Happy New Year!!! 2026 is here, and it’s time for a fresh start! Isn’t it awesome to have this chance every year? Last year wasn’t a great year for the RB40 household, but I’m optimistic for 2026. This year will be better. First off, I can’t believe I’m 52. Several friends told me I look the same, but I disagree. I feel way older and creakier than even 5 years ago. Oh well, that’s life. I want to take longer trips and have more adventures, but RB40Jr is a freshman in high school. We are tied down to the school schedule for a few more years. Once he goes off to college, Mrs. RB40 will travel a lot more. We’ll hunker down for a few more years. Stability is important for kids. Meanwhile, we still have plenty to do. Let’s set some goals for 2026. These will be my roadmap for the year. The key is to track the goals on a spreadsheet and update the status monthly. That way, I would know which goals I need to work on. Today, I’ll share some tips on goal setting and my 2026 goals. Check them out below. Setting goals In previous years, I had moderate expectations and set goals accordingly. This worked well for me because I was able to accomplish most of the things on my list. I find that setting high expectations doesn’t work for me. I can’t achieve them, and I became discouraged. My style is to go slow and steady. Shooting for the moon is probably better for younger folks, though. Here is my approach to New Year’s Goals. Set achievable goals – Don’t shoot for the moon unless you have a sterling record of high achievement. Most of us will become discouraged and give up. Make specific and measurable goals – New Year goals need to be very specific. Don’t make vague goals like saving more or eating healthier. You can’t keep track of it, and you’ll forget about them by April. A better goal would be maxing out your 401(k). That’s measurable. You also need to figure out a way to get there. Will you increase your 401(k) contribution right away? You need a plan, or it’ll be much harder to achieve these goals. Write them down and track your progress– Write down your goals and put them where you will see them. The refrigerator door is a good spot for many people. Personally, I put my goals here on Retire by 40 and update the spreadsheet monthly. This worked very well over the last 15 years. Everyone gives me the motivation to improve. I have made tremendous progress with our finances and personal life since I started blogging. It’s fantastic. Academic scale – These days, I grade my New Year goals on an academic scale. It works out well. 90% is still an A-. It’s motivating, and I feel good about the result. 2026 New Year Goals Here is my goal sheet. It’s simple and helpful.

It’s the end of an era. After 8 years of doing monthly book reading lists, this will be my last. My kids are getting more and more literate – meaning they can read on there own. My son loves to read. My daughter, who just turned 6, can read, and will hopefully pick up the joy of reading on her own soon. Both still love to be read to – and, each December, my wife […]

Happy New Year! The stock market outlook kicks off 2026 in an uptrend, with asterisks.

Happy New Year from New Hampshire! We’ve got 3 inches of snow on the ground and patches of ice all over the driveway. Unlike many of you, we heat our house with oil (closer to diesel, really) – yes, we fill up our homes like a car. We’re currently burning ~200 gallons a month. That’s much more than it takes to keep the lights on here at DQYDJ! Welcome back to the DQYDJ Weekender. It’s […]

17 tips to help you save $10,000 in a year! The post How to Save $10,000 in a Year appeared first on The Thrifty Issue.

When you save money, you want to put it in a safe place, have easy access, and earn interest. You don’t want to stash your cash in pillowcases, under your bed, or in a shoebox. Managing your savings in interest-bearing accounts is crucial for maximizing interest earnings while minimizing fees across all your funds. What is an interest-bearing account? To accomplish these needs, you want to deposit this money into an interest-bearing account at your […]

Economic performance Undue management flattery This is a revised version of a post originally published October 21, 2019. The theme of this revision is how we can use ROC and ROIC, metrics derived from financial statements, to help us identify moat worthy companies. See >>>Revision below. I’ve just checked and Moody’s Corporation (MC) is showing a five year average return on capital (ROC) of 312.86% compared with its cost of capital of 11.25% and a […]

Happy New Year! I thought we’d kick off 2026 with a look at the BTSX Portfolio. As you may know that is a simple market-beating Canadian stock portfolio strategy. The investor holds the top ten highest yields from the TSX 60 index. They rinse and repeat each year. It doesn’t always work but the long term outperformance is truly surprising. The Beat The TSX Portfolio underperformed in 2023 and in 2024, did it pick up […]