Ace Wisdom

A warm hug to my daily morning physical fitness training pardner, Tom.  He underwent a simple medical procedure at AMC (Appleton Medical Center).  He needs to stay in the hospital for several days.  In today’s world, nothing is simple.  Our hopes and prayers are with him.

A belated Happy Birthday to Grasshopper No.5.  She is the last of our “tribe”.  Because she was born so many years after the 3 oldest kids (No.1, No.2, and No.3), they were not able to corrupt her.  She was allowed to become her own person.  She is a special sister.  I hope her day was special.

Basketball calls it March Madness.  Tonight the Wisconsin State High School Football Championships begin.  Maybe we should call it “Friday Night Insanity”.  Good Luck Mitchell and his Middleton Cardinals.

My German car has a 50,000 mile warranty including free service on “everything”.  Free oil, parts, and brake adjustments.  Yesterday during a free service I got free wiper blades.  Ain’t that special.  I also got my car washed for free.  My common sense kicks in and tells me that “nothing is free”.  I paid for all the “free stuff” when I bought the car.  Isn’t this is a silly little game we play.

There will be a “Packer withdrawal” this weekend.  It is their bye week.

Love,

Dad

 

 

Your Mom and I attended the last two UW-Badger home football games. Both early games.  Good weather.  What more can you ask? I’m getting too old to “jump around”.

Mitchell stopped by during the game last Saturday with his “friend” to say hi.  I think he was sitting in “box seats”.  What is wrong with this picture?

Mitchell’s team won the high school football Conference Championship. Middleton ended up 8-1.  They now enter the Class One State football championship as a No.2 seed in a bracket of 8 teams.  That means they will play their first two games on their home field.  It is a nice way for a senior to close out his high school career.

More on Money Tip #1 -Saving.  As mentioned, the more you save, the more choices you have.  The vindictive side of saving is the FU factor. If someone tries to take financial advantage of you, you have the savings to say FU.  Oh yeah!

When you have as much money as Oprah Winfrey, you buy a 10% stake in Weight Watchers (their stock had been dying slowly, so she bought it at a 70% discount).  Total investment?  $43 million.  At the end of the trading day after people learned of her interest in Weight Watchers, WW stock prices rose and oprah’s investment rose to $93 million.  As my mother observed, the rich get richer and the poor get kids.  Oprah has options to buy more stock at lower prices and I guarantee the stock will rise in price.  See what Oprah’s savings did for her.

I think we are past “peak colors”

Love,

Dad

Your Mom and I went to see “Kinky Boots”.  Lots of loud music.  Lots of glitz.  Drag queens are in vogue.  Actually it was entertaining and we ended up liking the star “queen”.

The good news is you won $1 million in the Illinois lottery.  The bad news is you don’t get your money.  You get an I.O.U.  The lottery is tied to the Illinois State budget which expired in June and the new budget is not approved (they are arguing about pension obligations). Supposedly you will get you money when the budget gets approved.  I wouldn’t spend any winnings yet.

More on Money Tip #1.  The more you save, the more choices you get. More choices will make you happy.  Let me make this simple.  If you have no money, you have no choices. With no savings, you are at the bottom of the “food chain”.  The bottom sucks.

The cost-of-living apparently is near “0”.  That means Social Security recipients like your Mom and I will not get an increase in 2016. Medicare insurance on the other hand is going up.  So how does that work?  Now we will pay more for medical care but our income stays the same.  We may end up living with our kids.

I think Grasshopper No.1 added a cute, furry little little puppy to the family named Callie.  Second choice was Molly (the Collie).  Obviously, Grasshopper No.1 is not reading my advice on Saving.  On the other hand, she does seem to have choices.

I’ll tell you what sucks!  Waking up in the dark each morning sucks.

Love,

Dad

 

 

We saw Grandson Dominic play an afternoon football game Saturday (instead of regular high school Friday night).  Brother Tommy who sat with us critiqued the play of his older brother.  He gave Dominic good marks. It will be interesting to see if Dominic gets votes for “all-conference”.

In the early 1980’s Grasshopper No.3 spent a lot of time at Crystal Lake.  We had the gold flecked 15′ Glasstron speed boat that could hit over 50 miles per hour.  Fun, fun, fun.  There was another Glasstron boat on the lake owned by the Martin’s.  It was longer by a foot or two, had a deeper “V” hull, and a bigger motor.  It was the “boss” of the lake.  It could outrun any other speed boat including ours.  I’m guessing, but Martin’s boat probably hit 60 mph. Grasshopper No.3 has been working two years on restoring a Glasstron boat (apparently the same Model Martins had).  No.3’s boat has many improvements to the frame and hull and it has a torqued out 225 horse power Mercury engine.  His boat was in the water last week and tested.  Apparently with several people in the boat (too much weight is a drag), the boat settled in at 82 mph.  The max RPM of the motor was not reached and I’m sure the boat was not trimmed to perfection.  If No.3’s boat is “fine tuned”, he will probably hit about 90 mph.  No.3 now has the “boss boat” on Crystal Lake.  Alas, we can’t go back but dreams don’t die. Just a note.  There is now a posted 35 mph speed limit on Crystal.  But if there were no speed limit, if Martin’s still had their boat, and if No.3 showed up with his red and white “hummer”, he would be the kick-ass “boss man”.  Yeah!

We are going to see “Kinky Boots” this week.  It is about drag queens. I can’t control my excitement.

Love,

Dad

 

My German made car just turned 30,000 miles.  I notice the ashtray is full.  Time to upgrade!

I saw photos of Chinese motorists returning to Bejing from Holiday. Traffic was jammed up and not moving.  The freeway was 50 lanes wide.  What if you are in the right lane and want to turn left?

High school football conference games are nearing an end.  Next week Grandson Dominic will play his last football game as a senior. Grandson Mitchell (also a senior) moves on to the State playoffs.

More on Money Tip #1 (Saving).  You only achieve true saving when you put money into your permanent “piggybank”.  If you buy a Green Bay Packer jacket for $350, but it was marked down to $200, you think you’ve saved $150.  No!  You’ve spent $200.  If you actually take the money you avoided spending and put it in “savings”, then you’ve saved $150. Saving is a tricky thing.

In retirement circles there is this financial acronym RMD.  It stands for “required minimum distribution”.  After age 70.5, you must withdraw from your 401k, 403b, or IRA retirement accounts.  Each year after 70.5 the percentage of the total you need to withdraw gets greater.  It begins at 4.5% of the hard earned money you’ve set aside. It is taxable.  There is a nasty penalty if you don’t withdraw the required amount.  Your Mom and I are both over 70.5.  I wonder if we can get sent to jail.

Tomorrow should be a glorious Saturday.  Enjoy.

Love,

Dad

 

 

Staying with Money Tip #1 – No amount saved is too small!

Grasshopper No.2 was an avid “bike” enthusiast in high school and college.  I can attest because I submitted several insurance claims for stolen bicycles.  The first bike stolen was on the first day of classes at UW-Madison.  It was chained to a “bike rack”.  Now you see it, now you don’t.  I make light of the stolen bike but at the time No.2 was crushed.  Last week, No.2’s enthusiasm was rekindled and she is planning a new program of bicycle exercise.  She bought a “used” carbon fiber, super strong, light weight “road” bike.  She will need a super strong security lock for this one.

My best girl and I attended the Badger game Saturday.  It was a perfect football day.  Cool.  Sunshine.  The Badgers lost 10-6.  The loss really did not ruin the day.  Where else would you want to be on a beautiful Fall weekend?

Today McDonalds begins serving breakfast all day.  Does it get any better?

You’ve seen lots of advertising by two on-line fantasy sports companies, Draft Kings and Fan Duel.  They are betting parlors.  They are not free.  The number of winners is very small.  Draft Kings is being accused of “insider trading”.  Apparently an employee was leaking critical information on some NFL results.  My best advice! Stay away from on-line fantasy betting.  Take the money you’d bet and “SAVE” it.

Grandson Mitchell’s Middleton high school team lost one game several weeks ago.  They are still rated No.8 in the State.  It must be Mitchell’s stellar play influencing the vote.

I understand there is a cute collie puppy waiting to be adopted by Grasshopper No.1.  I saw pictures!

Love,

Dad

 

Alas, me thinks I am “going too fast” with my Money Tips.  If you remember, Money Tip #1 was to Save.  The tip implies you actually might want to save money.  If you do not want to save, it could mean you will eventually end up living under the bridge with a shopping cart. Saving money means you are putting it onto a pile (a coffee can, a sock, a bank account, a deferred account at work…).  After you put money on your pile, make your number one money commandment “Thou shall not touch thy accumulated savings”.

Tuesday your Mom and I attended the wedding reception of Grandson Collin and his pretty bride Audrey.  It was held at High Cliff State Park.  High Cliff is gorgeous this time of year.  The park is located on the shore of Lake Winnebago and the view from the guest Pavilion on a bluff was spectacular.  The weather cooperated.  Good people, good food, and great stories.  It was memorable.

Exiting High Cliff in the dark of night was also memorable.  Paths are not lit. Parking lots are not lit.  Roads are not well identified.  It is like traveling through a maize in the dark.  Avoiding deer adds to the excitement (we did see a few).

The Badgers begin the Big 10 (with 14 teams) conference schedule tomorrow.  Madison.  Unbeaten Iowa.  Does it get an better!

My furnace kicked in last night!  What does that mean?

Love,

Dad

 

 

Money Tip #1 – Save.

Money Tip #2 – Accumulate.

Money Tip #3 – Invest.  As your savings become more significant (because you are committed to not spending your “hard earned” savings), put your money to work.  Make your money earn more money.

Today, September 29, 2015, Grandson Collin marries his sweetheart Audrey.  Excitement reigns supreme.  Our congratulations to both. May all their dreams come true.

I have been bragging about Grandson Mitchell and his unbeaten football Middleton Cardinals.  I need to drop the “unbeaten”.  They lost last Friday night 31-28.  Sometimes a loss can inspire greatness. Middleton has already qualified for the State Football Playoffs.  Go, Cardinals!

Your Mom and I watched Sheboygan North play football on their home field Friday night.  The football program is a “work in progress”. We had trouble finding a seat in the stands because of the large crowd. It turns out that the half-time entertainment was dance routines performed by 50-100 aspiring little “angels” (ages 5-10).  After half-time, all the parents and grandparents took the little “twirps” home. Suddenly the stands were empty.  You know the football program is a “work in progress” when more fans come to see half-time program than watch football.  Grandson Dominic made a few bone crushing blocks.  We saw the video that prove it.

Things are a-changing.  There is a “north wind a-blowing”!

Love,

Dad

 

 

Money tip No.1 from my last blog was Save, Save, Save.

Money tip No.2 is “do not spend what you Save”.  Accumulate.

I see that Starbucks has downloaded 16 million apps to cell phones making it easy to order your $7.00 morning fix of coffee.  The order gets placed from your phone so it is ready when you arrive at Starbucks and the money is automatically deducted from your bank account.  Really?  You still have to wait for the 7 cars in front of you to pass the “drive through window”.

The high school football season is in “full swing”.  Grandson Mitchell in Middleton gets to celebrate Parents Night.  His Mom gets to be recognized with him at half-time.  Pretty special!

Octoberfest is scheduled for this weekend in Appleton.  The weather Gods have smiled down on the event.

Love,

Dad

 

A belated Happy Birthday to Grasshopper No.1.  Hope all your dreams come true!

Grasshopper No.3 bought a Volkswagen diesel SUV several years ago. He boasted about the 47 miles per gallon.  Four cylinders.  Turbo.  I understand that Volkswagen is under indictment for lying to the public about mileage.  They face $6 billion in fines.  What recourse does No.3 have?  I guess like the rest of us, he sucks it up and takes the loss.

My money message for today?  Save, save, save.

Your Mom and I got to see Grandson Mitchell play football Friday night.  His Middleton Cardinals defeated Sun Prairie 42-13.  Middleton remains unbeaten and rated No.6 in the State.  It rained.  Again! Mitchell is the only player on the football team to play “both ways”. He plays defensive end and tight end on offense.  On the second play on offense, Mitchell caught a 14 yard pass for a touchdown.  He definitely has inherited some of my family genes.  Later that night, we were watching local Madison TV and the hi-lighted game was Middleton. Yep, they showed Mitchell scoring his touchdown.  He is 6 foot 2 inches tall and weighs 200 pounds.  He did not get that physical presence from me.

Today is the last day of Summer!  Really?

Love,

Dad