EZ-Pass Easy Peasy

I used to avoid toll roads to avoid tolls.  Now, I use them regularly since I have EZ-Pass.

Five years ago, we drove out to New Jersey for a college visit.  Having driven the trip before, I took the PA Turnpike.  When I last drove it, I could pay at the toll booths.  This time, there were no manned toll booths.   Since I didn't have a EZ Pass transponder, my license plate was used to charge me.

I received the "pay by plate: bill after the trip.  The cost was $143.  Ouch, it was over twice the cost if I had a transponder.  However, Pennsylvania offered a discount option.  If I registered for a transponder, the cost would be reduced to $70, a 50% discount.   The transponder from Pennsylvania had a $3 per year annual fee, which is one of the lowest annual fees.   If I never used it again, I would get 22 years of no $3 fees for just applying.   Easy choice.  I addition, I could register up to 4 vehicles and transfer the transponder, which is OK since we only drive one car at time for long trips.

Although I didn't make the full PA Turnpike trip again, I have used the EZ Pass on a part of the PA turnpike, MD toll roads, GA toll roads FL toll roads and other PA toll roads.   Not only did I get a discount on my first trip, but I have received discounted tolls for all east coast toll roads since then.

EZ Pass was easy peasy. Many eastern states offer a EZ Pass and different prices.  PA had one of the lowest cost activation and annual fees. YMMV.  

Disclaimer:  I was not compensated by EZ-Pass for this post.

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

This is not financial, EZ Pass, nor toll road advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Feels Like the End of the Roaring 20s

Here's my latest Vibe:

100 years ago, there was the Great Depression.   Nothing could go wrong until it did.   Although I wasn't alive in the 1920s, this decade feels a lot like I imagined the 1920s to be.  Exuberance, wildness, ruliness and a unrelenting upward stock market.   What could go wrong.

Maybe now is the time for a little more caution, because not all possibilities are priced in.  Being regarded my be the worst right now.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Vacation Home - Just Say No

It used be that a vacation second home was a symbol of wealth.  It was a sign that one had achieve financial success.  However, that was then.  Now, vacation homes are become an anchor, in more ways than one.

Vacation homes were once real estate's hottest play. Now they're a nightmare.

We didn't consider getting a vacation home since that meant:

• Maintenance costs for another home, that may be distant, and used only a few weeks a year.
• Committing to visiting as much as possible, so that it would "payout."   Hint, it doesn't.
• Limiting other vacation choices.

Without the anchor of a vacation home, we can choose, with no regrets, any location we wish to visit.   In addition, paying for hotel costs is far lower than the costs of owing and maintaining a vacation home. Finally, we don't need to decide who will inherit the vacation home when our time comes.

Given the current situation, it looks like we made a good decision not to "invest" in a vacation home.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Significant Fixed Income Losses

My bonds and bond funds have declined significantly over the past month, due to interest rates increasing.  Some of my bonds, specifically 20 year Treasuries, are down as much as 14% since their purchase in 2023, when interest rates started increasing.  Many are down 4-8%.

Here's why I am not worried...yet:

• Other than 1% bonds that are maturing in the next two months, out taxable bonds pay an minimum of 3.75%, with over 90% paying 4-5% for 3- 20 years.  I will get paid this amount for up to 20 years, no matter what future interest rates are.  
• Historically, 5% is a good interest rate for long term bonds.
• I am getting sufficient income to support our "retirement paycheck" strategy, which is giving us a monthly payment for our retirement expenses.
• I am holding the bonds until maturity, which means I receive the par value and losses go to 0% or may even be a small gain.
• For bond funds, which are primarily muni bond funds in taxable account, I can do tax loss harvesting to offset stock gains, and rebuy the bond fund at a lower price.
• Finally, I have cash in money market funds or treasury bonds (1 year less Treasuries), which will pay more if interest rates go up.  About 40% of our investable funds are in this category

Here's what would could go wrong:

• Long term interest rates could go up significantly.  In 1981, the 10 and 20 year Treasuries yield as much as 15.8%.  
• Inflation could go up significantly to double digits.
• The U.S. could default.

Right now, the probability of what could go wrong is still very low, less than 1%.  However, the probability continues to increase as the U.S. deficit increases, the wars continue, and inflation continues to rise.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Fear of Volatility is Due to Emphasis on Growth

The main reason I feared volatility and focused on locking in profits was due to emphasis on growing the all of our portfolios.   Growth meant getting bigger.  Going smaller, even by a little, was losing.  Fear of losing created the fear of outliving declining retirement funds.

I've tried to change that mentality, from growth to income stability.  Now, my strategy is to create a monthly "retirement paycheck," one that I can depend on whether the market goes up or goes down. I've been doing this strategy for almost 2 years.  It has helped me become volatility agnostic.  The main difference from a working paycheck is there is variability in monthly payments since I have not sequenced the payments to have equal monthly payments.  Way too much work. It has served us well for the past two years.  While the going has been good, the strategy has not been tested in a significant bear market. 

This strategy is based on blending fixed income, social security, dividends, and rental income with growth investments.  Up until 2023, fixed income was paying very little.  Now interest rates have increased to the point of 10 year Treasury yielding over 5%.  One can count on 5+% returns for 10, 20, or even 30 years.   Of course, there is always the risk of inflation, but I think that social security, dividends and rental income with help offset inflation and mitigate the impact of a market downturn.

Since I expect a market downturn in the near future, we'll soon see if the retirement paycheck strategy with fixed income was a good choice, in hindsight. 

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I Thought I Didn't Buy Life Insurance While Working

When I started writing this, I thought I didn't buy any additional life insurance while working.  Turns out I did, which I posted about in 2006.   

While I was working, my company had a 1x annual salary life insurance policy on me, but I didn't buy any additional. The reason was that we were both working and we did not have any debt other than the mortgage payment, since we had already paid off both student loans with in ten years.

We adopted our daughter ten years after getting married.  According to my post the post in 2006 Protecting Your Wealth – Insure Against the Risk of Financial Disaster, I purchased more life insurance (2x annual salary, 4x for accidental death)  and survivor income insurance to protect my spouse and child in the case of an unexpected death.  This would enable my spouse to pay off the mortgage,  receive about 2/3 of previous after tax income for living expenses and not have to return to work.

Luckily, my spouse never needed to file a claim on these insurances.  However, we don't regret having and paying for such insurance, which is for protection if an unexpected death occurs that results in loss of significant income.

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

This is not financial, life insurance, nor survivor income advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Financial Solutions Should be Personalized

I like to do my develop and execute my own strategies for financial success.   I attend many financial planner dinner seminars to learn about potential strategies I can use.  Here's what I learned about independent financial advisors:  they are mainly offering one or maybe two products create a successful result.  Some of the products are insurance products.  Recently, fixed income annuities seem to be the rage, grows with the stock market, but capped, and never a negative return.  Afraid of a downturn, then this is the solution.  I'm never convinced to purchase one of the products.

Here's my challenge.  I'm pretty good at managing our retirement finances.   We have no debt, own our house outright, sufficient income to cover our expenses, good health care and long term care insurance, good liability coverage, able to pay for college expense when our children attend.   However, my spouse has no interest in what I do, does not appreciate the effort and knowledge needed, and managing investment risk, having health, liability and long term care insurance, minimizing tax liability etc, etc, which is OK...as long as I'm still around.   Unfortunately, I expect to be the first to pass away, and perhaps within the next decade.

My first step is to simplify our current investments.  Right now the broad diversity is starting to get to complex even for me as I get older.   I am reducing individual stock holdings and going to market index funds, either broad market or S&P.  In addition, I'm buying some longer term treasuries and municipal bond funds. 

My second step is to understand the stability of the retirement income check I have created.  This may be a little hard to do, since it may require back testing which I'm not particular fond of doing. Maybe I can get one to the financial advisors to calculate.

Third, I will do an insurance checkup.  I believe we are in very good shape with the following:  homeowner, umbrella liability, car liability, health care,  and long term care.

Fourth,  develop a 10 year spending plan for expenses that includes covering higher education for kids, replacing cars, renovating home, and travel.

Finally, I believe I have found two financial advisors that are fiduciaries and are sufficiently independent to assist in developing the plan and  continue to help when I no longer can.  I will do some due diligence on them before meeting with them.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Confirmation Bias for my Retirement Paycheck Strategy

I attend financial planning dinner seminars to get some ideas. Most of the times, the seminar sells a product, including fear to cause folks to want the product.   Usually, the presenter earns a commission from the product  In other cases, the presenter is charging 1% of a minimum amount of AUM.

Previously, I had only met one financial presenter that I would consider.   He didn't offer any products and spoke about how he routine helped do customized planning for people.  Also, he offered to talk anytime without any charge.

Tonight, I listened to a financial presenter that talked almost exclusively about a proposed strategy and process for a successful retirement.  He shared five elements, one of which was creating a retirement paycheck, which I've been working on for the past year.  He also talk about tax efficiency planning and dealing with stock investment volatility.  In addition, he wasn't advocating or pushing any specific product.

His strategy/process for a "paycheck" and managing investment volatility is what I've been working through for the past year.  Also, I have been doing tax efficiency ever since I did a post retirement job as a tax professional.  I'm glad to hear a professional advocating my approach to financial success in retirement. Confirmation bias for me.

In addition, he is willing to do fee only analysis of one's financial situation on a long term basis.  Also, if he manages investments his AUM charge is reasonable, starting at 1.25% of AUM ( which may be a little high) but ratcheting down more rapidly that other financial advisors to 0.5%.

I haven't decided yet, but I may set up an appointed with this financial planner to have a discussion on more specifics and options of the implementation of his strategy/process.

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

This is not financial, retirement, choosing a financial planner advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Waiting and Not Buying Long Term Fixed Income

The interest rate situation is getting worse, with rate increases likely and the 10 year Treasury yield likely to exceed 5%, which is an ominous sign.   The bond situation is not looking good, and Secretary Bessent's actions seem to be worsening the predicament.

I'm expecting long term interest rates to keep increasing in the near term. My reaction is to stay on the sidelines and not buy any new fixed income with maturities greater than one year, until interest rates stabilize.

The Fed meeting that ends today will give a good indication of the direction of interest rates in the near term.   The market expects the Fed to increase interest rates.   I agree and will hold buying long term fixed income investments for now.

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

This is not financial, bond, nor investment 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

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

One Path to Big Stock Gains

This is based on my observation and experience.  Definitely, not financial advice.

• Foresight 😎
  
  Working for the company that awards stock to employees that allows one to easily:
  1) Have a concentrated portfolio
  2) Hodl Through Volatility
  3) Own a life changing amount.
  
  
• Conviction 😊
  
  Believing in the company enough to remain for a couple decades or more.  Time owning the stock can be better than timing the stock. 
  
  
• Luck 🍀
  
  Company success translates into significant growth in stock valuation.  Some take off like rockets.  Rockets are the ones that deliver, but rockets are never obvious at the beginning.
  
  Wall Street's latest blockbuster stock split has arrived -- and this industry titan has rallied 337,000% over the last 32 years
  
  However, there are many other blockbusters such as AAPL, GOOGL, AMZN.  Then again, many companies do not take off  or some go broke (eg. Enron), which I am more likely to choose. 😞

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Municipal Bond Funds Become Higher Risk

Since buying into muni ETFs (in late 2025) and muni mutual funds (early to mid 2026), they have been relatively stable despite all the volatility this in 2026.  This gave me confidence that this was a good investment option for my retirement paycheck strategy, even though the strategy targeted for consistent payments and not consistent principal.   However, this strategy still needs to experience a market downturn prove its value.

In recent back testing, I discovered that while the principal was relatively constant in the 2008 downturn, the principal fell significantly in the 2022 bear market.   Why the difference?  My conclusion is interest rates decreased in the 2008 recession, while interest rates and inflation increased in the 2002 bear market.

Bond prices go in the opposite direction of interest rates and hence the difference between the two years.

At this point, it appears interest rates are more likely to go higher than lower, resulting in more downward pressure and volatility on bond and bond fund prices.  If this happens, this will be a real time test of the retirement paycheck strategy, which tries to maintain consistent payments even if the principal declines.

At the same time, I can put more money into bonds and bond funds with higher interest rates.  However, I will be scaling in for the possibility the interest rates will increase over a year or more.

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

This is not financial, investment, nor bond 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

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

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

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

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

Are SAAS Stocks Back?

I'm still hodling my buy the dip stocks that were purchased in February 2026.  It's been a wild ride.  First they appeared to be recovering.  Then they dropped to 52 week lows last week.  Now, they are up 20-40% in just the first three days of this week.  What a roller coaster.

In the meantime, memory and space stocks which were on a tear since the beginning of 2026 are now down as much as 50% in the past month.   Muskman is no longer a trillionaire.  Muskman has lost his shine, along with the decline of space stocks and TSLA .  AI has also become tarnished as its capabilities seem less miraculous than doomsayers claim.  On the other hand, SAAS stocks have regained their previous luster. 

As I wrote two weeks ago, I've stopped buying the dip.   I'm sticking to that right now.  However, I'm slightly scaling out of one position, HUBS, since I am a little overinvested in HUBS. Otherwise, I am comfortable hodling my SAAS stock positions for a 100% return by end of year.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC