Aspire to Be a Hundred Millionaire or Billionaire

"A nickel ain't worth a dime anymore." ~ Yogi Berra

A million ain't what it used to be either.

When I was growing up, becoming a millionaire was considered an aspirational financial goal.  Very few people had a million dollars  and my parents bought a new house for $28,000.  A million dollars seemed very unattainable.  In 1965, there were 100,000 millionaires in the US.  I thought becoming a millionaire was a stretch goal.

Today, a million dollars seems much more achievable. In 2020, the there are over 18 million millionaires in the US.   That house I grew up in is valued at $421,000 on Zillow.   Many families have dual incomes, leading to over a million dollars salary over their lifetime.

 $100 million would have been a better aspirational financial goal.   In 2020, there were about 80,000 households with over $100 million, which is close to the number of millionaires in 1965.  $100 million would have been a appropriate inflation adjusted goal.

Maybe ambitious kids today should set $1 Billion as a stretch goal to achieve in their future.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I'm Awful at Stock Picking

I initially thought I could beat the market by buying specific stocks.  I did this for many years, and had some big wins, but I also had big losses.  Recently, I did an evaluation of my stock investments in the last 10 years.   The good news is that I had a gain overall.  The bad news is that I would have had higher gains from  owning an S&P index fund or ETF.   In addition, I would free up the time that I spend evaluating, buying and selling stocks.

Based on this learning, here the actions I'm taking:

• Scale out of owning most individual stocks.   I am avoiding starting new positions.  I will add to some existing positions that are negative, but plan to scale out later when the entire position is positive.   I am holding long term losses in a separate account to remind myself of my previous poor choices.
• Going forward for stocks, invest in total market index funds and etfs, specifically the S&P, total market and growth stock index funds.  This is much easier to manage since stock risk is eliminated.
• For kids' accounts, dollar cost average (DCA) into their investment accounts and hodl.

I expect this to reduce my anxiety when the market declines and help me be agnostic to short term volatility, which seems to be frequent nowadays.

This approach has been helpful so far this year, but there hasn't been a major correction or bear market yet.  That will be the true test on my new investment strategy.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Just Hodl

Currently, there is lots of volatility in the stock market.  Earnings beats, earnings miss, disappointing forward guidance, ceasefire ending, ceasefire extended, President Trump TACO, ceasefire broken, stocks go up, then down, then up again.   What's an investor to do?

The approach I used to follow was to react to the volatility.   Sometimes it was sell; other times it was buy the dip.   Usually, this resulted in a whipsaw effect, sharply up, sharply down and a roller coaster. When the stock went up quickly,  I would sell with small gains of 5-15% and watch the stock go up much further.  When it went down, I would hold hoping to get back to even to sell and exit the position.  I would sell the one's that went above breakeven, but, unfortunately, there were ones that took forever, or never, to recover.

My new strategy now is hodl through the volatility, since I'm no longer depending exclusively on stock gains for our retirement income.   Hodling has significantly reduced my anxiety of owning stocks, since capital gains are no longer the main source of retirement income.  Thus, I am more comfortable hodling though the corrections that inevitably happen.   Of course, the real test will be if I hodl through a bear market, which has not happened since I started this investment strategy.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Sky is Falling or Buy the Dip

Last week, especially Friday, June 5, 2026 was dismal for the stock market.  Memory and space stocks took a big hit.  The S&P 500 was down over 2%.  Looks pretty ugly.

I used to agonize over whether to keep my investments or sell them before they go lower, since my metric was how much assets grew to support our retirement.  Last year, I changed our metric to how much monthly income our investments generate, hopefully independent of volatility.  This dip will help me understand how this new strategy is working.

For now, I'm going to hodl what I own and refrain from buying the dip at the current levels.  If the dip goes another 10%, I may reconsider buying into some existing positions.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Need to Do Weight Exercises

When I was younger, I wasn't a fan of weight training.   I was the starting fullback for a State Championship football team, and I didn't do weights.  In college, I didn't do weight training even though I played even though I was the starting fullback in football again. When I played, weight training was not a requirement for athletes.  Thus, I avoided it.  Like many of my teammates, I built strength through practice and drills.

Fast forward to now.  I've been in rehab for a procedure earlier this year.  Most of the exercises have been cardio, treadmills and bikes.  Near completion, I started to do some weight exercises.  I did ok, but I realized I am much weaker than I expected.  

Needless to say, I need to be doing more weight exercises and weight training now that I'm older.  I will start working weights into my schedule in the future.

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

Niagara Falls Vacation - Five Stars

One of our best vacations was Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.   We stayed in a hotel with a huge picture window overlooking the horseshoe falls.   The hotel was also a short inclined railway and short walk to the falls.   We did the main touristy activities:  boat ride to the falls and a walk in the tunnels behind the falls.  Best of all, we saw a full rainbow over the falls.

It was the fourth time to the falls for the parents, the second time for our oldest, and the first for the youngest.  We probably won't be going back soon since our last visit was in 2024.   When we do, we will likely stay at the same hotel again for the wonderful views.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Looks Like the S&P Gain Streak May be Ended

Unless a miracle occurs, it appears the S&P's nine weeks of consecutive gains will be over.

Possible Miracles:

• Strait of Hormuz unconditionally opens.
• Iran War ceasefire extend for 60 more days.
• Iran War ends.
• President Trump TACO, which didn't occur this week.

Still it will only be one down week, if the decline continues for the rest of day. Yeah, we're at levels not seen since...(checks charts) two weeks ago.

Still, some folks are panicking.  Losses are happening.  Selling is happening.   Others think it is the beginning of the end.  Volatility is scary.

I'm still hodling at this time.   I'll find out in a few weeks if this was the right choice.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Hodling Hopium Stocks for 1000% Gain

There has been a lot of volatility this week for SAAS, Space and Meme stocks.  Today, I'm discussing my plans for my hopium stocks.

I'm hodling my hopium stocks:  Blackberry (BB), Nokia (NOK) and Sellas Life Sciences (SLS).  I'm targeting for a 1000% or 10X gain.  Currently, I'm up 100-200% on shares and up 300-4000% on call options.

No way (or less than .01% probability), these three stocks will reach a 10X gain when I sell.  This is obviously irrational. However, no rational investor would have expected the market to be at all time highs with inflation and the Iran war.  Yet, here we are

For now, I'll be hodling.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Meme Stock Gambling Like It's 2021

In 2021, there were a number of meme stocks that enabled investors/gamblers to receive big gains on certain stocks:  GME, BB, SKT, SFIX, PACB, PLUG and others.  I made money on a number of them and held too long on others and rode them down.

The new memes in 2026 are memory stocks (MU, SNDK, STX), space related stocks (RKLB, ASTS, LUNR, SPCE) and some old meme stocks (BB, NOK).  PSA: SPCE is not SpaceX.  SPCE is Virgin Atlantic.

Meme stock options can make some folks millionaires.  It will make others bag holders or long term investors.  The key to buying meme stocks is to sell before the inevitable decline, or rug pull.  Of course, it works until it doesn't.😎

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Buying Options is Mostly Gambling for Me

Options give the put buyer the right to sell a stock at specific price or call buyer the right to buy a stock at a specific price.   

While buying a put is "insurance" for shares that are owned if there is a decline, buying naked put option or call options is often gambling on the price of the stock, especially if they are short term options, i.e. less that a month from expiration.

I admit I like to buy call and put options, but generally for longer term around 6-11 months from expiration.  I often buy options that expire in January of the next year.  For me, options are mostly gambling on the price change.  2021 was a great year in options for me.   2024 was poor year, with mostly losses.   2025 was a mixed year.  Some options had up to 7000% gains and others expired worthless. 

2026 started out poorly since all my January 2026 options expired worthless.  Since 2025 had some bad option purchases, I decided to be less aggressive in 2026 and purchase much fewer options that were also lower in price.  Right now my January 2027 expiration options on BB and SLS are returning XX% and XX% respectively.  My SNDL and EVGO call and SPY put January expiration options are breakeven at this point.

All these options are just lotto tickets that I can deduct for taxes if they become worthless. I'm going to hodl these to Valhalla or zero.  Hopefully, it's Valhalla.   If it's zero, unlike lotto ticket, I can write off the losses on my tax return.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC