Significant Fixed Income Losses

My bonds and bond funds have declined significantly over the past month, due to interest rates increasing.  Some of my bonds, specifically 20 year Treasuries, are down as much as 14% since their purchase in 2023, when interest rates started increasing.  Many are down 4-8%.

Here's why I am not worried...yet:

• Other than 1% bonds that are maturing in the next two months, out taxable bonds pay an minimum of 3.75%, with over 90% paying 4-5% for 3- 20 years.  I will get paid this amount for up to 20 years, no matter what future interest rates are.  
• Historically, 5% is a good interest rate for long term bonds.
• I am getting sufficient income to support our "retirement paycheck" strategy, which is giving us a monthly payment for our retirement expenses.
• I am holding the bonds until maturity, which means I receive the par value and losses go to 0% or may even be a small gain.
• For bond funds, which are primarily muni bond funds in taxable account, I can do tax loss harvesting to offset stock gains, and rebuy the bond fund at a lower price.
• Finally, I have cash in money market funds or treasury bonds (1 year less Treasuries), which will pay more if interest rates go up.  About 40% of our investable funds are in this category

Here's what would could go wrong:

• Long term interest rates could go up significantly.  In 1981, the 10 and 20 year Treasuries yield as much as 15.8%.  
• Inflation could go up significantly to double digits.
• The U.S. could default.

Right now, the probability of what could go wrong is still very low, less than 1%.  However, the probability continues to increase as the U.S. deficit increases, the wars continue, and inflation continues to rise.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Roth Conversion Hack for Trump Accounts

This is a hack for making Trump account withdrawals tax free in the future.

At age 18, Trump accounts convert to traditional IRAs, with all the associated rules.  Since contributions are made after tax, only earnings are taxed when withdrawing from a Trump account IRA.  

Here's the hack.

• If the child is still a dependent and not earning wages,  the standard deduction is up to $1350 (for 2026) of unearned income.  Thus, the child can convert up to $1350 of IRA earnings to a Roth account tax free.  Since contributions are prorated between contributions and earning, the child will also convert some untaxed original contribution.
• If child has earned income, the standard deduction is earned income + $450 unearned income, up to the single standard deduction of $16100 (for 2026).

If planned well, the entire Trump IRA can be converted to a Roth IRA with little or no tax.

My son is 14.  If I open a Trump account for him, we can contribute up to $5000/year to the account, up to age 17.  At that point, he may have $20,000 to convert to a Roth, provided the investments don't decline. 

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

This is not financial, retirement savings, nor Roth Conversion advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Selling and Taking Some Profit

I plan to scale out of some of my SAAS software stocks and take some profit this week.  The market looks very weak, with the tech stocks looking like the worst.   At this point, I still will hodl some of the shares, in anticipate on a possible President Trump TACO and a rebound.   

I'm still ambivalent about the stock market reaction to the midterm elections.   Even if Congress becomes a Democratic majority, the stock market may go up or down, significantly.  So I'm taking some profit, but not selling out the positions, as a hedge for the market moving either way.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Now is the Time to Plant Grass or Over Seed

Many homeowners believe the best time to plant grass is in the Spring.  Wrong.  The best time to plant is early fall, September to October, when weather gets cooler and before the leaves fall. 

This year I seeded in a early October.  I didn't fertilized with starter fertilizer until a week later due it being out of stock.   I seeded right after mowing the lawn and skipped one week.  By the first week, some seeds had sprouted.  By the second week, it appeared most seeds had sprouted, based on the bare spots

I seeded with Finelawn Tall Fescue, which is what I used several years ago, before switching to Titan Tall Fescue.   I switched back because Finelawn has better shade and drought tolerance.   We'll see how it does next Spring.

Disclosure:  I was not compensated by Finelawn nor Titan for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Prepared for a Major Stock Market Decline?

This week was ugly for stocks, with the S&P 500 index falling 1.97% and the Nasdaq composite falling 4.53%.   Investors were a little skittish about oil prices going up, interest rates going up, memory stocks falling significantly and AI companies business models and financial situations in question.  The cracks in the stock market are getting bigger.

I expect a major decline to take place sometime within the next 6-18 months, but when I don't know. As Yogi Berra once said, "It's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

However, I am preparing for the inevitable. I've sold all of my memory stocks that were purchased in 2026 at a profit.   I thinning out my SAAS software stocks.   I've bought some fixed income (treasuries yielding 5% and muni bond fund yielding 4% tax free).  I'm keeping a few years of expenses in money market funds.  I've bought a few SPY put lotto options (100-150 strike expiration Jan 2027).  We're paying off our credit cards each month.  Finally, we bought a couple 1oz gold bars and will continue to hold the 90% silver coins we bought at the bottom in 2011.

For our children, I'll start scaling into the S&P 500 index mutual fund once decline is 10-15% or more, with the expectation they will hodl for 40 years.

If the decline doesn't happen or takes longer to happen, we'll still be OK since we will continue to hodl most of our equity with the plan and expectation of not needing to sell in the next 5 years.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Commanders Vs. Giants OT - Worse than High School Mistakes

Last weekend, I was in Maryland and watched the Commanders Vs. Giants game.    The game went to OT and could have been won by either team.  However, mistakes kept both teams from scoring.  Surprisingly, these are mistakes kids make in little league and high school, should not be made pros being paid millions of dollars, who have years of experience

Here is the OT mistake summary.  Missed 46 yard field goal by the Giants, but this wasn't the big mistake. Later, the Giants drove to Commanders 24 yard line, close enough for a field goal. The Giants decided to get it closer and the running back fumbled the ball.  Then the Commanders drove the Giants 24 yard line, close enough for a field goal, but decided to run the ball with 55 seconds left.  Then, with seconds left and no time outs, the Commanders ran the ball, got tackled in bounds with 4 seconds left and the clock ran out.

I was a running back in little league, high school, and college and I never experienced such mistakes in all that time, and would have never have expected to see all of them happen in one game or one period, much less in the pros.

Here’s how both the Giants and the Commanders turned a likely victory into a tie

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Voted Yesterday - The Choices Were Really Ugly

I decided to do early voting yesterday.   It was ugly.  I didn't like most of the candidates.   I only voted for two people in major parties, one Republican and one Democrat, both of which live in my immediate neighborhood.  Otherwise, I voted for write-in or other party candidates and didn't vote for anyone else.   

When  I said, "I have a complaint," to the election officials, they became extremely serious and asked, "What is it?"   I said, "There needs to be better choices of candidates on the ballot!"  They hesitated a second, and then everyone within hearing distance started laughing.   The sad part is they knew my statement was true.

As I walked out, I told my two favorite politician jokes.

1.  Me:  How do you tell when a politician is lying?
   Ans:  When his lips move.
   
   
2. Me: What's the different between a politician and a catfish?
   Ans:  One is a bottom swimming, scum eating, and slimy creature.  The other one is a fish.
   

Both got a laugh from everyone that heard it. 

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

This is not financial, election, nor political advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Medicare is NOT Free, Nor Simple

"Medicare for All" is a common political rallying cry by Democrats/Progressives, especially Senator Bernie Sanders.   The implication voters leave with is that Medicare for All is free.

Being over 65, I'm on Medicare.

Here are the really reallies of original Medicare based on 2026:

• Premium - $202.90/mo per person.  There is no family plan.
• Annual deductible- $283/year
• Co-insurance - 20% of costs since only 80% is covered by Medicare
• Prescription drugs - not covered by original Medicare.  Pay out of pocket (OOP) or pay additional for supplemental insurance.
• Supplemental Insurance - Also know as Medigap insurance.  Pays for some or all costs not paid by original Medicare, i.e. the 20% co-insurance.  There is Medicare Advantage, part C, which is usually small or no additional cost and includes additional benefit.  There is prescription drug coverage, part D.  There a more expensive plans (up to letter N) that cover most or all of the co-insurance and prescription cost, and may cost an additional $150/mo.

So Medicare really costs $202.90 minimum, which high out of pocket costs.  Addition Medigap insurance ranges from $0 to $160 (estimated), but may have high maximum out of pocket costs up to $9800.

Net, Medicare for All is a great rallying cry, but is still expensive when cost details are shared, and definitely NOT FREE.

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

This is not financial, medical insurance, nor Medicare advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Future Lack of Good Judgement

AI elimination of entry level position will have an unexpected consequence, creating a dearth of good judgement in younger generations. Why?  Because they lose the benefit of experience.

Here's my paraphrased quote from a Goldman training session in Liar's Poker:

Trainer:  An important skill to develop is good judgement.

Student:  How does one develop good judgement?

Trainer:  Experience.

Student:  How does one get experience?

Trainer:  Bad judgement.

So true, IMHO.  However, without entry level positions, employees will no longer be able to have low risk bad judgement events.  I expect this will have unintended consequences.

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

This is not financial nor entry level employee advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Fear of Volatility is Due to Emphasis on Growth

The main reason I feared volatility and focused on locking in profits was due to emphasis on growing the all of our portfolios.   Growth meant getting bigger.  Going smaller, even by a little, was losing.  Fear of losing created the fear of outliving declining retirement funds.

I've tried to change that mentality, from growth to income stability.  Now, my strategy is to create a monthly "retirement paycheck," one that I can depend on whether the market goes up or goes down. I've been doing this strategy for almost 2 years.  It has helped me become volatility agnostic.  The main difference from a working paycheck is there is variability in monthly payments since I have not sequenced the payments to have equal monthly payments.  Way too much work. It has served us well for the past two years.  While the going has been good, the strategy has not been tested in a significant bear market. 

This strategy is based on blending fixed income, social security, dividends, and rental income with growth investments.  Up until 2023, fixed income was paying very little.  Now interest rates have increased to the point of 10 year Treasury yielding over 5%.  One can count on 5+% returns for 10, 20, or even 30 years.   Of course, there is always the risk of inflation, but I think that social security, dividends and rental income with help offset inflation and mitigate the impact of a market downturn.

Since I expect a market downturn in the near future, we'll soon see if the retirement paycheck strategy with fixed income was a good choice, in hindsight. 

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

This is not financial, investment, bond, CD, nor retirement income advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

DIY - A Feel Good Story

Last week my spouse commented that a garage outlet was sparking when plugging or unplugging.  That's not an issue if it's rare, but it was happening fairly often.  It sparked three times when I went out to check.  In addition, the top outlet was a little spongy when plugging in a cord.

I decided it would be a simple case of changing the receptacle and putting spacers on the top screw.  I knew I had a receptacle, purchased many years ago, but hadn't used in a previous house. Fortunately, I had a idea where it was and found it.  I also knew where the spacers were that I purchased about 5 years ago.  Then, I turned off the circuit breaker, which I had marked over 20 years ago.  Upon taking off the wall plate, I noticed electrical gang box was not flush with the wall, and recessed about 1/2", making it not in code.  As luck would have it, I had purchased box extenders to correct such an issue about 5 years ago and the items were in the same location as the spacers.  It took me about an hour to diagnose all the issues and find the relevant parts, which avoided going to the hardware stores or ordering online

Back to actual fixing the issue.  One I had all the part, it took about 30 minutes to take off the old receptacle, wire the new one, add the box extender, and attached the new receptacle and reattached wall plate.  Now we have a safe outlet.

The feel good element is that:

• I remembered I had previously bought all the parts for other projects.
• I could find them, partly because I had labeled the containers previously.
• I had all the tools,
• I had the knowledge.
• I could execute quickly, since I had experience.

And it only took about 90 minutes.  Without any help from AI.😎

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

How to Speak to an Audience

I thought this was a great tutorial and am sharing it with my readers.

MIT professor gave the same ‘How to Speak’ lecture for 40 years. Here are his 5 pearls of wisdom.

The headline of each of the five pearls is listed below.

1. Have a strong opening
2. Say it three times
3. Use props
4. How to inspire people
5. End with a joke and salute

I plan to use the elements when I speak going forward.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Impacts of Interest Rates Increasing Significantly

It appears that interest rates will continue to go up.  Here are the impacts to many individuals:

• Pros
• CD, Bond and Money Market Rates will go up.  People will earn more money using this vehicles for savings.  High yield saving accounts will go up.   Unfortunately, most regular savings accounts will not change.
• Cons
• Interest on credit card debt will go up.  People will go into further debt.
• Mortgage rates will go up. Commercial mortgages that balloon will need to be refinanced at a higher rate.  It will be harder financially to buy a house.    Home sellers will get fewer buyers. 
• Variable interest rates will increase.  Adjustable rate mortgages will adjust upward.
• Bond mutual funds will decline in value.  Some mine are down 5-6% in 2026.
• Bond principals will decline in market value.  Some of my treasuries are down 4% in 2026.

Looks like the cons outweigh the pros.

Hopefully, interest rates rising significantly won't cause an economic decline nor, even worse, a recession.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Blog Therapy

I am, therefore, I blog.  It's my therapy.

I restarted blogging daily on My Wealth Builder on August 21, 2025.    Since then, I have posted one blog, or more, every day.

I started blogging the year of my dad's death in 2006.  It was a substitute for talking to my dad when he was alive.  I quickly started blogging everyday, but started tailing off after 5-6 years and even skipping 2014.  From that point, I blogged at a low level, maybe a few times a month.   Instead, I started connecting with long ago friend groups via annual holiday get togethers.

Then COVID struck. I decided at that time to have more connections via email with some college roommates and friends. These are guys I bonded with, lived through ups and downs and were life time bros, or so I thought.  I would share my thoughts, opinions, complaints and interesting experiences with them.  In addition, I would get their input on simple issues I had, like installing new interior door knobs.

I soon learned they didn't want to hear my thoughts, opinions, complaints and experiences, to the point of bantering turning into giving me grief.   Once one them cussed me out in front of my children because I was not voting for his candidate for President.  (For reference, I voted for an independent candidate and he was voting for one of the major party candidates.)  When he started bullying me after the election, I decided it was time to pull back significantly on communications, despite his apology for inadvertently, in his mind, insulting me.

It was time for me to stop over communicating with great friends from the past expecting the same result. I realized it's hard to bring back the best of the past. People have become different from who we once were, which is the way of the world.  

Thus, I returned to blogging.  I needed an outlet for my thoughts and ramblings. My blog lets me discuss without judgement. Blogging is better than any diary I could keep.  I enjoy the opportunity.  No one is bothered or needs to help me.  I find joy in posting.   Everyone wins.  

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My First Job Decision and It's Major Effect on My Life

When I accepted my first permanent job, I based the choice on starting salary, the type of work and job familiarity.  I didn't think about job security and satisfaction, health care benefits, company culture and retirement benefits.  I didn't expect to ever stay the minimum 10 years to be vested in retirement benefits.

In hindsight, my choice of employment and staying until retirement is, perhaps, the one of the biggest factors in our successful retirement.   Health care was free when I first started, although I didn't use it much when I was younger.    Just before I retired in 2007, family health care was about $125/month for family coverage.  Retiree health insurance is excellent but much more expensive. I pay a subsidized rated for my spouse and me and pay full price for the kids.  I was not aware of these benefits when I was deciding on a company.

The company contributed stock starting at 5/% of salary to our retirement plan each year and increased it by 1% a year until a maximum of 23% per year.   When I started, employees vested at 10 years, then 5 years, and now immediately.  The company was a Fortune 50 or higher company all the years I worked and the stock did very well.   In addition, I received stock options which vested after 1 year.  I did not know all this when I was decided on which company offer to accept.

However, I did know jobs security was high since some employees had been working over 40 years when I interned for the summer.  This was not a deciding factor, since I didn't expect to be there over 5 years, but it was good to know.

The company whose offer I accepted was the lowest salary offer, but as much as 10%.  The company culture was great and I liked the worked.  The companies whose offers I turned down had big layoffs in the next five years due to a recession, all of them.  My company didn't have any mass layoffs.  I ended working there 27 years, achieving a senior management position, and retiring at 49.

At the time, I didn't know that my first and only permanent job decision would have such a major effect on my future life.

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

This is not financial, employment nor career advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Sports and Pressure for Youth Athletes

One of the best the activities I did as a youth was sports.  I played football, baseball, tennis and ran track. Back then, I don't remember any pressure on me to perform.  My parents didn't attend games, until we were in the state championships in high school football.  Fans, including parents, were cordial and showed great etiquette at games.  I never felt judged, either way when we won or loss.  I was never concerned about getting a scholarship for college, or not.

Nowadays, it seems sports are flashpoints for stress.  Participation pressure, parent pressure, coach pressure, peer pressure, success pressure, social media pressure, and scholarship pressure.   It's all about dealing with stress. Sports are no longer just for fun for the child, and that's too bad. 

I didn't realize the amount of stress and pressure when I was a volunteer soccer coach. I was like my football coach, who led us to a state championship, and constantly yelled instructions to the players during the game.   If I had been a quiet, there were have been less stress, and the results would have been the same.  I wish I had been quiet.

The best youth coach I ever saw was for my son's flag football team. The coach put on the plays on armband cheat sheets.   All a player had to do was look at the play and do what players A, B, or C were show to do.   Also, he let every player be QB try it out in a game.   The only game the team lost was when the head coach was out of town for work.  Otherwise, they always won.   While fun, it didn't cause my son to want to continue.

He decided to play tennis.  He asked to join an elite program.  But he still wants to avoid stress and pressure, like know about upcoming opponents ratings and records, which I like to analyzed.  At his request, I no longer tell him about his opponents before a match.  I only talk about what he controls, especially his mental attitude and focus.  I don't make any noise during a match (not allowed to coach) other than to softly clap for a good shot.  This has significantly reduced stress and pressure for him. 

The outcome has been great.  I just want him to enjoy tennis and play it for relief of life stresses.   Of course, YMMV.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I Thought I Didn't Buy Life Insurance While Working

When I started writing this, I thought I didn't buy any additional life insurance while working.  Turns out I did, which I posted about in 2006.   

While I was working, my company had a 1x annual salary life insurance policy on me, but I didn't buy any additional. The reason was that we were both working and we did not have any debt other than the mortgage payment, since we had already paid off both student loans with in ten years.

We adopted our daughter ten years after getting married.  According to my post the post in 2006 Protecting Your Wealth – Insure Against the Risk of Financial Disaster, I purchased more life insurance (2x annual salary, 4x for accidental death)  and survivor income insurance to protect my spouse and child in the case of an unexpected death.  This would enable my spouse to pay off the mortgage,  receive about 2/3 of previous after tax income for living expenses and not have to return to work.

Luckily, my spouse never needed to file a claim on these insurances.  However, we don't regret having and paying for such insurance, which is for protection if an unexpected death occurs that results in loss of significant income.

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

This is not financial, life insurance, nor survivor income advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Dividing the World in to Two Groups

Here's how I see the world.

1. There are people that think they are smarter than me.   
2. There are people that are smarter than me.

Group #1 is very big.  Group #2 is much smaller.

In surveys, up to 93% of drivers consider themselves above average.   I'm guess the same percentage may consider themselves smarter than me.

In deference to that probability, I am going to change my interaction with people but listening more, about 90% of the time, and speaking less, since they are likely to believe they are smarter than me.😎

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Patiently Waiting for 10% 10 year Treasury Yields

I expect interest rates to go up much further.  President Trump apparently doesn't care.   Secretary Bessent is incompetent, thinking the Treasury is the "house," and Fed Chair Chief may soon be all Warshed up, pun intended.   Bond vigilantes aren't going to let the U.S. get away with $40 trillion of national debt.

My plan is to wait and see.   The 10 year yield was over 15% at the peak in 1981.  Maybe it won't hit 10%, but I think higher is very likely.  I'll be patient and wait to buy more fixed income.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Financial Solutions Should be Personalized

I like to do my develop and execute my own strategies for financial success.   I attend many financial planner dinner seminars to learn about potential strategies I can use.  Here's what I learned about independent financial advisors:  they are mainly offering one or maybe two products create a successful result.  Some of the products are insurance products.  Recently, fixed income annuities seem to be the rage, grows with the stock market, but capped, and never a negative return.  Afraid of a downturn, then this is the solution.  I'm never convinced to purchase one of the products.

Here's my challenge.  I'm pretty good at managing our retirement finances.   We have no debt, own our house outright, sufficient income to cover our expenses, good health care and long term care insurance, good liability coverage, able to pay for college expense when our children attend.   However, my spouse has no interest in what I do, does not appreciate the effort and knowledge needed, and managing investment risk, having health, liability and long term care insurance, minimizing tax liability etc, etc, which is OK...as long as I'm still around.   Unfortunately, I expect to be the first to pass away, and perhaps within the next decade.

My first step is to simplify our current investments.  Right now the broad diversity is starting to get to complex even for me as I get older.   I am reducing individual stock holdings and going to market index funds, either broad market or S&P.  In addition, I'm buying some longer term treasuries and municipal bond funds. 

My second step is to understand the stability of the retirement income check I have created.  This may be a little hard to do, since it may require back testing which I'm not particular fond of doing. Maybe I can get one to the financial advisors to calculate.

Third, I will do an insurance checkup.  I believe we are in very good shape with the following:  homeowner, umbrella liability, car liability, health care,  and long term care.

Fourth,  develop a 10 year spending plan for expenses that includes covering higher education for kids, replacing cars, renovating home, and travel.

Finally, I believe I have found two financial advisors that are fiduciaries and are sufficiently independent to assist in developing the plan and  continue to help when I no longer can.  I will do some due diligence on them before meeting with them.

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

This is not financial, retirement, investment, nor choosing adviors  advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

$1000 to Replace Four Tires on my F-150

We decided to replace the tires on all three cars since they were over 5 years old and two of them had over 50,000 miles on them.   For the two cars, it was about $700 at Costco.  I just got the cost for changing my 2003 F-150 tires, over $1000, despite costing only $660 in 2018, and that included a discount for no cost installation..

I was shocked at the quote, despite knowing Costco usually has the lowest tire prices.   I asked why the price had gone up.  They responded that tire prices started going way up during Covid due to a silica shortage and the prices have never come down.

The tires on have 33,000 miles on them and have good tread.  However, they are 8 years old, and the rubber has deteriorated due to age.  Also, I noticed that my tires were slipping sometimes when starting from a stop on a wet road.   I decided to bite the bullet and pay $1000 for new tires, mainly for safety reasons and the current plan is to keep the truck a few more years.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Being In the Zone

Yesterday, my son was in the zone for the first time in his tennis tournaments.  He wasn't frustrated, he was confident, and he could do no wrong.  Every close shot was in, every angle was perfect, every passing shot did.  He only played each opponent 1 set and he won 6-0,6-0, 6-1.

I've been in the zone a few times in my life.  During that moment, everything when my way.  Every move I made, every action I took, ever word I said was perfect and gave me the result I wanted.

Now that I'm 68, being in the zone seems to be much less likely. I still remember the glory of being in the zone.  I hope it keeps happening for my son.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Make Employees Successful Business Owners

Bezos described four characteristics of a "dreamy" business: "Customers love it, it can grow to very large size, it has strong returns on capital, and it's durable in time — with the potential to endure for decades."

I think this is a great description from a business owner's or stock holder point of view. To me, I would add a statement or mention of sharing company success with employees. Many years ago, companies seemed to make sure employees benefited also when the company did well.  That does not seem to be the norm any more.

AOC was right, one doesn't become a billionaire by earning a wage.  However, as usual,  she neglects to take the point further and tell how one becomes a billionaire.   IMHO, one becomes a billionaire by being an owner.   Let's make more employees owners in the business.

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

This is not financial, employment nor employee advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Financial Mistakes of High Income People - from Subreddit Thread r/Wealth

A popular and my favorite answer was a mistake of not keeping, "Same spouse, same house, same car."

I fully agree.  I've been married 31 years to the same person.   Terrific spouse.   Great kids.   23 years in the same house.   23 years with same cars we bought new.  A third car is one that we bought from my MIL when she moved into independent living, which is 14 years old.

Of course, there are exceptions:   Bezos, Muskman, and Billy Gates.  Even so, I wouldn't want to trade my life for theirs, despite the billionaire status.   I'll stay with my "same spouse, same house and same car."

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Starbucks Brand Positioning Effect on Me

“A welcoming coffeehouse where people gather, and where we serve the finest coffee, handcrafted by our skilled baristas.” New Starbucks Brand Positioning.

TBH, as a 68 year old retired boomer this brand position has no impact on me and doesn't cause me to want to be a customer. 

1. The experience of being in a Starbucks doesn't appeal to me.  Coffee is coffee as far as I'm concerned. On the other hand, my college student daughter goes to Starbucks regularly.  My 14 year old son doesn't have a preference.
2. Starbucks coffee costs too much for me to enjoy.  I may buy it on vacation, which I've done a few times when there is no other choice, like an airport.
3. I know the current CEO also turned around Chipotle after a stint with Taco Bell.  While I'm impressed with the turnaround, I will wait an see for Starbucks.

Disclosure: I'm an engineer, not a marketer,  so my opinion does not reflect the "true" consumer benefit of the new brand positioning.😂

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