Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the 2027 inflation numbers, Nvidia CEO spectacular fall, gambling addiction, Papua New Guinea, traveling to Greece, what to ask aging parents, two very sad scam stories, how to handle money in Thailand, only the best photography links and of course always all of the most important developments in the crazy world of frequent flyer miles and points at the lower half of the post. And much more. Enjoy the weekend.
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This blog started way back in 2012 focusing on my crazy hobby addiction of traveling with frequent flyer miles, hotel and bank points. It has since evolved to curated posts featuring the best web content along with my commentary.
BLOG HOUSEKEEPING
This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.
I am back on the road next week. Actually in business class aboard Lufthansa and Aegean Airlines to Greece. Next Friday’s post may look a little different than what you have been accustomed to, we shall see as always.
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“Everything flows and nothing abides” – Heraclitus
PERSONAL FINANCE
Not all inflation is bad. Every year more of our taxable incomes gets taxed at lower tax brackets: The 2027 Tax Brackets Are Here. See Where You Land.
Speaking of inflation, we will have higher amounts to contribute to tax-deferred retirement accounts in 2027, heads up! I am not sure why this still gets me excited. Maybe it was habit doing it year after year every year and you won’t believe what happened next. Here we go:
- The elective deferral limit for §§401(k), 403(b) and 457 plans increases from $24,500 to $25,500.
- The catch-up contribution limit for participants aged 50 and over rises from $8,000 to $8,500, while super catch-up contributions for taxpayers ages 60-63 rises from $11,250 to $11,750.
- The overall contribution cap for defined contribution plans climbs from $72,000 to $75,000, and the defined benefit plan limit goes up from $290,000 to $300,000.
- The IRA contribution remains at $7,500. Taxpayers ages 50 and older can contribute an additional $1,100 to those accounts.
These are great questions to ask your elderly parents: The Mess We Leave Behind: 10 Questions to Ask Your Aging Parents Before It Is Too Late. You can say that this blogger you follow begged you to do it.
Lots of personal finance and life wisdom in the latest podcast by Morgan Housel again: The Value and Joy of Hard Work.
Can you believe that US may pass Greece? The World’s Biggest Economies vs. Debt in 2026.
AI/TECH
All the news were dominated by the extramarital affairs of Jensen Huang, NVidia’s iconic leather jacket wearing CEO. A $5.7 Trillion Face Plant. The spectacular rise and fall of Jensen Huang. How can a busy guy like this running the top company in the world have time to have not one but two affairs? And this…
In the end, Huang and the Nvidia board were still heeding the former CEO’s own advice, dispensed in a talk in 2003: “Corporate culture in our case is about intellectual honesty. Intellectual honesty to us means that we have the ability to be self-critical, that we have the ability to recognize we’ve made mistakes.”
Wait, as I was putting the final touches in this blog post, there are new reports there was a third affair with another Nvidia staff person, just wow.
This was written before the elections and the Nvidia CEO affairs became public: America Can’t Afford an AI Recession.
SCAMS/CRYPTO
What a piece of shit. At least he is in a jail in Georgia (the country) these days: The $300-Million Con Man. Greg Martel’s victims thought they were getting rich off Canada’s housing boom. Instead they lost everything. Will the notorious Ponzi schemer ever face justice? How can you do this for years is mind blowing. If you get a tip to get into an amazing opportunity, please run fast. I always wondered why lots of big scams come out of Canada. This article gives us the answer:
…we’re a country of stumbling enforcement, toothless penalties and endless opportunities for scammers to make off with their ill-gotten gains.
Enforcement responsibilities are fragmented between municipal and provincial police forces, as well as the RCMP and regulatory bodies. Police forces, especially smaller ones, often have insufficient expertise in the field. Larger ones are overstretched…Even when crimes are rooted out, they’re rarely penalized substantively.
In 2024, TD Bank pleaded guilty to money laundering after criminal networks spent years filtering drug-trafficking profits through the bank…In the United States, the bank received US$3 billion worth of fines. In Canada it was hit with a $9.2-million penalty. That was a record at the time. [$3 Billion vs $9.2 Million is just totally absurd, WOW!]
Yikes, taken to the cleaners by your own half-brother smh: The Comedian Who Was Fleeced to the Tune of $12 Million by His Half-Brother. As Dane Cook sold out arenas at the peak of his fame, he had no clue that a family member was emptying his bank account. Sometimes I have no idea what anyone is thinking when they write a $3 Million check to themselves and go cash it. As gullible and trusting some people may be with their money you just can’t not miss a $3 Million hole you know.
Now, Cook is discussing the betrayal and its fallout in a new documentary, “Funny Money.” McCauley was arrested a month after he cashed the check. Investigators found cash throughout his house, hidden in walls, containers of spaghetti sauce and a potted plant, according to authorities interviewed in the film. [In containers of spaghetti sauce, seriously?]
ODDZ & ENDZ
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know that I am anti gambling. Fiercely. This excellent article shows why, thanks to blog reader NickPFD for sending this one in: An NBA Player Got Hooked on Sports Gambling. He Became the Bet.
This is a hell of a story about two really rich guys with way too much time on their hands going after each other. Actually, it is one of them who has been a spectacular asshole over the years to everyone around him. And these are the type of guys lawyers absolutely love to bill around lol: Clash of the Titans. Harold Peerenboom and Isaac Perlmutter were both wealthy, brash and accustomed to getting their way. When they moved into the same luxury oceanside community, they quickly turned a minor squabble into a full-scale war, complete with poison pen letters, private investigators and multimillion-dollar lawsuits. Inside the absurd neighbour-versus-neighbour battles of the ultra-rich.
Arkivism is an independent index of the public domain — millions of artworks, photographs, illustrations and objects from the world’s great museums and archives, searchable the way you actually think about images. Enjoy!
Amazing photography: 2026 Photomicrography Competition.
TRAVEL
This is one of those special posts that will totally blow you away. Well, it blew me away, not sure if this will apply to you, we are all different. It is about Papua New Guinea. And how some Australians in 1930 looking for gold just happened to run into a place where over one million people lived that had never had any interactions with the outside world. And you won’t believe what happened next. One of those special reads I loved to read in one go and eat up all the knowledge. Stay hungry my friends. Or thirsty if you prefer: why I can’t stop thinking about Papua New Guinea and what I think everyone should know about it. Same! I love sharing posts like this to educate us all.
If you are into aviation at all, THIS is a must click: Twelve Seconds Later. The first flight lasted twelve seconds. Everything else came later. Amazing how they put these websites together and so much you can do wow.
Interesting: 8 Gargoyles and Grotesques Hiding in Plain Sight. From Darth Vader to a mysterious vampire rabbit, these architectural oddities prove that even stone-faced creatures have a sense of humor.
Some blog readers may be visiting Thailand soon. Therefore, this is good to know: 14 Worst Money Mistakes Tourists Make in Thailand (Avoid These!).
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MY ACTION AND BLOG BUZZING
We are going back to Greece to check on my mother, attend a memorial service and see a new baby in the family. See some old friends and hopefully attend a game or two of my beloved AEL FC soccer team in Larissa, my hometown. I burned 160,000 United Airlines miles to fly us Business Class on (again) Lufthansa Airlines to Frankfurt and onwards to Athens and then on Aegean Airlines to Thessaloniki. Working on a few details that could get our kids to join us. Until then I am going to hold off on booking a rental car and hotels. Maybe I try an Airbnb again in my hometown, we’ll see. So much to do until then, I can’t see myself doing another long post like this next week.
After my very short ordeal in trying to retire from my main job (blogging is not it!) I realize that I am just not cut out to be retired. I have always had issues with this. I realized trying this out that I will greatly miss taking care of my wealth management clients. Many of them have been with me for many years so trying to separate was extremely painful. Especially realizing that I will not be able to continue taking care of them. It is so much easier and healthier to continue doing what I am doing. And let natural attrition take its toll and stick with my pledge not to add new clients (which is not easy, I am turning away prospects every other week). And as time goes by I work less (and travel more). This was the plan all along by the way. Always placing clients first works out. If I had placed business first I would have sold to a PE backed firm showering me with ridiculous $$$ offers but then I would not be able to live with myself knowing that I sent my clients to an outfit that exists to maximize its profits from them. Wife is aboard and reiterated no new clients. So I guess I am on a very long path to retiring, doing what I love doing and staying mentally challenged along the way to stave off dementia.
My wife is back home after spending some time in Honolulu with son plus one. She is glad to be home and so am I. And…in less than a week she packs again to go with me to Greece. She is really turning into the retired nomad wife lol.
2026 SE ASIA TRIP RECAP
New additions in bold font below. I am starting to add YouTube video links, I have lots more coming. Almost nearing the end, next videos will be from Singapore before finally finalizing the 2026 SE Asia Trip.
So to recap:
110,000 American Airlines miles for one way First Class from Detroit to Bangkok (via Dallas and Tokyo Haneda) flying AA and JAL Business Class
AA Flagship Lounge in DFW You Tube Video
Sakura Lounge at Tokyo Haneda Airport HND
Sakura Lounge at Tokyo Haneda Airport You Tube Video
AMEX Centurion Lounge at Tokyo Haneda Airport HND
AMEX Centurion Lounge at Tokyo Haneda Airport HND Video
JAL Business Class flight from Tokyo Haneda HND to Bangkok BKK
For a trip report on the flights getting me to Bangkok please see the first comment in this post.
OR
118,500 Air Canada Aeroplan miles for one way Business Class from Detroit to Frankfurt to Munich on Lufthansa and to Bangkok on Thai Airways [Canceled, went with AA above]
1 night at the StandardX Bangkok for 7,500 World of Hyatt points
StandardX Bangkok YouTube Video
10 nights at the Bangkok Hyatt Place Soi 1 for 45,000 World of Hyatt points total
Bangkok Hyatt Place Soi 1 Review
Bangkok Hyatt Place Soi 1 Room YouTube Short
Breakfast at the Hyatt Place Soi 1 YouTube Short
Strolling Chinatown YouTube Short
Padthai in Bangkok’s Chinatown Food Tour YouTube Short
9 nights at the Bangkok Hyatt Place Soi 24 for 40,500 World of Hyatt points
Bangkok Hyatt Place Soi 24 Review
Room Tour of the Hyatt Place Soi 24 YouTube Short
Breakfast at the Hyatt Place Soi 24 YouTube Short
At TRIBE Sky Beach Bar in Bangkok
Final post from Bangkok until the return from Saigon
4 nights in a suite at the Saigon Park Hyatt for 80,000 World of Hyatt points
Saigon Food Tour on Motorbikes
Saigon on Motorbikes YouTube Short
Saigon Food Tour on Motorbikes YouTube Short
Roaming the Streets of Saigon, Part I
Strolling City Hall Square With Ho Chi Minh Statue YouTube Short
Saigon Fabulous Skyline YouTube Short
Roaming the Streets of Saigon, Part II
Visiting Saigon’s Central Post Office YouTube Short
Roaming the Streets of Saigon Part III
Walking at Night in Saigon’s Cho Lon Chinatown Video
Park Hyatt Saigon: Lam Son Suite, Front, Lobby, Main Floor
Park Hyatt Saigon Lam Son Suite Tour Video
Breakfast Park Hyatt Saigon Video
Flying Vietnam Airlines and Saigon Airport
2 nights at the KROMO Bangkok, a Curio Collection by Hilton property, on AMEX The Hotel Collection booking fully utilizing Amex Business Platinum $300 credit
Junior Suite at the KROMO Hotel Video
On the Boat to ICONSIAM YouTube Short
1 night at the brand new Fairmont Bangkok in a suite using my lifetime Platinum annual complimentary night cert
Corner King Room at the Fairmont Bangkok Video
Breakfast at the Fairmont Bangkok Video
1 night at the Hilton Pattaya for 60,000 Hilton Honors points
Review of Deluxe King Room at Hilton Pattaya
Viral IG Reel from Hilton Pattaya Rooftop Bar
Hilton Pattaya Rooftop Bar Short Video on YouTube
Morning Aerobics on Beach Road in Pattaya YouTube Short
Hilton Pattaya Breakfast Video
2 nights at the Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach for 30,000 World of Hyatt points in a confirmed Garden View Suite
Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach Part I: The Grounds
Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach Part II: Garden View Suite & Fitness Center
Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach Garden View Suite Video
Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach Part III: Breakfast
Andaz Pattaya Jomtien Beach Part IV: Swimming Pools, Beach & Eating/Drinking
Roaming the Streets of Singapore, Part I
Roaming the Streets of Singapore, Part II
1 night at the Singapore Conrad Marina Bay on an Amex FHR booking mostly covered by the $300 Schwab Amex Platinum $300 credit
Singapore Conrad Marina Bay Part I: King View Room, Lobby & Main Floor, Swimming Pool
Singapore Conrad Marina Bay Part II: Breakfast
Singapore Conrad Marina Bay Breakfast Video
Singapore Wedding at St. Regis Singapore
Singapore Changi Airport Video: Waves
Singapore Changi Airport: Jewel Waterfall
90,000 United miles for one way Business Class Singapore to Chicago O’Hare (via San Fransisco) flying United
Singapore Airlines SilverKris Lounge in Changi Airport
United Polaris Singapore SIN to San Francisco SFO
The Club Priority Pass airport lounge in San Francisco SFO
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If $ was a reason for doing this, this blog would not have existed for so long!
The New Guinea article was interesting. You never hear about anything going on there.
Lots to enjoy here but that Jumping spider pic is ultra-creepy! UGH! I’ll be jumping in and out of this over the weekend. Today’s fun activity is a CT scan. I might add a trip to a thrift store for a reward afterwards. Stay healthy and active, George. Hope the trip to Greece is for fun!
DML:
Report to the principal’s office asap.
🙂
Here I am! Being late is become a habit!
The national debt numbers might be wildly off if they don’t count
things like social security and other intergenerational transfers.
Paul Samuelson had a very important article decades ago arguing
that social security was a stable ponzi. I had fun pointing out
where the rabbit comes into the hat.