My Wealth Builder

5-7% Mortgage Rates are the Historical Norm

2026-05-07T08:00:00.107-04:00

Home buyers are complaining that 30 year mortgages are about mid 6% and 15 year mortgages are high 5%. Many of these home buyers of been spoiled by the super low mortgage rates below 3% during the covid era of 20-21.

Low interest rates had two impacts:

It lowered the monthly payment for buyers. They could afford more house.
It caused house prices to increase since buyers could afford higher prices for the same monthly payment.

Now that interest rates are higher, people who have low interest rates have low incentive to buy a new house and have their monthly payment increase significantly. First time home buyers are locked out the market by both high monthly payments and high house prices created by 20-21 low mortgage rates.

But rates are not that different from historical norms. Many current buyers and potential buyers weren't in the market in the 80s. I was. Back then, mortgage rates hit a high of 17% after being in the normal 4-7% for decades. I felt fortunate to get a 12% mortgage rate for my first house. I got my second house after being married at a 5.5% mortgage rate and felt lucky.

IMHO, if it's not mortgage rates, then it must be home price inflation. If it the issue, it's a much tougher problem to solve for home buyers.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Good Thing I Don't Bet on Earnings

2026-05-06T20:00:00.003-04:00

Yesterday, I was checking our accounts. I noticed FSLY was up 200% from last year. I decided to HODL instead of sell. I thought it might benefit from AI like memory chips did. I didn't want to miss out of tremendous gains like memory stocks have experience.

Well, FSLY reported earning after hours and fell ~~22%~~ 28% due disappointing results. So much for my thesis. I am still going to HODL. However, I'm glad I don't buy options in anticipation of good or bad earnings results, since I tend to expect the opposite.

I still lost, but since I own shares, I can be a bag holder for a while longer and hoping my thesis is right in the longer term.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Financial Kryptonite for Building Wealth

2026-05-06T08:00:00.040-04:00

For me, here's my Kryptonite that destroys wealth building:

Living above my means.
Not paying myself first when earning a paycheck.

IMHO, doing the above leads to debt, which leads to more debt, which is a wealth building death spiral. In our case, we chose to live below our means and pay ourselves first each month. Doing so was one factor that helped us have a successful early retirement.

Of course, YMMV and avoiding kryptonite doesn't guarantee success.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Self Defense Against Financial Scams

2026-05-05T08:00:00.029-04:00

From MSN

4 financial scams targeting seniors to watch for as AI and deepfakes raise the stakes

Below is summary of the headlines.

Investment Scams: “Guaranteed Returns” Are Often a Trap
Romance Scams: Emotional Trust Turned Into Financial Theft
Government Impersonation Scams: When Fear Becomes the Weapon
Tech Support Scams: The Fake Emergency on Your Screen
A New Layer of Risk: AI Voice Cloning and Deepfake Family Emergency Scams

In summary of the article, it seems good actions to take are avoid being pressured by urgency, disconnect when pressured for money, consult with a trusted person, and contact the authorities if needed.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Ignored Financial Tasks than Became Important Later

2026-05-04T08:00:00.173-04:00

This is what I've noticed based on my own experience.

Here are the financial basics we focused on when younger. These are many of the financial decisions and tasks needed when the kids are still living with parents.

Earning money through jobs.

Focusing on careers
Increasing earnings

Paying for the following

Rent/mortgage, home maintenance, utilities, car payment.
Necessities such as groceries, clothing, transportation.
Day care for children.
Entertainment, eating out, extracurriculars for children.
Health insurance and medical expenses

Saving for:

College
Retirement
Home down payment

Borrowing

Funding college
Buying auto
Home mortgage

Here's are some of the tasks we ignored until later. These are future financial tasks that don't receive much attention until closer to retirement.

Income calculation during retirement

Social Security
Stable and regular income from investment

Simplifying financial tasks

Investments - Reduce number of accounts and types of investments
Credit Card - Reduce number and annual fees

Higher costs needed to compensate for aging

Health and long term care premiums
Residence modifications

Spending plan based on older lifestyle

Renovations both minor and major
Vacations with children's families
Helping adult children with major costs
Grandchildren college expenses.

Creating a Trust or Will

Choosing someone to handle financial affairs when one is unable to handle on their own.

In some cases, I did some of the financial tasks for older people because I learned about them with my parents, for example Creating a Trust. Others, I didn't consider until after retirement, for example Social Security.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

From Magnificent 7 to Magnificent 1 in early 2026

2026-05-03T08:00:00.102-04:00

These stocks have been named the Magnificent 7 for their being the driver of index gains over the past year: Apple (AAPL), Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), Meta Platforms (META), Tesla (TSLA), and Nvidia (NVDA).

Lately it's been reduced the Magnificent 3: GOOGL, AAPL and AMZN.

However, realistically it's been a Magnificent 1 in April 2026: GOOGL which has delivered 23% YTD gains. None of the other Magnificent 7 are even close. In fact, some even have negative YTD returns as low as -17%. 👀 at you Tesla.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Financial Products "Sold" by Financial Advisors

2026-05-02T08:00:00.066-04:00

"If you have a hammer, everything looks like a nail." ~ proverb popularized by Abraham Maslow

I have learned this also applies to many financial advisors, who earn money based on the product they recommend.

If a advisor selling a specific financial product, then that is the number one personal finance recommendation he is likely to make. Insurance financial advisors tend to recommend insurance products. Brokerage financial advisors tend to recommend stock and bond products. Mutual fund advisors tend to recommend their own mutual funds. Secondary offering advisors tend to recommend their offerings. Tax advisors tend to recommend investment that minimize tax liability.

While it is legitimate for an advisor recommend a financial product for which he is compensated, I feel I need to do more diligence before accepting the recommendation. I do more independent research on the product to decide. In most of the cases, I decide not the invest. Examples include: Private Credit, Indexed ETFs, Opportunity Zone Real Estate and most Life Insurance based products. They may be right for some people but not for me.

Some options that I have used include but not currently: Actively managed separate accounts. I like the idea of have individual stocks in my own account. However, I've recently moved away from this option.

Currently, I'm considering a robo investment platform offered by one the brokerages. I expect the advisor that recommended may get compensated. That's OK since I am doing an independent evaluation of the product on my own.

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

Locking In Higher Interest Rates to Help our Retirement

2026-05-01T08:00:00.064-04:00

When I started working in the 1980s, I calculated that I could retire on $1 million invested at 5% interest. After all, that was 150% of my starting salary. Of course, interest rates even went higher, making a million dollars a good goal.

From 2009 to 1019, it looked like retirement was going to require significant more investment funds, when interest rates dropped below 0.5% for CDs. Then having a million dollars didn't look so good as a retirement plan since it would only yield less than $5,000 per year. The path to retirement looked dismal.

Then in 2019 interest rates starting rising, with rates peaking in 2023 to 2025 at about 5%. that means a million dollars now yield $50,000 per year instead of only $5,000. It also means less retirement savings is needed to retire comfortably.

While interest rates may still go up, I'm locking in 4-5% interest rates on part of our savings for 10-20 years through Treasury bonds and CDs. Yes, interest rates rising and inflation are a risk, but the bigger risk for us is interest rates going back to 1% or less for an extended period.

Here's my simple logic. If rates go up, I can always reinvest maturing bonds at the higher rate. If rates go down, I have to reinvest as at a lower rate, which makes this the higher risk option. So I am scaling in to long term fixed rated bonds and CDs over the next few weeks and months.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Wow! Massive Abundance of Tech Products

2026-04-30T08:00:00.096-04:00

First, let me acknowledge that I am a tech Neanderthal. I refused to get a cell phone when working, until one of my direct reports upgraded and gave me her old phone. My group said I needed a cell phone, and then they never called me. When I retired, I inherited my spouse's flip phone when she upgraded to a smart phone. I stayed with the flip phone until a couple year's ago when it no longer worked because of 4g. I upgraded to my daughter's Iphone when she upgraded.

My tech stopped at PCs and cellphones. I have a desktop and a lap top. Yeah, I abhor social media and only use LinkedIn. I use about 1gb of cellular a month.

A couple days ago, I asked my 13 year old son to accompany me to look for a blue tooth keyboard to use with an Ipad. He recommended that we should go to Best Buy, which we did. There were numerous choices at different price points ranging from integrated keyboards and protective covers to mini back lit keyboards. There were also bluetooth mice available.

While were there, we looked at some tech in which he was interested. I suspect this is the real reason he recommended going the Best Buy. We looked at accessories for his F-1 Video Game on the XBox. These included replica steering wheels, pedals, and a shift rod. I guess we would need to build this all into a simulator. He also explained there are seats that can give motion and straps that can create G-forces, but Best Buy didn't have them on display.

There were other items like cameras, folding cellphones and TVs, but what I noticed and remembered most is the 3D printer. For about $550, one can get a machine that can make many art items as well as slip on shoes.

All the stuff looked cool, but I didn't buy...yet.

Disclosure: I did not receive any compensation from Best Buy nor Xbox for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Will I Be Sad or Glad After Hours?

2026-04-29T16:00:00.010-04:00

Part of the Mag7, AMZN, MSFT, META and GOOGL, are reporting after the market closes. Although we have positions in all four, GOOGL is our largest holding followed by MSFT. How investors react to their earnings will be the main factor on whether I'm sad 😞or glad 😄.

Edit 4:30 PM: GOOGL 😄. MSFT, AMZN, META 😞.

Edit 6:30 PM: GOOGL, AMZN 😄. MSFT, META 😞.

Edit 7:00 PM : No changes from 6:30 PM.

Will check tomorrow staring pre market.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

The Stock Investment Option Closest to a Free Lunch

2026-04-29T08:00:00.120-04:00

There are three choices for investing in stocks.

Pay an investment advisor to do the investing. This usually has fee of around 1% (or more) of Assets Under Management (AUM) above any fees for ETFs or Mutual Funds, which vary from 0.03% to 2.0% or more.
Invest in individual stocks in a personal brokerage account. Trading costs have been eliminated. However, one has to invest time and effort to do research, monitor investments, and buy/sell stock positions.
Invest in a market Index fund, such as VTI (total market) or VOO (S&P 500), which have fees of 0.03%. Other than initially buying, holding for the long term requires no additional effort.

Even though I have used managed investment accounts, I'm no longer using Investment advisors that charge 1% of AUM (Assets Under Management). IMHO, they are not worth the ongoing annual cost since the majority of the work is the initial setup. Ongoing maintenance should only require a few minor changes, which I don't feel is worth the 1% of AUM charge.

I have also invested in individual stocks on my own. While more exciting and sometimes much higher gains, this approach takes more effort and time. In addition, individual stock risk is a bigger issue, resulting in more monitoring of the stock positions. Finally, while I have had some big wins, I have also had many losses, which net resulted in returns less that index funds based on the S&P 500.

Although I ignored the recommendation for many years, I believe broad market index funds are a great options. Fees are usually as low at 0.03%. Time and effort in minimized to invest. Individual stock risk is low. The index funds are self managing at removing poor performers and selecting future winning stocks.

With a cost of $0.30 per $1000 invested, broad market index funds are the closest option to a free lunch. There is little or no additional time nor effort required. Best of all, the returns beat over 99% of investment in other options on a long term basis.

Disclosure: We own shares of VOO in our accounts. I received no compensation for writing this post.

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

Online Scam Avoidance

2026-04-28T08:00:00.009-04:00

Online romance scams have become a norm and examples are more frequent. Below is one article about an individual fall for such a scam.

Retired journalist loses $270,000 to ‘pig-butchering’ scam after online romance turns into fake gold investment scheme

Here are some tips on red flags for online scams for the article..

How to avoid being a pig-butchering victim

Here are clear warning signs to watch for when it comes to pig butchering:

1. Be skeptical of unsolicited messages: If someone you don't know contacts you out of the blue — especially with a "wrong number" that turns into a conversation — treat it as a red flag.

2. Don't trust online relationships: Scammers often use flattery and conduct frequent check-ins. They want to make the connection feel real before making a financial request.

3. Ignore "profits" that seem too good to be true: The rapid gains in these fake investment platforms are the early signs of a scam. Early "wins" are designed to lure you into investing more.

4. Never pay fees to withdraw your own money: Requests for taxes, fees or deposits to unlock funds are almost always fraudulent.

5. Listen to family or advisors: In many cases, loved ones spot the scam before the victim does. Don't dismiss their concerns.

Ultimately, the safest rule is to never send money to someone you've only met online.

As Levine's story shows, these scams don't just drain bank accounts — they can also leave lasting emotional and personal damage.

Bottom line takeaway: Be very wary of online (email, social media, messaging) from unknown people. My typical action is to ignore or delete.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

20 Year Treasury Yielding 5%

2026-04-27T21:30:00.001-04:00

I'm buying the 20 year Treasury since it's yielding 5%. Yeah, there are risks with locking up money that long. Inflation could increase significantly. The U.S. government could default.

A worst scenario for our retirement is the 20 year Treasury yield goes down for a long period to 1% as it did in 2020, or hovers around 2.5% as it did from 2012 to 2019. That would reduce our retirement income significantly.

I am ok with the risk that interest rates go up, even if it is to 7-10%, since I don't think it would be more than for a couple years, which is survivable. And we would still have some cash to invest at those higher rates.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Buy the "Right" Stock and Hodl

2026-04-27T08:00:00.101-04:00

"It's hard to make predictions, especially about the future." ~ Yogi Berra

One way stock investors make millions is to have a future great stock and hold, even when it declines 50% or more several times. I would have been a millionaire several times over if I had never sold APPL, AMZN, and GOOGL, all of which I owned at least 100 shares in their early days.

However, back then was still working and I was particularly sensitive to volatility of my stock investments. All three stocks fell after I purchased them and took several months or even a year to recover and be positive gains. By then, I was anxious about not losing money and sold for a only about a 10-15% profit.

Ah, would've, should've, could've.

Of course, there are some formerly great stocks that dropped and took years to recover past their previous highs. Examples include: GE, CSCO, and INTC, all of which just exceeded their previous all time high from 26 years ago during the dot.com bubble in 2000. Then there are the great stocks that crashed and stayed low or went to zero: Pets.com and Inktomi are examples.

So finding those future great stocks is a big challenge.

It seems that most people that make big gains are from stock in the company that employed them, examples include Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, and Elon Musk. A small factoid is that Bill Gates would have been trillionaire if he had kept all his MSFT stock, instead of diversifying based on Buffet's recommendation. For me, great returns have been hodling my company stock which I owned through an ESOP, but definitely not as big as Gates, Bezos, Buffet and Musk.

For my kids accounts, I may try to buy a few potential great stocks for them and hodl. However, for the majority of the account, I will invest in US and International Stock Index funds which routinely hodl the best stocks and cull out the worst.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Kids Grow Up Fast

2026-04-26T08:00:00.027-04:00

Yesterday, my 13 year old son wanted to ride his bike to the local grocery story, about 2 miles away on the sidewalk. I offered/requested to do his first ride with him since there are 4 lane streets to cross at intersections. He vehemently declined to have me accompany him, three times. Yes, I had ridden with him to the crossing a couple times, but we hadn't crossed.

I still think of him as needing us to help him with everything. Obviously, he doesn't, despite me advising he should have a backpack to carry purchase, and a lock for his bike, which neither he had considered.

Still, I let him go on his own. He texted me when he arrived and he made it home OK.

Yep, he is growing up! I still remember when we adopted him as a 1 year old like it was yesterday. Time goes by so fast.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Can AI have other Benefits than Productivity?

2026-04-25T08:00:00.006-04:00

People always talk about how AI increases productivity. I think AI can make a bigger difference in society, without eliminating jobs. What if AI can be use to prevent crimes and significantly improve health. Here are my proposals:

Detect, Identify and Prevent Internet/Phone/Email scams against the elderly.
Detect, Identify and Stop Fraud against bank accounts.
Identify and Propose Cures for both frequent and rare diseases.

Maybe I'm way off base, but I haven't heard much about the above opportunities for using AI and was just wondering.

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

This is not financial, fraud/scam protection, health nor AI advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Best Post Retirement Education I Received

2026-04-24T08:00:00.001-04:00

After I retired, I was given a $5000 to use towards post retirement training, which excluded golf lessons. I chose to use my grant towards the following at a local vocational school and a local community college:

Plumbing - It was an intro course to be an apprentice plumber. I learned how to make many simple repairs, such as changing faucet stems, and attempted to learn soldering copper tubes. I didn't pass the soldering part. One takeaway that I had was to have a local shutoff valve for all faucets and appliances. When adding new faucets, I always insist of having a local shutoff valve. It has be a saving factor when I had a faucet leak that could be isolated by the local shutoff valve instead of using the whole house shutoff.
Electrical - This was also an intro course to being an apprentice electrician. Being taught the basics of wiring fixtures and switches safely was great. I used this skill many times in our home. The second best part was getting a list of must have tools to be a DIY electrician.
Masonry - My key learning in this one is that I shouldn't attempt any big projects in this area. I did horribly as laying brick. My only venture in this area is to occasionally repair damaged mortar.
Real Estate - I though being a real estate agent might be a good part time retirement job. I took a course at a local community college to learn the material to pass the licensing course. Although the course material was good, I didn't take the test. I learned that being a part-time agent requires paying a number of fees to keep the job. It was a money losing proposition unless I sold at least a couple houses a year. I decided to pass.

In addition, I got some useful free education through one post retirement job.

Tax Professional - This was actually a part time job that provided education for employees. While the pay was minimum wage plus commission, the real benefit was the tax education I was able to take at no additional cost. I achieved the highest level tax advisor at the firm which qualified me to handle most tax returns. I did this for about 5 years before "retiring." The education and experience I received has helped me immensely in doing my own tax returns and in deal with the IRS and state tax agencies when necessary.

Overall, I've been able to put my post retirement education towards many DIY projects around the house.

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

This is not financial, education, tax, nor retirement jobs advice. Please consult a professional advisor.

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Hodling My "Buy the Dip" Software Stocks

2026-04-23T20:00:00.040-04:00

Ouch, ouch!

My "buy the dip" software SAAS stocks are taking a big hit today, anywhere from 7-18% down. Service Now (NOW) reported earnings yesterday that disappointed. I'm underwater on all my software "buy the dip" stocks, but I'm not going to panic sell at this point. I think their devastation by AI is over exaggerated and they will recover, although it may take longer than I expected. I'm HODLing at this time.

In the past, I would not have been so calm with this level of volatility. I would have high anxiety. This time, I waiting out the volatility and not getting worried, for a few reasons. First, we don't have significant funds invested in these stocks. Second, our accounts are still producing income for our monthly retirement paycheck. Third, I still expect these purchases will profitable in the future.

After this round of "buy the dip," I'm going to avoid buying any new stocks on a dip, though I may still trade these stocks. That way, I limit the number of individual stocks I need to watch, as I sell off these buy the dip stocks for a profit, hopefully. It's taking more time and effort than I intended to manage these "buy the dip" stock purchases.

If I were in my 20s now, I would primarily invest in mainly total market index funds since I expect these index funds to go up over the longer term. I wish I had that confidence when I was 20 something, instead of starting to have it now that I'm retired.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

A Car Feature I Would Rather Not Have

2026-04-23T08:00:00.017-04:00

My first car was basic. Radio, single strap seat belts, manual windows, manual mirrors and cigarette lighter. No A/C nor airbags. The only amenity was automatic transmission.

There has been a lot of amenity creep since my first car. Electric windows, electric mirrors, ABS brakes, cruise control, air bags, CD players, blue tooth, which we have in our newest 2012 car. While I don't really "need" some of these, I am willing to have then. We still don't have GPS nor car cameras.

However, one feature we have that I view as unnecessary, because of the cost to replace when it stops work. That feature is the pressure monitor for tires. Recently, the warning light went on for low tire pressure. I checked all four tires and they were at target pressures. It turns out the battery for one sensor had gone dead. Cost to replace at the dealer? $260 for one or $740 for all four, since all are likely to fail soon also. Huh? That's almost the coast of replacing 4 tires with top of the line tires.

In all my years of driving, I only had couple times that a tire pressure sensor would have been helpful. In one case, I drove a couple miles with a flat tire that occurred at my home. In another case, I had a flat tire in a parking lot and called AAA to change the time, which took about an hour of wait time. Otherwise, I generally have slow leaks due to a nail and I discovered the issue way before it is flat.

My only other direct experience with a tire pressure sensor was on a rental car that flashed a warning when we drove to a mountain top in Hawaii. The cold temperatures caused the tire pressure to go down, but the sensor didn't go off immediately when we got back to sea level. In this instance, it showed which tires were low. Quite annoying for a few days since we didn't have easy access to capability to put air in the tire.

If I could eliminate this feature on our next new car purchase, I would. For reference, I did find a less expensive replacement option: Costco will replace the sensor batteries for about $60 dollars a tire and they don't charge for the initial inspection.

Disclosure: I was not compensated by Costco for this post.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

Lotto Option Bets on Possible President Trump Stock Support

2026-04-22T22:00:00.025-04:00

Currently, investing based on President Trump's actions and tweets seem to be the norm. Traditional fundamental and technical analysis don't have much capability for assessing value of individual stocks anymore. It seems vibe investing based on expected President Trump's tweets or TACOs yield good results.

IMHO, President Trump is in tune with what his supporter and non supporters want. I'm guessing that he will do some executive orders to attract non supporters for the midterms. Here are two specific areas:

He may make marijuana a schedule III classification, down from a schedule 1 classification. This would potential increase the value of marijuana growing companies.
He my support EV vehicles more, which would help EV related stocks such as battery and charging station companies.

I own some marijuana growing companies and EV battery companies. I may buy some call options on this stocks in addition with less than $50 total as a lotto bet..

Disclosure::We own shares of SNDL, TLRY, SLDP, TSLA and EVGO. We also own January 2027 expiration call options for SNDL and EVGO.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

2026 tax brackets

2026-04-22T08:00:00.013-04:00

Now that our 2025 tax returns are filed, I'm getting an early start on our 2026 estimated return. Below is the article and table that I am referencing for 2026.

What Are Federal Income Tax Rates for 2025 and 2026?

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

If It's Tuesday, There will Be a TACO

2026-04-21T23:00:00.010-04:00

President Trump extended the deadline for the Iranian ceasefire, after the market closed. I expect stocks to pop in the pre-market and at the open on Wednesday.

Tomorrow may be volatile. An opportunity to buy or sell. I'm planning to hold unless that is a major movement, either way, on one of my positions.

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

Prepping Snow Blower for Summer Storage

2026-04-21T08:00:00.055-04:00

Although we still have frost warnings, I don't expect any more snow storms. We got good use out of our snow blower, which we inherited from my in-laws. We had several storms that ranged from a couple inches to a foot on our driveway.

When we inherited the snow blower, it had not be used for 7 years, since my father-in-law had passed way. It did not start up. I asked a neighbor whose hobby is restoring cars for some carburetor cleaner. Instead, he took apart the carburetor, cleaned it and put it back together, without any instructions. It started up right away.

Now that Spring is here, it's time to "summerize" the snow blower so that I won't have the problem again and it will easily start up the next winter. First, I always turn off the fuel and let it run until it stops. That way no gas is remaining the carburetor which will gunk up when the gas evaporates. Next, empty all the gas in the in the tank. That's about all I do. I change the oil every couple years at the beginning of winter.

This process has worked well since the snow blower starts up every winter right away.

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

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

Copyright © 2026 Achievement Catalyst, LLC

This is a Bull Market, Not Brilliant Investing by Me

2026-04-20T08:00:00.015-04:00

The last three weeks have been great for our investments. I'm enjoying the market rebound since March 30, 2026. Our accounts are up nicely and at or near all time highs. The buy the dip stocks are recovering again. I'm feeling brilliant again.

However, I am experienced and old enough to know that I am nowhere near brilliant in stock picking. I'm just lucky and going along for the bull market ride.

Here's what I think is brilliant for my kids: Buy a market stock index, such as the S&P, and hold for 40 years. Put $159 per month in the account. Hold through all the ups and down. Expect to have $1,000,000 dollars after 40 years.

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

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

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My "Investing" Lotto Buy for Tomorrow

2026-04-19T22:00:00.018-04:00

Given the uncertainty of the Schrödinger's Strait of Hormuz (which is both open and closed).Ceasefire (maybe, maybe not), my plan for tomorrow, Monday, April 20, 2026 is to buy a few lotto OTM (out of the money)calls, especially if the market dips.

Why? The news is bad right now. And I expect President Trump to tweet his standard, "Everything is going well." post tomorrow sometime tomorrow. While I don't know the timing, if it happens during the market hours, the calls may print.

I already have two call options on BB (Blackberry) and SLS (Sellas Life Sciences Group).

Either way, I consider these lotto tickets, which means they will likely expired worthless, like my real lotto tickets. But at least I get to take a tax deduction with option lotto tickets.

Disclosure: I current own shares and call option for BB and SLS.