Greetings again everyone. I’m in the final throws of editing my book, and as such, I haven’t found time to write any new posts. However, I’m close to what I hope is a final product, which means I’ll return to blogging at regular intervals soon!
In the meantime, Chris Pascale threw me (another) solid and wrote (another) awesome guest post. This one chronicles his and his wife’s efforts to teach their kids useful life and financial lessons. All I managed to do was to add pictures and (somewhat) funny captions. Continue reading →
Yes folks that’s right, despite all the talk of North Korean nukes, the Singapore summit, and “historic” de-nuclearization agreements reached (which were apparently the same as previous historic agreements); something far more sinister and much less subtle occurred recently — and I’m not talking about U.S. -sponsored human rights abuse committed along the U.S.-Mexico border either. No, I refer to the fact that U.S. President Donald Trump, and his team of economic advisors (and I use that term loosely), saw fit to consummate the trade war they’d been threatening since early 2018 … with the entire world!
It’s time to take on the somewhat controversial topic of the PBGC. I touched upon it already in several previous posts. In fact, I mentioned it as early as Part 1 of the Pension Series, and as recently as Post 14. Yet, I never tackled it head-on; so it feels like I’m overdue for an article on the PBGC specifically. I was half-hoping someone in my Facebook Group had experience with it because primary sources are always best when researching a topic. However, given the typical conditions attached to the PBGC’s intervention in a pension fund, it’s better that no one has.
Now, for those of you who are thinking, “PBGC? WTF is the PBGC?”, I hear you. I departed from my typical pattern with this post. Normally I warm up my audience with a nice long intro that culminates in an explanation of the topic at hand. However, I dispensed with the niceties this time. With that said, it’s probably best if I at least explain what the PBGC is for anyone who doesn’t know or doesn’t remember. Continue reading →
If you’re reading my articles in chronological order, either in real time or at some undetermined time in the future, you’ll know that my two preceding articles were counter-points to other people’s financial ideas. As much fun as I had writing articles that used macroeconomics to argue against other people’s theories; doing so courts a certain amount of negativity. Granted, the counter-points needed to be made, and I believe I kept the articles congenial, lighthearted, and fact-based. However, at the end of the day, I still argued against someone’s work as opposed to building my own. As a result, I hit the pause button on the Risk Series this week, in order to focus on a more positive message.
Ironically, despite my online negativity I’ve actually been doing some positive stuff in the real world — which just might be the understatement of a lifetime in regards to the internet. Over the past three weeks, I counseled three different military members and/or their spouses on financial issues. Two of those counseling sessions took place face-to-face; while the third took place via email. All of them proved a great experience … for me at least. I learn a lot about myself and other people every time I counsel someone. Whereas I felt like a reluctant financial voyeur during my first counseling session; I actually enjoy them now. Continue reading →
Let me level with you up front: I don’t have a lot of experience with insurance products — especially the type that mirror investments. Prior to my experience related in the below story; the only other time I dealt with insurance investments was successfully extracting Mrs. Grumpus from one of the two products she invested in as a young worker in her home country. Up to now, I really hadn’t given them a lot of thought. As a result, I never held strong opinions about them in either direction. Maybe the most I ever felt was lucky for not getting involved with them — which I suppose is better than the regret I routinely express from other investment choices!
Of course, I’m not completely unaware of the arguments for and against such products. I hear them routinely denounced on several podcasts I listen to. Jill Schlesinger from “Jill on Money” is probably the most vocal, but certainly not the only one. The costs associated with such insurance “investment” products are often what draws the most negativity. Insurance sales people who push insurance products as a panacea to all money problems, is another issue that stirs emotion the wrong way.
My brothers and sister used to call me Charlie Brown because of my epic bad luck. Well before the horrible accident which I touched upon briefly in Unintentional Meander Up Grumpus Ave Part 1, the family knew the only law which applied to me was Murphy’s. Mostly this played out in harmless ways, such as all my toys breaking. If there was one kid in the family whose Christmas toy broke on Christmas Day, it was me. Birthdays too. The phenomenon didn’t stop at the end of adolescence either. In fact, Mrs. Grumpus often mutters that if she’d only known about this “Charlie Brown thing” prior to our marriage, she would’ve re-examined her options.
What can I say Mrs. Grumpus? When you pay Peanuts, you get Charlie.
All joking aside, the “Charlie Brown thing” really cheeses Mrs. Grumpus off because it makes my purchase decisions more complex than they need to be. It also turned me into a cheapskate. In my mind, what’s the use of buying something nice if it’s just going to break? On the plus side, I’m not materialistic. Since material items break easily in my world, I don’t get attached to stuff.
I am sitting at home on Thanksgiving 2017 with a turkey breast on the smoker and some time on my hands to reflect. I find the Grumpus Minimi (pronounced min-EE-my) thankfully entranced with Charlie Brown specials, and Mrs. Grumpus busy making the pumpkin pie. Yes, for this five minutes my life feels like a Norman Rockwell painting (ignoring the Hawaii climate). I have much to be thankful for with respect to my life, this year more than any other. I hope as you’re reading this you feel the same way. If so then I believe our thoughts are aligned with the original intent of this holiday.
We’ve moved on to Paw Patrol apparently.
I’ve always loved Thanksgiving. A day set aside by one of the richest nations to ever exist in human history in order for its citizens to reflect with friends and family on the bounty that life found fit to bestow upon them, always appealed to me. Declared a national holiday in 1863 at the height of the U.S. Civil War, I would also suggest that part of the original intent included a belief by then President Lincoln that we should be thankful despite the hardships life has set in our path. As any student of U.S. history can tell you, my nation has thankfully never again seen such hardship as the Civil War. Continue reading →
Americans abhor failure, or so we’ve been led to believe. I joined the U.S. military in the late 1990s and can remember the Zero Defect Mentality the post-Cold War peace dividend bred into our military leaders. While I would like to think the longest-running armed conflict in U.S. history (Afghanistan), and the most controversial since Viet Nam (Iraq), bled our military leadership dry of the Zero Defect Mentality, I’ve watched it slowly creep back into prominence since 2010.
My current Commanding Officer (CO) is an exception to that trend. He uses a term to describe his willingness to accept failure: Recoverable Training Failure. It essentially means he allows people to learn from their mistakes, as long as those failures are recoverable (i.e. no one died or was seriously injured). He’d rather people fail in a training environment, take the hard lessons learned, apply them, and succeed operationally when it matters most. It’s a combat veteran’s mentality and is a good leadership philosophy in my opinion.
Are you interested in achieving Financial Independence (FI) either before or after your pensionable career? So was I two years ago, so I started educating myself on personal finances. For those of you who’ve read Grumpus Maximus vs. The Golden Albatross, you know I’ve now spent more time researching FI than I did studying for my degrees. FI blogs, books, and podcasts are the three primary resources I used (and still use) to expand my knowledge. Think of them as a three-legged stool for FI knowledge, and I intend to post on all three “legs” in the future. I decided to start with FI blogs, so below are links to 5 + 1 FI blogs that I’ve found extremely useful during my financial education project.
