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