Thanks to all of our readers for helping us become successful. I’ve joked before that my 11th grade English teacher requested I type up my English essays, since my handwriting was (is!) illegible. English is my second spoken language. Communication was not my strength. I had a stutter growing up. I had to slow down what I was saying so that my mouth could keep up. To persist and write 100 posts on this blog site is a real joy. In the process, I got my youngest to post a few pieces. She has interest in writing more, which I love.
What were our most popular articles?
- A US Savings Bond is offering 9.62% for the next 6 months – I am surprised and delighted that my article on I bonds became our #1 article within a week of publication. People are looking to earn higher rates of return than present in savings accounts and negative rates of return this year in the stock market. To people that say government is bad, I disagree. Bad government that destroys rights are bad. Good government that helps people reach their potential and safeguards liberty is good.
- Baby Bonds, ESG, and the Rule of 72 – In this post, we covered how to set up a baby bond when a baby is born, and using the Rule of 72 to determine bow much the baby would have at retirement.
- Buying a Tesla and our road to financial independence – Our first post after re-focusing smilingdad. It shows how our financial independence journey started with a Tesla. How the world has changed in 18 months, with 1 million US COVID deaths, an American insurrection, and a Russian invasion.
What are some of my favorite blog posts? They are off the beaten path to be sure.
- How to Support Ukraine’s people – Ukraine is suffering untold destruction thanks to an unprovoked Russian war and invasion. Estimates are $500 BILLION will be necessary to rebuild the country. The fight shows no sign of stopping this year. The world needs to support the people of Ukraine as they rebuild schools, hospitals, roads, farms, housing, and their infrastructure. These brave people show us democracy and freedom are worth it against a world flirting with fascism, religious theocracies, and authoritarians.
- Vote! – On a financial and sustainability blog, why would I write about voting? The answer is simple. Financial progress, widespread enjoyment of rights, and sustainability are intertwined. The richer the middle class, the more likely they enjoy greater freedoms, and the better chances of addressing corruption and efforts to fight climate change. An enslaved people can’t do any of these things.
- Our upcoming elections will determine if the US will treat women, minorities, and LGBTQ communities worse than corpses, if a peaceful transition of power will take place in the US in 2025, and to fight back against those that want to neuter the US into Putin’s lapdog. Every election, local, state, and federal, needs every person able to vote, to vote! Not voting lets people against your best interests and the best interests of the US win. Vote!!!
- The Plastic Catastrophe – Here, we cover another human induced catastrophe: Plastics. Plastics have phenomenal properties which have improved our lives. They will not be easy to replace, as they are based on breaking down oil and combining them again. Plastic water bottles, nylon, rayon, polyester, PVC piping, all based on plastics. What can we do to reduce our use of single use plastics? That’s what we cover here.
Here’s to the next 100 posts!
With peace, love, and hope (except for the fascists and science deniers),
smilingdad
smilingdad 