Reducing Friction is a New Marketing Advantage

Lately, I've been have great interactions with retailers and service providers.

• First it started with Home Depot.  I ordered 7 of one product online.  They shipped 6 that day, but 1 items was incorrect, even though it was from the same company.  I thought I would need to go into the store to return the incorrect product and get the correct product.  Instead, Home Depot just shipped me the correct product and offered a gift card for the mistake.
  
  
• Next it was Kroger which did not credit my $1 digital coupon discount to the purchase.  I called the customer service number, talked with the AI agent, and the error was corrected.
  
  
• The last one was Costco and Apple.  Last week, I bought my son AirPod Pro 3s for $249 since the price was only good until 4/11/26.  On 4/12/26, the price was reduced to $199.  Costco has a 30 day price match.  I took in my receipt and received ad $53 credit, including sales tax. 
  
  On the same day, a current AirPod was damaged by water.  Since we bought it at Costco, it came with AppleCare+ for no extra cost.  I called Costco who referred me to the Apple Store.  The rep at the Apple Store asked me for a few pieces of info, like the AirPod serial (which is in on the charging case on the Apple unit it connects to) and confirmed AppleCare+ was active.  If we file a claim, they can express replace the AirPod for $31.  
  
  

Cool.   Easy peasy.   The retailers made it frictionless easy. I will continue to use these brands.

Disclosure:  I did not receive any compensation for this post from Home Depot, Kroger, Costco nor Apple.  

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Dealing with People who have Above Average Intelligence

I've noticed that almost everyone considers themselves smarter than average,  Almost everyone who posts on LinkedIn, X, Reddit, TikTok and other social media conveys being smarter than average.  In addition, most individual that I interact with act smarter than average:  

Being an engineer, I usually felt the need to correct someone when I think they are wrong. I got no where with this approach.  They didn't change there mind and I didn't change mine was the usual outcome I've learned that smarter than average people don't appreciated being disagreed with, even when they are wrong, which I guess also includes me.

I've decided to change my response when talking to above average smart people.   Now I listen and seek to understand.  I look for points of agreement and clarify points of difference.   I also am willing to end with no one changing their point of view.

In the future, I will be open to primarily listening to and understanding points of view different than mine and making no comments when discussing.  Only if there is a need for me to make a decision,  will I engage to choose one side or blend the best of both.

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

This is not financial, social interaction, nor decision making advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Creating Opportunity for Our Children's Future

"It's difficult to make predictions, especially about the future." ~Yogi Berra

With the advent of AI, I'm still think the following are good areas for our kids to learn and improve their opportunities in their future.

• Higher Education - IMHO, there are two paths to take.    Education for a degree in well paying profession such as engineer, doctor, and veterinarian.   While getting a professional degree, broaden education to develop critical thinking ability.
  
  If my kids aren't getting an educational degree in a profession, I would recommend getting a job and get a broadening education while employed.
  
  
• Skills Identification/Development -  Learn what they are good and and develop.  I like the Japanese Ikigai approach of finding a blend the following for successful job:  What you love; What you are good at; What the world needs; and What you can be paid for.  My role as a parent is the help them learn what they are good at. 
  
  A good approach to finding what kids are good at is to give them the opportunity to try a lot of options.  In my kids case, this led to a few things sticking, which is great.  I also believe that people should do something they love, but not necessarily for work.   Playing sports/a musical instrument, or a hobby is a great opportunity for loving what one does.  It also is a great anchor for future social relationships in school or work.
  
  
• Reading, Science, Art and Music Experiences Development.  This will enhance creativity and innovation copiabilities.   AI is based on knowledge that already exists.   Humans are still needed to deliver "new" through creativity and innovation.   AI may be able to assist in creativity and innovation, but won't be the main instigator.  Creativity and innovation capability will be the great differentiator in one's future employment.  
  
  
• Personal Finance Skills Development -  Personal involvement in effectively managing money is even more important than making money.   This is the quiet part of personal finance that few people talk about.  Just paying someone to invest, do taxes, plan estate transfers, etc. is not enough.  One needs to sufficiently involved and educated to make good decisions.

Doing the above will give our kids a good start for succeeding in the future.

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

This is not financial, higher education, nor child raising advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Latest BET (Bet Expected TACO) and Outcome

I won.  

I bought a few shares of META on March 26, 2026 as it fell after the recent the court ruling against META and GOOGL.  I was hoping for a quick rebound but it kept falling through March 27, 2026.  There was a minor TACO on April 1-2 which enabled all my shares to be profitable.  I sold two shares for a small  4.5-5% in 5 days and held into the fade that created some losses again..  Then on April 7, a second TACO  took META above the previous pump.  I sold a share at $590 a 5.4% gain in two weeks and waited for the fade on my last share.  Instead of fading, META pumped to $629.  I decided to sell my final share at $623 for a 7.6% gain after two weeks.

I also bought 6 shares of GOOGL for $275 on March 27, 2026 when it fell from the same court ruling. It immediately started rising.  I sold 1 share on April 1 for an 8.1% gain in 4 days.  The shares I kept are now up 15.6% with the second TACO.  I plan to continue to hold these shares for now, at least until they reach another all time high.

It's easy money right now to BET and it'll work until it doesn't.   The market advance from TACOs are becoming shorter with each succeeding occurrence.  I expect that there will be a TACO in the future with a flat market result.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Accidental DIY Repair Success

I pride myself on being able to do minor repairs and fixes.   Most of the time, I am successful.  It usually take longer than hiring someone, but it definitely is much less expensive.    Sometimes, I am unable to fix initially. The fix isn't done for a while, which upsets my spouse and I put more effort on it.  Then sometimes I luck out and get an accidental fix.  

The following two accidental fixes happened recently.

• Several years ago, one of the whole house speakers stopped working in the kitchen.  I did a lot of trouble shooting to determine the problem.  I switch the speaker lines and the other one stopped working.   I switched out the volume control with no effect.  I undid and reconnected all the speaker wires with no change.  I concluded that one the wires must have gone bad and decided to live with it.
  
  Fast forward to mid last year.    We purchased a new modern entertainment stand to replace our armoire entertainment cabinet.  I wasn't looking forward to moving the stereo equipment from the old armoire cabinet to the new entertainment stand since it involved reconnecting over 20 wires to the equipment.   After much delay, I spend a day reconnecting the wires which I had previously marked.  Some of the wires had become detached and I needed to reattach them.  One of the detached wires was for the kitchen speakers.  After reattaching the kitchen speaker wires:  Surprise both speakers worked.   I've continued playing the kitchen speakers and both continue work.   
  
  I could swear that I had checked the connection on the speaker wire several years ago.  But I guess I didn't retighten them correct.     Anyway, I'm still claiming a belated DIY success.
  
  
• A few months ago, my son showed be a brown residue around his bathroom.   I figured he was just messy and wiped it away.   However, the next week it appeared again.  This time I suspected faucet body might be defective.
  
  Since the faucet has a lifetime warranty, I decided to take it apart and submit a warranty request. Since it has been a few years since it was installed, I retrieved the installation instructions to use for the dismantling.  It was a tight space under sink and it took a while loosen it. Further dismantling was going to take a while.  Unfortunately, the next day, my son was having a friend over for a playdate.  So I reassemble everything, tightened all the nuts and turned the water back one, and wait for the residue to occur again.
  
  That was months ago and no residue returned.  Tightening all the nuts was the solution.   Another accidental successful DIY repair.

Yeah, I was lucky both times.  However, lesson learned: make sure all nuts and screws are tight first in the future.

For more on Reaping the Rewards, check back every Friday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor do-it-yourself advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Installed Our New Chandelier

Our chandelier was no longer in style.  It was a gaudy 12 candelabra brass chandelier that better fits in a old castle dining room. My spouse decided we needed to update and get new lighting for our dining room.

I'm adept at installing lighting, outlets and switches on existing wiring.   When I retired, I took an apprentice electrician course at the local vocational school.  As a result, I feel confident with most simple DIY electrical modifications or updates, which saves us the cost of hiring an electrician.

However, the wiring on the new chandelier was slightly different than I had seen in previous lighting.  Instead of using standard lamp wire, it came with pendant lamp wire, which I had not worked with before.  Standard lamp wire is easy to strip with a standard wire stripper to expose the ends after cutting to length.  Pendant wire required some special tools since the outer insulation is molded to the internal wires which are also insulated.

On the Internet, I found a score perpendicular and slice in line tool made in Germany, but it wasn't in stock anywhere.   My neighbor had a scoring tool, but I would still have to slice in line by hand with a razor knife.   Then I went to Harbor Freight and one of their reps showed me tool that strips off a small section of the pendent insulation without a perpendicular score or an in line slice.   I bought it, went home and experimented on the extra wire that was cut off.   As  result, I was able to do an expert strip of the wire to attach to the house wire.

My spouse helped me hold up the chandelier while I wired it to the house wire.   Now we have a gorgeous modern chandelier in our dining room.

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

This is not financial, decor, nor DIY advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Paying Taxes and Doing Tax Returns

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." —  Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, 1789

One of the most hated aspects of personal finance is paying taxes and doing tax returns.  Unfortunately, paying taxes and submitting tax returns is one of the certainties of life for most people. Almost no one likes doing tax returns for themselves.    That's why tax prep software and tax prep companies are popular and can charge for the service.

IMHO, almost everyone that works and all income is all on a W-2 (wages) or a 1099-B (dividend and interest) , 1099-G (refunds), or 1099-INT (interest)  can do their own tax return by hand, especially if they take a standard deduction.   These kind of returns can be done in 15 minutes by a professional and 30 minutes by an experienced individual.   A person doing a tax return for the first time might take 1-2 hours to become familiar with the forms, but only 30 minutes in the future. 

I did my daughter's first federal and state tax return in about 15 minutes in 2024.   The 2025 return took about 10 minutes since she only needed to file the state and was exempt from filing a federal return.  Part of the reason the time was reduced is she filed a W-4 to be exempt from federal withholding and therefore eliminating the need to file a federal return since there was no refund.  While she is in college, I will continue to do her returns.  After she graduates, I will assist her to do her own tax return.

For reference, I use a spreadsheet to do my own returns and my daughter's return, which does all the calculations and saves me more time.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Lower College Costs with 100% Free Tuition Credits

This billionaire is quietly giving away free college to 800,000 people through the organization Modern States Education Alliance..   The program offer free online courses to prepare students for the CLEP (College Level Examination Program) exams that give college credit.  These credits area accepted at many colleges and universities when passing the test.  See the CLEP website for a list of schools and accepted credits.  There is no cost to the passing student since the organization reimburses the $100 test fee for a passing grade.

This is a great way to get a college education at a  reduced cost by getting some credits through CLEP.  It can even be done while working a job.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I Appreciate our Bank's Fraud Protection Group

Recently, our bank seems very diligent about protecting customers from fraudulent transactions.  Here are some recent actions that give me confidence I am being protected.

• My partnership in commercial real estate property recently changed management firms.  When the distribution check was issued, my bank flagged it as a potentially fraudulent check.  The reason was my bank was unable to contact the issuer of the check to confirm legitimacy. 
  
  The scam they were protecting me from was one where the check issuer pays more than requested and requests a refund of the difference.  The recipient pays the difference with a personal check.  In the meantime, the original check bounces and the recipient loses the difference.
  
  Although it took a week to resolve and the funds were deemed no available, I appreciated that my bank was watching out for me.
  
  
• Recently, one of our brokerage accounts made a legitimate small deposit.   Our bank flagged it as a potential scam to link our account to a scammers bank account.   The deposit was legitimate and there was no issue.

Although there was no issue with either transaction, I appreciate our bank erring on the side of caution to protect our deposited funds.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Arthritis and Me

Arthritis typically hasn't bothered me much in the past.   I have ankle injuries from playing football and the resulting arthritis has been present for 20+ years, but hasn't hampered me from any activities.  A few years ago, my right knee starting bothering me and it turned out to be arthritis due to a torn meniscus when from playing rugby.   Both the ankle and knee have been treated by a orthopedic specialist.

About a few months ago, the joint pain starting to bother my hands more.  I don't know whether it is because of arthritis or medication I am taking for my heart.   I talked to my primary care doctor about  my hands and he said the main treatment was to relieve the pain with acetaminophen if needed.   Not much else can be done.

We'll see how that works.   

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC