% is in retirement accounts.  Only 17% is in liquid assets, which would be stocks, bonds and cash.  

Combine the above asset distribution debt servicing such as student loans, home mortgage, and car payments.   And don't forget daycare costs. Thus, most of their paycheck is already committed necessary expenses or debt service.  

A million isn't what is used to be 50 years ago.

For more on  Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Taxes on Social Security Payments Should Be Eliminated

Contributions to Social Security were taxed before being withheld.  Until 1984, Social Security payments were not taxed.  In 1984, 8% of Social Security recipients paid federal income tax on the payments.   The thresholds for Social Security being taxed were set in 1984 and have not been adjusted for inflation. Today, 56% of recipients pay federal income tax on Social Security payments.

Two bills that have been reintroduced to eliminate taxes of Social Security: Senior Citizens Tax Elimination Act (H.R. 1040) and You Earned It, You Keep It Act.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday 

This is not financial, legislative, social security, tax nor retirement advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Benefits of Doing My Own Tax Return

My dad always did his own tax return.  My father-in-law always did his own tax return.  They both did their returns by hand and mailed them in.    Like father like son.  I also do my own  Federal and State tax returns, without tax preparation software.   However, I do use Excel spreadsheets for entering and doing calculations for each form.  Then I fill out each form and mail in my return.

The only time I didn't do my own tax return was during an international assignment in Asia, which resulted in a very complex tax return that the company did for us.

Here's why I like doing my own tax returns:

• I learn how different types of income (wages, social security, dividends, capital gains, rental, IRA distributions) are treated taxwise and how they can affect my tax liability.
• I can adjust certain types of income (capital gains, IRA distributions) to minimize tax liability.
• I can adjust certain types of deductions (charitable contributions, capital gains losses) to minimize tax liability.
• With the adjustments to income and deductions, I can stay below Medicare IRMAA premium increases and stay in a lower 12% (instead of 22%)  tax bracket.  In addition, staying $251 below the 12% tax bracket limit,  dividends and long term capital gains are taxed at 0% for 2025 tax returns.
• With spreadsheets, I can easily change one or more inputs and immediately see the affect on my tax return. I can't do this as easily on tax preparation software.

Doing it by hand on Excel does require more preparation effort, including reviewing the forms and instructions each year..  I also need to update the Excel spreadsheet every year, but usually there are not major changes for the forms that I use.  Best of all, I can do a real time estimate of our tax liability during the year and make adjustments to income and deductions before the end of the year.

For more on Crossing Generations, check back every  Thursday Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor tax advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Wawa Gas is a Great Price

I'm a fan of buying gas at low prices.  My dad used to save a penny when gas was $0.28 per gallon.  While that isn't much, it was about  3.5% savings.   

I used to shop for the lowest gas price since there an numerous gas retailers in the area and have decided to buy from two, despite many options from major companies.  First, it was Costco gas, which requires membership, but we have one. Then it was Kroger gas with up to $1 off based on fuel points earned from shopping, and we regularly shop at Kroger.   Both of these gas providers are convenient since they are within a 2.5 miles from our house and on the way to many destinations.

Recently, there has been a new entrant in our area, Wawa.  I've noticed they regularly sell gas comparable to Costco, but no lines and are comparable to Kroger with discounts of $0.40 to $0.60 per gallon when using fuel points.  In addition, Wawa offers no ethanol gas which my spouse prefers.  Recently, Wawa regular gas with ethanol was $2.43/gallon.  Kroger was $2.90/gallon and Costco was $2.30/gallon in today's price check.   

Wawa is becoming my go to gas retailer when away from home for the following a few reasons:  multiple convenient locations, no gimmicks to lower the price, and no ethanol gasoline, which no other local retailer offers.

Disclosure:  I received no compensation for this post.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, check back every Wednesday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor gasoline advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Maximize Charitable Contribution Now If You Itemize Deduction

For 2026, the first 5% of AGI of charitable contribution will be excluded from itemized deduction.  For example, if one's AGI is $100,000, the first $500 of charitable deductions will be excluded.

If possible, make charitable deductions planned from 2026-2028 in 2025.   One option is to create donor advised fund to cover 2026-2028 charitable contributions and take the itemized deduction in 2025.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every  Tuesday  for a new segment.

This is not financial nor tax advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Put 2025 College 529 Contributions in S&P 500

I've made our 529 contributions for 2025 on Friday, November 28, 2025.   After much thought, I decided to put the funds in a S&P 500 fund, despite being concerned about market volatility.  My plan is to hold for December and decide what to do year end.   

As of this morning, it appears that I may have made an investment timing mistake.  Instead of investing the contribution maximum, perhaps I should have scaled in 25% each week in December.   Ah, hindsight is 20/20.   We'll see how the rest of December goes.   

Then again, this is a long term investment since some of these funds won't be needed for 6-9 years.

For more on Strategies and Plans, check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor college saving advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Be One's Own CFO for Personal Finances

Here's a simple strategy of managing personal finances:  50/30/20 rule.   50% for necessities such as housing, utilities, groceries.   30% for wants such as entertainment, eating out and vacation.   20% for savings and investing.   One starts with after tax income and divide up take home pay by these percentages.

The numbers are simple.  The hard part is having the discipline to achieve the numbers and making good choices when the numbers are not initially achievable.

Here my personal priority order:

1. Necessities - housing, utilities, groceries,  necessary debt payments (student loan, car) 
2. Savings/Investments - savings accounts, equities, bonds/CDs
3. Wants - entertainment, eating out, vacations, large purchases

Specifically, I put savings ahead of wants if there are not sufficient funds.

Below are the estimated take home after tax pay, but before state income taxes since that can vary significantly.

	50/20/30 Split
Yearly Income/Monthly After Tax	Necessities	Savings/Investments	Wants
$40,000/$2,848 after tax per month	$1,424	$570	$854
$60,000/$4,187 after tax per month	$2,094	$837	$1,256
$100,000/$6,561 after tax per month	$3,281	$1,312	$1,968

It is rare that people are able to meet the 50/20/30 split rule.  Here are some challenges that people have.   First, necessities often exceed 50% and they neglect to make corrects to reduce spending or increase income.  Another challenge is many people make is prioritizing "wants" over "savings/investments."

Being a CFO means making the corrections needed to get back on track to being successful.

For more on Strategies and Plans , check back every Monday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Completing Tax Loss Harvesting for 2025

Tomorrow, Monday, December 1, 2025 is the first day I can buy back stocks that I sold for a loss on October 29, 2025 or sell for a loss that I bought on October 29, 2025 to avoid a wash sale.   In all but one case, I will own the stock at a lower cost than when I sold or purchased. 

By doing this, I take a capital gain loss for 2025 and lower my cost basis when I own the stocks again.  I started doing tax loss harvesting with my municipal bond mutual fund back in August 2025.  Completing this final round of tax loss harvesting with reduce my overall 2025 capital gains to about $0, resulting in no tax for gains take in early 2025.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every  Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor tax advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

LinkedIn and Reddit are 99+% Enterntainment

I read LinkedIn, and Reddit daily primarily for entertainment value and very, very little educational value.  I occasionally see a TikTok video on Reddit, but otherwise don't visit the site.  I don't read and avoid X, Facebook or Instagram.

Here's why I read these sites primarily for entertainment value:

• LinkedIn - Here's my breakout of posters on LinkedIn.  About 50% are C Level Executives in their company.  About 70% are promoting their company.  About 99% believe they are smarter than me.  My POV is simple.  Why do C Level Executive bother to post on LinkedIn?  Don't they have more important things to do, like run their company?   Promoting your company, business or product?   Well, I'm not impressed.   Smarter than me?  I estimate about 1-5% are smarter than me.   The other 95-99%, I think are overestimating their brilliance.  Or maybe I'm overestimating mine.🤡
• Reddit - I started reading Reddit due to Wallstreetbets subreddit.  Posters win big and post.  Posters lose big and post.   There is balance and entertainment.  People don't always win. There is also a lot of humility and self deprecating humor shown by posters.   Reddit has started showing me the most popular posts from other subreddits such as Am I Over Reacting.  My conclusion is there are a lot of strange people in society doing very strange things, worthy of a sitcom, but is reality.

On rare occasions, I get some perspective or insights that are very useful.  Sometimes, it's confirmation bias, and other times it is new information.   This is one reason I keep reading LinkedIn and Reddit, for that random truly informative knowledge that can be of great use in the future.  Otherwise, I just enjoy the entertainment.

For more on New Beginnings, check back every Sunday for a new segment.

This is not financial advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

When the Dip Keeps Undipping

During the recent bull market, a great strategy has been to buy every dip.   Almost every time, the market or individual stock have recovered quickly.  Buying the dip last Thursday, November 20, 2025 was another great opportunity.  This happened last Friday, November 21, 2025 when the market rebounded from the previous day's decline.  

Lately, the market keeps undipping.  Buying the dip has been a great strategy.

It works until it doesn't. 

As I posted in Stock Market Volatility is Back, I've prepared our portfolio for this stage of the bull or bear market.  I plan to stay calm, avoid any panic selling and not buy the small dips.  

 For more on Reflections and Musings, check back every Saturday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC