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

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

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.😂

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Opening Trump Account Challenges

From what I read, Trump Accounts can be opened for child under 18, limited to $5000/year contributions by anyone, no earnings requirement, and convert to a traditional IRA in the year they turn 18.  When withdrawing, the earnings are taxed as ordinary while the original after tax contributions are not taxed.  A possible tax benefit is to do Roth conversion in a manner such the the conversion is tax free.

I decided that I wanted to open a Trump Account for our son to potentially take advantage of the Roth conversion tax benefit. I thought it would be as easy as opening an account at any financial institution. However, it wasn't as easy as going to a custodian provider, opening an account, and depositing funds that are then invested. In fact, there are no simple step by step instructions written anywhere on the IRS website nor the Trump Account website.

I started filling out IRS form 4797 to upload to the IRS.  Then I realized there were no instruction on how to make a deposit nor how to open an account.   I called our brokerage firm and inquired if I could open a Trump Account there.  The representative wasn't sure and had to read through public information, just like I had.  I continued to read.   My conclusion was Trump Accounts are initially Treasury accounts that can only be held at BNY/Robinhood and can only be opened using a downloaded app, which sets up a link to one's bank account for deposits.  Rollovers to other financial institutions are not possible yet, but may be in the future.

Hmm.  While I'm OK with buying Treasury Bonds, I'm a little hesitant to give funds to the Treasury to invest for me, especially with financial institutions that I don't have any affiliation with.  I think I will wait until Trump accounts are made available through other financial institutions that I already use.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

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

Charity Lawnmowing Earning Money

People can help others in need in many ways.  The one's I'm most familiar with are food banks.  Here's one that I didn't know about:

These landscapers are mowing the extra mile — and changing lives

The interesting aspect of the lawnmowing charity work is that the mowers share their work as YouTube creators.  They earn money from advertising and sponsorships.  In some cases, they earn enough to make it their full time job.

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

This is not financial, charity, nor content creator advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Father-in Law's Investing Strategy

My Father-in-Law had a very successful stock investment strategy which beat the S&P returns until 2011 when he passed away.

Here's what he did:

• Identified potential stocks through The Motley Fool and Jim Cramer's Mad Money Show.
• Using standard metrics such as P/E, he determined the "fair" price.
• He would put in a good-til-canceled (GTC) limit buy order at the fair price, which was typically below the market price.
• Once he acquired the stock, he would calculate a sell price, again based on metrics.   He would put in a GTC limit sell order at the sell price.
• He checked his portfolio status once per month.

Since he regularly beat the S&P 500,  I was impressed and tried to copy a few of his stock picks, but was unable to match his success because I didn't have the same conviction in the methodology that he did.   

Disclosure:  I was not compensated by the Motley Fool nor CNBC for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Correction? It May Happen Soon

Today's decline in the stock market may be the beginning of the long awaited correction.  Maybe and maybe not.   However, it's best to be prepared if a correction should happen.   

I can't control the market or the economy.   I can control the actions I take to be prepared.  Simply, here's what I'm going to do:

• I will continue to hodl the equities, bonds and mutual funds that I currently own.  No need to sell at a discount.
• Continue taking monthly distributions of investment earnings (dividends, interest, rental) and combine with Social Security payments and determine what percentage of fixed expenses are covered in a downturn..
• Use money market funds, if needed, to weather an extended (say 1 year) downturn.  Expect to cover any shortfall caused by the decline.
• I won't be buying the dip, except if GOOGL drops to around $285.   I will wait until a 10% before adding an S&P 500 ETF or mutual fund, more municipal bond funds.   I plan to wait until the 20 year treasury exceeds a 6% yield before adding more.

Earlier I posted about what I would tell my younger self or do for my kids:

Stock Market Warning Articles. What to Do?

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Circle of Neighborhood Life

When we moved into our neighborhood 23 years ago, we were childless and expecting to adopt.   After we adopted, our daughter couldn't wait to ride the school bus.  When she started kindergarten, she was one of two children at our bus stop across the street. Over time that grew to 4-5 kids. 

 

Then the houses started turning over as more original and 2nd homeowners sold when they became empty nesters.  Over time the number of kids grew.   Then came are son, who was 8 years younger. He started kindergarten when our daughter started high school.  Since K-4, 5-8 and 9-12 ride different busses, my son was with a new and expanding group, around 8-10 kids .

Since my kids are older, I've lost track of the K-4 bus riders.  Occasionally, I see the group if I leave early for an appointment or to play golf.  It appears smaller than when I went out with my son, and it is a different group of parents.

While I don't expect number of kids to drop as low as 2 when my daughter started kindergarten, I do think we are now in the ebb cycle for our neighborhood, as many kids are in middle school from existing residents new families moving in.    K-4 seem lighter now, but shortly that will increase since I see numerous strollers during neighborhood walks.

We're staying in place at least until our son graduates from high school.   We will probably extend or residency until he graduates from college.  That's as far as we've thought out, for now.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Retirement Projects Around the House

Maintenance, repairs and renovations has evolved to a full time job, especially as the house gets and the longer one lives in it.  

When we moved in 23 years ago, we were mostly comfortable with the house as is.  We immediately hired a professional and  converted all the carpeting on the 1st and 2nd floors to hardwood.  

At first, the maintenance work was relatively straight forward and part time.   Mowing the lawn, which we paid to have done once a week.   Raking the leaves in the fall, which occurred over several weeks for a few hours a week. Seeding and fertilizing the lawn for winter

 

Over the next few years, we made cosmetic changes, such as interior painting and changing window treatments.  We also made some structure upgrades, such as replacing the roof, putting new furnace and a/c and painting/repairing the exterior.  

 After COVID, we upgraded appliances in the kitchen and did a small remodel, but didn't change cabinets.  Also, we refinished our hardwood on the first floor.

Our latest project involves remodeling our bathrooms. Our house was built in 1988.  Th upstairs and basement bathrooms have 4X4 white tile on the floor and in the bathtub.   The mirrors are 4X8 across the whole vanity.  We're thinking of modernizing the tile, mirrors and vanities, in addition to replacing the tub, toilet and sinks.

Finally, we are doing landscaping project, which involves new plantings, removing dying trees, and creating more privacy.  We are also doing some stonescape work with large marble tile.

For some projects such a remodels, we hire professional. For some such as landscape planting, deck , concrete sidewalk, patio and driveway maintenance, we are doing ourselves as a start..

Here are some of the maintenance projects we are regularly doing:

• #1 Fixing items when the "break" or stop working.   Recent examples include: pot filler leaking, washing machine leaking, bathtub rusting, freezer not cooling enough, bike tuneups, dishwasher not cleaning, drain clogged, dripping faucets, HVAC inspection, exterior and interior, light bulb replacement, and miscellaneous stuff.  
• Regular lawn maintenance, which includes seeding, weed control and raking leaves.  We do pay to have our half acre lot mowed weekly.
• Tree maintenance annually.   Trimming reachable dead branches.   Have higher branches done by professional.   Fertilization if needed.
• Regular car maintenance.  Oil changes, tire rotations, repairs as needed.  I do minor repair such as replacing bulbs, changing cabin and engine air filters.
• Annual fall cleanup, especially leaf raking, leaf composting, gutter cleaning.
• Routine painting touch up.
• Annual wood deck power washing, staining and sealing.

Sheesh, I often wonder how I had time to work?

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Using AI to Cure Cancer

In conversations with my roommates from college, I've wondered why AI isn't being used to solve big health problems like curing cancer.

In case you missed last week's big news, AI was used to "cure" cancer:

Moderna stock surges as melanoma vaccine trial shows "landmark moment"

Moderna’s Cancer Breakthrough Just Made Tempus AI’s $1.5 Billion Bet Look Brilliant

Terrific news, IMHO. Bravo for AI offering innovation that helps people without taking away from people.

A new skin cancer vaccine looks promising. A doctor who helped test it answers 5 key questions.

Disclosure: I was not compensated by any of the mentioned companies for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Stock Market Warning Articles. What to Do?

Pundits are highlighting the Schiller P/E as an indicator of a near term market top followed by a bear market.  This article from Yahoo Finance shows the Schiller P/E at the second highest level with the 2000 dot-com crash being the highest.

This stock market indicator just flashed a warning not seen since the dot-com bubble

The Motley Fool warns that margin debt is also indicating a possible top followed by a bear market based on recent history.

The Stock Market Is Doing Something Observed Only 4 Times Since 1997 -- and the Previous 3 Instances Ended in Disaster for Wall Street | The Motley Fool

Here's a new one that I just learned about: increasing corporate bankruptcies and private credit yield spreads.

An economist who studies financial crises says the US is on the brink of recession. These are the 2 warning signs.

I admit, when I was younger, I used to worry a lot about another 1929 crash occurring.   As a result, I often sold my winners for a small profit, especially since individual stocks would have high volatility in a crash, sometimes with the result of never recovering.  As a result, my returns are much less than the the total market returns.

What is an investor to do?

In hindsight, here's what I would do:

• In my 20-30s, I would put at least $159 per month into a broad market, low fee mutual fund (around 0.1% or less fees).   I would do an S&P 500 mutual fund.   I would just hold until my 60s, before withdrawing or selling any funds at which point the account would be about $1 million.  In the long term, the overall stock market always goes up.
• When bonds or CDs are 5% yields or higher,  I would start buying longer term, say 5-20 years and hold.   If in a taxable account, I would withdraw the interest earned and spend, since I am already paying income tax on the interest.  If in a tax advantaged account, I would leave and use to invest in a broad market mutual fund.
• I would save 6 months to 3 years of cash and keep it in a money market fund.
• In my 40s-50s, I would start increasing funds put in fixed income.   I would still not sell any of the equity mutual fund investments.
• Retired and/or in my 60s-70s, I would start scaling out of some of individual stocks and/or market mutual fund while going up or very high.  Transfer to money market or short term fixed income.
  

I think there is a future opportunity to find a sweet spot for percentages to have, sell or transfer at different times.  But that is for another future TBD post.

Of course, YMMV.

Disclosure: I did not receive any compensation from Yahoo Finance nor The Motley Fool for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Selling a Stock is a Difficult Decision for Me

I don't have a good methodology for deciding when to sell a stock. I usually base the decision on vibes or locking in a certain percentage of gains.  Unfortunately, this approach sometimes causes me to miss out on big gains as described in Panic Selling Winners Reduced My Investment Returns.  I tend to sell my winners, for small gains, especially after they have dipped significantly.

My spouse tends to ignore the volatility and just hodl.  As a result, she has up to 1800% gains on GOOGL which she has held since 2013.    On the other hand, I probably sold at 20 to 30% gains and never bought back in.  The difference is she held through all the dips instead of panicking and selling later.

That's what is difficult for me, holding after a big dip.  I have had some stocks go up 500-1000% which then go down  50% or more and never rise again.  Psychologically, I am afraid that will happen with any stock that rises and then dips.  So I settle for locking in profits at much lower gains.

I've only kept one profitable stock long term, stock from the company I worked for and retired from.  That stock is in my profit sharing retirement account, which was contributed 100% by the company.   I've held it partly because of NUA tax benefits, partly because of inertia of transferring the shares, and partly because it is a good company.  The shares are up 2700%.   Woohoo.

If only I was able to do that reproduce by not selling and hodling stocks like AAPL, GOOGL and AMZN.  Ah, hindsight is 20/20.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Becoming Addicted to Free and Fast Delivery

Many years ago, delivery came at a price that driving to pick up, for me, was more economical.  Even when delivery prices were lowered, I chose to pick up.   Occasionally, I would exceed the minimum for free delivery, which I would take.

Then came Amazon Prime, which offered free delivery for a membership fee.  At first, we did not become a Prime member.  Then our purchases began increasing, making a Prime membership worth it.   The local big box stores started offering free shipping when above a minimum threshold.   Sometimes, there are promotions for completely free shipping or members of the rewards program.

Nowadays, I often don't go the store anymore.  I research on the internet, place my order, and get it delivered in 1-2 days.  Sometimes, there is even free same day delivery.

I don't know if it's because I'm older; I don't like searching in the store; or I don't like the time it takes to drive to the store.  Whatever the reason, I'm using the internet more to buy items and get it delivered.

However, I still don't and I don't plan to order online and get delivery of groceries.  I still prefer to shop and pick out my items for purchase, especially the fresh produce, at least for now.

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

Muskman - BIGGEST Government Parasite

Muskman was a master at financial engineering that maximized the benefit from the carbon tax credit program, which essentially was the government subsidizing Tesla.  Congress let it happen by allowing businesses to sell their unused carbon tax credits instead of only offsetting taxes on profits. 

Tesla made money mainly by selling government issued carbon credits to other car companies.  Calling people on government assistance government parasites is a bit... well, hypocritical, IMHO.  Musk took advantage of the tax benefit, and gamed the system since Tesla only produced electric cars that had no carbon emissions, and earned carbon tax credits which Tesla could not use, but could sell.  

The article below shows that Muskman knows exactly that SpaceX is likely to follow the Tesla path using government assistance to reap profits for a private business.

Elon Musk says SpaceX is like Union Pacific, which is extremely funny if you know what actually happened to Union Pacific

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Distributing Billionaires' Wealth Isn't A Solution

When I was younger, I don't remember any discussions about distributing the wealth of millionaires, even though millionaires were relatively rare.   In fact, people aspired to be millionaires through working or investing.  Nowadays, there seems to be disdain for billionaires and discussions about distributing all or part of their wealth. 

The following article If America’s top 5 billionaires split their wealth evenly, here’s what you’d receive discusses what would happen with options of distributing billionaires wealth to Americans.  Basically, each person would receive $4629.78 one time.  

While not a small number, it probably doesn't solve the major financial problems of many people with medical debt, student loan debt or even credit card debt.  To me, distributing billionaires wealth doesn't solve personal financial issues for most people.   Also, it seems to distract from the real issue of individuals not learning how to do good management of personal finances.

Maybe personal finance courses need to made part of a good high school education going forward.  A good basis would be Financial Lessons from my Parents' Generation Re-Learned

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

This is not financial, wealth distribution, nor education advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Social Security Payment Uncertainties

Pensions and Social Security used to create financial security for many retirees due to certainty.  However, over the past 30 years, many pensions have gone by the wayside, eliminating this certainty of retirement income.  Now the certainty of Social Security payments is at risk.

For retirees, the future of Social Security payments shouldn't be uncertain, yet the sustainability of promised amounts is very uncertain.  The latest estimate is that Social Security benefits will be cut 22% across the board by 2032 if Congress does not take action.  Since many retirees depend on Social Security payments for everyday expenses, this uncertainty is unacceptable. 

Even if Congress does act, the effect on retirees may be different depending on which option eventually passes.  The options include: raising the percentage for FICA tax, removing income caps for FICA, doing means testing, capping benefits or combinations of these.    The difficulty for retirees is that these solutions possibly change benefits for many retirees, making the future income very uncertain.

Personally, I believe this should be the number one priority for legislation, given the broad impact it has on citizens.  

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC