With inflation (CPI) running a hot 8.3% for the twelve months ended in August, the Federal Government is busy adjusting numerous spending & tax parameters for the new year. Social Security is leading the way with a 8.7% cost-of-living adjustment for 2023. Here are some of the other changes due to inflation: IRS tax bracket “break points” are going up 7.0%, on average. The standard … Continue reading IRS Changes Don’t Keep Up With Inflation
With Halloween in the air this month, perhaps it’s fitting that regular reader and disciplined dividend investor, Klaus Wentzel, sent me this outstanding case study in fighting ‘Vampire Fees’. You know, those hidden fees and billing changes that companies increasingly tack onto our routine bills? Klaus has had extraordinary success in getting into the details of his monthly bills and uncovering hundreds of dollars in … Continue reading Fight Those Vampire Fees!
As the days grow shorter, our neighborhood is starting to light up at night with Halloween decorations. I usually set up a few things about a week or 10 days before Halloween night. My “decorations” are limited to some orange lights, flicker bulbs in our outdoor fixtures, and a few Halloween blow-molds like the ones above. I have these exact three. Each are about 3-feet … Continue reading Surprising Halloween Collectibles
I’ve always subscribed to the Thoreau quote: “Live in each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each.” Autumn is perhaps the season with the fullest potential “bucket list” of activities, since the weather is still nice, nature is taking a dramatic turn, and people fall wistfully back into so many family … Continue reading Autumn Bucket List
My son sent me this hopeful chart today. It shows how the stock market has fared following a 25% decline in the S&P 500 over the last 70 years. Of course, as they say, past performance is no predictor of future performance. Still, it is nice to see that big market drops have historically turned back to growth rather quickly. I had hoped that our … Continue reading When Will It Turn?
Wildfires in California. Hailstorms in the Midwest. Hurricane Ian in Florida & South Carolina. It’s a crazy year for home owners insurance. On top of that add in the crazy inflation in the home construction market. After two white-hot years, only now are home prices starting to slow down from higher interest rates. We just got our 2022-2023 premium statement from State Farm. We received … Continue reading Homeowners Insurance Inflation
As summer winds down, I’m also winding down two activities that have partly consumed my attentions for the last 3 months. On Tuesday, I collected my 75-mile State Park Hiking Club patch, and today I’m closing out my 25-beer Pub Pass. Both have kept me pretty busy this summer. I hiked loops in about 6 state parks this summer and pedaled about 250+ miles to … Continue reading What’s Are You Collecting This Year?
We’ve had a new round of bad economic news, but I can’t get too excited about it, even though it seems like a pretty severe storm. I think I’ve fallen victim to “bad news fatigue” after two years of the pandemic, rising inflation & interest rates, and declining investments. Just in the last couple weeks … ⁃ The stock market erased all the gains since … Continue reading Weathering The Storm
(Sorry for missing a post last Monday. I haven’t missed one in a long time. I road-tripped with a buddy to Lambeau Field to see the Packers beat the hated Bears. Got home at 2:30am and slept in until noon!) Autumn is in the air and that means back to campus. This year, my wife and I are taking a six-week course at one of … Continue reading Autumn Homecoming
Our son was nice enough to show us his new MegaCorp office digs a couple weeks ago. The building is amazing. It’s right off a bike & scooter gateway in downtown with a rooftop plaza overlooking the MN Twin’s Target Field. The amazingly cool building – called ‘T3’ – is unlike any office I ever worked in. The name stands for “the intersection of timber, … Continue reading Work From Here!
MrFireStation 