| It is July, and what a month we have ahead of us.
There is a lot of emotional charge around many of the topics we cover. We embark on the road trip here in July, the month where we celebrate the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. I know the system isn’t perfect. I’ve been fortunate to live in other countries and visit other countries. I cannot wait to travel the country this summer to see many new areas and visit all 48 lower states (and Washington D.C.). The Agenda
Roth ConversionsIf you’ve seen any of our videos with Zacc Call, you know he does an excellent job explaining some pretty complicated topics. He’s explained the Tax Torpedo that causes those taking Social Security benefits to experience unforeseen tax liability. And he’s taken the time to discuss several other important financial topics. |
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A good part of our audience has the Do It Yourself (DIY) mindset, so I interviewed Zacc to better understand how to do a Roth conversion if I wanted to do it myself. Medicare by StateAs I have been planning the Medicare videos in each state, it has been interesting to compare plans one after another in several different states at the same time. So much of your Medicare decisions boil down to where you live. Everyone in this newsletter is a planner. A thinker. Someone who takes the time to educate himself or herself. There are general principles that are the same, regardless of where you are, but when you get down to the real heart of the Medicare decisions each person has to make, we have got to focus in on where you live. We have people who are passionate about Supplement plans, which is great. The variability of these across the country is staggering. The same goes for supplement plans. I guess the reason I hope this doesn’t come back to bite me is because my advice to you is to watch all the content you want (especially from our channel 😊), but don’t make a Medicare decision exclusively from one of our videos, or anyone else’s video, without making sure you are looking at what’s available to you in your area, not national averages. There are people who can help with this at no cost to you, or you can use Medicare.gov if you’d like to do it all yourself. |
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Book Recommendation |
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I’m a sucker for a good time travel novel. What really got me (and this doesn’t give anything away) was the lead character’s daughter died when she was a teenager. I like the way the author approached time travel, because it wasn’t really time travel, as much as memory travel. Now, as far as I am aware, we don’t get an opportunity like that. This book really made me appreciate this quote, and this life we get to have. Please give it a read. |
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Words of WisdomAll good and bad things seem to happen in threes. One day, our dryer mysteriously went out. Then, a day later, our dishwasher just stopped working. And so far, if you’re thinking, “Erik, I already know what’s probably wrong with both of those. It’s an easy fix.” Consistent with the law of threes, our microwave quit working that same week. Now, to show you how I’m the least handyman man out there, check this out. As a YouTuber, I naturally turned to YouTube to figure out how to remove a microwave. It took me, I dunno… conservatively?
… THEN… I go to Home Depot to get a new microwave, thinking, “Caitlin’s going to be so proud of me breaking and fixing the microwave all in one day.” The waiting period is longer than the one to buy a firearm. *Side note* More of a stocking issue, I guess. *Back to the story* So, I had to wait a week for them to deliver the shiny new microwave. The gal at Home Depot asked if I wanted to install it myself, or have them install it for $150. I confidently said, “Oh… I got this.” As she was ringing me up to pay, I replayed the last hour of my life as I tried taking the microwave down. I took advantage of this evolutionary superpower to see what my future installation experience would look like. If you’ve seen Avengers: Infinity War, I basically did the same thing Doctor Strange did with the Time Stone when he sees all 14,000,605 possible outcomes in a matter of seconds. Every outcome was equally terrifying. They all ended with some variation of me getting hurt, Caitlin leaving me for a better man, and my kids losing their childhood belief that their dad is the strongest, smartest man in their lives – way earlier than they should. The check out lady asked if I was okay and if I was ready to pay. I calmly turned to her and said, “You know what… let’s have you install it… I’m SUPER busy the day it’s being delivered so… I could TOTALLY do it myself… because I’m a middle-aged, grown man with a mortgage… but I’ll let you do it.” The 55-year-old year woman said, For some reason, that made me feel better for two reasons:
Just a simple numbers problem for me. The Installation Experience The installers came, and I timed them to see how much faster I could’ve done it myself. 😬 … $150 was well worth it and translates to something like $1,000 an hour. If I’m being honest with myself (and you), that probably would’ve taken me 2 days. Plus, the whole being hurt, Caitlin leaving me, and the kids being embarrassed to be with their dad in public thing. And Caitlin hasn’t left me. And the kids won’t know the truth about their dad for at least another day. Wisdom I don’t know where I get it. Probably my dad, who got it from his dad… but there’s a part of me that feels like I can do anything, and why should I pay someone else to do something I’m fully capable of doing. As I’ve gotten older, I am learning that just because I CAN do something, doesn’t mean I SHOULD do something. There are people who have much more experience, and are much more skilled at many tasks where my family and I are better off letting them take care of it, rather than me doing something stupid. That doesn’t mean I don’t like to try and figure it out for myself, but when it involves being able to keep my wife and kids fed, or making dishes easier to clean, or allowing us to have clean, dry clothes… it’s okay to let others help. I hope you have an amazing July. Please know how much I appreciate you and your support. Until next month… Erik |
