My Wealth Builder

Use AI for Internal Corporate Knowledge

2026-09-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

On of my roles was managing corporate knowledge in our organization. We tried to create our own bank for corporate knowledge by having people write a one page summary of their work each week. Over time this was reduced to every two weeks and then every month. Our difficulty was the ability to search out one pagers that had enough relevant information related to our business or technical issue. As a result, employees rarely searched for past knowledge.

However, the AI revolution has mad me think "what if?" There was a substantial amount of internal and qualitative knowledge in those one page summaries and internal emails. We used Google search at the time, but it was not efficient are returning useful knowledge to the submitter. It seems AI, which did not exist at the time, would have been more effective. Great technology and insight, but 20 years too late for me.

However, if I were ever in that role again, I'd be leveraging and internal only AI to rake through all internal documents to innovate and solve issues. Unfortunately, 20 years too late or is it?

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Rewarding Myself When 500,000 Monthly Blog Views Happens

2026-09-27T08:00:00.000-04:00

Last month, My Wealth Builder, had 486,825 views. As of Friday, September 24, 2026, My Wealth Builder had 4xx,xxx views. I've decided to give myself a reward when the views cross 500,000 for the first time. It may happen this month, next month or never. I've seen short term spikes in viewership over the past year, which then drop significantly afterwards.

I haven't decided what the reward will be since I don't want to jinx the possibility of the event. As of Friday, September 24, 2026, I will need about 20,000 views per day to reach 500,000 views in September 2026.

I'm currently at 435,826 views this morning with 4 days remaining in September. Wish me luck.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Accounts are Mostly Down This Quarter

2026-09-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

Preparing for Fixed Income Buying Opportunity

2026-09-25T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

Opening Trump Account Challenges

2026-09-24T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

Avoid Accidental Wash Sales

2026-09-23T08:00:00.000-04:00

Darn, I executed a wash sale for the second time, last Friday. Completely, my miss. I tried to get the brokerage to reverse the trade since it didn't settle with the Mutual Fund company until Monday (T+1). Unfortunately, they were not able to do it.

What happened?

Since 2025, I've to doing tax loss harvesting for the municipal bond mutual funds due to rising interest rates.
I started by doing only one fund at a time. Typically, I buy the shares, wait at least 31 days before selling other shares at a loss. This has worked well since shares have gone up after I make the purchase.
Based on the trend of interest rates, I decided that selling first and buying back later might be better since interest rates appear to be trending up.
I decided to try the strategy of selling first on one municipal bond mutual funds.
When choosing which fund from which to sell, I mistakenly chose a fund that I assumed had no purchases made in the last 30 days, but did not specifically check the recent transactions.

The result is that the realized loss I was planning to take was eliminated and added back to the shares that was purchased within the past 30 days. The loss is now unrealized and will need to be taken with a future sale.

Since I am tax loss harvesting multiple mutual fund or stock/ETF concurrently, I am adding a quick check to confirm whether there have been buys/sells within past 30 days, before making any trade. While a wash sale is not the end of the world, not even close, I prefer not to cause one to happen in the future.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I Won't Rent a Short Term Option

2026-09-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

I know people rent a Short Term Rental (STR) and have good experiences. Personally, I won't rent a Short Term Rental, not because of a bad experience, but for the reasons below to avoid a possible bad experience.

The STR owners are not licensed nor professional to do temporary lodging.
Renters are usually charged cleaning fees.
Rental issues may not be solve quickly.
I like knowing I will get good service from known hotels.

Personally, I don't see enough benefit, financially or accommodation wise, for renting STR. Maybe if I need to rent a place to hold 10 more people, but I only need accommodations for 4. So, I stick with hotels, and I usually can use points from credit card rewards.

I have stayed with with people who rented a STR. Often there are small issues (like dishwasher not working), that are resolved, but I don't want to personally deal with handling such issues, when traveling on my own. Thus, I continue to rent from hotels when needing short term lodging.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

This is not financial nor short term rental advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Personal Questions at Social Volunteer Event

2026-09-21T08:00:00.000-04:00

I recently attended a large outdoor volunteer recognition event. It was in a park and catered as a cookout. For reference, my volunteer assignment is by myself and I interact very little, maybe 30 seconds each time, with other volunteers or employees. Thus, I attend the recognition by myself and sit with people I meet for first time.

By chance, I usually sit at a table where people have met for the first time. The conversations are usually superficial, like where does one volunteer, and enjoyable. This year I sat with a group where the three of then women knew each other well. After sharing where I volunteered, I mostly listened to the conversation, about various topics, sports, kids, volunteer opportunities.

Then the most talkative of the women turned to me and asked what I was passionate about. First, I wasn't ready for anything other than small talk, or chit chat conversations. Second, I wasn't interested in sharing my passions with strangers that I just met, like finances, taxes, retirement income, etc. I froze and she tried to help me by offering my volunteer work area. Finally, I said, "I really don't have anything I'm passionate about," which led to her joking she was passionate about the volunteer work she did.

Afterwards, I thought about this and concluded I ought to have a ready response in the future.

I'm passionate about investments, income and taxes. True, but it sounds too nerdy. I didn't think briefly about giving this answer, but decided not to do so. I didn't feel it was a good answer for people that were strangers.
I'm passionate about helping my kids to be successful. True and probably relevant with a group of women, but not my style.
I'm passionate about making it to the next day. Yeah, that's me also, but probably too cynical for a social discussion.
I'm not passionate about any area. What are you passionate about? I think this would have been the best answer to strangers. Tosses the focus back to the original requester, which I feel is appropriate.

Yeah, next time I'll be ready with the fourth option, which I feel is best in the situation.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

I Don't Answer Phone Numbers I Don't Recognize

2026-09-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

We get a lot of unsolicited calls on our landline. A few years ago, I started using the call ID to decide whether to pick up on the phone or not. If I didn't recognize the number, I let it go to the answering machine. Over 95% of those calls didn't leave a message. On the occasion, the caller was known, I could easily pick up after they started leaving messages. For reference, I have a good memory for numbers I've seen before, a curse from being OCD, I think.

At first a few unknown callers, especially political robocalls would leave messages. However, we've only received 2 political robocalls that left messages. No other unknown callers have left messages.

Up until this year, my spouse would routinely answer all calls, despite my warning it may be an undesirable call. Often she would end up listening for few minutes and then say, "We're not interested." This year, she started not answering all calls and letting them go to the recorder. Woohoo!

We still get a lot of unknown callers. But almost 100% don't leave a message and we no longer waste time listening to telemarketers, who call despite us being on the no call list, and political campaign calls.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Always Thinking When Awake

2026-09-19T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

R.O.M.E.O.

2026-09-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

Child Independence

2026-09-17T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

Waiting and Not Buying Long Term Fixed Income

2026-09-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

Selling Memory Stocks Last Week was a Good Decision

2026-09-15T20:00:00.000-04:00

Last week, I did some vibe selling since I felt AI stocks have reached a plateau, at least, and maybe a near term peak. I decided based on a feeling to sell my recently purchased memory stocks, which are AI related, for a profit.

Turns out that was a good decision, based on today's closing price of $927.60, which is lower than every of my MU sales prices last week.

Yes, I'm not brilliant, just lucky having the right feeling at the right time.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Medical Insurance Unexpected Coverage

2026-09-15T08:00:00.000-04:00

I recently checked on surgical procedure and was told by my medical insurance customer service the procedure would not be covered by my insurance policy. To note, I only described the procedure and did not submit a CPT code.

I decided to do the surgical procedure, which was medical and not cosmetic, to have the issue corrected. The provider then submitted to cost to my insurance company right after procedure. After a month, the insurance company approved the claim and paid for the procedure. Woohoo!

Lesson learned:

Medical insurance claims can be very complex, to the point that some customer service representatives may not give an accurate answer.
If the provider accepts insurance, always have them submit a claim for payment.

I may need this procedure again in the future. I will definitely use the same provider so that a claim is submit which my medical insurance will cover.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Buying SPY Put Options as Lotto Tickets

2026-09-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

I am buying deep out of the money S&P 500 ETF (SPY) puts in case the market falls soon.

Last Thursday, I started losing confidence in the stock market advance. Despite the rebound on Friday, it seems the market is one TBD event away from a major decline or crash. At this point, my inclination is to mostly hodl, and not to buy the dip.

In addition, I'm betting on a SPY decline. I am scaling into SPY puts expiration January 15, 2027 with strike prices of 100-130. I'm paying $0.01 per share for a 100 share contract or $1 total, the cost of a lotto ticket. Of course, unless something catastrophic happens, SPY is not likely to fall to 100 since it closed at 746, this past Friday. However, SPY doesn't need to drop to 100 for me to make money. If SPY drops to 646 next week, I will make $5-10 because of how options are valued based on market volatility (risk) and SPY price.

I know a $5-10 gain isn't much, but that's why I call it a lotto ticket. If I the option expires worthless, which is what happens with most lotto tickets, I can write off the loss on my taxes. Woohoo!

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

President Trump Dividend Checks and Gasoline Price Reduction

2026-09-13T08:00:00.000-04:00

President Trump has offered a $5000 dividend when Republicans win majorities in the Senate and house. This is the fourth time President Trump has proposed dividend checks during his second term. Here are the other:

$5000 dividend from DOGE cost cutting. Amount I have received: $0.
$2000 dividend from Tarif income. Amount I have received: $0. Amount tariffs I have paid: $200+ estimated.
$1000 dividend from expiring ACA subsidies. Amount I have received: $0

President Trump has promised gas prices will decline after midterms. Originally, President Trump promised to reduce gasoline prices after getting elected.

Amount of price reduction: $0. Amount of price increase: $0.90

Reminds me of an old joke: How does one tell when a politician is lying? When his/her lips move. LOL.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

My Request to President Trump and Secretary Bessent

2026-09-12T20:00:00.000-04:00

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

2026-09-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

I'm Married and Wash My Own Clothes

2026-09-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

2026-09-11T08:00:00.000-04:00

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

Do Parents Have Time and Money to Raise Kids Today?

2026-09-10T08:00:00.000-04:00

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.

Nine Numbers that Matter More than Net Worth for Retirement

2026-09-09T08:00:00.000-04:00

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.

Gold, Oil and Silver, Oh My!

2026-09-08T08:00:00.000-04:00

With inflation and war risks, I plan to hodl gold, oil and silver investments we currently own. However, I'm not adding more since my goal is to simplify our investment holdings.

Here's what we own:

Gold and silver ETFs and stocks in gold and silver miners.. Inherited from spouse's parents' IRAs. I sold some near the recent peak. Although, I've committed to hodling and not selling positions in my spouse's account, these were inherited after 2019 and must be liquidated before 10 years.
Junk silver coins. I purchased these in 2011 when silver was at or near a low. I was teaching my the 7 year old daughter about coin collecting and invest. We visited a monthly coin and stamp show and bought a few items each month. We bought 90% junk silver coins and some collectible silver proof sets.
Gold bars. A couple years ago, I was walking into Costco and the greeter pointed at the gold price sign and said, "We're selling below spot price, right now," and showed me spot on his phone. I couldn't resist getting a deal, which include a 2% rebate for my executive membership and 2% reward on my credit card. I only bought 1 bar. In hindsight, I should have bought the limit of 5.
Oil stocks. I own a few oil stocks: CRGY, HP, HAL, RIG and NBR. RIG and NBR will likely not/never break even. CRGY is profitable or underwater depending on the account. HP and HAL have a good chance to be profitble.

We had previously owned gold miners and ETFs in our taxable accounts, but as usual, I sold them for a small profit after being underwater for many years since I bought near a previous peak in 2011.

Here is my plan:

As gold and silver rise, I will take the opportunity to begin scaling out as it gets closer to previous ATH. I will also sell some jewelry for scrap.
As oil rises, I will sell HP and HAL as they become profitable. I will sell RIG and NBR immediately if they break even. I will hodl CRGY in the taxable account since it is already profitable and scale out of CRGY in the IRAs as they become profitable.

Of course, gold, oil and silver may not rise, which means we will continue to hodl. I am prepared to sell if the should rise significantly.

For more on Ideas You Can Use, check back every Tuesday for a new segment.

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Predictable Inflation Adjusted Payments - The Gold Retirement Standard

2026-09-07T08:00:00.000-04:00

It would be great if retirees received a predictable inflation adjusted monthly payment that covered all one's expected and discretionary expenses.

Predictable
Inflation Adjusted
Expenses

Unfortunately, there isn't an option that meets all the criteria.

Predictable - The options usually are fixed or the inflation adjustment doesn't deliver enough. Annuities or long term bonds have predictable fixed payments, which meets one criteria. However, they don't increase with inflation, nor do they necessary cover increasing expenses with aging.
Inflation adjusted - Social Security payments are "inflation adjusted," but do not necessarily cover the items that retired people need. TIPS bonds are inflation adjusted and theoretically, so are equities, but neither are guaranteed.
Expenses - The reality is living expenses will grow and new health and aging care expenses will be grow more than expected as on gets older.

Here's my attempt at mimicking a gold standard of payment:

Predictable - Buying 20 year Treasuries yielding 5%. I've stopped for now but will buy more if yields rise to 6-7%.
Inflation adjusted - Social security, rental property, TIPS bonds, and equities. Social security, rents and TIPS are broadly inflation adjusted, but don't necessarily match cost increases experienced by and individual. Equities have downside risks but do rise in the long term and provide an inflation cushion.
Expenses - We purchased long term care insurance when I was in my 20s and later for my spouse in her 30s when we got married, when premiums were much less expensive. We also have retiree health care insurance from my company and Medicare (me) which has more coverage and is less expensive than the ACA health insurance. Finally, we have saved for our children in college 529 plans from the time we adopted them. We expect to 100% cover their college expenses for both our 21 year old and 14 year old.

But as Yogi Berra once said, "It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future." We have covered what we can control as best we can, and will have to adjust for elements we don't control such as inflation, the economy, stock market volatility and health.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC