| July has been something else… Let’s get into this. Here’s the Agenda
Some HousekeepingThis week… something crazy happened. You are my newsletter buddies, so you get to see behind the scenes of my thoughts and feelings in a different way, and this last week has been intense. This week, a video got 2.4 million views… The prior record for the most form submissions, downloads, and contacts to me in a month was about 2,600. This newsletter received thousands more people, so I’m feeling the pressure 😉 You’ll get a different view of me than what’s on YouTube – including my quirks, flaws, insecurities, and the wonderful people in my life. If you are new, here is a link to past newsletters if you care to read more: With that out of the way… OBBBAIt’s gotten a lot of attention. I failed. To give you an idea of some numbers.
It’s a mess. Since I know we are all fascinated with Dairy Margin Payments, check out this one part of the OBBBA: (b) DAIRY MARGIN COVERAGE PAYMENTS.—Section 1406(a)(1)(C) of the Agricultural Act of 2014 (7 U.S.C. 9056(a)(1)(C)) is amended by striking ‘‘5,000,000’’ each place it appears and inserting ‘‘6,000,000’’. So… to understand this single section (b) and its effect, you need to go to Section 1406(a)(1)(C) of an Act passed back in 2014. This is all over the place in the OBBBA (and other bills like this) with references to bills passed decades ago. This means… I’m not going to do an overview of the entire bill. I have some plans to make others around other, smaller parts of the bill that are in my wheelhouse or wheelhouse-adjacent 🙂 What I think will be just as useful, if not MORE useful to you, is the next video that is being released right now. Zacc Call was kind enough to sit down with me and go over how to use the Social Security Taxability Worksheet that he and his team created to calculate your tax responsibility with the new tax deductions of the OBBBA. He shares his screen as he walks through the different sections, what they mean, and how you can put in your income and Social Security, and find out how much of your Social Security is taxable, Roth conversion opportunities, and total tax liability. |
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Huge thank you to Zacc. From what we know… this is one of the most helpful tools available to most people hoping to figure out how to plan around Social Security and Retirement. |
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Book Recommendation |
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| The Next Conversation: Argue Less, Talk More Jefferson Fisher My mother-in-law got this book for us and gave raving reviews. Do you ever watch a video, or read a post, or a book… and think to yourself, I had that thought many times while reading this. Follow this logic. 1. My mother-in-law read this book. It was at this point that I realized… that I… am my mother-in-law’s… Karen. Some of this is tongue-in-cheek, and I personally apologize to all people actually named Karen. We have a great relationship with my mother-in-law, and I can’t think of a time that we’ve argued in the past 15 years. This book does a wonderful job of going through how to handle difficult conversations, especially when emotions rise – whether at work, at home, or in your day-to-day interactions. Read it and think about that person who’s annoying you that you wish knew this stuff. Words of WisdomThe 6-Year-Old Dating Scene I recognize that I’m biased… she’s my daughter… of course I’m going to think she’s cute… but I think objectively, we can agree that she’s adorable. Especially when contrasting with her goofy dad’s mug by her side. |
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A couple months ago, she was coming to the end of her 1st grade year – and all of immense pressure and stress and homework that accompanies 1st grade 
There was a boy in her class who I’m already suspicious of, because that is my responsibility as a dad – Be wary of all boys that interact with their daughter. Well… this boy would try to talk to her in class and at recess “all the time,” according to her. He would bring it up pretty regularly and at one point, called her a liar, which made her kind of sad. One day, on the playground during recess, all the little 1st graders are running around, doing whatever 6-year-olds do at recess. At one point, this boy – we’ll call him – Timmy… is by my daughter and, to get her attention… he pees his pants. For you or me, I think we’d feel anything from a little embarrassed to mortified, but Timmy… just has a smile on his face. He told my daughter that he has a crush on her and wanted to get her attention to make her laugh. She just ran somewhere else to continue whatever game they were playing. You may be thinking to yourself, “Erik, what on earth is going on here?!” She said, “he doesn’t need to pee his pants to make me laugh… he just needs to tell me a joke or something.” My daughter takes after her mom. Here’s What I Learned I was terribly shy around girls as a kid, and I’d argue that I still am. Timmy was trying everything he could think of to start a conversation with my daughter in hopes that he’d somehow impress her enough to get her to notice him. My mom told me as a kid that if a girl is teasing you, it means she likes you. Or, maybe there’s some truth to it? This boy started by teasing her and somehow went all the way to public embarrassment. Whether it’s this boy trying to impress my daughter, or me trying to impress my wife, or a kid trying to impress their parents… sometimes we mistake what behaviors are truly impressive to the types of people we truly… in our heart of hearts… want to impress. High School Kids I’ve always had the dream of coaching basketball. I’ve been able to notice lots of high school kids who are going through even more social pressure than 1st graders, and the interesting behaviors they engage in to fit in or stand out to their peers. Course language, teasing, hitting, and big, loud displays of shenanigans are everyday occurrences. Now, I’m an Adult (in age only) I have had to deal with the fact that I can’t please everyone. Many of the people who I’m most impressed by, and who I hope to impress myself, have learned to be at ease with who they are without the need to appear a certain way to impress people they don’t know. Buying an exotic car, a big house, a shiny watch, or expensive clothes may be what’s sold to us as impressive to strangers. But, just like my daughter’s story, many of these behaviors – as perceived by the people we genuinely want to impress – are, in reality, the equivalent of peeing our pants in public. Just like Tommy… we don’t need to try so hard. What Impresses Me Now Kindness. Time and attentiveness are so hard to control and harness towards those we care about with all of the pulls of life. So, my challenge to you this month, is to focus your time and your attention on the things that truly matter to you and the people you actually care about. Not to TV personalities. Not to neighbors. Focus on you, and the people you love most, who don’t need you to pee your pants for in order to get their attention, love, and respect. A Sincere Thank You Thank you – to all of you who take the time to read this and reach out with your kind words and support. I hope you have a wonderful month, and I’ll see you in the next newsletter 🙂 Erik |
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Proud dad of this one. |
