As part of onboarding my new job, I was eager to get my 401k setup so I can get back to reducing my income to avoid another horrible tax situation but was shocked to learn that I would have to wait 30 days to enroll or maybe 60 or 90 days. People weren’t sure what…
Category: Money Culture
50 Year Mortgages?
The big news today was the administration’s announcement for a 50 year mortgage in the marketplace. It seems insane to me but I wanted to double checked my gut instinct and asked AI if 50 year mortgages are a good idea. A 50-year mortgage is an ultra-long-term home loan that spreads repayment over half a…
Here Is Why Inflation Terrifies Me
The delayed inflation report came out today and, in my opinion, it had bad news for everyone. But what caught my eye were two headlines on CNBC (links below). Inflation at 3 Percent The first article on CNBC has the inflation breakdown but the headline is that inflation for September came in at 3 percent….
New 401K Investment Rules – Gambling Allowed
The administration signed a new rule around alternative investments in 401k’s today. The summary is below and I asked AI to give me a risk matrix for anyone considering adding speculation to your 401k. Key Developments President Trump signed an executive order on August 7, 2025, aimed at allowing alternative assets—such as cryptocurrencies, private equity,…
Insurance Inflation Is Insane!
I got an email notice from my insurance company that they will now start charging a $5 fee for using credit card to pay my insurance premiums which I do because the whole thing is automated and I don’t want to write checks or pay bills online. They even charge $5 for using a debit…
Money Gods
Do you know your historical money gods? Let’s take a look. Background: Plutus (or Ploutos) was the son of Demeter, the goddess of the harvest. He was often depicted as blind, symbolizing the indiscriminate nature of wealth distribution. Worship: Highly revered in Hindu tradition; worshiped during Diwali, the festival of lights, to bring prosperity to…
It’s Too Tough For Young People
Over the past few months I’ve had numerous conversations with a variety of people. Many are friends that we’ve known for decades and all have adult children now. In talking to many of them there is a consistent theme: Young adults are having a very tough time. The Crisis Matrix The year 2000 generation has…
Financial Regrets: Failed Expats
I spend a bit of time now researching international destinations for where we’ll retire. The best way I have found to do this is to hear from people who’ve actually done it and follow them on their journey. My first resource for this is YouTube followed by Reddit and then blogs or other websites. Please…
Demographic Crisis In The United States?
I’ve been reading and researching demographics given the current administration is keen on trying to incentive people to have kids. On my wife’s side of the family, I have 4 nieces/nephews. On my side of the family, I have zero. From a total of 8 siblings (mine and my wife’s) only 4 nieces/nephews were produced….
Poverty & Mental Health
When you live long enough, you get to a point where you’ve mostly “seen it all” and after having lived five decades and met, worked and friended thousands of people, I have come to some conclusions about poverty. But before we get to that, I asked AI to give me a list of reasons for…