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