Predictable Inflation Adjusted Payments - The Gold Retirement Standard

It would be great if retirees received a predictable inflation adjusted monthly payment that covered all one's expected and discretionary expenses.

• Predictable
• Inflation Adjusted
• Expenses

Unfortunately, there isn't an option that meets all the criteria.

• Predictable - The options usually are fixed or the inflation adjustment doesn't deliver enough.   Annuities or long term bonds have predictable fixed payments, which meets one criteria.  However, they don't increase with inflation, nor do they necessary cover increasing expenses with aging.
  
• Inflation adjusted -  Social Security payments are "inflation adjusted," but do not necessarily cover the items that retired people need.  TIPS bonds are inflation adjusted and theoretically, so are equities, but neither are guaranteed.
• Expenses - The reality is living expenses will grow and new health and aging care expenses will be grow more than expected as on gets older.  

Here's my attempt at mimicking a gold standard of payment:

• Predictable -  Buying 20 year Treasuries yielding 5%.  I've stopped for now but will buy more if yields rise to 6-7%.   
• Inflation adjusted - Social security, rental property, TIPS bonds, and equities.   Social security, rents and TIPS are broadly inflation adjusted, but don't necessarily match cost increases experienced by and individual.   Equities have downside risks but do rise in the long term and provide an inflation cushion.
• Expenses - We purchased long term care insurance when  I was in my 20s and later for my spouse in her 30s when we got married, when premiums were much less expensive.  We also have retiree health care insurance from my company and Medicare (me) which has more coverage and is less expensive than the ACA health insurance.  Finally, we have saved for our children in college 529 plans from the time we adopted them.  We expect to 100% cover their college expenses for both our 21 year old and 14 year old.

But as Yogi Berra once said, "It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future." We have covered what we can control as best we can, and will have to adjust for elements we don't control such as inflation, the economy, stock market volatility and health.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Pushed Articles in My Browsers - Alien Life and Time Travel

I would expect to be pushed lots of articles about personal finance, and I am by both Edge and Chrome browsers. For reference, I do get a lot of recommended articles about personal finance, debt, and the economy.   Lately, I'm getting a lot of stories about alien life and some about time travelers talking about the future.  Although I find them interesting, I have no idea why I get numerous feeds of these topics, since I haven't searched these topics nor gone to articles previously on those topics.

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

This is not financial, alien life nor time travel advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Charity Lawnmowing Earning Money

People can help others in need in many ways.  The one's I'm most familiar with are food banks.  Here's one that I didn't know about:

These landscapers are mowing the extra mile — and changing lives

The interesting aspect of the lawnmowing charity work is that the mowers share their work as YouTube creators.  They earn money from advertising and sponsorships.  In some cases, they earn enough to make it their full time job.

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

This is not financial, charity, nor content creator advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Low Price Maxxing

For most of my life, I did low price maxxing.  I would try to save money constantly on purchases.  I could give infinite examples, but will only do a few for perspective. 

• I clip coupons or wait for regular sales to buy the products I use.   Then I buy a larger quantity to benefit.
• I have an almost photographic memory prices paid.  Easy for me to do since I'm a numbers person and can remember purchases I've made in the past few weeks without checking.  I regularly take advantage of stores that price match if price drops within 30 days. 
• For gasoline discounts, I'll will take multiple cars to take advantage for big ones, like $1 off, for the whole family.
• I use points for hotel stays and airline flights, which results in the cost being free or a small charge.  In fact, for hotel stays the numerous taxes are eliminated.  For airlines, I still need to pay a small tax of about $10 max.

IMHO, this act of frugality help me retire early successfully in my late forties.  Even after retiring, I continued to low price max for many purchases.  I enjoy low price maxxing.   I sometimes included my family in some low price maxxing activities, but they sometimes felt like it was bothersome effort with low return.

Since our retirement financial situation has become more sustainable, I have backed off significantly from asking my family to also low price max.  Although my family knows they don't need to low price max, they will participate in some low effort elements, like buying more when on sale, but avoid doing most others like using coupons.  For me, habits are hard to break and I continue to low price max but not a rigorously as before.   

One thing I will not do to low price max:  Install an app, which restaurants often require.    I low price max at an app restaurant by not going there.  LOL.   My daughter, however, regularly gets lower prices with the restaurant app. 

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

This is not financial, purchasing, nor shopping advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Father-in Law's Investing Strategy

My Father-in-Law had a very successful stock investment strategy which beat the S&P returns until 2011 when he passed away.

Here's what he did:

• Identified potential stocks through The Motley Fool and Jim Cramer's Mad Money Show.
• Using standard metrics such as P/E, he determined the "fair" price.
• He would put in a good-til-canceled (GTC) limit buy order at the fair price, which was typically below the market price.
• Once he acquired the stock, he would calculate a sell price, again based on metrics.   He would put in a GTC limit sell order at the sell price.
• He checked his portfolio status once per month.

Since he regularly beat the S&P 500,  I was impressed and tried to copy a few of his stock picks, but was unable to match his success because I didn't have the same conviction in the methodology that he did.   

Disclosure:  I was not compensated by the Motley Fool nor CNBC for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Correction? It May Happen Soon

Today's decline in the stock market may be the beginning of the long awaited correction.  Maybe and maybe not.   However, it's best to be prepared if a correction should happen.   

I can't control the market or the economy.   I can control the actions I take to be prepared.  Simply, here's what I'm going to do:

• I will continue to hodl the equities, bonds and mutual funds that I currently own.  No need to sell at a discount.
• Continue taking monthly distributions of investment earnings (dividends, interest, rental) and combine with Social Security payments and determine what percentage of fixed expenses are covered in a downturn..
• Use money market funds, if needed, to weather an extended (say 1 year) downturn.  Expect to cover any shortfall caused by the decline.
• I won't be buying the dip, except if GOOGL drops to around $285.   I will wait until a 10% before adding an S&P 500 ETF or mutual fund, more municipal bond funds.   I plan to wait until the 20 year treasury exceeds a 6% yield before adding more.

Earlier I posted about what I would tell my younger self or do for my kids:

Stock Market Warning Articles. What to Do?

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

HIghly Viewed Posts in August 2026

Here are the most viewed posts in August 2026 from My Wealth Builder:

Historical

These the three posts from the archives that received the most number of views in August 2026.

Financial Lessons from my Parents' Generation Re-Learned

Not Buying Things I Don't Need

Achieving Financial Freedom - I've Retired In My Forties

Current

These are the recent posts from August 2026 that received the three highest number of views:

Oh No, I Felt Brilliant This Week

Stock Market Warning Articles. What to Do?

Using AI to Cure Cancer

I hope you enjoy these posts as much as other readers have.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Some Mindset Hacks

Here are some mindset tips that I have read/seen/heard and like. The first one I've read recently.  The other three I have known for a while and try to follow as best I can.

• Love the life you have, not the one you want. 
  
  
• IMHO, I think this describes me.  For example, I drive a 2003 base (manual stick shift) 4.6 liter V-8 F-150.   I love the truck and have no interest in replacing it.  We've lived in the same house since 2003 and are happy.  No jealousy issue with houses of people that are wealthier than us, although we are doing some renovations.
  
  
• Don't be afraid to ask for something. If one doesn't ask, the answer is already a "no."
  
  
• For large purchases, I always check if there are discounts associated with timing or payment options.  This worked for our latest furniture purchase, where a holiday sale was ending soon and a discount given for paying by check instead of credit card.  For purchases at craft fairs or farmer's markets, I ask if there discounts for paying cash.   Sometmes yes and sometimes no.
  
  
• Control what one can control.   Don't worry about what one can't control.
  
  
• I don't worry about the economy and interest rate changes. Worrying about these factors is a waste, it is what it is.  There is nothing I can do.  Instead, I think about factors I can control.  What I do control is choosing strategies that minimize or benefit from interest rate changes.

• There are spectators and there are participators.  Be a participator.
  
  
• Spectators regularly offer personal opinions about what others (government, athletes, businesses) should do.  Spectators always know better.  Participators get involved, do the work and help deliver outcomes. 

Of course, YMMV.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Traffic and Drivers are Worse than Pre-Covid

Maybe it's my imagination, bad calibration, or alternate reality that I feel:

• Traffic is noticeably worse (crowded, backed up, or slow on highways) than before COVID.
• The percentage of poor and bad drivers is higher than before COVID.

Worse Traffic

Traffic used to be bad from during rush hours (7:30 AM to  9 AM and 4 PM to 5:30 PM) as one would expect due to work.  During COVID lockdowns, traffic was free flowing all day long.  When people returned to office, traffic was noticeably higher, but not like pre COVID times.

Nowadays, rush hour traffic has expanded to 7 AM to 9:30 AM and 3:30 PM to 6 PM.   In addition, traffic is now congested even from 10 AM to 2 PM, but not as much as during rush hour.   

What happened to make it worse?  I though more people are WFH now?

Worse Drivers

Recently, I've seen much worse driving than before.  Speeding, cutting drivers off, almost accidents and actual accidents, despite more advanced safety warning features on new cars.  This is an observation on my part and no idea of the cause.

My initial reaction is I need to be more vigilant and careful driving that before and that I have ever been.   My secondary reaction is that more tickets should be given out for drivers speeding or cutting off drivers.  My third reaction is to drive more back roads to avoid the inevitable rage drivers on highways.  My final reaction is to give myself 50% more time than needed and to stay calm during trips.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Stock Market - Too Good to Be True?

"If it's too good to be true, it probably is." ~ old adage

The stock market is at all time highs despite:

• War with Iran since February 2026.
• Increasing Inflation
• Higher oil and gasoline prices
• Higher food prices
• Second highest Shiller PE ratio, with the dot.com era being the highest
• $40 trillion U.S. debt
• High company layoffs due to AI

Add to that my apparent brilliance:

• My buy the dip SAAS software stocks are up 20% on average since February 2, 2026, with the biggest gaining up to 145%.
• My tax loss harvesting strategy of buying first and selling later has worked to my financial advantage almost every time.
• Recently, all my accounts have achieved all time highs and continuing to rise.

Since the market has been known to be irrational for long periods before, I'm hodling most of my equities, especially those in a taxable account.  However, I am taking the opportunity to scale out of some of my riskier (IMHO) buy the dip stocks, in the interest  of  working towards my goal of simplifying our investments.  

Note:  Specifically, I sold our CRM holding in the tax advantage accounts since it popped 26% on Thursday, August 27, 2026 on good earnings and a partnership with Anthropic.   Even though CRM was up another 3% yesterday, I don't regret the sale.  It's one less stock I need to follow, which is working towards my simplification goal.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC