Commanders Vs. Giants OT - Worse than High School Mistakes

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

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

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

Make Employees Successful Business Owners

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

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

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

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Accounts are Mostly Down This Quarter

I do summary of my account statuses at the end of every quarter.  I decided to take a peek at the expected results for the quarter ending 9/30/2026.  The accounts are mostly down from last quarter with a couple down for the year and one that is up.   I'm not worried...yet.

Here's why I'm not worried:

• Almost all the declines are due to falling principal values in bonds, CDs, and bonds funds.  
• Stocks, as a group, have advanced slightly since 6/30/2026.  The stock index funds and individual stocks have done well overall.  Some of my buy the dip stocks have advanced as much as 100% this quarter.
• Bonds, CDs and bond funds are expected to keep paying the same amount for interest and dividends.

At this point, I believe that inflation and interest rates will continue to go up, despite claims to the contrary from the Trump administration.  Thus, I expect the principal values for my bonds and bond mutual fund to keep dropping.

Oh well....

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Always Thinking When Awake

When I recently discovered that "always thinking" is not normal, I realized that describes me:  I'm always thinking.  I didn't ever think always thinking was abnormal.  From the Internet, "always thinking" is a sign of possibly OCD, ADHD, or anxiety among other things.   Another side effect is taking a long time to fall asleep.

Well, I admit I have OCD and ADHD tendencies, but not so much anxiety issues.  Also, I usually have no trouble falling asleep, usually in 2-5 minutes, which surprises my spouse and daughter since takes them as much as 30 minutes to an hour to fall asleep.

I guess that's why I enjoyed doing sports since I don't "think" during the activity.  I put all my energy, focus and strength in performing and don't remember thinking.  However, my memory cells must be kicking in since I accurately remember a lot of what occurred even years later, which is a symptom of being OCD.

At this time, I haven't concluded or resolved what this action means.  I guess I'll have to keep thinking about it.😎

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Request to President Trump and Secretary Bessent

The fixed income portion of my investments have taken a big hit recently.  Interest rates are going up on Treasuries and other bonds.   Inflation is higher and sticky.  Prices for many of my grocery items are higher.  My gasoline price for regular is over $4.00.

President Trump said that inflation and interest rates would come down immediately after he was elected.  They have not.  Now, President Trump is telling me that gasoline prices will come down immediately after the midterms.

Frankly, I can't wait until after the midterms.   President Trump's and Secretary Bessent's promises should be delivered before the midterms or I'm assuming they won't happen.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

9/11 Never Forget

I will never forget and still remember where I was and what I was doing.   We are expats in Japan during that time.  I was up late, on the computer, getting ready to do some stock trades.  (For reference, Japan is 14 hours ahead on EST.)    Then I saw a news flash that a plane had crashed into the twin towers.  I assumed it was a small plane accidental crash.  Then, there was a news flash of a second plane.  I knew then the crashes were not an accident.

There are memorials to those for those on the flights.   There are memorials for those that perished in the World Trade Center.   IMHO 9/11 should be made a Federal holiday so that we truly "Never Forget."

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

This is not financial nor federal holiday 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

Stock Market - Too Good to Be True?

"If it's too good to be true, it probably is." ~ old adage

The stock market is at all time highs despite:

• War with Iran since February 2026.
• Increasing Inflation
• Higher oil and gasoline prices
• Higher food prices
• Second highest Shiller PE ratio, with the dot.com era being the highest
• $40 trillion U.S. debt
• High company layoffs due to AI

Add to that my apparent brilliance:

• My buy the dip SAAS software stocks are up 20% on average since February 2, 2026, with the biggest gaining up to 145%.
• My tax loss harvesting strategy of buying first and selling later has worked to my financial advantage almost every time.
• Recently, all my accounts have achieved all time highs and continuing to rise.

Since the market has been known to be irrational for long periods before, I'm hodling most of my equities, especially those in a taxable account.  However, I am taking the opportunity to scale out of some of my riskier (IMHO) buy the dip stocks, in the interest  of  working towards my goal of simplifying our investments.  

Note:  Specifically, I sold our CRM holding in the tax advantage accounts since it popped 26% on Thursday, August 27, 2026 on good earnings and a partnership with Anthropic.   Even though CRM was up another 3% yesterday, I don't regret the sale.  It's one less stock I need to follow, which is working towards my simplification goal.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

AOC Calling the Kettle Black

This article recently came across on my feed:

AOC Rips Into Elon Musk: 'He Is Not A Scientist, He Is Not An Engineer. He Is A Billionaire Con Man With A Lot Of Money'

AOC calling Muskman a Con Man is pure irony.  I'm no fan of Muskman.  IMHO, he is a very big government parasite, getting rich from selling carbon credits subsidized by the government.  However, he has delivered innovations, even though it's only on about 10% of his promises:  100% electric cars, reusable rockets for both people and satellites are among them..

On the other hand, AOC, who was elected to Congress in 2018, has been a master of "performance politics," which is the epitome of conning, meaning AOC has primarily been a prominent ideological voice rather than a lead author of standalone laws.  Here's what I mainly remember about AOC in Congress:

• Played "Among Us" regularly on her phone.
• Mocked Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on X by writing: “This is like applauding a grown man for being able to wipe their behind. Not exactly a vote of confidence.”  LOL, she's right.
• Mocked President Trump on X about comparing college transcripts, "Let's make a deal, Mr. President: You release your college transcript, I'll release mine, and we'll see who was the better student. Loser has to fund the Post Office."  Maybe we should see the college transcript of all members of Congress.
• She had a great performance when interviewed on NPR; her speaking style appeals to many listeners and voters.

Recently, the following popped up on my feed about AOCs financial (or lack of ) acumen.  Surprised me that despite a $174,000 annual salary since 2019 she has not paid off her remaining student loan of $19000 which still remains at the same amount in 2026..  Huh?  I guess she was waiting for forgiveness.

Deadbeat AOC’s student-loan mooching should be a red flag to her 2028 supporters

AOC just revealed her net worth is less than $100,000, here’s how much Fidelity says she should have saved for retirement before she turns 40

Billionaires exist due to tax benefits Congress created.  Student loans are a problem due to laws Congress created. AOC could write laws to correct the problems that she identifies.  That's the job of a person elected to Congress.   But no, AOC is a poor con woman, with not much money, who continues with performance politics, instead of lead authoring and getting laws passed, to keep getting elected.   

Spoiler alert:  I won't be voting for AOC nor Muskman if either runs for President.

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

This is not financial, political nor policy 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

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

Situational Awareness Status

Last week, Leopold Aschenbrenner's letter to investors said that despite a 67% decline in July, Situational Awareness is still up 80% YTD.   The fund has taken steps to stop the decline and preserve fund assets. The fund has survived to see another day.

However, based on what I've read in different articles, it doesn't compute.  For example, one article described the fall from $45B to $10B which is greater than 67%.  I guess there must be other funds besides Situational Awareness in this decline.

Oh well, I expect more details will be share in the coming weeks or months.

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

This is not financial, stock investment, margin, short/long strategy, nor investment advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

A Black Swan Omen?

The hedge fund, Situational Awareness, had a partial liquidation last week via Citadel.  The fund was overleveraged and on the wrong side of memory chip (long)  and SAAS software stock (short) trades.  It was the perfect storm this last week.

Leopold Aschenbrenner is the wunderkind hedge fund manager.  Here is more info about him in Fortune, Daily Mail, and CNBC.

Initially, Leopold made all the right decisions, turning $150M into $25B for his investors.  Until last week, when all his purchases and shorts went against him.  Fortunately for his investors, the fund was not wiped out, at least not yet.

The looming question is if this is a one off event or the first of many cockroach events to come.

We shall see.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Dumping TSLA due to Possible Muskman Shenanigans

Although TSLA was one of my buy the dip stocks, I'm considering selling TSLA once it become slightly profitable.  My reason is that I have lost confidence in TSLA due to SPCX rumors of a TSLA merger or buyout.   Since Muskman is a majority shareholder in both, he controls whether is will happen or not.  I expect Muskman will want all his companies under one corporate structure.  

After seeing Muskman's shenanigans with DOGE, I fully expect more shenanigans with a SPCX merger with or buyout of TSLA.  I don't like the possibility, despite Muskman's success with TSLA.   I believe a merger or buying is merely financial engineering instead of actually creating incremental value. 

However, Muskman is way smarter than me.   After all, he was the first trillionaire, although now a half trillionaire after the 50% decline in SPCX and 33% decline in TSLA.  

We shall see whether I can get out of TSLA for a small profit or become a longer term bag holder.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Dunning-Kruger Effect in Personal Finance

Mastery does not necessarily transfer from one area to another. Brilliant people in one area are not necessarily good at personal finance.

Sir Isaac Newton was a brilliant guy, who gave us the three laws of motion and created calculus. He also famously lost $4 million USD (in today's dollars) in the South Sea Bubble, saying: “I can calculate the motions of the heavenly bodies, but not the madness of people.” Mastery in physics and math did not translate into success in investing.

Nearly one in three households making $200,000 or more say they’re struggling. Also, I've read about couples making $500,000 annually and living paycheck to paycheck. Others are one missed paycheck away from losing their home or car.   Mastery of a high paying job did not translate into success in managing money.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

U.S. Issues with Debt and Interest Payment

Here's a brief article on the current status of the U.S. debt of $39 trillion.

Bessent's Treasury has troubling news for every taxpayer

I expect the economy will be in deep doo-doo in the next few years, if not sooner, if the Federal government doesn't take action to resolve the debt issue.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Spider on Shower Caddy

I take my showers in the basement bath to avoid bothering my spouse since I shower both early and late when she might be sleeping.  Since it is the basement, we occasionally get some bugs on the floor.  Not being one to kill bugs, I usually pick them up and move them outside.

This time I decided to leave this spider in place since it is small and would be hard to catch without harming it.  I wondered how it would get food, since the bathroom was devoid of flying insects.  I wondered how long it would stay, since it's been there since June 30, 2026.  Since the spider is not causing any issues for me, I'm inclined to leave it alone.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

An Excellent Reason for Congressional Term Limits

I've noticed that Republican congress people who are either retiring or lost their primary are diligently working to solve some critical issues like Social Security potentially cutting benefits.  It appears they no longer feel obligated to support the party  positions and are doing what they feel is "right" for citizens.

Maybe it's time to have term limits for Congress also.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC