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DURING MY FINAL NINE years with the Coast Guard, I was involved in decisions regarding search-and-rescue operations. We were almost always working with imperfect information. For three of those nine years, I was responsible for all missions in one section of the Great Lakes and, in my last year, I made the final decision on when to suspend search-and-rescue operations in an even larger area.
To lower risk, we often assumed the worst, and threw copious operational resources at the situation.
IN JANUARY 1987, I was an unmarried junior Coast Guard officer just beginning the flight stage of U.S. Navy flying training. I decided to see a financial advisor who’d been recommended by friends.
This wasn’t just any advisor, but rather a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel and fighter pilot. He worked for a firm whose advisors were comprised mostly of retired military officers, and they marketed their services primarily to military officers. If there was anyone I could trust,
Comments
They all watched Cart Narcs and feel guilty. :)
Post: I CAN SOLVE THE SOCIAL SECURITY AND RETIREMENT CRISIS IN AMERICA
Link to comment from December 6, 2025
Enjoyed the post, Dan. I got hooked on a Fitbit watch because of the feedback regarding sleep and activity. I refer to that information every day and would really miss it if I went back to a regular watch.
Post: The Point of Diminishing Returns
Link to comment from December 6, 2025
Great post Andrew. The last thing I thought of was handing my kids credit cards to build credit. With regards to car purchases, I bought a certified pre-owned Subaru in April. The dealer told me they would take $750 off the price if I financed. I was pressing an all cash deal, but with that incentive I financed the car, paid off the loan the next month, and that was that.
Post: Debt Despite Myself
Link to comment from December 6, 2025
Wow! A ten year old with a credit card. He must have had a lot of friends. :)
Post: Debt Despite Myself
Link to comment from December 6, 2025
Thanks Dan!
Post: My Investing Journey, Just Do It
Link to comment from November 29, 2025
Great post Dan, thanks. We've all made mistakes investing. In my view, investing is about the future, and because we don't know what the future will bring us, we'll always find ourselves in situations where we could have done better. I've been trying for some time to evaluate my decisions based on the information I had at the time, not the information I have after the fact. But that's not easy. The worst mistake I made was trusting an advisor who sold me front end loaded mutual funds and whole life insurance when I was single. It was my first effort at investing and I had to learn the hard way the concept of the sunk cost fallacy. That fallacy made for several years of inertia before I finally exited those two bad decisions.
Post: My Investing Journey, Just Do It
Link to comment from November 29, 2025
Several times lately I've called up a chart of the S&P 500 index going way back. I suggest readers do so because it provides quite a perspective. The climb starts out slow, some bumps in 2000, 2007, etc. and then the slope of each of the next extended up periods gets steeper and steeper until this last period since "Liberation Day" is incredibly steep. In other words, the S&P has been climbing at a rate that can't go on forever. Therefore, I think something will break, and the crisis will be a doosey, however, I know not when and why. What I do know is that the solution will be to print more money, and create more debt. How that might affect one's portfolio is something to consider.
Post: Is the current stock market anything to be concerned about?
Link to comment from November 22, 2025
Mark, I went through the wedding process with my only daughter culminating in a wonderful wedding in March. At times I was going bat$hit crazy over the cost of some of the arrangements (my wife and I paid for our wedding, as did my brother), but a good friend said don't worry about it, you have just one daughter, just have fun. Well, the wedding turned out fantastic, perfect weather, the food was amazing (all the guests raved), the venue much better than I thought, and we had a great time on the dance floor. Truly a spectacular day and evening I'll never forget. Worth every penny. My recommendation is take a few deep breaths, buckle up, and it'll all turn out great in the end. :)
Post: Something fishy about financial security
Link to comment from November 15, 2025
For those of you, like me, who sympathize with Mr. Quinn's sentiments on shopping carts, may I suggest Cart Narcs? https://cartnarcs.com/index.html
Post: Shopping carts. Please don’t consider this a rant. It is a lamentation.
Link to comment from November 8, 2025
There is a nice grocery store near our home where a young man with Down's Syndrome bags groceries. His name is Steve, and my wife and I will slip him $5 for bagging our groceries which puts a huge smile on his face. Carrying a little cash allows you to be a serendipitous in your generosity, and increasingly when eating out where I live, allows you to avoid the 3% credit card fees small restaurants are often adding to the bill. As my accounting professor said one evening, "Cash is king." :)
Post: A Question of Cash.
Link to comment from November 2, 2025