Medicare is NOT Free, Nor Simple

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

Being over 65, I'm on Medicare.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is not financial, wealth building nor wealth preservation advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Preparing for Fixed Income Buying Opportunity

Interest rates are going up.   And going up big, it appears.  I'm using the 1980s 10 year treasury interest rates of 15.84%  as reference for a worst case scenario.  10 year treasuries are currently at 5.15% a 19 year high.

Here's what I'm doing:

• Closely monitor the effect on my "retirement paycheck" strategy.   My expectation is that the payments shouldn't drop, but the bond value and mutual funds values will fall, maybe even significantly but up to 15%, which will cause unrealized losses in those accounts.  Currently, they have fallen around 3-4% and may result in a negative net worth return for the first time since 2022.
• Hold current bonds and mutual funds investments, even if they go down significantly.  Plan on doing tax loss harvesting in the future with municipal mutual funds losses.
• Choose a long term interest rate to begin making major purchases of fixed income investments.  Tentatively, I'm thinking of 10% for the 10 year treasury.   Below 10%, I may scale in smaller amounts to buy treasury bonds or municipal bond funds.

For reference, a 10% yield would result in $10,000 year for every $100,000 invested or $100,000 per year for every million dollars invested.  Add 50% for a 15% yield for $15,000 or $150,000 per year respectively.  Now that would be great retirement paycheck..

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

R.O.M.E.O.

Retired Old Men Eating Out.

I attended my first R.O.M.E.O. lunch, which was organized by my church.  I thought a few people I know would be there, but they were all members that I met for the first time. 

Overall, the lunch went great.

First, it was a local bar/restaurant which I had never been to before, but passed by many times.   The food was great.  I had the pizza, but I noticed the choices by others were excellent.

Second, we had brief introductions and some were long, though I kept mine short.  It turns out the attendees are always different, so introductions are the norm.  A couple folks were Vietnam veterans.  Some had retired from the major companies in our area.  All had grandkids, except me.

Third, other than family activities and interesting stories, aches, pains and necessary surgeries were a big part of the conversations.  Most were around 10 years older than me and it gave me a glimpse of a possible health future. There were no political discussions or comment.

Fourth, my favorite comment was R.O.M.E.O. should be changed to Retired Outstanding Men Eating Out.

Fifth, I enjoyed enough to attend again.  I just have remember to sign up each month on the church newsletter.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I'm Married and Wash My Own Clothes

I've been married almost 31 years.   When we first got married, I continued to wash my own clothes since we both worked.   After getting transferred to an overseas assignment, my spouse did both our laundry since she was "retired."  When we returned, my spouse stayed "retired." continued to do my laundry and those of our child.  She also did all the cooking.  I retired 4 years later.   At some time, I don't remember exactly, I started doing my own laundry.  I have been doing my own laundry for over 15 year now.

I wash my own clothes for the following reasons:

• It's easy to do while multi-tasking.  I'm retired and at home many days.  I can put a load in the washer and go about my day.  If I remember (LOL), I can put it in the dryer or hang up delicates to dry.  Later in the day, I can put away dried clothes.
• I like to know where my clothes are.  I remember where I put my clean clothes.  If I don't put them away, I waste a lot of time looking for them.  Finally, I like to wash my clothes when I think I need them.
• I dry my clothes either by dryer (hot or gentle) or "line" dry.  For reference, I line dry by putting the article on a hangar in the closet to dry.  Most items are dried gentle, with underwear and socks dried hot.
• I don't lose socks.  When clothes are washed as part of a big family batch, one of my socks often disappears due to being caught up in another persons clothes in the dryer.   When I do my own clothes, the worst case is it is mixed with my own clothes.  I've only lost 1 sock in the years I've been doing my own laundry.

I also do my own sewing on damage clothes, but that is topic for another post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Retirement Payment Strategy Being Tested

The recent volatility is testing my comfort with the retirement "paycheck" strategy.  My goal was to be volatility agnostic by creating a retirement "paycheck."  

This has worked so far, until this week. Due to interest rate increases, my fixed income and municipal bond positions have been falling...significantly since I started owning them earlier this year.   I have started to become concerned about volatility, especially with AI related positions, such as memory stocks.  I decided to sell my MU positions for a good profit of 23-34%.

Overall, I'm still continuing to hodl, but my conviction is wavering for the first time purchasing my "buy the dip" stocks earlier this year in February 2026.  Also, my municipal bond funds, which have been amazingly stable this year, are dropping as much as 1% in a day.  Finally, I expect some of my accounts my show a loss for 2026 due to fixed income and municipal bond fund principals falling in September.

Oh well, I shall see how it goes this month.   As they say, "It works until it doesn't."   

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Nine Numbers that Matter More than Net Worth for Retirement

I thought the following article was an excellent summary for the total financial elements of retirement.

Financial advisors say retirees are too focused on net worth (these 9 numbers matter more)

Below are the description headers for the nine numbers, which the article describes in more detail. 

1. Income-to-expense gap

2. Annual spending needs

3. Withdrawal rate

4. Health care costs

5. How much Social Security covers

6. Years of cash reserves

7. Tax rate during retirement

8. Years your retirement needs to last

9. Debt-to-income ratio

Although I started out using Net Worth as the metric, I have evolved to covering the other 9 numbers during retirement. 

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Low Price Maxxing

For most of my life, I did low price maxxing.  I would try to save money constantly on purchases.  I could give infinite examples, but will only do a few for perspective. 

• I clip coupons or wait for regular sales to buy the products I use.   Then I buy a larger quantity to benefit.
• I have an almost photographic memory prices paid.  Easy for me to do since I'm a numbers person and can remember purchases I've made in the past few weeks without checking.  I regularly take advantage of stores that price match if price drops within 30 days. 
• For gasoline discounts, I'll will take multiple cars to take advantage for big ones, like $1 off, for the whole family.
• I use points for hotel stays and airline flights, which results in the cost being free or a small charge.  In fact, for hotel stays the numerous taxes are eliminated.  For airlines, I still need to pay a small tax of about $10 max.

IMHO, this act of frugality help me retire early successfully in my late forties.  Even after retiring, I continued to low price max for many purchases.  I enjoy low price maxxing.   I sometimes included my family in some low price maxxing activities, but they sometimes felt like it was bothersome effort with low return.

Since our retirement financial situation has become more sustainable, I have backed off significantly from asking my family to also low price max.  Although my family knows they don't need to low price max, they will participate in some low effort elements, like buying more when on sale, but avoid doing most others like using coupons.  For me, habits are hard to break and I continue to low price max but not a rigorously as before.   

One thing I will not do to low price max:  Install an app, which restaurants often require.    I low price max at an app restaurant by not going there.  LOL.   My daughter, however, regularly gets lower prices with the restaurant app. 

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

This is not financial, purchasing, nor shopping 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

Municipal Bond Funds - Managing Interest Rate Increases

In the past, I have avoided bond funds since the principal will fall when interest rate increases happen. With an individual bond, the principal can be recovered if I don't sell and hold until maturity.  This is not the case with a bond mutual fund, which is continuous and never completely matures. Thus, I will take a loss on principal invested if I sell while interest rates are higher than when I made the original investment

However, since my strategy is now creating a retirement paycheck instead delivering growth in principal, I discovered at tax benefit hack from a municipal bond fund principal declining due to interest rates rising.

Disclaimer:  I haven't had this idea financially analyzed by an "expert."  This is based on my own experience and evaluation.  I have only had experience over the past year, which has not experienced a significant decline for a long period.

Here's the how I evaluated:

1. Judge the result mainly based on income generated for a consistent "retirement paycheck" and not on growth or decrease of principal.  I assume that the income remains constant when interest rates rise, due to reinvestment.  I assume that income declines when interest rates fall due to reinvestment
2. I assume that the bond principal falls when interest rates rise and the principal rises with interest rates fall.

Here's the process for when interest rates are rising:

1. Do tax loss harvesting of the position.  Avoid a wash sale by ensuring 30 days between the sale and purchase of the same security.  While most people sell first and buy back later, I chose to buy first and sell later.  This is worked well since most times, my purchase was near a short term bottom.
2. Maintain the same amount of shares in the positions.  This ensures that the interest payment per month continues to be about the same, which is important for my retirement paycheck strategy.
3. Use the loss on the municipal bond fund to offset realized gains in other positions, or take up the a $3000 capital loss deduction against other income.

In the 12 months I've been doing this, I reduced my capital gains income by 64% in 2025, resulting in significant tax savings, while still received the same amount of total interest and dividend income . I expect to take a $3000 capital loss in 2026 that will reduce my taxable income by that amount.

What about the principal value falling?  Does that concern me?  Not yet, since I expect to get about the same amount of "retirement paycheck" each month.   An analogy would be the value of my home.  I don't worry about the estimated value of the house going down (or up) due to price volatility, as long as I am living in the home.

Will it  concern me in the future?   Only if there is a significant collapse of the U.S. economy.  However, for typical recessions and bear markets, probably not.  We shall see when one occurs.

Of course, YMMV.

Note: The effect and strategy for interest rates falling is not discussed in the post, but will reviewed in a future post.

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

This is not financial, investment, retirement nor tax 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

Oh No, I Felt Brilliant This Week

Through Thursday this week, 90% of my buy the dip stocks went up, and sometimes by a lot.   Many of my long term "loser" stocks in a separate account also went up this week, with a few becoming profitable, which I quickly sold for small profit.

This week was exciting, enjoyable and very low anxiety.   However, although I felt brilliant, I know the results were too good to be true.  It really is just a great, outstanding, maybe even once in a lifetime bull market.  It works until it doesn't, which is why I'm sticking to my plan, and avoiding being greedy.

Here's the plan I'm continuing:

• Build and maintain a "retirement paycheck" through dividends from stocks and interest from fixed income.
• Simplify stock holdings by reducing individual stock holding and increasing broad market fund holdings.  Sell some positions for tax loss harvesting.
• Continue to hodl "buy the dip" SAAS stock with a target until midterms.   
• Stop buying stocks during a market dip.
• Scale into high interest rate treasuries on bond mutual funds since interest rates may go up.

Most of all avoid being greedy when selling stocks.  I kept this in mind as I reduced our stock holdings; I did not try to extract the last cent from selling. Sell, simply and feel good is my new mantra when simplifying.

Edit:  My positions held up until Friday's close. Woohoo!

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Making Bank on Buy the Dip Stocks - For Now

I bought the dip on SAAS software stocks in early February 2026.  They dipped further before rebounding overall for gains in March.  Then they dipped again in April 2026 and then rebounded again in May 2026.  The big swoon happened in June with most buy the dip stocks going underwater as much as 50% and flattening in early July.   Then another big rebound in late July and early August gave me the highest overall gains to date, despite a few stocks still being underwater.  

It's been quite a roller coaster ride.  The biggest gainer is TEAM, up about 75%, followed by MSFT, up about 25%, both of which were my largest share purchases.  Two fallen stocks are down about 5% and 18%.   In total, I'm up about 14%.  Not bad for a little over 7 months.

Data as of the close on August 12, 2026.

While I'm enjoying the gains, I have quit buying dips.   I continue to hodl to September,  just before midterms.

Of course, it works until it doesn't.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Starting to Sell Short Dated Covered Calls

Last week, I started to sell short dated  (1 month expiration or less) way out of the money (OTM) covered calls on some of my stock positions in my Roth account.   

Here's my rationale:

• First, I willing to sell at the strike price if it hits.  For example, I sold the 30 strike price with 2 weeks expiration when SLS was around 10.  I received $30 premium.  If the price triples in 2 weeks, great, I'm happy to sell. 
• Second, I make some extra money, known as option premium, for selling the cover call.

This works because some stocks have high IV (implied volatility) which makes the premium very high.  Not all stocks have a high IV.   SLS is a small biotech currently in phase 3 clinical trials, which results expected before year end.

I also sold a a short dated covered call on NNBR with a 5 strike with 2 weeks expiration for $20  premium when the stock was around 4.

It appears both call will expire worthless on August 21, 2026 and I will keep the premiums as profit.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Was I Brilliant This Week?

Yep, that's a great question.

• With exception of HUBS, my "buy the dip stocks" which are mostly SAAS software stocks (e.g. TEAM, ADBE, NOW, and CRM) and MSFT made a great comeback this week.  One of my best ever weeks since buying the dip.
• My memory stocks fell, but not too hard.
• TSLA, which has fallen significantly, about 25%, in the past month is creeping back up.
• Unlike Situational Awareness hedge fund, I didn't lose $30 Billion shorting SAAS software stocks and being long AI stocks. Not bragging, but I was did over $30 billion better that this hedge fund.

Nah, I was lucky.

• Situational Awareness needed to close out billions of dollars of short positions on SAAS software stock, which drives up the price.
• AI hype is diminishing as it is more evident that benefits are not evident.
• SPCX, which is highly dependent on delivering AI, fell 50% from its high.
• President Trump's TACO seemed to have more impact this week
• Finally, it's still a strong bull market, despite what bearish pundits continually claim.

Someday, I may become brilliant, but this is not the week.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Fixed Income Principal Declining Not Worrying...Yet

With the increase in long term interest rates, my bonds, CDs and bond mutual funds have been declining in value. As result, the value of my portfolios are stagnant or declining.  This doesn't worry me yet.   

Why not?

My fixed income investments are expected to deliver relatively stable annual income, even if the market declines, at least theoretically.   I haven't been through a major decline since implementing this strategy.

This may be the first real time test of my "retirement paycheck" strategy.

Will the strategy deliver?   We share see in the monthly payments continue to hold or not in the next few months.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Market Rewarded my Patience with Enjoyment, Excitement and Profit

I've been holding my "buy the dip" stocks since February 2026, through the ups and downs.  I was convinced they were oversold by the AI hype, and that gave me conviction to hold even when the positions went significantly negative.

The stocks were mainly SAAS software stocks, which the Situational Awareness hedge fund was shorting.  Recently, Situational Awareness closed out all their shorts, which may be partially responsible for the recent rebound in SAAS software stocks. I believe there is more room to run for the SAAS software stocks and continue to hold.  I'd like to see them reach about 80% of their previous all time highs before selling significant amount of shares.  

Since I am moving towards simplicity, I will keeping moving towards fewer individual stock positions as the "buy the dip" stock become significantly profitable. This is likely the last time I will purchase "buy the dip" stocks in multiple positions.  While it is an adrenaline rush when the positions go up significantly, there is also more anxiety with the likely volatility, that causes me to be more engaged on a daily basis, which is the opposite of simplicity. 

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Panic Selling Winners Reduced My Investment Returns

I must confess that I the owned the following stocks before they were big winners:  GOOGL, AMZN, AAPL.   200 shares of each.   If I had kept them through today, I would have $900K ,  $1.3M and $1.5M respectively today.  The gains would have been 12594% , 2398%, and 14346% respectively. Yeah, but I didn't hold.  They all dipped significantly after I bought.  When they recovered many months later, I sold them for a small profit of about 15%.  Would've, could've, should've.    

20-30 years later, in retrospect, I believe I know why.  Simply, my investment mentality was to maximize growth which led to me being overly concerned about stock declining and a 1929 like crash always being greater than my investment conviction. In addition, I judged success by an increase in account value. Therefore, I would lock in gains by selling previously declining stocks once the price crossed the breakeven point by a small margin.  Of course, in some cases declining stocks never recovered, which would have enabled to me to sell.  Such stocks are still in my accounts.

I read this comment on Wall Street Bets over the weekend:

"I hold my losers.

I cut my winners.

We are not the same."

LOL, describes me exactly.

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

Not Worried About Declining Market - Yet

Even though the market is falling, I'm still hodling and not selling.    I'm not buying the dip either.   I believe there may be more further downside for longer, which will provide a real time test of my "retirement paycheck" strategy.

Right now, it seems the declines are rotating through different sectors.  Some of my stock sectors seem to have "balance."    When semis go down, software stocks go up.  When software stocks go down, semis go up.   I know this form of volatility my be transitional and eventually every position will go one direction, up or down.

In the meantime, I'm monitoring how my interest and dividends "retirement paycheck" is delivering.  As long as the amount remains relatively stable on annual basis, I won't be worried.  So far, the payments have been as expect for the first half of 2026..

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC