I did it. I became a writer! I guess I already was a writer in the sense that I’ve 1,189 posts over the past 11 years to this website, but now it feels more official as I spent the past few years researching American history and pulling together a book for the country’s 250th birthday party. The idea was inspired by an issue of LIFE … Continue reading USA Top 250 Book … FREE!
“Grateful Americans will come to this shrine of quiet valor, this forge of our Republic’s iron core. Valley Forge symbolizes the spirit of sacrifice that made independence possible.”” President Ford, Independence Day 1976 Just one post this week as I am traveling around some patriotic stops on the East Coast. I often say that early retirement is like “kidadulthood”. That is, it gives you the … Continue reading 200th & 250th Birthday America
I love watching rockets. I’ve been a space fan since I was a kid – watching the Apollo missions and the development of the Space Shuttles. I frequently drive from our place in Celebration FL to the Space Coast to watch launches. It’s about an hour each way for only a few minutes of excitement. I was there in April for the Artemis II moonshot. … Continue reading Seeing Stars in SpaceX?
Summertime is fun time, with a lot of activities. In addition to biking, pickleball, tennis, hiking, and walking the dog – I’ve added more golf into the mix this year. That’s fine pretty well, but I’ve had some muscle soreness and back pains adjusting from my Winter activity levels. You can see from the chart below how much my exercise minutes (activity > 100 bpm) … Continue reading Getting Going For Summer …
It’s graduation season, so the media is stoking the flames of political divide with what is commonly referred to as the “Student Loan Crisis” (example). I saw a couple of charts that illuminate the issue pretty clearly, so I thought I share them with my small readership here. First, according to the Education Data Initiative, the average student loan payment for a Bachelor’s Degree is … Continue reading Manufactured Student Loan “Crisis”
The economy is either strong, or very weak, it seems. Like many things in America, it just depends on your political perspective. According to Gallup, Republicans are +22 points positive about the economy, while Democrats are -80 points negative. If you go back to Biden’s time in office the viewpoints were switched almost perfectly. In Trump’s first term they were flipped again. I consider myself … Continue reading How’s The Economy? It Depends …
The new “Trump Accounts” 530A program is now officially rolling out, and millions are taking notice. The app is suddenly the top download on the Apple & Google app stores – again proving the popularity of “free” government money from politicians in an election year. At its core, the program is simple. Children born between 1/1/25, and 12/31/2028, are eligible to receive a $1,000 contribution … Continue reading Free Government Money?
I’m glad to see that public schools are taking personal finance seriously. Thirty-nine states now require personal finance as a high school graduation requirement, either as a standalone class, or integrated into another class, like economics. For decades, students sat through economics classes learning about monetary policy, supply and demand curves, and gross domestic product. Those topics are interesting, and they certainly help explain how … Continue reading High School Personal Finance
My son and I were talking about saving & investing and I’m proud that he is a good saver. I know that definitively because I ran across this chart in a news story (I forget where). It gives a good look at net worth by age with 5 year age brackets. I think it’s good for young people to see what others are saving. We … Continue reading Net Worth By Age
An online thread recently asked “What luxury, purchases end up being a money pit?” I think we’ve all had the experience of buying something we thought would be great, but end up costing us much more than we thought. Here’s a summary of the top responses … Boats seem like the quintessential money pit for people. The old saw is that “a boat is a … Continue reading Trophy Purchase Money Pits
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