Our neighborhood in Florida has a weekly “Investment Club” that I went to this past Friday. There were about 15 people gathered when I got there – in the events ballroom of our clubhouse. We started by talking about our 2025 expectations for the stock market’s growth. After two years of incredible growth (+23% in 2024, +24% in 2023), most people were expecting growth in … Continue reading Investment Club
When you move to a new area, everyone shares with you what the “local treasures” are. In the Southeast, that includes Publix grocery stores. Florida loves Publix. Having worked in the food industry and visited Florida for more than 30 years, we were very familiar with Publix, but hadn’t shopped there too much as “locals”. Now that we’ve been doing that, I’m putting Publix on … Continue reading Bogus Publix BOGOs
It’s hard to sit still watching the tremendous waste & inefficiency being exposed in Washington DC over the last two years. The proceedings are a maddening comedy & disheartening tragedy at the same time. Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal reported that a bipartisan Senate Committee was given evidence that as much as $1 trillion on a year are paid out fraudulently by the federal, state, … Continue reading Federal Comedy & Tragedy
We have had quite a few visitors to our vacation place in Celebration FL over the last few weeks. Everyone is interested in the unique “Town that Disney Built”. I’ve found that people from different parts of Florida like to compare what their towns & clubhouses have to keep retirees busy & entertained. On the ‘highly desired’ list are pools / water parks, golf … Continue reading Unique Activities in Retirement
THEME PARKS WALT DISNEY WORLD – 4 PARKS MAGIC KINGDOM EPCOT CENTER DISNEY HOLLYWOOD STUDIOS 🍿 Streets of Old Hollywood, Tower of Terror, Rock N Roller Coaster, Toy Story Mania / Slinky Dog, Runaway Railway 🚀 Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge 🎶 Beauty & The Beast & Frozen Shows 💥 Fantasmic Nightly ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 🔥 Indiana Jones Stunt Show. 🎅🏻 Jollywood Holiday Nights 🚧 (2027: Monsters Inc … Continue reading Activities Near Celebration …
Just a quick post today to highlight what could be the biggest change for the finances of retired people in a generation … eliminating Federal income taxes on Social Security. After seemingly not mentioning it since the election, Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters yesterday that it is a key part of the budget negotiations that GOP leaders in the House, Senate, and White House … Continue reading No Tax on Social Security?
This weekend, we watched a HBO Music Box documentary about the “Yacht Rock” music phenomenon. It was interesting to see how some young folks “uncovered” the previously unreported late 70s/early 80s Los Angeles music scene and connections between Steely Dan, the Doobie Brothers, Kenny Loggins, Toto, and Christopher Cross. The next morning, I commented that the Yacht Rock era “was almost 45 years ago!” … Continue reading Retired Yacht Rocker Cliches
Everyone is a genius in a bull market, and we’ve had a nice run over the last 10 years. The S&P 500 has grown from 2000 to 6000 over that period of time for a healthy +11.6% growth rate. The last 10 years have been amazing: 2024: 23.3%, 2023: 24.2%, 2022: -19.4%, 2021: 26.9%, 2020: 16.3%, 2019: 28.9%, 2018: -6.2%, 2017: 19.4%, 2016: 9.5%, 2015: … Continue reading Bulls & Bears
We’re down in Florida at our condo right now and meeting a lot of our new neighbors. I’ve found one of the best ways to connect is just to wear a ballcap from our home state of Minnesota or Wisconsin. Different parts of Florida attract snowbirds from different states, but where we are at there is a mix of East Coasters (NY NJ PA MA) … Continue reading Hats Off To MN Snowbirds
It’s a historic day in America. The crazy 2024 presidential election is behind us. Now we’ll see what impact Trump returning to the Oval Office will have on the economy and our investments. Love him or hate him, Trump’s policies and priorities have had significant implications for the economy, taxes, and healthcare—three pillars of a secure retirement. With that in mind, here are five key … Continue reading Trump Inauguration
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