It’s hard to believe that I’m already back here writing a monthly financial update for the blog so soon! It seemed like only yesterday that I was wrapping-up September, and now I’m doing it again for October.
Time flies when you’re stuck at home during a pandemic, with two kids! I do my best, but I think both kids would rather being going to school and seeing their friends instead of being stuck at home…
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August is normally a month for travel… but 2020 is anything but a “normal” year. Despite the crazy pandemic situation, the Tako family did manage to do a little traveling this August.
With hot temperatures blanketing most of the Pacific Northwest, we first decided to escape the summer heat by heading out to the coast…
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“It was the best of times, and it was the worst of times”… as the saying goes. July fit this description quite accurately. Much of July was a very good month, but we had to deal with some costly equipment failures and a health scare. It was a difficult month for my mental health…
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June was an exceptionally good month. Life was good. Really good in fact! Our financials held-up well (all things considered) during the pandemic, and the kids finally finished school in June. Which means we have the resources and time for some family adventure!
In Washington State (where we live), our “stay-at-home order” has finally ended. Things are definitely not “back to normal”, but we can at least get out of the house a bit more…
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In my opinion, Spring is one of the best times to be alive. After a long cold winter, when spring finally hits it’s like rocket fuel for my happiness level. The comes sun out, the plants are green, and the flowers are blooming again.
May also happens to be one of the best months for spring in our area (the Pacific Northwest).
It’s too bad that May didn’t have the same kind of energy this year…
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There exists an urban legend about Einstein. You’ve probably heard it before. Supposedly Einstein once said that “compound interest is the most powerful force in the universe.” It sounds pretty cool, and smart — like something Einstein might actually say. Whether Einstein actually said these words or not is subject to debate.
We’ll probably never know the truth about that Einstein quote, but the important part is the truth within it — Compound interest, or more generically “compounding” is an extremely powerful financial force when it works for you…
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April 2020 was a weird month. A really weird month. Inevitably it will go down in the history books as one of the strangest on record. Not because it was a particularly good month (far from it), but because everything was just so gosh dang weird.
The stock market (for example) acted very weird in April. It did the opposite of what you might expect during a pandemic and recession…
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It was the best of times. And, it was the worst of times. That pretty much sums up March in our household. It was definitely good times with the whole family at home, nice spring weather occurring, and enjoying life as best we can under lockdown. Meanwhile our investments provided ample income to cover our cashflow needs…
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Week 4 under lockdown is complete! Schools have been closed for only a month, but right now it feels like years. Can stay-at-home dads get PTSD?
If this pandemic has taught me anything (and it’s already taught me several things), it’s that I have the greatest respect in the world for teachers. People who willingly teach 20-30 rambunctious kids, day after day, year after year, without going insane are amazing people. They’re obviously saints or super-humans. Possibly both…
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