Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as more Warren Buffett wisdom, the Celsius founder guilty sentence, global migration report, Europe’s best beaches, updates on HSAs, estate planning and private investments, the legendary Poyais nation scam, a fantastic podcast on ADHD, the best spiritual retreats and the worst passports, 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. 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.

This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts.

 

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BLOG HOUSEKEEPING

I added a Warren Buffett section since the old guy was in the news a lot recently. I briefly thought to add a Sports section and then I changed my mind. No more tariffs section, just one graph:

 

NEW:  Huge 100,000 point offer on the card all four of us in my household have and keep from my favorite bank – literally the offer of the year in my opinion, even better than the 75k Capital One Venture X! (ENDING at 9 am on 5/15/2025)

TAKE ME TO THIS OFFER

 

 

PERSONAL FINANCE

More money to shelter from taxes next year: IRS unveils new HSA limits for 2026. Here’s what investors need to know.

Starting in 2026, the new HSA contribution limit will be $4,400 for self-only health coverage, the IRS announced Thursday. That’s up from $4,300 in 2025, based on inflation adjustments. Meanwhile, the new limit for savers with family coverage will jump to $8,750, up from $8,550 in 2025, according to the update.

Some interesting findings from the 2025 Estate Planning Report:

83% of Americans recognize the importance of estate planning—yet only 31% have a will. [If you do not have a will, STOP and go get one done NOW]

Estate planning is no longer just about people—62% of Americans believe pets should be treated with the same level of importance as humans in estate plans. [Belief is one thing, action is another]

A growing number of Americans are choosing non-family members as their executors, trustees, and guardians. [Interesting finding, not seeing it either. Please make it as simple as possible for the family person you will likely choose for such important roles]

Continuing on beating up on the push lately to shove alternative funds and more private types of investments to regular individual investors, here is another article on the subject: Suffering in Private. Don’t fall for the pitches, private funds suck in all areas below:

Performance

Illiquidity

Fees

Risk

Taxes

And you should probably be careful out there when even Edwards Jones can not resist the calling to help more clients make more money selling these smh: Edward Jones joins the crowd to sell more alternative investments.

Advisors sell and recommend alternative investments typically as vehicles that are not tied or correlated to the broad stock market, as well as a way to mitigate risk. Such investments, which include private equity funds, nontraded business development companies, and nontraded real estate investment trusts, also carry more risk and are designed for wealthier investors who can better stand those risks. [ I place the word “sell” in bold font for emphasis. Because the only way these advisors salesmen do this is because they can make a lot more money.]

 

WARREN BUFFETT

He is finally going to retire at the young age of 94. Actually not exactly, he just graduates from CEO to Chairman of his firm Berkshire Hathaway. He has been the CEO for 60 years. Which is just mind boggling. Of course, he now needs to ease into retirement lol. With so much money he never crossed that line that so many other billionaires in recent times did. On the contrary. Humility is in such short supply these days indeed. Warren again took questions from investors for over 4 hours in the annual shareholder meeting. There is press media content about the meeting and what he said again all over the web. Among the many things he said, I clipped the below and sent to my clients:

 

For a bunch of quotes: Wit and Wisdom from Warren Buffett. All are great, my few favorite ones:

“Everyone has setbacks, it’s part of life. You certainly have a setback when you die.”

“Patience is not a constant asset or liability. You don’t want to be patient when the time comes to act.”

“If you are in something in which you are going to lose you should quit.”

“I was born in 1930 and things got much more attractive over the next two years and I didn’t do anything about it. That was the opportunity of a lifetime and I blew it by worrying about the kid in the next crib.”

“Look around to see what interests you. I wouldn’t try to be someone else.”

I get asked often about real estate. And, you know, Warren answered it perfectly: Real estate is so much harder than stocks.

 

SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH

As a student of history, never forget that one MacGregor dude who managed to fool so many to invest in and emigrate to a country that did not exist. Yeah, really. The Poyais Scam: A Nation Thad Never Was. What is wild is that he escaped to France where he tried to pull off the same scam when he was finally arrested. And tried. And was acquitted, crazy.

In 1822 and 1823, two ships—the Honduras Packet and the Kennersley Castle—set sail for Poyais with around 250 settlers aboard. What they found when they arrived was not a thriving colony, but uninhabited, mosquito-infested jungle. There was no infrastructure, no government, and no sign of any settlement whatsoever. Stranded in a foreign land with no resources, the colonists quickly succumbed to disease, starvation, and exposure…By the time the survivors were rescued and taken to British Honduras (modern Belize), over 180 had died. Fewer than 50 ever returned to Britain.

Rest in peace hell Credit Suisse, the final chapter: Credit Suisse to pay $511 million for helping U.S. taxpayers hide over $4 billion overseas. The company was absorbed by UBS, you have been warned.

One of the most obnoxious assholes in the crypto space (there are so many) got what he deserved: Celsius’s Mashinsky, Former Crypto High-Roller, Gets 12-Year Prison Sentence. Of course appeals are coming and he too may get a pardon before he sees a prison cell. This is the guy who was bad mouthing banks and urging gullible people that his company was safer smh.

A pseudobank that touted returns of as much as 18.6% on customers’ crypto deposits, Celsius was one of the first big crypto companies to topple into bankruptcy after a downturn in the digital-currency markets began in the spring of 2022…Federal prosecutors had sought a sentence of at least 20 years for Mashinsky, who attracted customers—many of them ordinary investors—by urging them to “unbank” themselves and park their savings at Celsius during frequent appearances on social media…Mashinsky ultimately made $48 million in profits by selling his CEL tokens, and spent the money on personal luxuries, including the upkeep of his Manhattan penthouse and vacation home in the Hamptons, as well as the purchase of a third home in Texas, prosecutors said.

Can you imagine if Obama or Biden came out with their own meme coins? I guess not. Anyway, as expected: 58 crypto wallets have made millions on Trump’s meme coin. 764,000 have lost money, data shows.

 

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