AUTHOR: Humble Reader on 7/7/2025 FIRST: David Powell on 7/7/2025 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 7/8/2025
Comments
I worked as an embedded software engineer in both the industrial automation and automotive sectors. I never had the opportunity to use the neural networks that current AI is based on but did implement some clever self-adjusting “learning” algorithms over the years. I just finished watching the 12-lecture “Understanding Artificial Intelligence” by professor of philosophy Dr. Patrick Grim on Great Courses streaming, which I highly recommend. I am more concerned about the national debt than Artificial Intelligence (which I think should more correctly be called Simulated Intelligence). The national debt issue is a political issue and in the current anti-tax environment cannot be solved. Only when honest and forthright politicians are voted into power in both legislative and executive branches will this issue be addressed. Artificial Intelligence does now and will increasingly disrupt our relationship with work. What is new this time is that it is not just those who perform physical labor but also those who do intellectual labor are affected. The AI promise: The decoupling of economic productivity from the number of hours of human labor input. This started with the industrial revolution, mass production, and accelerated with electronic control systems (automation) used in modern manufacturing. The combination of advanced sensor technology with AI logic will expand the impact to all areas of human labor, from research scientists to agricultural field workers. I am not concerned about the doomsayers talk about an “AI singularity” where the AI becomes smarter than us biological intellects and decides we are not needed. The affect of AI that that is concerning is how our society will respond when all of our material needs can be satisfied with much, much less labor than is currently used. Will our political and economic systems be able to adjust so that everyone wins?
When a CD matured 3 months ago we moved the proceeds to a local credit union and locked in a 19 month CD “special” at 4.30%. Current best rate at that CU is 13 months at 4.10%. Also holding money market fund in IRA at 3.52%. Will know in a few weeks what we earned on fixed income in 2025 when all the 1099’s roll in. Not sure how to estimate what our earnings will be in 2026 since who knows what the interest rates will do? Also not sure what we will do if interest rates drop to below inflation rate.
Thank you Randy for your suggestion for how to handle unplanned expenses. So to fund an unplanned expense of X amount: 1) Sell X amount of a growth fund in the Roth account and transfer cash out of the Roth for the expense. 2) And simultaneously sell X amount of a stable value fund in the traditional IRA account and buy X amount of the growth fund. This does make sense. A bit more complicated and perhaps some additional trading costs, but it would eliminate the “drag” of holding stable value in the Roth account. Eventually the stable value would need to be replenished during rebalancing but presumably that would be done when the market has recovered. But that is another topic: “market timing when rebalancing”.
Last year we completed increasing our stable value investments from 9.5% in 2022 to 21.5% now. And, while most of our Roth account investments are growth funds, a portion is held in an ultra-short term (i.e. stable value) bond fund to have the flexibility to be able to access as needed on a tax-free and low market risk basis. We can tap the stable value in Roth for unplanned expenses without being pushed into a higher tax bracket or forced to sell equities in a market downturn. More stable value (a money market fund) in my traditional IRA account is now being used for my RMD, transferring fund shares into our brokerage account with a portion eventually being cashed.
Here is a tip for finding lost stuff: Use a flashlight. Yes more light obviously helps, but the real benefit is that it focuses your attention and perception to only the area that is being illuminated. And sweeping the flashlight around in a methodical pattern assures that every area is being fully examined.
Not my decision, “retired” at 71 when the company decided it was time. The company was and still is struggling and I ended up in a 30% staff cut. My plan was always to work full time and delay Social Security benefits until 70, which I did, and then do a phased retirement on a part time or contract basis. I was financially prepared for retirement with or without any additional earned income. And being fired instead of voluntarily retiring did result in a few months of severance pay and a nice bonus. As for the non-financial aspects of retirement, I am now fully busy working on stuff I wanted to do but never got around to doing while working on company stuff.
I have had similar thoughts about concentration risk for most of this year. I ended up trimming some of my high-flyers and increasing stable-value investments in the form of money market and ultra-short term bond funds, all within IRAs to avoid tax consequences. I did look at international investments, which are having a very good year, but decided they did not offer enough trade-off between potentially reducing risk and sufficient long-term performance when compared with domestic U.S. investments.
Assuming married filing jointly, both at least 65, and all income is “ordinary”: Maximum gross income 2025 for 12% bracket: $143,650 Maximum gross income 2026 for 12% bracket: $148,300 (increase of $4,650) But Social Security benefit income and other non-ordinary income will affect these amounts.
Just a few days ago I did a comparison between S&P 500 market-cap weighted index funds and S&P 500 equal weight index funds thinking that I could reduce the concentration risks that everyone seems to be talking about these days. I was surprised to find that the equal weight strategy did not reduce volatility at all. Looking back as far 2002 the equal weight index was negative in 5 of 21 years and the market cap index was negative in 3 of 21 years. Only in 2022 did the equal weight index lose less than the market cap index. Most telling was that in 2008 the equal weight index dropped about 40% compared with market cap index’s 37%. And, not surprisingly, the equal-weight 10-year return was only 74% of the market-cap index fund return. So as far as I can discern there does not seem to be any benefit to investing in an S&P 500 equal weight index fund.
There are no radioactive materials in any microwave oven, at least not any more than everything else in your house and your house itself. The electronically generated radiation is “non-ionizing radiation”. These are electromagnetic “radio” waves at high frequencies. Just doing my part here to keep everything posted on the internet factual. And yes I do “nuke” my food!
Comments
I worked as an embedded software engineer in both the industrial automation and automotive sectors. I never had the opportunity to use the neural networks that current AI is based on but did implement some clever self-adjusting “learning” algorithms over the years. I just finished watching the 12-lecture “Understanding Artificial Intelligence” by professor of philosophy Dr. Patrick Grim on Great Courses streaming, which I highly recommend. I am more concerned about the national debt than Artificial Intelligence (which I think should more correctly be called Simulated Intelligence). The national debt issue is a political issue and in the current anti-tax environment cannot be solved. Only when honest and forthright politicians are voted into power in both legislative and executive branches will this issue be addressed. Artificial Intelligence does now and will increasingly disrupt our relationship with work. What is new this time is that it is not just those who perform physical labor but also those who do intellectual labor are affected. The AI promise: The decoupling of economic productivity from the number of hours of human labor input. This started with the industrial revolution, mass production, and accelerated with electronic control systems (automation) used in modern manufacturing. The combination of advanced sensor technology with AI logic will expand the impact to all areas of human labor, from research scientists to agricultural field workers. I am not concerned about the doomsayers talk about an “AI singularity” where the AI becomes smarter than us biological intellects and decides we are not needed. The affect of AI that that is concerning is how our society will respond when all of our material needs can be satisfied with much, much less labor than is currently used. Will our political and economic systems be able to adjust so that everyone wins?
Post: Is AI going to affect our investments
Link to comment from February 25, 2026
When a CD matured 3 months ago we moved the proceeds to a local credit union and locked in a 19 month CD “special” at 4.30%. Current best rate at that CU is 13 months at 4.10%. Also holding money market fund in IRA at 3.52%. Will know in a few weeks what we earned on fixed income in 2025 when all the 1099’s roll in. Not sure how to estimate what our earnings will be in 2026 since who knows what the interest rates will do? Also not sure what we will do if interest rates drop to below inflation rate.
Post: Should I Lock in CD Rates Now or Stay in Money Market?
Link to comment from January 13, 2026
Thank you Randy for your suggestion for how to handle unplanned expenses. So to fund an unplanned expense of X amount: 1) Sell X amount of a growth fund in the Roth account and transfer cash out of the Roth for the expense. 2) And simultaneously sell X amount of a stable value fund in the traditional IRA account and buy X amount of the growth fund. This does make sense. A bit more complicated and perhaps some additional trading costs, but it would eliminate the “drag” of holding stable value in the Roth account. Eventually the stable value would need to be replenished during rebalancing but presumably that would be done when the market has recovered. But that is another topic: “market timing when rebalancing”.
Post: Taking stock
Link to comment from January 7, 2026
Last year we completed increasing our stable value investments from 9.5% in 2022 to 21.5% now. And, while most of our Roth account investments are growth funds, a portion is held in an ultra-short term (i.e. stable value) bond fund to have the flexibility to be able to access as needed on a tax-free and low market risk basis. We can tap the stable value in Roth for unplanned expenses without being pushed into a higher tax bracket or forced to sell equities in a market downturn. More stable value (a money market fund) in my traditional IRA account is now being used for my RMD, transferring fund shares into our brokerage account with a portion eventually being cashed.
Post: Taking stock
Link to comment from January 6, 2026
Here is a tip for finding lost stuff: Use a flashlight. Yes more light obviously helps, but the real benefit is that it focuses your attention and perception to only the area that is being illuminated. And sweeping the flashlight around in a methodical pattern assures that every area is being fully examined.
Post: Help Me Out People—Is This Just Me?
Link to comment from January 6, 2026
Not my decision, “retired” at 71 when the company decided it was time. The company was and still is struggling and I ended up in a 30% staff cut. My plan was always to work full time and delay Social Security benefits until 70, which I did, and then do a phased retirement on a part time or contract basis. I was financially prepared for retirement with or without any additional earned income. And being fired instead of voluntarily retiring did result in a few months of severance pay and a nice bonus. As for the non-financial aspects of retirement, I am now fully busy working on stuff I wanted to do but never got around to doing while working on company stuff.
Post: What Age Did You Retire—and What Made You Decide It Was Time?
Link to comment from December 28, 2025
I have had similar thoughts about concentration risk for most of this year. I ended up trimming some of my high-flyers and increasing stable-value investments in the form of money market and ultra-short term bond funds, all within IRAs to avoid tax consequences. I did look at international investments, which are having a very good year, but decided they did not offer enough trade-off between potentially reducing risk and sufficient long-term performance when compared with domestic U.S. investments.
Post: Becoming A “Bad Investor”
Link to comment from December 17, 2025
Assuming married filing jointly, both at least 65, and all income is “ordinary”: Maximum gross income 2025 for 12% bracket: $143,650 Maximum gross income 2026 for 12% bracket: $148,300 (increase of $4,650) But Social Security benefit income and other non-ordinary income will affect these amounts.
Post: Calculating the Maximum Income While Staying in the 12% Tax Bracket
Link to comment from December 7, 2025
Just a few days ago I did a comparison between S&P 500 market-cap weighted index funds and S&P 500 equal weight index funds thinking that I could reduce the concentration risks that everyone seems to be talking about these days. I was surprised to find that the equal weight strategy did not reduce volatility at all. Looking back as far 2002 the equal weight index was negative in 5 of 21 years and the market cap index was negative in 3 of 21 years. Only in 2022 did the equal weight index lose less than the market cap index. Most telling was that in 2008 the equal weight index dropped about 40% compared with market cap index’s 37%. And, not surprisingly, the equal-weight 10-year return was only 74% of the market-cap index fund return. So as far as I can discern there does not seem to be any benefit to investing in an S&P 500 equal weight index fund.
Post: Index Fund Bubble
Link to comment from December 6, 2025
There are no radioactive materials in any microwave oven, at least not any more than everything else in your house and your house itself. The electronically generated radiation is “non-ionizing radiation”. These are electromagnetic “radio” waves at high frequencies. Just doing my part here to keep everything posted on the internet factual. And yes I do “nuke” my food!
Post: Replacement of Kitchen Appliances
Link to comment from November 24, 2025