Some people run triathlons, climb the world’s great peaks, or cycle across the country to raise money for charity. Me? No, I do dumb stuff no one else cares about. Yesterday, I did a dumb Disney thing. I slept in until about 10am and then decided I should go hop through all 4 parks at Walt Disney World in one day. Why? Because it’s there, … Continue reading Silly Feats of Endurance
Even before Trump “paused” his questionable trade policy yesterday, Wall Street analysts offered updated projections for where they thought the stock market would finish up the year. The S&P 500 started the year at 5,869 and had dipped below 5,000 (-15%) after Trump’s 10% minimum tariff and demand for balancing trade deficits. Still, most investment banks were quite positive in their forecasts for where the … Continue reading Crystal Ball Predictions
Plenty of people are running scared after the bears trampled -10.5% out of Wall Street on Thursday & Friday. I’m not sure what will happen to the S&P 500 on Monday morning (futures are -2.5% as I write this on Sunday night), but I’m keeping the faith that some order will be restored over the next few weeks, months, and years. If you saved for … Continue reading Staying The Course …
Just a short, early end-of-the-week post today. I’m trying to make sense of the headlines coming out of Washington DC. I think it’s safe to say that they are more nonsense than common sense. It’s no surprise that the market is in a bit of a free-fall today. How do these make sense …. ? I don’t follow this … If we’re getting $7T in … Continue reading Stormy Fiscal Headlines
After writing ‘Two Of Everything’ a few weeks ago, I’m finding certain things I might even have THREE of between our main Minnesota home & snowbird place in Florida. Three warm jackets, three pairs of sunglasses, and three sizes of suitcases. Then, while I thought those things through, I discovered something I might even need FOUR of … a FOURTH collection of toiletry / shaving … Continue reading Four Of Everything?
My buddy Russ told me that once we bought a place in Florida, we’ll be buying “two of everything”. I thought we could get by with having our Florida vacation place be a little spartan, but it’s not turning out that way. Just one year in, we’ve gotten to the point where I could pretty much go back-and-forth to our home in Minnesota without … Continue reading Two Of Everything
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
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
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
