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Coronavirus has taken over the news, wreaking absolute havoc on every industry and our lives. I wanted to address it to discuss what’s been happening, much of it truly historic, along with the best information I’ve found to date and some actionable steps. An event of historic proportions March 12, 2020: Worst stock day since 1987. Sports and leisure: The NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, NCAA, XFL, ATP/WTA, and PGA all suspended or canceled their seasons. Some local sporting events and late night shows are playing on without audiences present. Disneyland, California Adventure, and Disney World are closing for at least two weeks. (Previously, only hurricanesRead More →

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I lived downtown in Seattle for a year and a half and loved it. Amazing food, laid back vibe, plenty of live music venues, and incredible mountains and parks right on its doorstep. Yet most of what I heard before (and after) moving there was “ugh, isn’t it cloudy and rainy there all the time?”. I really believe Seattle is underrated as a destination city, despite a lot of increased growth in the past five years that seems to indicate more people are realizing how great it can be. What follows here is my short list of favorites around the Emerald City. Quick Observations BeforeRead More →

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I “cut the cord” and canceled cable over ten years ago, and I’ve rarely missed it. I wrote an article here about getting TV service for my family, and they’ve been pretty happy with it for everyday use, local news, sports, and so forth. But I’m reading an increasing number of news articles forecasting doom and gloom because of the fragmentation of streaming services, and I think it’s really easy to remain stuck in an old mindset and miss the opportunities these new platforms offer.  Content does keep spreading out, and will continue to The Witcher has been a smash hit on Netflix since itRead More →

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Just now getting back to writing after spending almost a month and a half on the go. Where was I? A visual probably works best: Most of my travel is about the people I see, but I got to visit some fun locations too – Marco Island in Florida has a beautiful white sand beach, and Sedona has striking landscapes even in winter. Traveling on Points I fielded a lot of questions on how my sabbatical is going, but I also got some questions about how I plan travel, and specifically using points for free travel, that I thought I’d walk through here. I doRead More →

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As I did last year, I spent some time predicting what my dividend income will look like for 2020, and wanted to give an update on how things look. Using the past to predict the future Everyone has seen those “the past is not an indicator of performance” disclaimers, which is of course true, so predictions are just that – estimates that could easily be affected by market changes. In fact I saw it firsthand when my REIT ETFs underperformed thanks to the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates. That said, here’s the simple methodology I follow.  First, I look at the dividends from last yearRead More →

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2019 brought some radical changes for me. I quit my job in May with the intention of taking a sabbatical, spending more time with family, and thinking about what I might want to do next and where I’d want to be. That entailed saying goodbye to a lot of friends in California and a work/social life I was pretty comfortable with, putting my things in storage, and driving cross-country back to NY. (I talk about it in my video blog update.) I’ve had some amazing family time in the last six months and great visits to friends I hadn’t seen in ages, so that partRead More →

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If a carport is good enough for Frank Lloyd Wright, it’s good enough for me.  Actually, I started looking into car storage solutions when I knew I’d be spending at least part of the winter here in NY. I thought it’d be interesting to walk through the options and give an overview with costs of the structure I built with my dad over the course of a couple months. Initially I was looking for storage for just my car, but that left one of my Dad’s vehicles out in the snow, so we shifted our thinking. I’ll provide examples below for both single bay andRead More →

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When I quit my job, I decided to take the time to do a couple of the long road trips I’d always wanted to take. Like my Northern CA drive, a trip south along the coastal highway was a must. The Route: Bay Area to Hearst Castle, Solvang, Newport Beach, San Diego Side Note: Don’t skip Big Sur I’d driven from the Bay Area down to Big Sur several times before and stayed at a cabin there once, the drive along the ocean in that particular stretch is gorgeous. If you haven’t spent time in Big Sur, I’d suggest taking at least an overnight andRead More →

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My family has been using YouTube TV for about 4 months now. Overall it’s been a positive transition, and a huge cost savings. There have been a couple of positive announcements since signing up. First, several of the networks holding out on fast forward/rewind capability for recorded programs relented, so now every recorded show allows FF/Rewind/pause. (Personally, I never experienced this, but it’s a good change.) Second, PBS is coming to the network at some point, for the first time ever on a streaming platform. Great news, and good to see that the platform is evolving for the better over time. Interface YouTube TV looksRead More →

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I heard from several of my friends while I was in California that they found the investing articles informative. I sat down a few days ago and ran through all of the numbers into November, and wanted to give an update here on progress. Recap: Dividend funds for income As you may recall from my previous post, I’ve experimented with higher dividend investing this year, vs. growth, to generate income while I’m on sabbatical. I used a mixture of ETFs as well as some stocks like AT&T. Dividends are not guaranteed and are only announced several weeks before payout (this is referred to as theRead More →