Cataract Surgery Lens Plan

I'm  getting cataract replacement this year.  Currently, the left eye is very near sighted and the right eye is less near sighted and I only wear correction in both eyes for driving and sports. To avoid requiring to use glasses for reading or driving, I'm  going  with right eye at 20/20 and the left eye at about 20/150 (about -3) for near vision.   I won't need any glasses with this vision.  

My brain is already used integrating different focal lengths with my uncorrected vision at 20/400 (L) and 20/200 (R).  Doctor says DMV only requires one eye at 20/50 or better,  I think, to drive without correction

Despite a friend  having excellent results, I decided not to go with multi focal lenses.  

• I tested multi focal contact lenses about 5-10 years ago and didn't like them.   It was the worst of both worlds for me.  I couldn't see close work and distance vision was a slightly blurry sometimes. 
• A tennis player on the court before us said he started with multifocal but had to change to single focus and redo his cataract surgery.   
• My eye doctor said he usually does not recommend multifocal.  He has seen two different people with technically the same conditions get very different results, one good and one bad.

Medicare will still cover glasses 100% to correct vision.  My Medicare Advantage said they would cover contact lenses for 20% copay, which I will probably do for one eye for sports.

I've been testing wearing one contact part of the time to experience how it would be like after cataract surgery.   Although not a perfect replication, I am comfortable enough to proceed with the.  Since one eye is done at a time and the distance eye is done first, I will have a couple weeks to confirm my decison.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Only a Few Stocks Provided Majority of Our Gains

I recently reviewed my investment results and concluded that the majority of the investment gains were due to a few stocks that we owned.  For example, great returns on GOOGL, NVDA, MSFT, AAPL and VISA contributed a lot to our investment accounts.   A large percentage of the other stocks were either negative or contributed very little.

This is also supported by a chart I found on LinkedIn:

My conclusion:

1. Pick only winning stocks.   Highly unlikely for me to do this consistently or even at all.
2. Diversify enough to also purchase the winning stocks, but also own on the non contributing stocks.  This requires owning numerous stocks and significant effort to manage on an ongoing basis.
3. Buy an index,  which diversifies and periodically eliminates poor performers.  This involves owning just a few EFTs or mutual funds.

I've tried #1 and failed.  I've tried #2 and although returns were positive, my  returns were less than the indices.   I'm moving to #3 for most future investments, and will by only individual stocks on an occasional basis. 

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Services and Utilities That Are Great Time Savers

What a great time to be alive.   There are so many services provided to me that I have much more time than people from 100 years ago.

Here are some of the services that make life easier and better:

• Running water - For drinking, cooking, washing, bathing and human waste removal.  It would take me lots of time to haul water to the house, boil/sterilize it, and disposed of used water.  It only costs us about $200 a month and takes almost no time.
• Garbage collection - For $90/3 months, our garbage is taken away weekly and recycle is taken away every other week. It would take lots of time to haul our garbage to a dump.   Just takes a few minutes a week to put the garbage at the curb.
• Grocery shopping -  Yeah, it still takes several hours a week to grocery shop.  However, that beats the amount of time  growing, harvesting or hunting/cleaning our own food.   
• Electricity -  This powers all of our appliances to use in our house, which saves a lot of time.  Washing machines, dishwashers, furnaces, air conditioning, water heater, oven, stove, refrigerator, etc, etc, etc.   I would be working exclusively on 

These are basics that I take for granted every day and yet, if I didn't have them, I would be spending way more time on getting necessary things done every day.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Rules to Manage Spending in Retirement

I wrote this back in 2017 but forgot to post it.  Most of the points are still relevant so I am posting it now.  We're still following the principles, though the percentages may have changed some.

I am not a big fan of budgeting.   Here are a some rules that we used to control our spending while were saving for retirement.

• Pay yourself first - When I first started working, I would pay all my bills and expenses first and whatever was left at the end of the month was my savings.   Except for my first month of working, I was pretty good at having something left at the end of the month.   Later, I realized a better approach would be to take out my savings first, and the pay my bills and spend on expenses afterwards.
• Buy only what we need -  Marketer are adept at getting consumer to buy stuff.  The challenge to sort the needs from the wants.   Do I really need a smart phone, cable TV, a large screen TV or a luxury car?  The answer is probably not.  Not buying these can reduce spending by hundreds of dollars one time or every month.  A related rule to this is to live below our means.
• Spend only cash - Using only cash is an easy way to limit spending.  Once the cash runs out, the spending stops

By using these rules, it was easier to control spending to better meet savings goals.

However, now that we've both been retired almost ten years, I've concluded we need a different set of spending rules.  We have been living primarily on our retirement savings, so the above spending rules prior to retirement many need to be adjusted.  For us, this is important, since we don't have pensions and are not eligible for Social Security yet.

Here's what we've been doing on an experimentation basis:

• Use an allowance - We've been giving ourselves a monthly allowance that covers our living expenses, except for paying taxes (income and property) and health insurance.  I estimated the amount based on our pre-retirement spending pattern This has seemed to work well for most of the time, even when we have a large expenditure such as a new appliance or a vacation.  This worked well in a low inflation environment, which we may not have in the upcoming years.
• Use a percentage  -  When I add the taxes and insurance in, we are withdrawing about 4% of our  current retirement savings each year.    It was closer to 6% during the great recession in 2009, but our investments have grown since the bottom.  So we use a percentage to allocate our allowance each year.   Also, we may need to adjust the percentage in years where the market declines or advance significantly.
• Keep 3-5 year cushion in cash/cash equivalents - That way if the market decline significantly, we can avoid selling investments for a few years while continuing to make the same withdrawal. This will allow the investments to recover instead of selling them when they are down.

This has worked so far.  So we are going to continue this approach of giving ourselves a 4% allowance.  An adjustment we may make is to increase our withdrawal slightly after a good investment year and either increase our spending that year, or set it aside for additional spending in a future year.  Another adjustment may be giving ourselves a raise periodically, especially after several years of good return.

Finally, we'll need to get used to spending down some principal as we balance withdrawals with mostly earnings and part principal.  This will be a toughest adjustment for us to get used to  since our pre-retirement goal was to always maintain or grow our principal.

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

This is not financial, retirement or spending advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

House and Car Expected Features Creep

Buyers expect much more from their homes and automobiles than when my parents were purchasing these items. Part of the increased costs of cars and houses is due to the increase in expected in these products.

In my parents first purchased house, they had all the contemporary amenities: air conditioning, dishwasher, Formica countertops, intercom system, car port, and a 1/4 acre lot in a newly build subdivision.   The first car my dad bought was a stick shift and maybe a radio.  The second car he bought had automatic transmission and a radio, which was the first car that I drove.   The third car was the same, just automatic transmission and a radio.  Finally, in the fourth car, we got air conditioning.

The first house I bought was a 70 year old fixer upper, from which I learned I wasn't good at renovating houses.  I only had the basics refrigerator, stove over an oven, Formica countertop and steel sink without a garbage disposal.  The second house, which I bought 20 years later had still had a basic kitchen, but also had a laundry room, a whole house vacuum system, whole house stereo speakers,  a finished basement and a three car garage.  It also cost 8 times more. 

The first car I bought new was a manual shift, because I wanted one, with A/C and radio which were now standard.  The second car I bought used was still a manual shift, with A/C, radio and tape deck, electric windows/mirrors and was a convertible.  My third car, was used also, added air bags, ABS brakes and multi CD player.  For my fourth vehicle, which I bought new, I regressed and bought a manual pickup truck, with air bags, ABS brakes, A/C and radio/cassette player.

 Of course, no one wants to go back to only the base features that were only available many years ago.  And I realize that a portion the increased costs for houses and automobiles may be due to features that are now expected. 

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

This is not financial, car buying, nor home buying advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Avoid Living Above One's Means

It's not easy with all the spending temptation that are available nowadays.  However, going into debt live above one's means will have a negative impact on wealth building.

Although it requires discipline, living below one's means is better option to me.  Of course, one should still buy what is definitely needed.   

One strategy that worked for me is to "pay myself first."    By that, I mean put a significant portion of take home salary into savings, starting with 10%, keep increasing and putting raises and bonuses in savings until reaching 20%.  Invest that 20% and avoid using it, if possible, since this should be in addition to emergency funds or saving for large purchases.

Another strategy is to pay off credit card statements completely before or at the due date, to avoid late fees and interest charges.   This keeps one living within one's means.

Finally, if all else fails, live on a cash basis. It forces one to liven within one's means.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Appliances are Great Time Savers

Appliances that can independently do most of the work are the best time savers.  Washing machines, dryers, dishwashers and robotic vacuums are great examples.  One just needs to press the start button and that frees up time to do other activities while the work is being done.

Other appliances involve one's participation but significantly reduces the time and effort.  I include automobiles, lawn mowers and vacuum cleaners in this class.  I still have to spend time and effort but it is much less than if I didn't have an automobile, lawn mower, and vacuum cleaner.

To me, it's worth the cost of the appliance, even if they are expensive, many times over if it either frees me from doing major work or significantly reduces my time and effort.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

"Pay Yourself First" Was My Foundation for Wealth Building

Often people save only if there is money left over after expenses and discretionary spending.  This is how I started when I started working.   Here is the spending priority:

1. Necessary expenses - Rent, Utilities, Groceries, Gas, Car Payment
2. Discretionary expenses - Entertainment, Eating out, Vacation
3. Savings - Retirement accounts, Bank Accounts, Investments

Putting Savings first helped me build wealth faster, and building wealth was my top financial priority.  Here's the priority, I switched to later:

1. Savings - Retirement accounts, Bank Accounts, Investments
2. Necessary expenses - Rent, Utilities, Groceries, Gas, Car Payment
3. Discretionary expenses - Entertainment, Eating out, Vacation

After a few years, I began putting my annual raises primarily towards savings.  What I found is the first 10 years of accumulation seem to be very slow growing.   It wasn't until after 20 years, significant growth was evident on a yearly basis.

I have tried to instill "pay yourself first" mentality with my kids.

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

This is not financial, wealth building nor saving advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Multi-Year Tax Strategy in Retirement

When I was working, I earned a paycheck and paid taxes.   Since I had some, but not much, control over my annual income, I just did my tax return with limited planning, such as charitable contributions, and tax loss harvesting, for taxes.  I probably controlled only 10-20% of our taxable income via dividends and interest.  In general, I tried to maximize our income.

In retirement, I have I still have Social Security income which is like a paycheck and I don't have much control.  However, instead of a paycheck being 90+%  of our income, Social Security is about 27%.   Interest and dividend account for about 53%.   By using tax exempt interest options, and staying in the 12% tax bracket, I can reduced our taxable income and therefore, our tax liability significantly. Also, by managing our AGI, I enable us to take some tax credits that are phased out at higher income.  20% is rental income and enables us to take the Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction.

In the next few years, we have RMDs, both inherited and from our own.  This will be additional paycheck income that we will have less control over.

If we exceed certain income, I will need to pay additional insurance premiums for Medicare, call IRMAA, which I would like to avoid if possible since there is no benefit increase.   In addition, we would lose or phase of the bonus senior deduction.  

As a result, designing and planning an income and tax strategy for at least the next 5 years, and maybe even the next 10 years, will be beneficial to maximizing income we keep by minimizing our tax and IRMAA liability.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Major Flukes in my Life

Sometimes seemingly accidental occurrences have great beneficial outcomes.

I was the starting fullback on my high school football team for four years, that included being State runner ups my junior year and State Champions my senior.  I was a good but not great athlete. In fact, I played running back one season in my previous five years in little league football.  I was a lineman most of those years.  However, my high school coach, who just moved from the local university to our high school my freshman year,  was exceptional at putting average players in positions that allowed them to be stars.  I was one of those players. I was outstanding because of my coach.  He put me where I could excel and make a difference.

I had a ruptured appendix just before senior year of high school. It took me all summer to recuperate.  Still I was determined to go out for football.   No one expected me to play, not the coach, not my teammates and especially not my parents.   The coach allowed me to join the team, but only had me be a backup for the first couple games.   By the third game, I was starting at fullback again.   I went on to have my best season ever, rushing for almost 1000 yards and winning the State Championship.   While I was a good student, I think overcoming the life difficulty helped get admitted to all the colleges to which I applied, including 2 Ivy Leagues schools.

When I was in college, I signed up for job interviews with visiting companies for summer internships.    I would usually check back the day before and make sure the appointment was still happening.  One time, I couldn't find the company I signed up for on the schedule.  I asked Career Services and they answered they are no longer coming.  The next day, I happen to be in my dorm room when the he phone rang.  (This was in the time of landline phones.)   It was the interviewer from the company I signed up for.   He said, "I'm supposed to interviewing you right now."  I said I was told you had cancelled.  He asked if I could come in the next few minutes. I answered, "Yes," and threw on my sport jacket, grabbed my resume and ran up to the interview.  He only had enough time to give an overview of the company.  I was impressed and it was obvious I had not researched the company.  After 15 minutes, he said, "My next interview starts in a couple minutes.  Do you have a resume?"  I said, "Yes," and gave him my resume.   I assumed that would be the last I would hear from him.   One week later, the interviewer called back and offered me a summer job.  I took it, ended up working their permanently for 27 years before retiring before retiring with full benefits in my forties. 

Early on, when I was working, I was an average employee.  My bosses boss asked me to take on an assignment that, truthfully, was undesirable.  However, our general manager wanted it staffed.  The position was a great match for me.  I was able to make the work important to both the general manager and the business.   As a result, I was promoted two levels, to the level of my boss's boss, in five years and offered an international assigned, which I declined at first for personal reasons, but later accepted.

While in college, I learned to play rugby in the offseason from football, which was my main sport.   I joined the local rugby team when I started working.  I met my future spouse through teammates on my rugby team since she lived in the same apartment complex.  We've been married over 30 years.

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

Stock Trading Entertainment

In my younger days before being married, I used to get some entertainment from sports, regularly social meetups with friends and being engaged with colleagues in work projects.    These still give me some joy, but I have less or very little to no opportunity to experience these events very often anymore.  This is one of the downsides of being retired and older.

My entertainment is mostly with family and the kids' activities.  Kids' sports, extracurricular activities, and vacations.   However, kids want to be with their friends more than with family as they get older.  So I am  expanding my entertainment options.

My father was a stock investor.  I've always liked investing in and trading stocks.  However, based on experience,  I've decided that investing in market index is a much better strategy than picking individual stocks, at least for me.  It's exciting when I make a good pick. 

I will continue to make "bets" on a few individual stock occasionally, just for entertainment. Much better than going to a casino, which I see many older people at when I go to play craps every few years.

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

This is not financial, stock trading nor gambling advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Not Buying Any More Stocks ...Yet

Based on my experience when I was younger, the stock market has the look and feel of likely falling further. It seems like buying now is like catching a falling knife.  I'm going to hold what I've already purchased, but I'm going to wait for stocks to drop further before buying.   

If I'm wrong and it has already bottomed, I have enough holdings to benefit.  If it does fall further, waiting to buy will turn out to be a right decision.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Learn to Make Minor Repairs

My dad was a DIYer fixit guy.   He was an engineer and could repair/maintain many mechanical items.  I was always amazed at what he could fix.  I picked up some skill from watching him when I was a child.   Being able to repair and maintain items also can save lots of money versus have a professional repair person.

Here are some examples:

• Car maintenance - My dad used to change oil, adjust the timing belt, add water to the battery, change spark plugs and other minor repairs.  I started by changing oil, but the dealers started doing it cheaper than I could buy the materials, so I let the dealer do it.  I do change headlight, taillight, and signal bulbs, which save about $30 in labor.  I also will change cabin filters, engine filters and wipers, which again saves the labor costs.
  
  
• Outdoor painting -  Our house was a split level that was mostly brick.  He would paint the shutters, trim and siding periodically.   I do some touch up outdoor painting, but leave the major paint to others since we have a 2-1/2 story exterior.
  
  
• Bike repair and maintenance -  Tire and chain repair and maintenance.  One time a vandal bent my front wheel rim.  My dad used a spoke tightener and straightened it out.  I do minor repair and adjustments on my kids bikes.
  
  
• Appliance and plumbing maintenance/repairs -  I don't recall my dad doing specifics in this area. I've become adept at doing minor repairs to our dishwasher and keeping our drains clear.   I do hire repair or plumbers for the major work such as changing out piping.
  
  
• Electrical work -  I don't recall my dad ever doing electrical work.  I took a vocational electrician course when I retired.   I can change out switches and outlets.  Also I can change out chandelier lighting.  I've also learned that the previous owner did not install some things to code, but fortunately were not dangerous.

Doing minor repairs saves money but also give me an understanding of how things work, which I enjoy since I am an engineer.  The only downside is sometimes it takes me much longer to do the work that if I hired someone, which is the tradeoff right now.  As I get older I may choose to outsource some or all of the minor repair work.

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

This is not financial or do-it-yourself advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Pay Bills On Time

I always pay my bills on time.  

First, paying on time avoids penalties and interest which can add up quickly because it compounds.  In the worst case, these may exceed the initial bill over enough time. Penalties and interest on late or delayed payments is a death spiral I want to avoid.

Paying one's bills on time helps prevent living above one's means, which can be very detrimental to being successful at managing one's personal finances.  Right after college with a degree in chemical engineering, I worked for a Fortune 10 company.  I always paid my bills on time, even when I ran out of funds the first month working.  I had a friend who believed in maxing out her credit cards and paying only the minimum each month since she would have a higher standard of living.   Before long, her bills exceeded her take home pay and she took a second job as a in order to make ends meet.  Sheesh.

Doing so builds one's credit score and credibility with lenders, which is valuable.   My credit score typically is in the 800s.   As a result, I qualify for lower interest on loans, including  mortgages and car loans.  

Credibility may allow lenders to waive let fees for an abnormal missed payment by the deadline.  There have been a couple times I have been late.  One time, I mistyped the electronic payment and was off by a few dollars.  The credit card company charged me interest on the full amount even though I paid over 95% of the amount due.  I called in immediately and explained I had made a transposing error on the last two digits.   Also, I told them my record should show I always paid way before the due date.  The customer service rep did a one time waive of the interest charge based on my past performance.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Asset Class Returns - 2011 to 2025

I see this color map periodically.  In the past, I thought it was interesting, but hard to act on since the map typically is used to support the value of diversification. To me now, the value is seeing which one asset class is the best to invest in.  

My choice the Large Capitalization Stock asset class.  Over this time period, it was in the top three positions 11 out of the 15 years.   I'll go with a 73% probability of being one of the top three.  For my kids, I putting them in S&P 500 index ETF or mutual fund for the long term.

Credit: Keating Financial Services.

Disclosure:  I was not compensated by Keating Financial Services for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Trump TACO put

Trump tells CBS news reporter, "I think the war is very complete, pretty much," implying that the conflict with Iran will be over soon.   Once again, the market reverses it negative open and Vs upward reducing losses and become gains.   

It seems we can almost 100% count on the Trump TACO to keep the stock market from crashing. 

Of course, this will work until it doesn't. 

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Automating Investing for Growth and Income

My plan for managing our investments in retirement keeps evolving.   My initial approach was to simplify our investments by:

• Selling most individual stocks, but doing so in a tax efficient way and waiting for some postions to become profitable.
• Moving from stock investments to market index mutual funds or ETFs.
• Moving from bond/CD investments to mutual funds or ETFs.
• Automatically withdraw interest and dividend income from taxable accounts.  

I implemented the automatic withdrawal of interest and dividends right away, and that part has worked out well.  In the first week of the month, we receive all the interest and dividends from our taxable account.  This distribution is about 50% of our monthly income.

Otherwise, the process has been slow.  Some of my stock positions have large gains, and it would be not tax efficient to sell them yet.   Some of my losses are in tax advantaged accounts and there is no tax benefit to selling them right away when there is a chance of recovering and become profitable, even though a small chance. I'm slowly moving into bond mutual funds, mostly municipal bond fund so far.  On the other hand, I hold some 10 to 15 year treasuries and agency bonds that I prefer to hold to maturity instead of selling and converting to a bond mutual fund.

Then again, it's tough to give up old habits which caused a distraction in February 2026 when I bought the dip on SAAS software stocks.   It gives me some excitement, entertainment and fun, but I need to restrict do this much less in the future

Finally, I decided to investigate a slightly different approach.   Schwab offers a robotic investment feature called Schwab Intelligent Portfolios.  It seems to offer an investment platform that meets my criteria for being  perpetually very low involvement and automatically adaptive.  This might be what I'm looking for when I am no longer interested nor able to manage our investments.  I've decided to open three Intelligent Portfolio strategies and evaluate if the platform will meet my needs.

Disclosure:  I was not compensated by Schwab for writing this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

War Used to Make Markets Decline Signifcantly - Maybe Not Anymore

Based on my memory, which I did not fact check, war used to make the market decline significantly in the near term.  The two I remember were Desert Storm in 1990 and the Russia/Ukraine in 2022.  In 1990, I was very concerned.  I had some recent stock purchases that had big declines.  As soon as the stocks recovered, I sold them for a small profit.  Of course, when I sold the market did recover.

In 2022, Russia went to war with Ukraine and the market dropped.  In fact, the drop was followed by a bear market that didn't end until 2023.   I have significant losses during that drop.

With the war in Iran, this time the market seems to have remained flat to slight down in the first week so far.  At this point, I am surprised the market has responded with more negativity and declines.   At this point, I am holding, including the purchases made in February 2026, which surprisingly are up.

It's too soon to conclude that the Iran conflict won't result in a big decline, but for now, my accounts are flat or slightly up despite the relatively high volatility during the day.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Did Pam Bondi Call the Stock Market Top?

During an intense grilling before Congress about the Epstein files on February 11, 2026, Pam Bondi, the U.S. Attorney General,  responded with a non sequitur deflection, "The DOW is over 50,000 right now..." touting the economic achievements of the Trump administration with the all time high of the DOW.    The DOW immediately fell the next day to below 50,000.

The DOW has stayed below 50,000 since then and  fallen since to a 47,501 close on Friday, March 6, 2026.

This begs the question, "Did Pam Bondi call the stock market top?"😢   We shall see.🤡

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Roomba is my Preferred Type of Robot

It seems humanoid robots are the desirable execution for many people.   Not me.  I prefer robots like our Roomba.

Living with a humanoid robot seems creepy to me.  I expect it will be given a personality and other human characteristics.   It will be a creature that I don't want to establish a relationship with. On the other hand, it will act as if it is a friend or family to serve me.   I'm sure it will observe and make a record of my requests and actions.   I'm sure it will remember personal and confidential information.  And I won't know who else is accessing that data and information.   This is one reason I won't buy new cars that have extensive software or subscription services.   I'm sure every bit of data is being used by the manufacturer or provider.

The Roomba has no personality or human characteristics.  It doesn't interact with me.  Roomba just does it job when I press a button since I don't schedule it to clean.  And it's easy to maintain.  I order a new battery every 2 years and replace some parts periodically.   No relationship expected.

Similarly, our dishwasher and washing machine are able to modify how they clean by detecting levels of "dirt."   Otherwise, it just does it's job and doesn't require personal interaction from me other than adding detergent, choosing a cycle and pressing a button.

It will be interesting to see where the robot design ends up in a few years.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I Was Lucky, Not Brilliant

Well, most of my buy the dip stocks have advanced in the past couple weeks, with a couple returning about 25% so far.   At first, the stocks either went down further or bounce up and down significantly.  I was concerned that they would drop much further.  However, it now appears that I was just early since it looks like most have bottomed a couple weeks after I purchased them.  I clearly was lucky, especially since war with Iran happened, which typically causes stocks to fall.

During that time, I went through several bouts of excitement, dismay, and anxiety since there was significant volatility in February 2026 followed by the war with Iran.  Was I brilliant?  No way.   I consider myself extremely lucky right now.  I happen to pick the right stocks at the right time, which is very difficult to do.   

I will continue to hold the buy the dip stocks, hoping that all will become positive.  I may scale out of some positions and take profits if they continue to advance.   Otherwise, I may hold for a few months and then sell.

Overall, this has been a good experience so far.  However, I do not plan to buy the dip on this scale again. Too much stress and anxiety for me when depending on luck.

Disclosure:  The stocks I bought on the dip were:  MSFT, TSLA, NOW, CRM, TEAM, ADBE, ACN, NFLX, UNH, and PYPL.  The ETFs I bought on the dip were:  VOO, RSP, MGK, and SCHD.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Routine is Good for Me

Routine is present for kids.  Routine is present when in school. Routine is present when working. There usually is no routine in retirement.   However, routine is good, even in retirement.

The last few years, I have had no scheduled commitments, with the exception of a small social men's tennis league that I manage which plays once a week.  Other than that, I spend some time on the various projects I work on, but there is no sense of urgency.

Lately, I've been doing Cardiac Rehab, which is schedule Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for the next 12 weeks.  I decided to the 8AM session.  This has created routine for me.  I prepare my exercise bag the night before.  I also prepare a small post exercise meal, since I am vegetarian and need to eat every 2 hours. In the morning, I make breakfast for my son before school, and then leave for rehab. Afterwards, I run my errands to grocery, hardware or other stores.   Then I come home and work on the projects, which includes managing our financial investments.

Previously, I would spend most of the day in the house, working on different house projects, checking on investments, but without any well defined endpoints.  With the new routine, I feel I need to meet deadlines, or else fall way behind.

The good news is that routine is keeping me energized to complete project and advance our financial situation.   I used to think having lots of free time would be great.  Now I feel having a schedule with endpoints is much better.   Who knew having a routine and schedule would help create better sense of purpose in retirement.  

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

This is not financial, planning nor aging advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Simple Template for Wealth Building

I read this on LinkedIn and am passing it on.

Overall, I think this a great framework.  My only input is that I would allocate debt repayment (e.g. student loans) to the 50% needs allocation.

Of course, YMMV.

Credit: Tiras Wealth Managment

Disclosure:  I was not compensated by Tiras Wealth Management for writing this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Removing Friction is a Great Business Strategy

I used think product and pricing were the most important elements for business success.   While I still think product and pricing are important, I now believe making the consumer experience as easy as possible is the most important factor.

Here's one example for the DIYer.   In the past, to fix something, I would take the part to Lowe's or Home Depot, walk around the store, talk to an associate, compare the part to what I have, buy it and bring it home.   It would take me 20 minutes to drive and park, 30-60 minutes in the store, and 30 minutes to return home.   Now I can look 15 minutes online for the part, order it and get it delivered for free in 1-2 days, try the part and only drive back 20 minutes if I got the wrong part.   The process now take 60 to 90 minutes less time.   Home Depot has a 1 year return policy for those that use the Home Depot credit card and Lowe's has a 5% automatic discount for card holders and a 90 day return policy.  Easy peasy.

Here's another example for the Costco shopper.   Costco now has a 30 day price match guarantee.  If I buy it and the price goes down within 30 days, I am refunded the difference.   Costco also has a forever satisfaction guarantee return policy on most items, except electronics and computers, which are 90 days.  Rather than deal with manufacturer warrantees, I let Costco handle by returning items that stop working in the first couple years.   

In both examples, the stores are within few miles of my house and I pass by them when doing other errands.  Thus, no additional travel effort on my part to return items.  

Disclosure:  I was not compensated by Costco, Lowe's nor Home Depot for writing this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Outcome Bias -YMMV

Our brains look for patterns especially patterns that appear to result in success.

We assume that successful outcomes result from taking certain actions or making certain choices based on those who have been successful.  For example, to be a very successful investor, do what Warren Buffet would do would be recommendation based on his success results.  Naturally, people believe that doing what successful people have done will lead to success.

The main fallacy with this logic is that it rarely includes those people that took similar actions and make similar decisions and did not succeed.   What if 99 other people were Warren Buffet like but did not get the same great results or even lost money.  That would imply there is only a 1% chance of success using the Warren Buffet methodology, which is not a high probability.  Another fallacy is that we don't know every one of Warren Buffet's actions or choices on what to do or not do.   One of those missing pieces of information may have been the key to success.  Finally, we don't know how much luck, or factors not in Warren Buffet's control, contributed to his success.

All of these factors suggest that doing what one thinks other successful people have done does not guarantee one will also be successful.  YMMV when using strategies and plans that were previously led to successful outcomes.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Falling More than Ever When Snow Skiing

Since having open heart surgery in 2024 and missing the 24/25 skiing season, I have seen a decline in my snow skiing capability.   This year, I have skied less than normal and have fallen as many times this season than cumulatively over the past 10 years.  Not only have I fallen on the tougher slopes, but I have fallen getting off the lifts and even fell once just standing around.   One time I fell twice during same ski run on a relative short but steep double black slope.

I realize now that I'm starting to experience significant declines in previous capabilities with aging and, in some cases, due to the heart surgery.  I've learned time and aging doesn't wait. My solution is to get out more early and often to do the things I enjoy, before the inevitable decline prevent the ability to do so. 

Oh well... it's off to skiing next week before spring weather comes and before another birthday happens.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Levels of Wealth for Retirement-Age American

I saw this infographic on LinkedIn and though it was worth reposting in my blog.   

Credit: David Vernich on LinkedIn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidvernich/

Disclosure:  I did not receive compensation for reposting this graphic.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

More Volatility with Buy the Dip Stocks

Yesterday I was elated and today not so much as downside volatility creates some emotional stress.   It's been a bit of a roller coaster for the buy the dip stocks. Yesterday, I thought the dip was over.  Today, I'm not so sure.

They were down at the open, recovered a bit buy noon, the down again until 3PM, and then advancing until 3:30 before final dip and V advance at to close at the high of the day.  Whew, that was too much excitement and anxiety for me.  My buy the dip stocks followed the same trend as a group, but did not close at the high of the day.   Unfortunately, several but the dip stocks were down 1-2% due to the wholesale producer prices edging up higher than expected.

I made two purchases today, both index ETFs, RSP and VXUS.   Those index ETFs were both relatively stable today, which is the low volatility I am trying to achieve in the future.

In the meantime, I plan to ride out the volatility on the buy the dip stocks that I have and deciding whether to sell or hold as they become profitable.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Managing Income for Tax Benefits in Retirement

I've learned that income planning is even more important in retirement than when working.  The simple reason is that taxable income may be controllable by the retiree to maximize tax benefits and minimize tax liability.  When working, most of taxable income usually comes from a regular paycheck which limits the options for minimizing tax liability.

 

During my working years, I only had a few options to manage income.  Specifically, whether to make tax deferred contributions to retirement accounts and whether to take capital gains from stocks in taxable accounts.

Now that I'm retired, I no longer have working income.  Instead, I have Social Security, Dividends and Interest, and Capital Gains.   Social Security is tax free below a certain income and up to 85% can be taxed above a certain income.    Dividends and Capital Gains can be tax free depending on adjusted grosss income (AGI).  Several tax credits are phased out above AGI thresholds. Federal tax free interests is now more important keep below AGI thresholds. Also, premiums for Medicare are dependent on one's income. Higher incomes may incur higher premiums.

I didn't expect managing tax benefits would increase in importance in retirement.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Emotional Thrill and Anxiety of Buying Beat Up Stocks

I used to enjoy buying beat up stocks and waiting for them to be profitable.   Not that I was very good at it.  But I was good enough to not lose money too often. And when I did, it wasn't very much.  It was worth the excitement and adrenalin rush when I was younger.

Back then, I had the cushion of a job that covered my living expenses.   If I made a poor choice and the position lost money, it didn't affect my lifestyle which was supported by my paycheck.  Now that I'm retired, I depend on my investments to cover living expenses now and in the future.   Thus, short term losses from poor stock buys create more negative emotions, such as worry, anxiety, and regret, more than when I was younger.

Right now, the stocks portfolio I bought on the dip is up slightly.  I'm feeling good.  However, it took a month worry, anxiety and regret before it changed to excitement.    Not worth it to me to emotionally go down before potentially going up in the end.

At this point, I plan to retire from large scale buying the dip in the future.  I may buy the dip for the company from which I retired, or a couple other select stocks, but no more that 5 or maybe 10. That way I can avoid the emotional downside I felt this time, even though it appears that it has worked out for now.  

If I do make a major buy the dip purchase in the future, I will be buying index mutual funds or index ETFs for the S&P 500 or the total market.

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

Learn to Cook

When I was growing up, we ate virtually all of our meals at home.  My mom was a SAHM and made us breakfast (before school), lunch (I packed until high school) and dinner.   Eating out, even out McDonald's, was rare and was considered a special treat.

I learned to cook while still in high school.   I was on a meal plan while attending college.  When I started working, I ate lunch in the company cafeteria, but mostly cooked my own meals for breakfast and dinner.  Back then groceries were much cheaper than eating out. Also,  I shopped the sales and used coupons.

Cooking my meals and not eating out as often enabled me to save more money in my early working years.  My spouse and I still cook and eat most of meals at home.  We do it mainly for health reasons nowadays and not to save money, since health groceries are expensive.

My kids have or are learning to cook.  This will be a great skill to have as they get older.

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

This is not financial, saving nor adulting advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Patience Pays Off on Buying The Dip

I recently bought the dip on mainly software stocks in early February 2026.   After I started buying, the stocks kept dipping, resulting in many of my purchases going negative.   This was disappointing.   It is now the end of February and most of the stocks are recovering, with one, HUBS,  even going positive for every purchase.

It appears that patience has paid off, at this point.   I thought many of these stocks were oversold  (down 50-80%) on the threat of AI, which I think is being overestimated for decimating many jobs and businesses.

I will scale out of some shares and hold some shares for bigger gains, in the hope that these stocks will continue to recover instead of reversing and dipping again.  My worst buy the dip stock was TEAM, which dipped over 25% from when I started buying despite already being down about 60%.  ACN is the second worst.

Disclosure:  The stocks I bought on the dip were:  MSFT, TSLA, NOW, CRM, TEAM, ADBE, ACN, NFLX, UNH, and PYPL.  The ETFs I bought on the dip were:  VOO, RSP, MGK, and SCHD.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Buying Individual Stocks on the Dip is Gambling for Me

Last week,  I reviewed the buying the dip stocks for how much they could add to our funds.   Turns out not much.  I only buy a few shares since I'm just betting on a rebound to make a few dollars.  I am hesitant to hold for very long due to volatility and sell for quick gains of 5-15%.   A few shares times a few dollars doesn't amount to much of an increase.   I enjoy the fun and excitement of the gain, but it really doesn't grow our investments much.

Looking back,  the big gains have come from large investments in a diversified portfolio, my company's stock, or a lucky buy and hold tech stock such as Alphabet.  Not from buying multiple stocks on the dip.

Over time, I've ended up positive on my buy the dip stocks, but not by much. 

Lesson learned.  It's fun to buy the dip, guess right and collect the winnings.  But it's not a sustainable investment strategy for me.  For the long run, I would have done better investing in a total market index, holding and collecting the gains many years later.  Not as much fun, but much better results.

I'm definitely putting my kids' accounts in market index funds for their future.   

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

New York Times Front Page Test

Here's one way to judge whether to do something or not.   If one wouldn't want the the activity, written document, or action to be published on the front page of the New York Times, then don't do it.  If publishing it wouldn't bother one, then it's OK to do.

I like this criteria.  It's easy to understand and easy to use.  

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Stock Picking Advisors Hate This One Simple Trick

Invest in the S&P 500 or the Russell 1000 and hodl.

Found this chart on LinkedIn.  Makes a good case for investing in the S&P500 or Russell 1000 Index.  Unless one is good enough to consistently identify the winning individual stocks, which I am not.

Bottom Line:  Start early, contribute regularly, invest in a broad market index and hodl.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

AI Plan to Access More Personal Data

Open AI and Grok are now advertising that they will do AI analysis of one's health records for free.   ROFLMAO.    It's likely that Open AI and Grok is providing this "service"  to get one's personal data for free to use for AI learning.   Maybe I'm cynical, but I tend to err on the side of caution.

First, I'm not a fan of corporations having my personal data, especially if it's privacy related.   Second, I'm not a fan of corporations making money of my information, without any compensation.    Even if there was compensation, I would not provide my data.

Of course, there is data that I cannot avoid being used by corporations.  For example, I use a loyalty card with my grocery store, for discounts and special sales.  I know that Amazon tracks my purchases and likely uses or sells that information.  However, I do not use social media such as Facebook, Instagram or other similar products. Hopefully, this will make my personal data less accessible.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Prediction Markets

Prediction markets started as a methodology to aggregate numerous opinions to assess the probability of an outcome.  Prediction markets then evolved into a form of entertainment.  Lately, it has become a source of winning funds based on correctly choosing future outcomes by individuals.  Examples include: Who will win an election: and Will a certain action be taken.

Prediction markets have adeptly avoided being regulated by states as gambling nor the SEC as investments. Cleverly, the prediction markets are neither for now.

IMHO, prediction markets appear to be also a form of gambling.   Participants are "betting" on the outcome of an event and are compensated if they choose correctly.  Participants can also "bet" on the future value of an item, which makes it close to "investing" in options.

Given the easy online access and lack of regulation, it seems prediction markets can become a source of financial issues for some people.  Personally, I am staying away from playing in prediction markets and just periodically follow people's opinion on different issues.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Towel Warmer Gift

One year, my spouse gave me a towel warmer to use at the hot tub on cold days.  I would put my bathrobe in it on cold days when I was using the hot tub.   I tried it for one fall to winter season.   It was nice to have a warm bathrobe.  However, it took too much effort carry the towel warmer out on the deck and bring it back in every time I used it.  I stopped using.

After a few months, my spouse commented that I should give it away.  I hate giving away things that we have recently bought and not used.  I decided to use the towel warmer for my showers, instead of with the use of the hot tub.   It has been great.  I have enjoyed getting out the shower and into a warm towel.

Using the towel warmer requires a little more advance planning for my shower.  Sometime before the shower, I need to put a towel in the warmer.  Then, I need to wait about 10 minutes before taking my shower, since I take quick showers that don't last enough to sufficiently warm the towel.

At this point, we're keeping the towel warmer since I use it almost every time when I shower.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Roth Conversion or Not

I've been doing a lot of thinking about how to deal my retirement accounts and future RMDs.  I had considered doing Roth conversions again, which I have done in the past.   For me, it seems like a no brainer to do a Roth conversion while in the 12% tax bracket.  Lately, I've been considering doing Roth conversions even in the 22-24% tax bracket.  However, I am leaning towards not executing a Roth conversion at the higher tax bracket.

Here's my thinking:

• It doesn't change the amount of money I will ultimately get. Doing a Roth conversion now at 22% tax bracket or keeping funds in traditional IRA and withdrawing later at 22% tax bracket give me the same amount of after tax money in the future, even though no taxes on Roth and federal taxes on traditional IRA.  
• It may affect the taxes my heirs need to pay.   Inherited IRAs need to be withdrawn within 10 years.  However, the amount withdrawn may or may not put them above the 22% tax bracket and unlikely to put them over the 24% tax bracket.   Both my kids are younger, not even graduated from college yet.  I expect the inherited traditional IRA withdrawals keep them in the 22% bracket and may put them barely into the 24% tax bracket if they are single.   It is highly unlikely to put them above the 24% tax bracket even if they are single.  Net it likely be a wash whether I pay the taxes now or the heir pay them later.
• Doing a Roth conversion mainly will give my heirs flexibility not to manage how much is withdrawn each year, since no taxes are paid.    With an inherited traditional IRA, they will need to do more advanced tax planning.

Based on my current situation, I believe my traditional IRA amount is low enough not to create a tax bomb for my heirs.  Therefore, I will only do further Roth conversions if I'm in the 12% tax bracket.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Muni Bond Funds Pay Based on Accrual, Not 100% on Ex Date

I've been buying municipal bonds funds for the federal tax exempt interest payments.  On January 25-28, 2025, I bought some T Rowe Price municipal bond funds,  PRIHX, PRFHX and PRTAX.  Since this was before the ex-dividend date of January 31, I expected to get the full month's interest payment.  That's what happens with stocks purchased before the ex-dividend date.

When I checked on Friday, January 30, 2026, the date of the ex-dividend, I only received 1/10 or less of the expected dividend.  I called the brokerages, and they gave a couple of explanations/recommendations.  First, wait until until Monday.  Sometimes, it takes an overnight adjustment to correct the issue.  Second, one brokerage said several people had the issue and it was being corrected.   I also called T Rowe Price.  They said that the dividend had not been posted on their website yet and therefore, I should wait.

On Monday, February 2, 2025, there was no change and I call Schwab back for more assistance.  The agent put me on hold and consulted with the mutual fund specialists.   After a few minute, he explained that the bond mutual funds paid dividends on a accrual basis, i.e. a prorated amount based on how long I owned it.   Hmm...  I didn't know that.   I called T Rowe Price and confirmed.

After further investigation, I learned many bond funds use the accrual method to pay monthly dividends. 

Disclosure:  I was not compensated by T Rowe Price  nor Schwab 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 mutual fund investing advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Recession Indicator - 10-year vs 3-month Spread

The 10-year vs 3-month treasury spread just turned positive, which may indicate an upcoming recession according to this Motley Fool article.

This signal triggered before the last 4 recessions. It just happened again.

Here's the graph from article:

For the past four recessions, the 10-year/3-month yield spread turned positive just before a recession officially started.

That spread just recently flipped from negative to positive again, which historically has meant a recession occurring within the next year.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Forbes Article on Private Equity

By the time alternative investment options used by institutions and high net worth individuals are made available to main street investors like myself, I suspect that the opportunities are not as good or more risky.

Below is a Forbes article on why Private Equity may not be a great opportunity now and reflects the concern I have.   

Private Equity is Suddenly Awash with Zombie Firms

Yeah, I plan to still stay away from Private Equity and Private Credit.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Reframe RMDs as Our Pension

I've been reading about concerns with managing RMDs (Required Minimum Distributions) in the future.  RMDs are requirements by the IRS to withdraw a certain amount from IRAs, 401Ks and similar retirement accounts.   The main concern is the significant increase in taxable income versus if the retiree was not required to withdrawal the funds.

I understand the tax implications.   However, I decide to reframe the RMDs as a pension payment instead of an involuntary withdrawal.  If I think of an RMD as another pension payment, I don't worry about the payment causing an increase in taxes.  It's just a fact of life.  More income equals more taxes.   

This is especially true for IRA/401Ks that are less than $1 million since the RMD is about $38,000 per million at 73.   Most people probably will have less than $1 million in their IRA/401K.   If I had over $2 million in an IRA/401K, I'd start worrying and considering whether Roth conversions or other strategies to reduce taxes should be used.

This reframing ignore the impact of inherited IRA/401Ks on the beneficiaries, but that is a topic for another post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Third Time Procedure for Heart Condition

Happy Valentine's Day.

Last month, I had my third procedure on my heart.  

The first one was after failing a treadmill stress test despite have no symptoms, such as shortness for breath or heart pain.    The procedure put 4 stents in the three major arteries about 13 years ago.  I became a vegetarian and followed the  Esselstyn/Ornish no added oil diet. Even with this strict diet, my LAD heart artery re-clogged to 90% or higher in several places.

About a year ago, I failed a second treadmill test despite having no symptoms again.  The recommendation and decision was to do a coronary bypass arterial graft (CABG) with the left interior mammary artery (LIMA) since the LAD appeared to be severe blocked.  Essentially, it's taken the artery going to the left chest muscle and rerouting it to the LAD.   Very low failure rate for this CABG since the LIMA, for some unknown reason almost never clogs up with plaque. 

Well, mine failed.  Turned out the LAD is clogged so badly, the LIMA wasn't getting enough blood to the heart. In fact, for the first time ever, I experience some some angina symptoms. So the decision was made to attempt cleaning out the blockages and restenting.   Since doing this, I still feel about the same.  I will be doing cardiac rehab for a few months.  This time,  I will push it a little harder to determine if the procedure has solve the issue.

Either way, I will assume this procedure will last 5-10 years.  I will work with my cardiologist to monitor it more frequently that once every 10 years.  I will also be less strict on my diet going forward, as long as I can maintain my current weight. 

Finally, I think I may start flying first class for our trips in the future.😎  

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Value of Bitcoin to Me and My Retirement

There are lots of pundits that rave about Bitcoin as a great investment and a storage of value, versus fiat currency such as the U.S. Dollar..  There are even companies, such as Strategy (MSTR), that buy bitcoin as their primary operation.  Financial advisors have started recommending putting a percentage of one's saving into bitcoin. 

I guess I'm not convinced.  I did buy one share of GBTC, a bitcoin trust, a couple years ago and sold it for profit.  Other than that, I have not taken much interest in owning or investing in bitcoin.   I don't get how it has any value.  So bitcoin is worth nothing, nada, zero to me.  I've been called "old school" for that perspective.

Even if I could justify bitcoin having value, it is way too volatile for me to consider as a worthwhile investment for retirement.  I prefer currency that has some stability, even if it is the fiat dollar.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Cars Broken Into at College

My daughter uses one of our cars at college.  She parks in a secure garage by her apartment.  Unfortunately, due to freezing the temperatures, the gate at the entrance has been kept open. Yesterday, she received an email that some cars were broken into the previous night.   The perpetrators smashed the passenger side windows to get into the car.

She was worried and  called me as she was going to inspect her car.  The car is fully insured against vandalism, but it's still takes time and effort to work with insurance companies and get the car repaired.  Maybe a week of losing use of the car and she needed for a trip home soon.

Fortunately, her car was not damaged, probably because she does not leave anything of value in view on the seats.  Just bags from take out food runs.   Also, the vehicle is 22 years old and most break ins were on newer vehicles.

She was lucky.  Some of the other residents at the apartment were not.  Unfortunately, the video surveillance cameras did not get good pictures of the perpretators.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Private Placement Investment Opportunities for Regular Investors

Options such as Private Equity and Private Credit have only be available to institutions and high net worth accredited investors and not been offered to investors like myself... until recently.    The lure of Private Equity and Private Credit as always been higher returns, which are sometimes significantly higher, than available in traditional investments and bonds.   The tradeoffs are a minimum investment amount  and a lockup period. Now, registered investment advisor (RIA) firms are offering small "slices" to their clients at lower minimum investment amounts.

I have been offered both through my brokerage accounts.  For due diligence, I asked for the prospectuses.  They were an inch thick and up to 800 pages.  The prospectuses described the multiple investments in each offering and the expected returns.  It described the lockup period, periodic withdrawals/distributions and if future contribution were expected.   A significant part of the prospectus was focused on risks of loss.    

Overall, I decided the additional returns was not worth the loss of flexibility to access funds and the additional risk.  I've decided to pass on Private Equity and Private Credit at this time.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Buy and Forget Stocks - Robert Kirby

It's better to buy and hold a diversified stock portfolio than to constantly trade.   Some stocks will go down, some stocks will go up and a few will go up a lot. In my case, I tend to sell winners too soon, e.g. Apple, Amazon and Google which I owned early on, and hold the losers for a decade or more. 

 Here's the same anecdote from two different sources.   

Invest and forget? The fascinating story behind coffee can portfolio from upstox.com

The coffee can story

The woman's financial affairs were handled by her husband, a lawyer. He was also her primary contact with Kirby’s firm.

Kirby worked with the woman for around 10 years, after which her husband suddenly died. She inherited his estate and securities and wanted to add the latter to her portfolio.

When Kirby analysed the list of assets left by the man, he was “amused” and even “shocked”.

The woman’s husband had passed away with an odd-looking portfolio of many small and large holdings. Several small investments in his portfolio were valued below $2,000. There were also many large holdings valued over $100,000.

However, one of his investments stood out. The man had shares of Haloid (which later became Xerox) worth $800,000. And this single investment was larger than the entire portfolio of his wife.

So, how did the man secretly amass such a big portfolio?

Kirby found the man was secretly piggybacking on recommendations for his wife's portfolio but with a twist of his own.

Every time Kirby gave a buy recommendation for the woman, her husband purchased shares worth $5,000 but never paid attention to the sell calls. After every purchase, the man tossed the share certificates in a safe deposit box and forgot it.

The Coffee Can Portfolio from the Stingyinvestor.com

"I had worked with the client for about ten years, when her husband suddenly died. She inherited his estate and called us to say that she would be adding his securities to the portfolio under our management. When we received the list of assets, I was amused to find that he had secretly been piggy-backing our recommendations for his wife's portfolio. Then, when I looked at the total value of the estate, I was also shocked. The husband had applied a small twist of his own to our advice: He paid no attention whatsoever to the sale recommendations. He simply put about $5,000 in every purchase recommendation. Then he would toss the certificate in his safe-deposit box and forget it.

Needless to say, he had an odd-looking portfolio. He owned a number of small holdings with values of less than $2,000. He had several large holdings with values in excess of $100,000. There was one jumbo holding worth over $800,000 that exceeded the total value of his wife's portfolio and came from a small commitment in a company called Haloid; this later turned out to be a zillion shares of Xerox."

It's too hard to know which individual stocks will be a longer term winner. I've owned AAPL, GOOGL, and AMZN but sold for relative small gains of 10-20%.  I've also owned SFIX and didn't sell at 500% and now am down 80%. That's why I'm switching to holding index ETFs which own a basket of stocks and continuously cull out the losers and keep the winners.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC