Child Independence

TLDR:  Times have changed and parents are generally more cautious with child independence now than when I was a kid.

Recently, I read an article about a mom found guilty of abuse for letting 5-year-old walk outside alone,

The article made me think about myself when I was 5 to 16 years old and how I've handled my own kids during that age.

When I was 5, I used to go out on my own in the neighborhood.   We would play after school or all day on weekends with other kids in the neighborhood.  All the kids played together up to young teenagers.   Never any concern about safety.

When I was 8 years old, I used to ride my bike by myself to football/baseball practice or the local stores.   By 12, I was riding about 10 miles on local roads.  

However, the world has changed and is perceived as less safe, but it still varies by parent.

With our kids, we didn't let them play on their own at 5.   We always accompanied them to visit other kids yards and chatted with the other parents.  We mainly did play in friends yards and used the opportunity to catch up.  In addition, we usually accompanied them to the bus stop until they were out of elementary school after 4th grade.  Now while this approach isn't all parents, it is most.  We have one family with 4 children and the parents let their children out on their own at 5 or even younger, but do accompany them to the bus stop.

For both our kids, I used to ride my bike with them to the local grocery store about 2 miles away on the sidewalk.  At 13 years old, they started to ride on their own, usually on the sidewalk, but crossing 4 lane roads on the crosswalk.   By 16, my daughter would ride to a park about 5 miles away and one the road.

Here's one occasion, we almost messed up but it turned out OK:

When we are out, we always stayed close to the kids, in stores, in parks and at festivals.  We only had a couple of misses.  Once, we were on vacation and street performer gave out a small token and our 5 year old daughter went into the crowd to get one.  For 10 long seconds, we didn't see her and thought someone had taken her, and then she became visible when the crowd dissipated.  Another time with were at a 4th of July festival.   We were holding her hands, but my spouse became separated in the dense crowd, while I continued to hold our daughter's hand.  I was always with my daughter, but my spouse was separated for 30 minutes and didn't know where our daughter was and was worried.  I thought she had voluntarily separated and knew I was with our daughter. This was before both of us carried cell phones.  Finally, we reconnected and my spouse was relieved.

As usual, YMMV for parents and children.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Do Parents Have Time and Money to Raise Kids Today?

We are much older than usual parents.  Our kids are 14 and 21.   Even though we are both retired, it still takes a significant amount of our time each day to raise our kids.  I do not know how we would manage if both of us were working, or even if only one of us was working.

When I was a kid, my dad worked and my was stayed at home.   Most of my extra curricular activities (football, baseball, cub/boy scouts) were in the neighborhood and I could walk to or ride my bike to.  No need for parents to drive.  In HS, my father picked me up after work from sports (football, track, tennis), and it was only 3 miles from my house.  I didn't play any elite leagues or elite clinics that required traveling other cities or states from my home.  I never had any private lessons for anything. Finally, I don't think my parents ever watched any of my sports games until we were in the State Championship finals.

When we first married, my spouse and I both worked.  After getting transferred overseas, my spouse "retired."   Upon returning, we adopted our daughter and my spouse was the stay at home parent.  After three years, I retired and both of us were stay at home parents.

Raising kids today is much more involved and intense that when my parents raised me.  

 Here are some of my memories growing up:

• Going to school preparation.  K-12 involves pre-attendance orientation and acquiring school supplies, both personal and for the entire class.  When I went, I just showed up the the first day and only need to bring a pencil and composition book.   For K-7, I attended a parochial school, with no lockers.  We just stored our books under our homeroom desk and our coats to the group closet in the back.  I didn't have a locker until public school in 8th grade.
• Extra curricular activities.  As I wrote above, all my pre Junior High activities were in the neighbor hood which I could attend on my own.  Although I don't know the number, the costs were low, just annual fees since I didn't take lessons.  In Junior High and High School, I played sports and my dad could pick me up after work.  Back then, there were no sports activity fees for students.
• Free time activities.  After school and on weekends, I just went out a played in the neighborhood with friends.  We played in each other's yard, the street or the nearby park. On weeknights, we'd be out from getting off school until dinner time.  On weekends, we were out all day, maybe coming home for lunch, and definitely coming home for dinner.
• Meals.  My mom cooked homemade meals at home. We ate family style what was cooked breakfast and dinner.  Lunches were either packed for school or bought at the HS cafeteria.   TV dinners were a special treat.  Eating out at McDonald's was a more special treat.
• Transportation.  Until HS, my parents only owned one car, which my dad used to commute to work.  For groceries and other shopping, we all went together in the evening or on weekends.
• College expenses -  My parents paid for the first year.  I had a guaranteed student loan for $1500 the second year and $3000 for my junior and senior year.  I also put all of my summer job earnings toward paying for school senior year.

Here is my experience raising kids today:

• Going to school preparation.  Our daughter need to sign a rental contract off campus 9 months in advance.   There is a 2 week gap between moving out and moving in.  She was fortunate, since she renewed, there was no gap, even though she need to change apartments.  Still took a full day with a pickup up truck and 5 cars to move her and 2 roommates.  Our son needed to attend school orientation.  My spouse needed to buy numerous individual and group supplies and download various apps to manage communication with the school.
• Extra curricular activities.   Both are kids were involved in various sports and music.   Music stuck with my daughter.  Tennis stuck with my son.  Nowadays, students pay an activity fee for each sport.  Also, both involved additional lessons and limited travel, which can be high expenses and significant time. For example, we shuttle our son from school to tennis every weekday and wait for him to finish, which takes 3.5 hours of our time. In addition, there are overnight trips and even international trips for school.  
• Free time activities.   Lots of electronic activities and video game players.  Much higher cost than playing in the neighborhood.
• Meals.   My spouse does a lot of healthy home cooking from scratch, which require significant preparation time and effort.   We rarely eat out, maybe a couple times a month maximum.
• Transportation.   My first new car cost 40% of my starting salary.  My new truck 23 years later cost less than 10% of my salary.  Originally, we had two cars.  We added a third when my MIL went to independent living.  That worked well since our daughter was driving two years later, which lowered time parents needed to transport.   We have lent her one car for her last two years of college since she is now living off campus. 
• College expenses.  We are committing to completely covering undergraduate (and graduate, if needed) college expenses for both kids.  We started contributing to 529 plans the year we adopted.  That has worked out well.

What's the difference?

• Going to school preparation.  Meals. Higher grocery costs since we go organic, which wasn't available when I was a kid.
• Extra curricular activities.  More and much higher cost for kids activities.   Lessons and additional training for sports, which adds significantly more costs.
• Free time activities.  Video game consoles and smart phone videos.
• Meals.   Our main higher cost is fresh, organic food.  For many other, it's eating out several times a week.
• Transportation. Cars now cost more than many people's starting salary.  More cars that require maintenance.  My parents had one car when I was young.  We have three, one of which is used by our adult daughter.
• College expenses.   $25,000 to $100,000 per year versus $2,000-$10,000 per year. 
• More maintenance time, effort and costs due to shorter appliance life.  I don't remember ever replacing anything in my childhood home in 35 years.  Nowadays, it seems appliances (water heater, furnace, dishwasher etc) need replacement about every 10 years.
• Renovation or upgrades.  I don't recall my parents ever upgrading their kitchens nor bathrooms in the 35 years they owned the house.

My nephew who is single claims he life (school, employment, buying a house) is much harder than it was for me.   I can't wait to hear what he says when he is married and has kids.

As a retired parent, I don't know how parents raised kids while still working, especially when both parents are working.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Managing Our Kids Tax Returns

When I first started working summers, my dad did my tax returns.  That was a great help and relief to me.   Now I'm doing the same for my kids.   One difference now is that tax returns are more complicated, but tax relief for dependents is more frequent, if one fills out the return properly. My dependent kids are exempt for federal and state taxes if they earn less than $16,100 in wages, or less than wages + 450 unearned income up to $16,100.  If they only have unearned income, they need to have less than $1350 income to be tax free.

For my daughter, who will earn less than $16,100, I ensure she has less than $450 of unearned income.  For my son, I ensure he has less than $1350 of unearned income.   If I meet this income criteria, they are tax exempt and do not need to file a tax return.

For federal tax withholding, my daughter can fill out a W-4 exemption from withhold and have zero dollars withheld.  Thus, no federal tax return is needed.  Unfortunately, there is no exception for withholding in our state.  Thus, my daughter needs to file a state tax return each year to get 100% of state withheld taxes refunded.  I am authorized to file on her behalf and do so since I can get it done in less than an hour.

I plan on doing tax return gratis for my kids to help them get through their first few years of full time employment.  

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Play Sports with Heart and Be Positive

My son has advanced enough in tennis to consistently beat me.   Yeah, I can make excuses like recovering from major surgery or knee pain, but that would dismiss that he just is much better than me skill wise.   It's to the point, I'm not much competition for him.

He was starting to get bored, so I decided to up the stakes.  I had him spot my 4 games each set and 15 points each game.  His immediate response was, "That's unfair!"   Despite his complaint, that's how we played the next two sets, which I won handily.   He showed a lot of frustration.

Of course, I explained to him why I had him spot me the games and points.   I wanted him to mentally get used to being behind, and focus on winning points instead of worrying about the previous error.  It didn't take him long to start consistently beating me again, despite the lead I had.

Then I upped the stakes on him again.  After playing him for several weeks being spotted 4 game and the first game points, I could anticipate his play and shots about 50% of the time.  Also, I knew his weaknesses, one of which was lobs.   I started winning one set.   Today, I won two sets.

However, my son has now keeps calm, forget about missed shots, continue to play hard and stay positive.  This approach is also helping him as he plays in tournaments.  He shows much less frustration than before, which is helping him win more sets.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Doing Kids Favorite Activities

My original parenting strategy was to influence my kids to like what I was interested in.  I put them in sports when they were younger.  I had them work with me on DIY projects.  I had them do daily tasks and errands with me. I took them to video game arcades.

The results?   Nothing since they had no interest.   No interest in most sports.   No interest in learning how to fix things, even though they asked me to fix many things.   Definitely, no interest in daily tasks and errands.  High interest in video game arcades, which they would do with me.  The kids did like there own personal gaming machines.

Recently, I decide to try some of my 13 year old son's interests.   He loves F1 racing.  I watched a documentary on F1 racing with him.   It seemed much more interesting than only watching cars going around a track.  There were interviews with the principals and the drivers.  Then I watched a Grand Prix race with him.  It was more interesting knowing who the drivers were. 

While I'm still not interested in attending an F1 race (and neither is he, yet), he now has an Apple TV account and can watch all the Grand Prix races live, and in replay mode.  I've been watching mostly the replays with him.  It's been fun and now I'm interested in F1 racing.  The best part is we're spending time together and having fun.

My new strategy is to be involved with my kids' favorite activities regularly.

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

This is not financial nor parenting 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 doubles 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

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

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

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

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

Paying Taxes and Doing Tax Returns

"In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." —  Benjamin Franklin, in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Le Roy, 1789

One of the most hated aspects of personal finance is paying taxes and doing tax returns.  Unfortunately, paying taxes and submitting tax returns is one of the certainties of life for most people. Almost no one likes doing tax returns for themselves.    That's why tax prep software and tax prep companies are popular and can charge for the service.

IMHO, almost everyone that works and all income is all on a W-2 (wages) or a 1099-B (dividend and interest) , 1099-G (refunds), or 1099-INT (interest)  can do their own tax return by hand, especially if they take a standard deduction.   These kind of returns can be done in 15 minutes by a professional and 30 minutes by an experienced individual.   A person doing a tax return for the first time might take 1-2 hours to become familiar with the forms, but only 30 minutes in the future. 

I did my daughter's first federal and state tax return in about 15 minutes in 2024.   The 2025 return took about 10 minutes since she only needed to file the state and was exempt from filing a federal return.  Part of the reason the time was reduced is she filed a W-4 to be exempt from federal withholding and therefore eliminating the need to file a federal return since there was no refund.  While she is in college, I will continue to do her returns.  After she graduates, I will assist her to do her own tax return.

For reference, I use a spreadsheet to do my own returns and my daughter's return, which does all the calculations and saves me more time.

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

Non Optimal Outcomes from Lack of Financial Literacy

I confess, I am a financial geek.   I enjoy investing our retirement accounts.  I enjoy analyzing ways to legally reduce our tax liability.  I try to maximize our fixed income interest.  I learn about new income opportunities.

I find almost none of my friends and family have the same level of interest in finances.   In fact, I have learned some have very little simple financial knowledge and almost no complex financial knowledge.  

Lack of financial literacy can lead to issues and sometimes catastrophes.

I remember many years ago, a friend told me her strategy for maintaining a higher lifestyle was to max out her credit cards and pay only the minimum each month. She rented a high end apartment, furnished it via credit card debt, and bought a new car.   Within a year, her expenses, including minimum credit card payments, were more than her net monthly paycheck.   For reference, she was a new hire chemical engineer and paid very well.  Her solution was to get a second job as a waitress to pay for her expenses.  I tried explain to her that cutting back on expenses would help also, but to little avail.

Financial literacy would help people avoid punitive debt problems such as minimum credit card payments, payday loans and exorbitant student loans.  Financial literacy may also help reduce the incidence of financial scams since many people don't recognize financial red flags of scams.  This leads to people being tricked by bank phishing, catfished for money, or involved with a hobosexual partner.  I've seen this happen to otherwise very intelligent people.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Personal Success

Most of the posts in this blog are about financial success.  However, personal success based on one's character and demeanor is also important.

Here are my thoughts for being success in character.

Show leadership with integrity -  Set the direction of what needs to be done.

Be exceptional - Step up and rise to the occasion to solve challenges.

Inspire others to do their best - A good leader helps their followers be successful.

Be nice and gracious - Treat others with respect and civility.

Have I delivered personally?   I'm sad to say I have not done as well I would hope.  I will try my best and hardest to do so going forward.  For my children, I hope they learn to have both personal and financial success.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

DIY Investing with Index Funds/ETFs

Most financial advisors and RIA (registered investment advisors) charge an annual fee based on AUM (assets under management).   Many years ago, the charge was mainly for managing investments, specifically choosing individual stocks and covered commission trading costs which were very high.   Back then commissions were charged for trading stocks a base cost plus 1% of the total cost  I recall my dad saying he paid $200 to trade 100 shares.  Choosing and buying stocks was much more complex and cost intensive.  

I remember talking to a brokerage advisor in the 1980s.   He said his fee was 3-4%.  I passed.  It seemed to still be expensive even though there were no commission charges.

When discount brokerages started the commission was lowered to $50 flat fee.  I started trading individual stocks.  I usually traded 100 share lots to minimize the fee cost per share.  Then the commission wars started.   Commissions got lower.  To $14.95, then $5.95 and now $0.

With the advent of low fee index funds/etfs, with expense ratios less than and around 0.10% and no trading commission costs, I'm now leaning towards only using total market/growth/S&P 500 index funds.  Individual stock risk is low, commission costs are zero, expense ratios are low and stonks only go up.   What can go wrong?

The answer is short term volatility.   There can be bear markets that last a year and of course, a lost decade like 2000 to 2010.   However, if one's timeframe is 20-40 years, the risk is much lower and significant gains are in one's favor.

Malkiel, Bogle and Fama are well known advocates of this Efficient Market Hypothesis (EMH) approach.  I going with their recommendations for my kids' long term retirement accounts by investing in total market or S&P 500 index funds/ETFs.

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

Making Monthly Investment Contributions

In 2025, I was waiting for the market drop/correction before investing funds.  Then in came around April 8, 2025.   While I did buy a little, I decided to wait and wait AND wait, since I thought a further extended drop was inevitable.   Unfortunately, the market didn't drop further and I missed out on the market gains if I had made newly invested funds in April.

For 2026, I've decided not to wait for the "inevitable" correction.  Each month, I plan to invest a set amount into the S&P index mutual fund or ETF.   If the market should correct, I will more to the set amount of funds.  If the market keeps going up, I will keep investing the set amount.

For my child's account, I will invest a minimum of $159 each month, since that regular contribution is expected to become $1 million dollars after 40 years if dividends are reinvested.

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

Rules for Investing I Wished I Had Used Earlier

I wished I had started using the following investing rules in my twenties:

• Don't lose money in the long term
• Safety first and get reasonable returns
• Don't bet against America
• Keep it simple

My investment accounts and retirement accounts would be higher than they are currently, by an estimated 2-3 times or even more, if I had simply invested in U.S. market index fund.

While I can't change my past, I have learned how to invest better for the long term.  I will follow these rules to invest for my children's savings and retirement accounts.

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

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

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Could've, Should've Held the Winner Stocks

I've been reviewing my investing history and saw a few big misses.   My mistake, I sold the big winners after small gains.  I kept the losers, waiting for them to recover, which very few did.

What would have happened if I kept my winners.  I've owned and, unfortunately, sold a number of long term winners.   I have two examples.    

The first one is Google, ticker symbol GOOGL.    I bought 100 shares of GOOGL in 2004 for $8000.   If I had held the shares until today, those shares would be worth a little over $1 million  or 126X.    Of course, I didn't hold it until today.  I don't know for sure, but I probably sold the position around $9000 later in 2004.    A good profit, but not even close to the million I could have had.

The second one is Apple, ticker symbol AAPL.   I bought a 100 shares at 90 in 1990, right before the Desert Storm, which caused a drop in the market and AAPL.    When the shares recovered about a year later, I sold for a small profit.    If I had held those share until today, I would have about $6.5 million or 722X.

Instead, I probably only ended up with $2000-$3000 profit at the most.

Could've, Should've.

On the other hand, my spouse bought GOOGL in 2013 and AAPL in 2016 and held.   She is up 14X and 10X respectively and has more than exceeded her losses.

Of course, every time I sold, it was due to fear of an upcoming crash.   2004 was right after the dot com crash and 1990 was right after the crash of 1987.  And I would have had to ride through the subsequent bear markets of 2008, 2020, and 2022.

Recall also, that some individual stocks either take a long time or never recover.   For example, Cisco, ticker symbol CSCO, just passed it's all time high of 2000 this week.

It's too late for me.  My solution for my kids is to invest in the S&P 500 index or a Large Cap Growth Stock index which naturally stays invested in winners.   Then not sell for 40 years.   Hopefully, that will result in a million dollar return when they retire.

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 © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

2026 Tax Brackets and Related Info

For those that are planning for the 2026 tax year, this article The 2026 Tax Brackets Are Official—Here's Exactly How Much More You'll Pay (Or Save) will provide some key information on the 2026 tax brackets and related info.

Of note, if one is single and expects less than $16,100 in wages with no other income, one will have a federal tax liability of $0.  If that is the case, one can file a W-4 to be exempt from federal tax withholding.  Then if one ends the year with under $16,100 income, no tax federal tax return is needed since tax liability is $0 and no federal tax withholding was done.

The only caution is if one is a dependent, which most college students are.   In that case, one should keep unearned income, such as interest and dividends, below $450 or federal taxes will be owed even if total income income is below the standard deduction of $16,100.

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

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

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Focus on Strengths and Interests

In 2018's Avengers: Endgame, Frigga says to a despondent Thor: "Everyone fails at who they're supposed to be, Thor. The measure of a person, of a hero, is how well they succeed at being who they are."

When I started raising kids, I wanted them to be like me.  After all, since I was successful, I felt doing what I did would work for them.  Well, no surprise, my kids mostly aren't like me.   They have different strengths and interests than I have, which was initially frustrating to me when they were younger. However, now I'm enjoying and celebrating their strengths and interests, because it makes them happy.

Since none of their "weaknesses" are debilitating, I've decided the best thing I should do is focus on their strengths and interests, since those will contribute to their path to success.  This has worked so far.  The kids have excelled in their strengths and interests, such as music and art which I have no demonstrate capability.   In addition, they have shown ability in sports that I had limited aptitude in playing.

I'm glad I let them be themselves instead of trying to "help" them be like me. It's worked out for the best.

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

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

Copyright © 2025 Achievement Catalyst, LLC