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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
Comparison is the thief of joy. I really believe that. No one shows you their bad times on social media. I don't have Instagram or TikTok, just a rarely used Facebook account. If you need an antidote to that feeling you might get watching other people sit on Waikiki Beach sipping Mai Tais, just watch the evening news. Every night it seems are reports of peoples homes being burned by wildfires, every town in the midwest is flooding, a random stabbing in New York, a school shooting (we are back in school after all) and yes, even a guy being struck by lighting caught on a ring door camera. That's what I saw on the NBC Evening News last week and it gave me the feeling of being somewhat fortunate, yet I also felt for all those getting flooded and burned living in areas where this never used to happen. Making a list of what I'm grateful for is often the best medicine. I hope everyone reading has something to be grateful for as well.
Post: The Economy of Expectations
Link to comment from September 6, 2026
It took me 2.5 years after college graduation, with a decent income at the time, to begin to spend less than I made. My entire life up until that time I spent everything. I never had much, so out the door it went. But once I had a nice car in the driveway, a nice apartment amply furnished, with my pay increasing, I began to pay myself first, so to speak, and invest and save. I suppose I had to get to my level of "enough" to begin to save. Some people never seem to get enough. The hedonic treadmill will wear you out if you can't get off.
Post: Behind The Finery
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
I am definitely better off than I expected. My net worth is far higher than when I retired from the military in 2009, and in the interim, we put 4 kids through college. Why? Well, asset prices have inflated due, in part, to low interest rates and expansion of the money supply disproportionally helping those with financial assets. My expenses every month are now much lower than the past as the kids are all self sufficient. I feel very fortunate.
Post: A bleak picture for retirement in the future?
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
Great article Adam. I watched Frank Abignale of "Catch Me If You Can" fame on a youtube video a while back. It's the one where he speaks at Google HQ and in the video he spoke of his personal life, something he rarely does. It's an incredible speech. Anyway, in that video he explains why he never uses debit cards, just credit cards. I check my bank account and credit cards every day.
Post: Financial Fraud
Link to comment from September 5, 2026
Good for you.
Post: How Did You Find Paid Work After Retiring from Your Primary Career?
Link to comment from August 30, 2026
I located the study referenced at the end of the article. It's by the National Bureau of Economic Research and it was published in January, 2013. Here is the performance of gold vs inflation from the time it was published to the present according to Gemini AI: Nominal Gold Price Appreciation: +170.53% Gold entered January 2013 trading at roughly $1,674.50 per ounce. Following the historic breakout past the $4,300 ceiling earlier this month, spot gold has pushed up to settle near $4,530.00 per ounce. [1, 2] Cumulative U.S. CPI Inflation: +45.00% In January 2013, the official U.S. Consumer Price Index stood at 230.28. Driven by post-pandemic stimulus waves and the 2026 energy shock, the macro CPI index has climbed to 333.91, representing a 45% aggregate increase in the baseline cost of living. [1, 2, 3] Real (Inflation-Adjusted) Net Gain: +86.57% Because gold’s price grew nearly four times faster than the official rate of inflation, a gold block didn't just maintain its purchasing power—it expanded your real wealth by over 86% entirely above the inflation waterline. I guess this is why they call economics the dismal science. With foreign central banks buying gold irrespective of price, at amounts never before seen, I want to skate to where the puck is going. Food for thought.
Post: Inflation Hedge
Link to comment from August 30, 2026
Precisely.
Post: Federal debt
Link to comment from August 22, 2026
Thanks Adam. Telling this week was how scarce assets such as gold, silver and bitcoin performed (5%, 6.5%, and 20%, respectively) after Bessent's announcement regarding bond purchases. Interest rates went down, then came right back up. Those two things tell me that the market doesn't believe Bessent is serious yet, and scarce assets are sniffing out accelerated debasement of our purchasing power. Over the first 5 months of the year, M2 (money supply) increased at an annualized rate of 7.87%. That's quite a hurdle rate. Simply put, things are not looking good in my humble view.
Post: $40 Trillion of Debt
Link to comment from August 22, 2026
In the past two years I've had a daughter and son get married. My son's wedding cost me 23% of what my daughter's did--sort of a 4:1 ratio of expenses for daughter and son. 😉. Fortunately, I'm in a position where the cost of the weddings, numbers that would have given me a heart attack years ago, turned out to be expenses we could easily absorb and now I have very fond memories of those two occasions. As noted above, I feel grateful for being in this situation while in retirement.
Post: Looking Back On My Hard Luck Days
Link to comment from August 8, 2026
Great perspective.
Post: Looking Back On My Hard Luck Days
Link to comment from August 8, 2026