Good Leverage when Negotiating - Being Able to Walk Away

Being able to walk away may be one of the best negotiating approaches.

My best example was when I was selling a plot of vacant land. I negotiated that the buyer had to give me an a $5,000 nonrefundable fee before filing to change the zoning to commercial.  I knew if they backed out of the sale after rezoning, my real estate taxes would go up significantly and the fee would cover the increase.  When they requested my signature to authorize rezoning, I asked for the $5,000 nonrefundable payment in the contract.   They objected saying they couldn't risk $5,000 if the rezoning was denied and threatened to back out of the deal, which was legal.  I told them, "You guys are smarter than me in real estate.  If you think it is a big risk, I won't disagree with you and I'm not taking on your risk."  The next day, they called and verbally told me they were ending the contract.

I didn't panic.  I calmly told my attorney the buyers were planning to terminate the deal and assumed they would send the official letter.  I thought about alternate buyers who had expressed some interest.   I knew I wouldn't be released from selling until I received written termination and waited.  Overall, I stopped thinking about selling the property to the current buyer and started working on our landscaping.   Then, my daughter yelled out to the yard that I had a call from the buyer's broker.

Although I didn't particularly want to talk to him, I went to the phone.   He said, "The buyer wants to continue with the deal and needs your signature today."   I said, "Per the contract, I will FedEx my authorization to the escrow lawyer who is in charge of ensuring the non refundable money is paid before transferring the document to the buyer."   The broker said, "But we need it this afternoon."   I said, "I'll send the authorization to the escrow attorney, per the contract."  

Again, the buyer was trying to put pressure on me, and I was willing to stay with the contract, even if I lost the the sale.  Soon we reached a compromise, based on advice from my attorney.   The buyer would wire me the money immediately, and I would fax them the authorization when received.   Although the timing was tight, we were able to complete the transaction in time for the buyer to receive the documentation needed.

Disclosure: Details, that would allow the buyer and seller to be identified, have been left out or changed to keep them anonymous.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Consolidating Brokerage Accounts to Simplify

When I was younger, I used multiple brokerages (for diversity of benefits and safety) and created multiple accounts for different strategies.  This was helpful during the Great Recession of 08/09 when some brokerages had financial difficulties, with some even going bankrupt, such as Lehman, or money markets funds breaking the buck.  Although, we didn't lose any money, I maintained having multiple brokerages.   In addition, during the teens, at one brokerage I was experimenting with 22 different investment strategies and created an account for each one.

I've decided we have too many accounts and am working to simplify.  My goal it to get down to one brokerage with 6 accounts, titled for a Roth, Traditional IRA and Taxable account for my spouse and me.  This should make it easier to manage and trade and give us a single point of contact.

This weekend I started the process of merging and reducing accounts in our brokerages for a future transition to few brokers.  At this point, I think we can get to 2 brokers.  We shall see.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Will the Stock Market Go Up or Down Immediately after Midterm Elections?

Yes, it will (go up or down), but really I don't know.  If I did really know, I wouldn't be telling anyone.  I would just buy options and become the next billionaire or even trillionaire.😎

Remember, as Yogi Berra once said, "It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future."

Anyway, here's what I expect:

• If the Democrats take the majority in one or both houses, I expect the market to decline immediately, but recover.
• If the Republicans keep the majority in both houses, I expect the market to decline immediately, but recover.

Net, I expect the same downward initial reaction and then recovery no matter which party wins the majority in Congress.

Investors, Hedge Funds, Market Makers, and Gamblers will react negatively first and then return to advancing the stock market.  That's what I expect based on all the reactions to negative news over the past 2 years. Of course, it works until it doesn't.

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 © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Continuing to Sell Software Stocks for a Profit

Yesterday, I sold about 10% of the software SAAS stocks I bought on the dip in February 2026.  While AI and memory stocks were hit hard (6-12% declines), software stocks actually advanced.  I took the opportunity to start taking profits.   In some cases, the price of stocks I sold advanced 2-3% higher.

Hopefully, the software stocks will continue to advance today, allowing me to exit some more with higher gains.  While I have gains as much as 100%, I no longer have conviction the rally will continue much longer.  Also, there is significant uncertainty with the midterm elections.  Thus, I will continue to scale out the software stocks I bought in February 2026, but will continue to hodl the core positions in the previously managed account.

Crossing my fingers for a bounce for the stock market and/or continued upward momentum for software stocks.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Reversion to Normal ...

Futures are showing a likely decline in the market today.

What could go wrong?

Remember when

• wars/conflicts, 
• inflation, 
• increasing interest rates, 
• increasing U.S. debt, 
• high personal debt
• more debt defaults
• high margin debt at or near all time highs

cause the market to go down?

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

The stock market advance has been too good to be true.   When a correction comes, it may be surprisingly big.  I'm buying a some insurance, January 2027 SPY puts, strike price 550.  Otherwise, I'm waiting, scaling out of recent equity purchase, hodling my fixed income portfolio and keeping cash.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Significant Fixed Income Losses

My bonds and bond funds have declined significantly over the past month, due to interest rates increasing.  Some of my bonds, specifically 20 year Treasuries, are down as much as 14% since their purchase in 2023, when interest rates started increasing.  Many are down 4-8%.

Here's why I am not worried...yet:

• Other than 1% bonds that are maturing in the next two months, out taxable bonds pay an minimum of 3.75%, with over 90% paying 4-5% for 3- 20 years.  I will get paid this amount for up to 20 years, no matter what future interest rates are.  
• Historically, 5% is a good interest rate for long term bonds.
• I am getting sufficient income to support our "retirement paycheck" strategy, which is giving us a monthly payment for our retirement expenses.
• I am holding the bonds until maturity, which means I receive the par value and losses go to 0% or may even be a small gain.
• For bond funds, which are primarily muni bond funds in taxable account, I can do tax loss harvesting to offset stock gains, and rebuy the bond fund at a lower price.
• Finally, I have cash in money market funds or treasury bonds (1 year less Treasuries), which will pay more if interest rates go up.  About 40% of our investable funds are in this category

Here's what would could go wrong:

• Long term interest rates could go up significantly.  In 1981, the 10 and 20 year Treasuries yield as much as 15.8%.  
• Inflation could go up significantly to double digits.
• The U.S. could default.

Right now, the probability of what could go wrong is still very low, less than 1%.  However, the probability continues to increase as the U.S. deficit increases, the wars continue, and inflation continues to rise.

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

This is not financial, fixed income, inflation, nor policy advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Roth Conversion Hack for Trump Accounts

This is a hack for making Trump account withdrawals tax free in the future.

At age 18, Trump accounts convert to traditional IRAs, with all the associated rules.  Since contributions are made after tax, only earnings are taxed when withdrawing from a Trump account IRA.  

Here's the hack.

• If the child is still a dependent and not earning wages,  the standard deduction is up to $1350 (for 2026) of unearned income.  Thus, the child can convert up to $1350 of IRA earnings to a Roth account tax free.  Since contributions are prorated between contributions and earning, the child will also convert some untaxed original contribution.
• If child has earned income, the standard deduction is earned income + $450 unearned income, up to the single standard deduction of $16100 (for 2026).

If planned well, the entire Trump IRA can be converted to a Roth IRA with little or no tax.

My son is 14.  If I open a Trump account for him, we can contribute up to $5000/year to the account, up to age 17.  At that point, he may have $20,000 to convert to a Roth, provided the investments don't decline. 

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

This is not financial, retirement savings, nor Roth Conversion advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Selling and Taking Some Profit

I plan to scale out of some of my SAAS software stocks and take some profit this week.  The market looks very weak, with the tech stocks looking like the worst.   At this point, I still will hodl some of the shares, in anticipate on a possible President Trump TACO and a rebound.   

I'm still ambivalent about the stock market reaction to the midterm elections.   Even if Congress becomes a Democratic majority, the stock market may go up or down, significantly.  So I'm taking some profit, but not selling out the positions, as a hedge for the market moving either way.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Now is the Time to Plant Grass or Over Seed

Many homeowners believe the best time to plant grass is in the Spring.  Wrong.  The best time to plant is early fall, September to October, when weather gets cooler and before the leaves fall. 

This year I seeded in a early October.  I didn't fertilized with starter fertilizer until a week later due it being out of stock.   I seeded right after mowing the lawn and skipped one week.  By the first week, some seeds had sprouted.  By the second week, it appeared most seeds had sprouted, based on the bare spots

I seeded with Finelawn Tall Fescue, which is what I used several years ago, before switching to Titan Tall Fescue.   I switched back because Finelawn has better shade and drought tolerance.   We'll see how it does next Spring.

Disclosure:  I was not compensated by Finelawn nor Titan for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Prepared for a Major Stock Market Decline?

This week was ugly for stocks, with the S&P 500 index falling 1.97% and the Nasdaq composite falling 4.53%.   Investors were a little skittish about oil prices going up, interest rates going up, memory stocks falling significantly and AI companies business models and financial situations in question.  The cracks in the stock market are getting bigger.

I expect a major decline to take place sometime within the next 6-18 months, but when I don't know. As Yogi Berra once said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

However, I am preparing for the inevitable. I've sold all of my memory stocks that were purchased in 2026 at a profit.   I thinning out my SAAS software stocks.   I've bought some fixed income (treasuries yielding 5% and muni bond fund yielding 4% tax free).  I'm keeping a few years of expenses in money market funds.  I've bought a few SPY put lotto options (100-150 strike expiration Jan 2027).  We're paying off our credit cards each month.  Finally, we bought a couple 1oz gold bars and will continue to hold the 90% silver coins we bought at the bottom in 2011.

For our children, I'll start scaling into the S&P 500 index mutual fund once decline is 10-15% or more, with the expectation they will hodl for 40 years.

If the decline doesn't happen or takes longer to happen, we'll still be OK since we will continue to hodl most of our equity with the plan and expectation of not needing to sell in the next 5 years.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC