Financial Products "Sold" by Financial Advisors

"If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail." ~ proverb popularized by Abraham Maslow

I have learned this also applies to many financial advisors, who earn money based on the product they recommend.

If a advisor selling a specific financial product, then that is the number one personal finance recommendation he is likely to make.  Insurance financial advisors tend to recommend insurance products.  Brokerage financial advisors tend to recommend stock and bond products.  Mutual fund advisors tend to recommend their own mutual funds.  Secondary offering advisors tend to recommend their offerings.  Tax advisors tend to recommend investment that minimize tax liability.

While it is legitimate for an advisor recommend a financial product for which he is compensated, I feel I need to do more diligence before accepting the recommendation.   I do more independent research on the product to decide.    In most of the cases, I decide not the invest.  Examples include: Private Credit, Indexed ETFs, Opportunity Zone Real Estate and most Life Insurance based products.   They may be right for some people but not for me.

Some options that I have used include but not currently:  Actively managed separate accounts. I like the idea of have individual stocks in my own account.   However, I've  recently moved away from this option.

Currently, I'm considering a robo investment platform offered by one the brokerages.  I expect the advisor that recommended may get compensated.  That's OK since I am doing an independent evaluation of the product on my own.

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 © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Locking In Higher Interest Rates to Help our Retirement

When I started working in the 1980s, I calculated that I could retire on $1 million invested at 5% interest.  After all, that was 150% of my starting salary.  Of course, interest rates even went higher, making a million dollars a good goal.

From 2009 to 1019, it looked like retirement was going to require significant more investment funds, when interest rates dropped below 0.5% for CDs.   Then having a million dollars didn't look so good as a retirement plan since it would only yield less than $5,000 per year.   The path to retirement looked dismal.

Then in 2019 interest rates starting rising, with rates peaking in 2023 to 2025 at about 5%.   that means a million dollars now yield $50,000 per year instead of only $5,000.   It also means less retirement savings is needed to retire comfortably.

While interest rates may still go up, I'm locking in 4-5% interest rates on part of our savings for 10-20 years through Treasury bonds and CDs.   Yes, interest rates rising and inflation are a risk, but the bigger risk for us is interest rates going back to 1% or less for an extended period.

Here's my simple logic.  If rates go up, I can always reinvest maturing bonds at the higher rate.   If rates go down, I have to reinvest as at a lower rate, which makes this the higher risk option. So I am scaling in to long term fixed rated bonds and CDs over the next few weeks and months.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Wow! Massive Abundance of Tech Products

First, let me acknowledge that I am a tech Neanderthal.   I refused to get a cell phone when working, until one of my direct reports upgraded and gave me her old phone.  My group said I needed a cell phone, and then they never called me.    When I retired, I inherited my spouse's flip phone when she upgraded to a smart phone.   I stayed with the flip phone until a couple year's ago when it no longer worked because of 4g. I upgraded to my daughter's Iphone when she upgraded.

My tech stopped at PCs and cellphones.   I have a desktop and a lap top.  Yeah, I abhor social media and only use LinkedIn.  I use about 1gb of cellular a month.

A couple days ago, I asked my 13 year old son to accompany me to look for a blue tooth keyboard to use with an Ipad.  He recommended that we should go to Best Buy, which we did.  There were numerous choices at different price points ranging from integrated keyboards and protective covers to mini back lit keyboards.   There were also bluetooth mice available.

While were there, we looked at some tech in which he was interested.  I suspect this is the real reason he recommended going the Best Buy.  We looked at accessories for his F-1 Video Game on the XBox.  These included replica steering wheels, pedals, and a shift rod.   I guess we would need to build this all into a simulator.  He also explained there are seats that can give motion and straps that can create G-forces, but Best Buy didn't have them on display.

There were other items like cameras, folding cellphones and TVs, but what I noticed and remembered most is the 3D printer.   For about $550, one can get a machine that can make many art items as well as slip on shoes.  

All the stuff looked cool, but I didn't buy...yet.

Disclosure: I did not receive any compensation from Best Buy nor Xbox for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Will I Be Sad or Glad After Hours?

Part of the Mag7, AMZN, MSFT, META and GOOGL, are reporting after the market closes.   Although we have positions in all four, GOOGL is our largest holding followed by MSFT.  How investors react to their earnings will be the main factor on whether I'm sad 😞or glad 😄.

Edit 4:30 PM:  GOOGL 😄.  MSFT, AMZN, META 😞.

Edit 6:30 PM:  GOOGL, AMZN 😄.  MSFT, META 😞.

Edit 7:00 PM : No changes from 6:30 PM.

Will check tomorrow staring pre market.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Stock Investment Option Closest to a Free Lunch

There are three choices for investing in stocks.

1. Pay an investment advisor to do the investing.   This usually has fee of around 1% (or more) of Assets Under Management (AUM) above any fees for ETFs or Mutual Funds, which vary from 0.03% to 2.0% or more.
   
   
2. Invest in individual stocks in a personal brokerage account.  Trading costs have been eliminated.  However, one has to invest time and effort to do research, monitor investments, and buy/sell stock positions.
   
   
3. Invest in a market Index fund, such as VTI (total market) or VOO (S&P 500), which have fees of 0.03%.  Other than initially buying, holding for the long term requires no additional effort.

Even though I have used managed investment accounts, I'm no longer using Investment advisors that charge 1% of AUM (Assets Under Management).  IMHO, they are not worth the ongoing annual cost since the majority of the work is the initial setup.   Ongoing maintenance should only require a few minor changes, which I don't feel is worth the 1% of AUM charge.

I have also invested in individual stocks on my own.   While more exciting and sometimes much higher gains, this approach takes more effort and time.  In addition, individual stock risk is a bigger issue, resulting in more monitoring of the stock positions.    Finally, while I have had some big wins, I have also had many losses, which net resulted in returns less that index funds based on the S&P 500.

Although I ignored the recommendation for many years, I believe broad market index funds are a great options.  Fees are usually as low at 0.03%.   Time and effort in minimized to invest.  Individual stock risk is low.   The index funds are self managing at removing poor performers and selecting future winning stocks.

With a cost of $0.30 per $1000 invested, broad market index funds are the closest option to a free lunch. There is little or no additional time nor effort required. Best of all, the returns beat over 99% of investment in other options on a long term basis.

Disclosure:  We own shares of VOO in our accounts.  I received no compensation for writing this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Online Scam Avoidance

Online romance scams have become a norm and examples are more frequent.   Below is one article about an individual fall for such a scam.

Retired journalist loses $270,000 to ‘pig-butchering’ scam after online romance turns into fake gold investment scheme

Here are some tips on red flags for online scams for the article..

How to avoid being a pig-butchering victim

Here are clear warning signs to watch for when it comes to pig butchering:

1. Be skeptical of unsolicited messages: If someone you don't know contacts you out of the blue — especially with a "wrong number" that turns into a conversation — treat it as a red flag.

2. Don't trust online relationships: Scammers often use flattery and conduct frequent check-ins. They want to make the connection feel real before making a financial request.

3. Ignore "profits" that seem too good to be true: The rapid gains in these fake investment platforms are the early signs of a scam. Early "wins" are designed to lure you into investing more.

4. Never pay fees to withdraw your own money: Requests for taxes, fees or deposits to unlock funds are almost always fraudulent.

5. Listen to family or advisors: In many cases, loved ones spot the scam before the victim does. Don't dismiss their concerns.

Ultimately, the safest rule is to never send money to someone you've only met online.

As Levine's story shows, these scams don't just drain bank accounts — they can also leave lasting emotional and personal damage.

Bottom line takeaway:  Be very wary of online (email, social media, messaging) from unknown people.  My typical action is to ignore or delete.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

20 Year Treasury Yielding 5%

I'm buying the 20 year Treasury since it's yielding 5%.  Yeah, there are risks with locking up money that long.  Inflation could increase significantly.  The U.S. government could default. 

A worst scenario for our retirement is the 20 year Treasury yield goes down for a long period to 1% as it did in 2020, or hovers around 2.5% as it did from  2012 to 2019.   That would reduce our retirement income significantly.

I am ok with the risk that interest rates go up, even if it is to 7-10%, since I don't think it would be more than for a couple years, which is survivable.  And we would still have some cash to invest at those higher rates.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Buy the "Right" Stock and Hodl

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

One way stock investors make millions is to have a future great stock and hold, even when it declines 50% or more several times.   I would have been a millionaire several times over if I had never sold APPL, AMZN, and GOOGL, all of which I owned at least 100 shares in their early days.  

However, back then was still working and I was particularly sensitive to volatility of my stock investments.  All three stocks fell after I purchased them and took several months or even a year to recover and be positive gains.  By then, I was anxious about not losing money and sold for a only about a 10-15% profit. 

Ah, would've, should've, could've.

Of course, there are some formerly great stocks that dropped and took years to recover past their previous highs.  Examples include:  GE, CSCO, and INTC, all of which just exceeded their previous all time high from 26 years ago during the dot.com bubble in 2000.   Then there are the great stocks that crashed and stayed low or went to zero: Pets.com and Inktomi are examples.

So finding those future great stocks is a big challenge.

It seems that most people that make big gains are from stock in the company that employed them, examples include Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, and Elon Musk.  A small factoid is that Bill Gates would have been trillionaire if he had kept all his MSFT stock, instead of diversifying based on Buffet's recommendation.  For me, great returns have been hodling my company stock which I owned through an ESOP, but definitely not as big as Gates, Bezos, Buffet and Musk.   

For my kids accounts, I may try to buy a few potential great stocks for them and hodl.  However, for the majority of the account, I will invest in US and International Stock Index funds which routinely hodl the best stocks and cull out the worst.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Kids Grow Up Fast

Yesterday, my 13 year old son wanted to ride his bike to the local grocery story, about 2 miles away on the sidewalk.  I offered/requested to do his first ride with him since there are 4 lane streets to cross at intersections.  He vehemently declined to have me accompany him, three times.  Yes, I had ridden with him to the crossing a couple times, but we hadn't crossed.

I still think of him as needing us to help him with everything.  Obviously, he doesn't, despite me advising he should have a backpack to carry purchase, and a lock for his bike, which neither he had considered.

Still, I let him go on his own.  He texted me when he arrived and he made it home OK.

Yep, he is growing up!  I still remember when we adopted him as a 1 year old like it was yesterday.  Time goes by so fast.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Can AI have other Benefits than Productivity?

People always talk about how AI increases productivity.  I think AI can make a bigger difference in society, without eliminating jobs.   What if AI can be use to prevent crimes and significantly improve health.  Here are my proposals:

• Detect, Identify and Prevent Internet/Phone/Email scams against the elderly.
  
  
• Detect, Identify and Stop Fraud against bank accounts.
  
  
• Identify and Propose Cures for both frequent and rare diseases.

Maybe I'm way off base, but I haven't heard much about the above opportunities for using AI and was just wondering.

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

This is not financial, fraud/scam protection, health nor AI advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC