Hunting for Coupons and Sales

I've always been a coupon and sales hound, and I continue to be one in retirement.  Coupons for free items, with no purchase necessary, are one my favorites.   These are usually grocery store coupons for grocery stores within 2 miles of my house.  Then, there are coupons that give you another product with a purchase.  Recently, I got a $16.99 ratchet adapter set for free with a purchase, and I needed it.  Of course, there always the BOGO, buy one get one, free coupons.  My favorite coupon retailer is Costco.  Coupon are automatically applied at checkout for significant savings.

Then there are the holiday sales:  President's day, Spring Black Friday, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Black Friday, yada, yada, yada.  Luckily, when we need a major kitchen appliance, it was during on of these holiday sales.  Recently, I bought an oscillating tool package for about 50% off the individual components.  One of my routine favorites is buying my anti virus software during black Friday.  The normal price is $80 and I can buy for $20.   Since the activation key never expires, I buy a couple and install them as needed.

Is it worth my time to find the coupons and sales?  Do I really save enough money to justify the effort?  Probably not, but I find the effort fun and entertaining, even though my family feels it's too much effort.  But then again, I may score big when we get a new car, since our cars are 14, 23 and 24 years old.

Disclosure: No compensation was received from Costco for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Less Need to Turn Off the Lights

When I was a kid, I was always instructed to turn off the lights when not using, and reminded when I didn't turn out the lights.  The rationale was electricity costs money and leaving lights on when not needed wasted electricity. True, especially with incandescent lights, which give off significant heat also.

With LED lights, the amount of electricity used for the same amount of light is 75-85% less.   While electricity is still wasted when left on, it is much lower than when I was growing up.   Still an issue, but much less than with incandescent light bulbs.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Free is a Good Price

I like free stuff.  Especially, if it's something I use frequently or need.

• My tennis club allows family members  or junior members (17 and under) to use indoor tennis courts for free, if they "walk on" a few minutes before and don't make a reservation.  I do walkon with my son 2 times a week, which saves 50-75 dollars a week if I reserve and pay the hourly charge.  We live 5 minutes away from our tennis club.   This more than covers the cost of our membership fee, which includes swimming during the summer.
• My grocery and hardware store occasionally offer coupons for free items to membership customers.  Sometimes awesome products, sometimes minor products but free.   My grocery free items are usually 1-2 dollars and no other purchase is required.  My first free hardware item was $16.99 and it was useful.
• My neighbor and I routinely share tools and help each other with DIY repairs.   I admit, he gives much more than me, but we consider it fair.  My best story about him:  I inherited a snow blower from my in-laws which hadn't been used for 5 years and the gas had not been drained.  As a result, it wouldn't start.  I moseyed over to his garage to borrow some carburetor cleaner.  Instead, he decided to take apart the carburetor, clean it and reassemble it.  It started after he did that.
• My broker financial advisors did a free analysis on when I should start taking Social Security payments.  Two different brokers recommended the same:  take as soon as possible. 
• The tax preparation company I worked in would offer free tax planning advice throughout the year to every client who had paid to do the previous year's taxes.  Despite being free, clients never took my offer and didn't contact the company off season.

OK, some may point out that these aren't really free.  After all, I have already paid a club membership fee, bought some product, or contracted for a service.  I'm just getting extra product or service in addition to what I already purchased.  Fair point, but I still feel like I get it for free because it would be an out of pocket cost if I did it elsewhere.  Feel free to convince me otherwise.

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

Bond Values Drop when Interest Rates Rise

Most of my account values are falling due to interest rates rising.  That's because bond/CD values go down when interest rates go up.  Similarly, bond/CD values go up when interest rates fall.

I'm not worried about bond/CD values going down since my plan is to hold to maturity, which means I receive 100% of par value, which is usually the issue price. While waiting for maturity, I am paid a 4-5% total annual payment for holding the bond/cd, no matter what the interest rate is.   The bond/CD payment is what is really important to me, and it will be consistent no matter what the interest rate is.   

That is my strategy for retirement income at this time so that I can be stock market volatility agnostic.  This will be one of the first tests on the strategy.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

No Believable TACO, Stocks Fall

The stock market has become accustomed to President Trumps TACOs, on Tuesday no less.   This time he tried to TACO pre-Tuesday, but the UAE has denied requesting a delay.   

Lately, the runups from TACOs have lasted for shorter times.  This runup barely lasted Tuesday morning before collapsing.

Buying expecting a TACO works until it doesn't.  Maybe that is now...

We'll see at EOD whether a weak TACO works.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Holding Off Buying More Fixed Income for Now

Arrrgh!  Interest rates are going up.  Recently, I've been buying 20 year Treasuries which are yielding 5%.   I've been scaling in just in case interest rise.

I'm going to stop buying the 20 year Treasury for now and wait for interest rates to be close to 5.5% before resuming.  I will also stop buying municipal bond funds at this time due to interest rates rising.

However, this will be a good test of my current strategy of creating a retirement paycheck and being agnostic to stock market and interest rate volatility.  We'll see how the strategy weathers this event.

Of course, it works until it doesn't and YMMV.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I've Been A Stock Market Scaredy-Cat

In the past, with every market pump, I've been scared to get in.  When the market finally dips, I've been scared to get in.  I expect that the Great Recession/Depression type bear market is going to happen.

As a result, I've never been fully invested in equities.

I still think that there will be an inevitable bear market.  The stock market can't keep going up forever, even with President Trump continuous encouragement and TACOs.  However, I have developed an investment strategy that will help me weather a bear market and keep my kids fully invested for the long term.

For now, I believe that March 31, 2026 is the bottom from which this rally has started. Although, I bought the dip prior to March 31, I'm going to hodl there is a clear top, which sometimes is hard to define.   In the meantime, I'm buying bonds and bond funds to create regular income, which should enable us to survive the stock volatility downward should it occur suddenly.

I still don't see a clear top yet.   So, I'm hodling at this time.

On the other hand, I'm having them make monthly investments into the S&P 500 Index in their Roth accounts, when they qualify for them, and continue to do so for 40 years.   For their 529 plan, they are invested mostly in CDs since they need the money in few years.  However, we're putting new 529 contributions into an S&P 500 Indext.

We shall see if this cures me from being a Scaredy-Cat.  Of course, this works until it doesn't and YMMV.  

For more on Strategies and Plans Ideas, 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

United Explorer Visa Card Bonus Rewards

All our credit cards earn points or cash back.  I try to use the card that benefit us the most.   Sometime this involves managing which card to use since some card offer bonus rewards periodically.

I have a United Explorer Visa card that I rarely use.  I originally got the card because we were flying United and it enabled us to check two bags for free.  In addition, I received two passes to their lounge, which we did use.  Also, I just found out I can use United points to pay the annual card fee.

However, I don't use the United Explorer card much except when they have occasional points bonus reward of 1000 point when spending $500 and and additional bonus of 1500 points if done in all three bonus months.  Recently though, the United Explorer increased the number of ways to get bonus rewards.

• $100 flight credit for spending $10000 in a calendar year.
• 6000 bonus miles for spending $7000 in a specified 4 month period.

Right now the bonus mile programs overlap in timing which means the same spending can apply to both bonuses.

For us, this is not additional spending.  It's just a choice of which card to use for rewards, since we use credit cards for almost everything, groceries, entertainment, travel, online purchase, etc, except if there is a added charge for using a credit card.

I estimate all the bonus miles will get me close to one economy round trip flight on United for one person.

Disclosure: No compensation from United or Visa was received for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Still Hodling "Buy the Dip Stocks" for Now

Volatility makes it challenging to hodl buy the dip stocks.  When a very profitable stock dips 20, 30 or 50%, my instinct is to sell and keep some profit. Or if it drops right after I buy, I tend to sell once it recovers to a small gain.  As a result, I sold AAPL that I bought in 1990 right before the Desert Storm drop, sold AMZN in 2009 after the Great Recession drop, and sold GOOGL during the Great Recession drop.   These shares would now be worth mult-millions, even though I invested only a few thousand in each.  My problem is not having enough conviction to keep the position.

Unfortunately, I tend to hodl stocks that drop and never recover.  LOL.

However, at this time I have a bit of conviction for the "buy the dip" stocks  I am hodling:

• I believe the negative impact of AI on SAAS software stocks is overblown.  I think companies will learn that the effort to use AI instead of Customer Relationship Software programs will be more effort than paying for the service.   For example, people can do a tax return on their own on a spreadsheet, which I do, instead of purchasing Tax Prep software, but very few people do that.
•  I believe the input stocks, such as memory and chips, to AI infrastructure will continue to do well in the near term.  

On the other hand, I'm sure this will be like the railroad, car companies and airlines when the first started.  There will be many AI based companies, more than are economically sustainable.   It is not clear to me right now which ones will survive.  So I am sticking with the two big names, GOOGL/GOOG and MSFT.

My spouse has been hodling GOOGL and GOOG since 2015.  I tried to convince her to sell some at $150, $200, and $300.   Each time she declined.  Her GOOG and GOOGL stock are up 19X since 2015.

My final conviction is not stock related.  I firmly believe President Trump will frequently TACO to support the stock market advance continuing until the midterm elections in 2026.  TACO works until it doesn't.  We shall see.

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

Patience, Young Grasshopper

"Patience, young grasshopper." ~ Master Po 

This was the advice given to his student Kwai Chang Caine to develop patience, maturity, wisdom in the 1970s TV series Kung Fu.  

One can also apply this concept to investing.  Building wealth takes time.  The first decade or two seemed excruciatingly slow to us.  Significant investment gains take years not months or days in come cases.  Buy and holding works best for most people.

However, with the advent of the online trading, no trading fees, and short dated options, people are expecting faster, almost immediate big returns.  Instant gratification.

I admit, I have fallen into the instant gratification trap at times.  Recently, I expected my "buy the dip" stocks to immediately rebound.   A few did, the the rest are still rebounding.  

Yes, for these "buy the dip stocks," it's time for patience, young grasshopper.😎

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Impressed with Oscillating Multi-Tool

I acquired most my tools in my 20s and 30s.   I added a few in my 40s and have been set since then.  Or so I thought.

Recently,  we purchased a TV/Entertainment stand.  I needed to cut out part of the back panels to fit in our CD player, which was slightly deeper than the entertainment stand. I thought about how I would do it with my corded tools, such as a drill and jigsaw.  It was a tight fit, which was made more difficult with a electric cord.   Also, it would be tough to cut straight lines.

My neighbor let me a corded oscillating tool for casts, after I discussed the idea of using a reciprocating saw.  He thought the panel might be too thin and vibrate too much with a reciprocating saw.   Then, after explaining what I wanted to do, the furniture company lent me a battery operated oscillating multi-tool to use for cutting out the back panel.  I used it to easily cut out the 95% pre-cut panels in the back.   To do the big cut out, I bought a half moon blade that would cut flush to the bottom.  On benefit of the half moon blade was it allowed easy cutting of straight lines.

I was impressed and decided to shop for the tool.  Luckily for me, there were several DEWALT multi-tool packages on sale for about 1/2 off at several home improvement stores. I decided to buy one and add it to my collection of useful do-it-yourself tools.

Disclosure:  No compensation was received from DEWALT for this post.

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

This is not financial, do-it-yourself, nor tool advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Buying 20 year Treasuries Yielding 5%

Historically, 5% has been a good yield to get on a CD or Treasury bond.  I've decided to lock in that return for 20 years with some of my fixed income funds.  When I started working my goal was to save a million dollars and earn 5% interest to yield $50,000 per year.   That would have been about 2-1/2 times my starting salary. 

Of course, critics will note that I wasn't accounting for inflation and increased lifestyle amenities back then.   However, in my experience, 5% has been on the higher end, but not the highest, of interest rates.  So, I've decided to lock in 5% for 20 years for a portion of our investments in fixed income.   If interest rates go up, I can invest some more at higher rates.  If interest rates go down, I already will get 5% for up to 20 years.   Since it is uncertain which way rates will go, getting 5% long term seems like a win-win for me.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Hopium Stonks

I'm hodling a few stocks that are underwater and have been pretty flat or going down for a while.  However, some of them are now showing some life.  I plan to continue to hodl and hope for a significant gain when the market advances.   This time, I won't be selling as I just break even or am up 15%.    I'm hoping for big gains.

Below are the stocks I own and am hoping for big gains.  Do your own due diligence.

• Blackberry (BB) -  Was a meme stock in 2021.  I bought on the way down and it stayed down until 2025 and then dipped again.  Has been rising in 2026.   I own one $10 strike call option expiring in January 2027.  Current price; $6.08.
• Nokia (NOK) - It has doubled in the past year.  I owned options in 2025 and sold for a profit. Was a meme stock at one time.  Hoping that it doubles from here.
• Sellas Life Sciences (SLS) -  Read about it in Wall Street Bets sub reddit in January 2026. It's a biotech stock with a cancer drug for leukemia.  Bought in after it was already up 100%.  I'm up about 50%.  My call option is up about 130%.  I'm hoping for a 500% return.
• I'm hodling some marijuana stocks (SNDL, TLRY) , EV related stocks ( EVGO, SLDP) and other biotech stocks (GALT, PACB, GERN).   I'm hoping President Trump will pivot to these stocks in an attempt to attract voters who normally wouldn't vote for him.   Definitely, hopium stocks.

These are all longshots for me.  Some have been longshots for over a decade.  TBH, there is only a small chance of winning big.  However, this has been a crazy market so far.  Maybe some luck will come my way.

Disclosure:  I own all the stocks and options mentioned in this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

2025 Federal Tax Refund in the Bank

I filed our 2025 tax return by mail around April 2, 2025.   I'm old fashioned.  I still do my taxes by hand, with the help of a spreadsheet, do the PDF fill in forms (an upgrade from writing in by hand before 2024), and mailing it in via snail mail.  

I recall in the past, the IRS would show that it was received relatively fast, but take a while to process it and send a refund.  This year, I checked after 2, 3 and 4 weeks and there was no acknowledgement of receiving our tax return.   However, in week 5, Where's My Refund showed in had been received and surprise, 2 days later, it had been processed and the refund was issued via ACH.

E-file returns are acknowledged after with 24 hours of filing and I guessing refund are issued within a few days.  First, it e-file, I need to purchase a tax prep software, which I'm too cheap to do.  Second, I prefer using a spreadsheet since I can easily see the internal changes caused by different inputs, instead of just seeing the final answer.

My state already allows direct e-filing on their website, which I used to input the numbers from my spreadsheet.  The refund was received in about 2 weeks.  I wish the Federal government would use a similar free system for e-filing.

Anyway, due to the OBBB bill tax changes, our refund was Yuge since I didn't adjust our withholding until October, which resulted in overpaying our Federal taxes for 2025 by a lot.  For 2026, I have adjusted our withholding to match the expected amount of our 2026 Federal income tax.  Hopefully, that will keep our refund closer to zero for 2026.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

A Reason for the Memory Stock Rout Yesterday

Last night, I found this article SanDisk, Micron stocks plummet as Korea shockwave batters the great memory boom which gives a reason for the sharp decline in memory stocks yesterday.  If this is main or only reason, I expect that memory stocks will be up sharply today.

We'll see if my assessment is correct later today.  If yes, buying MU on discount yesterday was the right move.  It would be great to get a 10% or more advance today.

Disclosure:  I own MU in our accounts, which I purchased Monday and yesterday.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

MU and STX Buys - Arrrggh!

It wasn't such a good idea to buy MU and STX yesterday.   After going up immediately yesterday, both have declines significantly, up to 10%, by 1PM today.  Volatility cuts both ways, on the way up, and now on the way down.

At this point, I only have a few shares and can afford to hodl through this volatility.  I expect there were a number of stop orders that were crashed through this morning.  Hopefully, the action will settle down by end of day or tomorrow...hopefully.

• Edit 1:  After dropping as much at 11%, MU has rebounded and is only down 6% at 2:22PM.
• Edit 2:  What a roller coaster ride.  From yesterday's close of $795 down to a $706 low and back up to close at $767.  I bought MU today on the way down at $750, $745 and $728.  All three buys closed green. Woohoo!
• Edit 3:  I found this article SanDisk, Micron stocks plummet as Korea shockwave batters the great memory boom about the reason memory chips dropped precipitously today. 

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

TACO Tuesday or NACHO Tuesday?

Hey, it's Tuesday which means TACO, or maybe now NACHO (Not A Chance Hormuz Opens).  Either way, the stock market will react by going up.   

TACO. Iran war is over for the 13th time.   Stock market goes up.

NACHO.  President Trump, "Strait of Hormuz is open."  Stock market goes up.

                 Iran, " Strait of Hormuz is closed."  Stock market goes up.

Can't make this up.   It works until it doesn't.  YMMV.

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

Feels Like It's 1999

I remember the dot.com bubble.   Stocks would go up 50-100% in a day sometimes.  This went on for months.  Relatives, colleagues and friends would tell me how rich they were getting everyday.   I stayed out of it.   It seemed too good to be true.  Eventually, it was too good to be true when the crash of 2000-2002 happened.

At this point, I'm hodling for now.   I admit, I did buy 2 shares of memory stocks in today's premarket, 1 of MU @ $790.79 and 1 of STX @ 787.87, to ride the rise or decline.  Other than that, I'm avoiding making buys in this market, except of tax loss harvesting.

I was out this morning at the open, when both MU and STX dipped below my purchase prices.  As of 1:20PM, MU was over $800 and STX was $836.  I am hoping both will go over $1000 this week.

 

We'll see how this goes.   

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

Is it "Stonks Only Go Up" time?

Since March 23 bottom, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq composite have been up 6 consecutive weeks.  The Dow was up 5 out of 6 weeks during that time.  The S&P YTD total return is 8.52%. The Nasdaq composite YTD return is 12.8%.   The Dow YTD return is 3.2%. 

These results are after 4 months and would already a great return for a whole year, in the case of the S&P and Nasdaq.  Woohoo! This level of returns is not sustainable longer term, but may continue in the near term for days, weeks or even months.

Is it "Stonks only go up" time?  The answer is "Yes," with the caveat that uncertainty is for how long.  Right now, the market seem irrational, and it will work...until it doesn't, and when it stops working is unpredictable.  In the meantime, I'll enjoy the continued runup, and be prepared for the inevitable correction.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Where did all the Bears go on WSB?

There were very few bearish comments on WSB (WallStreetBets) tonight, which gives me concern that the top may be in or close.   Pretty much euphoria in most of the comments.   It making me a little cautious and reminds me of the sentiment just before the dot.com crash.

Oh well, we see how tomorrow goes.  For now, I continue to hodl.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

New Tennis Champ in our House

This year, my 13 old son starting beating me in tennis.   Not just barely, but crushing me 6-0.    I've started to have him spot me 4 games in a set when we play now.

I have always been a mediocre tennis player, skill wise.  I made up for the deficiency with hustle and scrappiness.  I walked onto our HS tennis team as a sophomore, never having done more than play tennis at 1 week summer camp a few years in elementary school.   I made the team and was slotted at 3rd doubles.

Each week the coach would have a challenge to determine the seeding of the players/doubles teams.  We were always seeded 3rd doubles at the start.   Each week, we won the the challenge and played 1st double in the match.   We were just scrappier and hustled better than other players who had better skills.

Fast forward to my son.   When he was younger, we put him in many sports activities:  soccer, T-ball, flag football, swimming, golf and tennis.  The only one that stuck was tennis, which he has been playing since 6 years old.   He loves tennis.  We enrolled him in summer tennis camp, had him take lessons, and put him in tournaments.   At 13, he is much better than I ever was.  He can even sub in my Men's Doubles League if needed.

At this point, I am encouraging him to enjoy tennis. It's a sport that can be played even when much older.  In high school, he may tryout for the school team.  He may or may not play in college. Pro, probably not. However, he will have a anchor for high school, college and life, which I consider excellent.

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

My Go To Sources for News that Affect My Financial Decisions

CNBC?  Not.  CNN?  Not.    Bloomberg?  Not.

I go to Wallstreetbets on Reddit and my feed on LinkedIn.  Why?   Wallstreetbets posters on the thread What are your moves today, or What are you moves tomorrow. seem to be ahead for news sites by quite a bit.  I read about the shooting at the Correspondents dinner on Wallstreetbets before any of the news sites had articles about it.   One morning, I found out about the missile attacks on U.S. and Iranian ships first on Wallstreetbets.   With almost 20 million members, they seem to keep on top of and post about events that potentially affect financial markets.

LinkedIn members are using posts to promote their business, often taking opposing sides on AI and Investment options.  I get to read both sides and the middle, which offers me the opportunities to see multiple views and make an evaluation myself.

Otherwise, I'm a very low Social Media user.   Never use TikTok, Instagram.   I use YouTube for do-it- yourself repair projects, but never for financial projects.

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

HUBS - Arrrgh!

HUBS (Hubspot) announced good earnings results, IMHO, but disappointed.  The stock is down 23% and has dropped as much as 26%.   This is one of my "buy the dip" software stocks. It was initially the best performer up as much 24%.  Now, it's the worst performer.  Ah, the excitement of volatility.

Fortunately, HUBS is not a large holding and the rest of the account is doing OK.  For now I'm going to hodl HUBS and wait.

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

"I Used to be Young and Poor,

and after working for 40 years, I am no longer ... young." - satircal post from Wall Street Bets.

From what I 've read, that's how many people near or in retirement feel.  Social Security isn't enough.  Retirement savings isn't enough.  Combined, it's still tough to cover all retirement costs, especially growing medical costs and future costs for senior living expenses such as assisted or long term care.

And now, if Congress doesn't act, Social Security benefits will be cut 23-24% across the board in 2033.  Yikes.   That may make some seniors old and poor.

IMHO, to avoid being old and poor, I work with my kids to save as much as they can, up to 20% of their earned income.  Invest the funds in the S&P500 and HODL.  If there is Social Security, consider that a bonus.  If there's an inheritance, that's another bonus.

In our case, our employers had a retirement savings plan but no pension.  We assumed that there would be no Social Security and targeted to save 20X our pre-retirement income before retiring.  In hindsight, 30X would have been better to help during the Great Recession, which occurred immediately after we retired in our 40s.  We did receive Social Security and an inheritance.    

So far it has worked, and we continue to watch and manage our retirement income.  As always, it works until it doesn't.   YMMV.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

5-7% Mortgage Rates are the Historical Norm

Home buyers are complaining that 30 year mortgages are about mid 6% and 15 year mortgages are high 5%.   Many of these home buyers of been spoiled by the super low mortgage rates below 3% during the covid era of 20-21.

Low interest rates had two impacts:

1. It lowered the monthly payment for buyers.  They could afford more house.
2. It caused house prices to increase since buyers could afford higher prices for the same monthly payment.

Now that interest rates are higher, people who have low interest rates have low incentive to buy a new house and have their monthly payment increase significantly.  First time home buyers are locked out the market by both high monthly payments and high house prices created by 20-21 low mortgage rates.

But rates are not that different from historical norms.  Many current buyers and potential buyers weren't in the market in the 80s.  I was.   Back then, mortgage rates hit a high of 17% after being in the normal 4-7% for decades.  I felt fortunate to get a 12% mortgage rate for my first house.   I got my second house after being married at a 5.5% mortgage rate and felt lucky.

IMHO, if it's not mortgage rates, then it must be home price inflation.  If it the issue, it's a much tougher problem to solve for home buyers.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Good Thing I Don't Bet on Earnings

Yesterday, I was checking our accounts.  I noticed FSLY was up 200% from last year.  I decided to HODL instead of sell.   I thought it might benefit from AI like memory chips did.   I didn't want to miss out of tremendous gains like memory stocks have experience.   

Well, FSLY reported earning after hours and fell 22% 28% due disappointing results.  So much for my thesis.  I am still going to HODL.   However, I'm glad I don't buy options in anticipation of good or bad earnings results, since I tend to expect the opposite.

I still lost, but since I own shares, I can be a bag holder for a while longer and hoping my thesis is right in the longer term.

For more on The Practice of Personal Finance, 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

Financial Kryptonite for Building Wealth

For me, here's my Kryptonite that destroys wealth building:

• Living above my means.
• Not paying myself first when earning a paycheck.

IMHO, doing the above leads to debt, which leads to more debt, which is a wealth building death spiral.  In our case, we chose to live below our means and pay ourselves first each month.  Doing so was one factor that helped us have a successful early retirement.

Of course, YMMV and avoiding kryptonite doesn't guarantee success.

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

Self Defense Against Financial Scams

From MSN

4 financial scams targeting seniors to watch for as AI and deepfakes raise the stakes

Below is summary of the headlines.

• Investment Scams: “Guaranteed Returns” Are Often a Trap
• Romance Scams: Emotional Trust Turned Into Financial Theft
• Government Impersonation Scams: When Fear Becomes the Weapon
• Tech Support Scams: The Fake Emergency on Your Screen
• A New Layer of Risk: AI Voice Cloning and Deepfake Family Emergency Scams

In summary of the article, it seems good actions to take are avoid being pressured by urgency, disconnect  when pressured for money, consult with a trusted person, and contact the authorities if needed.

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

Ignored Financial Tasks than Became Important Later

This is what I've noticed based on my own experience.

Here are the financial basics we focused on when younger.  These are many of the financial decisions and tasks needed when the kids are still living with parents.

• Earning money through jobs.
• Focusing on careers
• Increasing earnings
• Paying for the following
• Rent/mortgage, home maintenance, utilities, car payment.
• Necessities such as groceries, clothing, transportation.
• Day care for children.
• Entertainment, eating out, extracurriculars for children.
• Health insurance and medical expenses
• Saving for:
• College
• Retirement
• Home down payment
• Borrowing
• Funding college
• Buying auto
• Home mortgage

Here's are some of the tasks we ignored until later. These are future financial tasks that don't receive much attention until closer to retirement.

• Income calculation during retirement
• Social Security
• Stable and regular income from investment
• Simplifying financial tasks
• Investments - Reduce number of accounts and types of investments
• Credit Card - Reduce number and annual fees
• Higher costs needed to compensate for aging
• Health and long term care premiums
• Residence modifications
• Spending plan based on older lifestyle
• Renovations both minor and major
• Vacations with children's families
• Helping adult children with major costs
• Grandchildren college expenses.
• Creating a Trust or Will
• Choosing someone to handle financial affairs when one is unable to handle on their own.

In some cases, I did some of the financial tasks for older people because I learned about them with my parents, for example Creating a Trust.  Others, I didn't consider until after retirement, for example Social Security.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

From Magnificent 7 to Magnificent 1 in early 2026

These stocks have been named the Magnificent 7 for their being the driver of index gains over the past year:  Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA), and Nvidia (NVDA).

Lately it's been reduced the Magnificent 3:  GOOGL, AAPL and AMZN.

However, realistically it's been a Magnificent 1 in April 2026:  GOOGL which has delivered 23% YTD gains.  None of the other Magnificent 7 are even close.  In fact, some even have negative YTD returns as low as -17%. 👀 at you Tesla.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

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

Best Post Retirement Education I Received

After I retired, I was given a $5000 to use towards post retirement training, which excluded golf lessons.  I chose to use my grant towards the following at a local vocational school and a local community college:

• Plumbing - It was an intro course to be an apprentice plumber.   I learned how to make many simple repairs, such as changing faucet stems, and attempted to learn soldering copper tubes.  I didn't pass the soldering part.  One takeaway that I had was to have a local shutoff valve for all faucets and appliances.  When adding new faucets, I always insist of having a local shutoff valve.  It has be a saving factor when I had a faucet leak that could be isolated by the local shutoff valve instead of using the whole house shutoff.
  
  
• Electrical - This was also an intro course to being an apprentice electrician.  Being taught the basics of wiring fixtures and switches safely was great.  I used this skill many times in our home.  The second best part was getting a list of must have tools to be a DIY electrician.
  
  
• Masonry - My key learning in this one is that I shouldn't attempt any big projects in this area.   I did horribly as laying brick.   My only venture in this area is to occasionally repair damaged mortar. 
  
  
• Real Estate - I though being a real estate agent might be a good part time retirement job.  I took a course at a local community college to learn the material to pass the licensing course.   Although the course material was good, I didn't take the test.  I learned that being a part-time agent requires paying a number of fees to keep the job.   It was a money losing proposition unless I sold at least a couple houses a year.  I decided to pass.
  

In addition, I got some useful free education through one post retirement job.

• Tax Professional -  This was actually a part time job that provided education for employees. While the pay was minimum wage plus commission, the real benefit was the tax education I was able to take at no additional cost.  I achieved the highest level tax advisor at the firm which qualified me to handle most tax returns.   I did this for about 5 years before "retiring."    The education and experience I received has helped me immensely in doing my own tax returns and in deal with the IRS and state tax agencies when necessary.

Overall, I've been able to put my post retirement education towards many DIY projects around the house.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Hodling My "Buy the Dip" Software Stocks

Ouch, ouch!

My "buy the dip" software SAAS stocks are taking a big hit today, anywhere from 7-18% down.   Service Now (NOW) reported earnings yesterday that disappointed.  I'm underwater on all my software "buy the dip" stocks, but I'm not going to panic sell at this point.  I think their devastation by AI is over exaggerated and they will recover, although it may take longer than I expected.  I'm HODLing at this time.

In the past, I would not have been so calm with this level of volatility.  I would have high anxiety.   This time, I waiting out the volatility and not getting worried, for a few reasons.  First, we don't have significant funds invested in these stocks.  Second, our accounts are still producing income for our monthly retirement paycheck.  Third, I still expect these purchases will profitable in the future.

After this round of "buy the dip," I'm going to avoid buying any new stocks on a dip, though I may still trade these stocks.   That way, I limit the number of individual stocks I need to watch, as I sell off these buy the dip stocks for a profit, hopefully.  It's taking more time and effort than I intended to manage these "buy the dip" stock purchases.

If I were in my 20s now, I would primarily invest in mainly total market index funds since I expect these index funds to go up over the longer term.    I wish I had that confidence when I was 20 something, instead of starting to have it now that I'm retired.

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

A Car Feature I Would Rather Not Have

My first car was basic.  Radio, single strap seat belts, manual windows, manual mirrors and cigarette lighter.  No A/C nor airbags. The only amenity was automatic transmission. 

There has been a lot of amenity creep since my first car.  Electric windows, electric mirrors, ABS brakes, cruise control,  air bags, CD players, blue tooth, which we have in our newest 2012 car.   While I don't really "need" some of these, I am willing to have then.   We still don't have GPS nor car cameras.

However, one feature we have that I view as unnecessary, because of the cost to replace when it stops work.  That feature is the pressure monitor for tires.  Recently, the warning light went on for low tire pressure.  I checked all four tires and they were at target pressures.   It turns out the battery for one sensor had gone dead.  Cost to replace at the dealer?   $260 for one or $740 for all four, since all are likely to fail soon also.  Huh?  That's almost the coast of replacing 4 tires with top of the line tires.

In all my years of driving, I only had couple times that a tire pressure sensor would have been helpful.  In one case, I drove a couple miles with a flat tire that occurred at my home.  In another case, I had a flat tire in a parking lot and called AAA to change the time, which took about an hour of wait time. Otherwise, I generally have slow leaks due to a nail and I discovered the issue way before it is flat.   

My only other direct experience with a tire pressure sensor was on a rental car that flashed a warning when we drove to a mountain top in Hawaii.  The cold temperatures caused the tire pressure to go down, but the sensor didn't go off immediately when we got back to sea level.  In this instance, it showed which tires were low.  Quite annoying for a few days since we didn't have easy access to capability to put air in the tire.

If I could eliminate this feature on our next new car purchase, I would.  For reference, I did find a less expensive replacement option: Costco will replace the sensor batteries for about $60 dollars a tire and they don't charge for the initial inspection.

Disclosure: I was not compensated by Costco for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Lotto Option Bets on Possible President Trump Stock Support

Currently, investing based on President Trump's actions and tweets seem to be the norm.   Traditional fundamental and technical analysis don't have much capability for assessing value of individual stocks anymore. It seems vibe investing based on expected President Trump's tweets or TACOs yield good results.

IMHO, President Trump is in tune with what his supporter and non supporters want.  I'm guessing that he will do some executive orders to attract non supporters for the midterms.   Here are two specific areas:

• He may make marijuana a schedule III classification, down from a schedule 1 classification.  This would potential increase the value of marijuana growing companies.
• He my support EV vehicles more,  which would help EV related stocks such as battery and charging station companies.

I own some marijuana growing companies and EV battery companies.   I may buy some call options on this stocks in addition with less than $50 total as a lotto bet..

Disclosure::We own shares of SNDL, TLRY, SLDP, TSLA and EVGO.   We also own January 2027 expiration call options for SNDL and EVGO.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

2026 tax brackets

Now that our 2025 tax returns are filed, I'm getting an early start on our 2026 estimated return.  Below is the article and table that I am referencing for 2026.

What Are Federal Income Tax Rates for 2025 and 2026?

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

If It's Tuesday, There will Be a TACO

President Trump extended the deadline for the Iranian ceasefire, after the market closed. I expect stocks to pop in the pre-market and at the open on Wednesday.

Tomorrow may be volatile.   An opportunity to buy or sell.  I'm planning to hold unless that is a major movement, either way, on one of my positions.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Prepping Snow Blower for Summer Storage

Although we still have frost warnings, I don't expect any more snow storms.  We got good use out of our snow blower, which we inherited from my in-laws.   We had several storms that ranged from a couple inches to a foot on our driveway.

When we inherited the snow blower, it had not be used for 7 years, since my father-in-law had passed way.  It did not start up.  I asked a neighbor whose hobby is restoring cars for some carburetor cleaner.  Instead, he took apart the carburetor, cleaned it and put it back together, without any instructions.  It started up right away.  

Now that Spring is here, it's time to "summerize" the snow blower so that I won't have the problem again and it will easily start up the next winter.   First, I always turn off the fuel and let it run until it stops.  That way no gas is remaining the carburetor which will gunk up when the gas evaporates.  Next, empty all the gas in the in the tank.   That's about all I do.   I change the oil every couple years at the beginning of winter.

This process has worked well since the snow blower starts up every winter right away.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

This is a Bull Market, Not Brilliant Investing by Me

The last three weeks have been great for our investments.  I'm enjoying the market rebound since March 30, 2026.   Our accounts are up nicely and at or near all time highs.  The buy the dip stocks are recovering again.  I'm feeling brilliant again.

However, I am experienced and old enough to know that I am nowhere near brilliant in stock picking.   I'm just lucky and going along for the bull market ride.

Here's what I think is brilliant for my kids:  Buy a market stock index, such as the S&P, and hold for 40 years.   Put $159 per month in the account. Hold through all the ups and down.  Expect to have $1,000,000 dollars after 40 years.

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

My "Investing" Lotto Buy for Tomorrow

Given the uncertainty of the Schrödinger's Strait of Hormuz (which is both open and closed).Ceasefire (maybe, maybe not), my plan for tomorrow, Monday, April 20, 2026 is to buy a few lotto OTM (out of the money)calls, especially if the market dips. 

Why?  The news is bad right now.  And I expect President Trump to tweet his standard, "Everything is going well." post tomorrow sometime tomorrow.  While I don't know the timing, if it happens during the market hours, the calls may print.   

I already have two call options on BB (Blackberry) and SLS (Sellas Life Sciences Group).

Either way, I consider these lotto tickets, which means they will likely expired worthless, like my real lotto tickets.   But at least I get to take a tax deduction with option lotto tickets.

Disclosure:  I current own shares and call option for BB and SLS.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Pill Bottle City on my Bathroom Counter

When my MIL used to visit, she seemed to have at least a dozen different pills that she needed to take daily.  I think the medications were mainly for her heart condition, but I never did ask.  It always amazed me how many pills she needed to take.  She kept the numerous bottles on the dresser top during her stay.

I used to think her amount of prescription pills was a lot.  Back then I only took 2 prescribed medicines, a statin and low dose aspirin.  That was before I had coronary artery bypass surgery and follow-up stents.  Now I have 3 additional prescribed medicines for my heart.  Recently, I also had cataract surgery, which required some short term medication.

The challenge for me is remembering which pills to take when, since some are morning pills and some are evening pills.  To keep track, I've created a system of preparing the next dose pills in advance, so that I'm aware of the proper time to take.

Hopefully, I'll be able to be weened off some heart medication over the next few months as I recover from the most recent surgeries.

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

Will There be FOMO or Profit Taking Next Week?

The  S&P is up about 4.5% this week and 12.3% since the March 30, 2026 low.  This also marks the third week of over 3% gains.  In addition, the S&P has made 53 record highs so far in 2026, versus a yearly average of 18 record highs. Woohoo!

Normally, after three weeks of substantial gains like this, I would expect a pullback as people take profits.   However, these aren't normal times.   I expect the reaction will be also based on Iranians confirming on or denying whether tankers are being freely allowed through the Strait of Hormuz. In addition, any posts, positive or negative, by President Trump or Iran over the weekend will have impact.

Net, my guess, and it is just a guess, is that the net will be a decline at the open due to profit takers.  Then, I expect a buy the dip event midday, especially if there is a positive post by President Trump.  Then FOMO may happen as investors on the sidelines decide the rally will continue.

Here's what I'm going to do:

• Continue to hold our core investments:  Stock and Bond Index Mutual Funds, Stock and Bond Index ETFs, Individual stocks with Big Gains, Large Lots of Speculative Stocks.
• Continue to sell off peripheral stock investments that have only a few shares as they become profitable.
• Hold buy the dip software stocks for now and take profits periodically.
• Avoid buying any new stock positions.
• Buy some fixed income with 5, 10, and 15 year maturities to lock in 4-5% interest rates.

These are my thoughts going into next week, which may change based on events over the weekend.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Cataract Surgery: Expectations vs. Reality

I recently had cataract surgery and am recovering.   Although the recovery is going well, I was surprised by how reality was different than my expectations.

For reference, cataract surgery replaces the lens that has turned cloudy.  It also allows for adjusting the focal length vision of the eye.   Having been a contact user for about 40 years, I expected the final outcome would be immediate or at least same day, since contact lenses change the vision right away.

Instead, the change in vision took about a week to reach the final outcome.  The day of surgery, my vision was blurry and sometimes hazy.  The surgeon explained that cataract surgery sometimes results in the eye pressure increasing, which causes the haziness.  In addition, surgery causes some eye distress which leads to blurry vision.  On the day after surgery, my vision tested at 20/30, which they thought was great, but I still felt was not good enough since I expected to reach 20/20 immediately.   

The surgeon gave me some eyedrops for glaucoma (eye pressure) to use.   When I went home, I noticed that my pupil was still dilated.  So I started wearing dark sunglasses most of the time, even inside.   For day 2 to day 6, my vision improved incrementally and my pupil started shrinking.   By day 7, I felt like I was almost 20/20 and the pupil was near normal.

I've concluded that monofocal lens in my right eye has less range than my previous lens with contacts.  This is known, but I didn't realize the effect until the cataract was replaced.  It is still working for me since I'm getting good focus from about 5 feet to infinity for larger letters.   

On day 8, I had my one week visit.  My vision tested 20/20 but a little blurry at that level. My pupil is still slightly dilated, and I expect my sight to be fully clear when my pupil is normal.  I've confirmed that I still want to do a close vision monofocal lens for my left eye.  I expect that should cover reading distance to about 5 feet comfortably.   This will allow me to not have vision correction 99% of the time, but only correct the left eye for distance during sports such as tennis and skiing.

I'll give another update once the left eye is treated.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The New Roaring Twenties

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes." ~  Mark Twain

About 100 years ago the U.S. market was on a tear upward.  Everybody was making money. The DOW had a six fold increase from 1921 to 1929  It kept going up until it didn't, when it fell about 90%.  Then came the Great Depression.

Since the bottom in 2020, the S&P 500 has had a 3.7 fold increase.   Although there have been major dips and even a bear market, stocks continue to go up in the longer term.  This has begged the question of if/when the other shoe will/may drop.  Stocks are expensive versus historical means, the U.S. is at war, the U.S. keeps growing, AI is displacing workers, etc,, etc., etc.

Is this time different? Or will a major correction/bear market occur soon.  I wish I knew.😎 

Inevitably, the market will decline/correct in the future.  The question is how far and for how long.  Time will only tell.  

In the meantime, I will continue to be cautious and keeping cash available in case of a future sudden a precipitous drop.

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

Avoiding New Complex Investment Opportunities

In the past few years, I have been offered the opportunity to invest in Fixed Index Annuities and Private Credit.  Fixed Index Annuities were advertised as never going negative but participating in the gains of the stock market.  Private Credit was advertised at higher returns for little or no additional risk due to superior vetting by the company.  Both of these options are now being offered to main street retail investors, which is the reason I can now participate.

I'm usually skeptical about investment options that previously were only offered to institutions and now being offered to main street investors.  First, the options are presented as get great investment opportunities just like big institutions.  Second, they often are introduced as low risk opportunities.

• Fixed Index Annuities -  This was the first one I learned about.   It is an annuity that is pegged to a stock index, typically the S&P 500, but has downside protection.   The annuity has a downside floor, which is typically 0%, meaning the investment cannot have a loss.   However, the gains are capped, meaning that the gains won't necessarily match the index for large gains.  In addition, this is an annuity, which has restrictions on when and how much can be withdrawn in the future. The benefit is there is never a loss.
  
  I have typically avoided annuities as an investment.  Funds are usually tied up for many years and there is a high up front fee. Typically, it is costly to access more than the allowed withdrawal amount. Finally, it depends on the worthiness of the insurance company, who earns a high fee for offering the product.
  
  
• Private Credit - This provides non bank loans at higher rates to borrowers who may have difficulty qualifying for loans from traditional banks.  Investors provide funds and usually commit to investing these fund for 5 to 10 years or longer without withdrawing.  Returns are in the 8-12% range.
  
  I asked for a prospectus.  It was about 800 pages and a significant portion was devoted to detailing possible risks.   Also, there are possible capital calls (request for additional funds), there was a lockup period of several years, and limited withdraws above a certain amount.
  
  

Overall, the complexity, potential high risk and lack of flexible access to invested funds were enough negatives for me to decline participating.   At this time, I am glad I made this decision since the stock market has delivered above average returns higher than the cap of Fixed Index Annuities and more than expected defaults are occurring for Private Credit.

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

Reducing Friction is a New Marketing Advantage

Lately, I've been have great interactions with retailers and service providers.

• First it started with Home Depot.  I ordered 7 of one product online.  They shipped 6 that day, but 1 items was incorrect, even though it was from the same company.  I thought I would need to go into the store to return the incorrect product and get the correct product.  Instead, Home Depot just shipped me the correct product and offered a gift card for the mistake.
  
  
• Next it was Kroger which did not credit my $1 digital coupon discount to the purchase.  I called the customer service number, talked with the AI agent, and the error was corrected.
  
  
• The last one was Costco and Apple.  Last week, I bought my son AirPod Pro 3s for $249 since the price was only good until 4/11/26.  On 4/12/26, the price was reduced to $199.  Costco has a 30 day price match.  I took in my receipt and received ad $53 credit, including sales tax. 
  
  On the same day, a current AirPod was damaged by water.  Since we bought it at Costco, it came with AppleCare+ for no extra cost.  I called Costco who referred me to the Apple Store.  The rep at the Apple Store asked me for a few pieces of info, like the AirPod serial (which is in on the charging case on the Apple unit it connects to) and confirmed AppleCare+ was active.  If we file a claim, they can express replace the AirPod for $31.  
  
  

Cool.   Easy peasy.   The retailers made it frictionless easy. I will continue to use these brands.

Disclosure:  I did not receive any compensation for this post from Home Depot, Kroger, Costco nor Apple.  

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Dealing with People who have Above Average Intelligence

I've noticed that almost everyone considers themselves smarter than average,  Almost everyone who posts on LinkedIn, X, Reddit, TikTok and other social media conveys being smarter than average.  In addition, most individual that I interact with act smarter than average:  

Being an engineer, I usually felt the need to correct someone when I think they are wrong. I got no where with this approach.  They didn't change there mind and I didn't change mine was the usual outcome I've learned that smarter than average people don't appreciated being disagreed with, even when they are wrong, which I guess also includes me.

I've decided to change my response when talking to above average smart people.   Now I listen and seek to understand.  I look for points of agreement and clarify points of difference.   I also am willing to end with no one changing their point of view.

In the future, I will be open to primarily listening to and understanding points of view different than mine and making no comments when discussing.  Only if there is a need for me to make a decision,  will I engage to choose one side or blend the best of both.

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

This is not financial, social interaction, nor decision making advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Creating Opportunity for Our Children's Future

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

With the advent of AI, I'm still think the following are good areas for our kids to learn and improve their opportunities in their future.

• Higher Education - IMHO, there are two paths to take.    Education for a degree in well paying profession such as engineer, doctor, and veterinarian.   While getting a professional degree, broaden education to develop critical thinking ability.
  
  If my kids aren't getting an educational degree in a profession, I would recommend getting a job and get a broadening education while employed.
  
  
• Skills Identification/Development -  Learn what they are good and and develop.  I like the Japanese Ikigai approach of finding a blend the following for successful job:  What you love; What you are good at; What the world needs; and What you can be paid for.  My role as a parent is the help them learn what they are good at. 
  
  A good approach to finding what kids are good at is to give them the opportunity to try a lot of options.  In my kids case, this led to a few things sticking, which is great.  I also believe that people should do something they love, but not necessarily for work.   Playing sports/a musical instrument, or a hobby is a great opportunity for loving what one does.  It also is a great anchor for future social relationships in school or work.
  
  
• Reading, Science, Art and Music Experiences Development.  This will enhance creativity and innovation copiabilities.   AI is based on knowledge that already exists.   Humans are still needed to deliver "new" through creativity and innovation.   AI may be able to assist in creativity and innovation, but won't be the main instigator.  Creativity and innovation capability will be the great differentiator in one's future employment.  
  
  
• Personal Finance Skills Development -  Personal involvement in effectively managing money is even more important than making money.   This is the quiet part of personal finance that few people talk about.  Just paying someone to invest, do taxes, plan estate transfers, etc. is not enough.  One needs to sufficiently involved and educated to make good decisions.

Doing the above will give our kids a good start for succeeding in the future.

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

This is not financial, higher education, nor child raising advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC