Another TBB post featuring the most eclectic links around the web such as the new US tax law, Trump accounts, force-feeding AI, the Tylenol murders, rough road to Rio adventure, burning over 1 million miles/points again, the rich and millionaires and Amex Platinum cards, AI hoaxes and fake astronauts, a harrowing escape account from the Texas floods, the best stunts of all time, Paris Update, hidden spots in national parks, 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.

 

BLOG HOUSEKEEPING

This is truly a one man labor of love operation, enjoy it while it lasts. I can’t believe I am still blogging here…

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PERSONAL FINANCE

Let’s focus on two areas today: continue to learn about the new tax law and dealing with a good problem to have, as in too much money.

I think I am pretty much up to speed with the new tax law, all 887 pages of it. It is going to change your approach to tax preparation and of course tax planning. I did a special post about it last week HERE. Here are a few more articles about it:

Some of the ‘Big, Beautiful’ Tax Breaks Are Smaller Than You Think. Many filers won’t be able to take full advantage of expanded deductions in the recently passed tax law.

What the New Tax Laws Mean for Your Retirement Plan. Assessing the new over-65 deduction and its implications for Social Security taxation, as well as new rules for charitable giving and the SALT deduction.

And we will be hearing about these Trump accounts for a while. Assuming they manage to get them up and running that is: How the $1,000 ‘Trump Accounts’ for Newborns Will Work. Wait, there is more: ‘Trump Accounts’ for Kids Come With $1,000—and Tax Complications.

The free $1,000, and potential additional contributions from employers and charity, is certainly a good deal. Financial advisers say the best case for adding family money to the accounts could be for wealthy people who have already maxed out 529 savings plans and want to also jump-start their young children’s retirement savings. For most families it doesn’t make sense to add money. 529 savings plans and even custodial accounts are more flexible and have better tax advantages for parents’ contributions. [Yeah, take the free $1,000 and just let it sit there for a while to see where these accounts go..]

The accounts are expected to roll out in 2026, and parents and others will be able to start contributing that July. The Treasury Department will oversee the program, and banks or other financial institutions will administer accounts. [Oh boy, I just don’t have a good feeling about the viability of these accounts, hope I am wrong.]

Beyond the $1,000 federal seed money, others will be able to contribute to the accounts. Parents, relatives and friends could contribute up to $5,000 annually in after-tax dollars for years before the year the child turns 18. That amount increases annually with inflation. Employers could contribute up to $2,500 for an employee or an employee’s dependent. The $2,500 cap will be indexed for inflation starting in 2028.

Taxes are where the accounts get really complicated. It depends on who put the money in, how old you are when you take it out, and what you’re using it for. [Yep, this is going to be crazy. Explains the ecstatic email from the AICPA President to all us CPAs celebrating the passage of the new tax law and how indispensable we CPAs will be again in handling it for even more clients smh.]

I like this take on being rich…and not feeling rich that is. Three Things: Are You Rich? Here are the the three things, I think #3, obviously biased, is right on.

Conclusion #1 – Americans are really rich. Really, really rich.

Conclusion #2 – Americans don’t save enough. That leaves them asset rich and/or experience rich and cash poor.

Conclusion #3 – A good financial planner is a good investment.

This next article featured here could have been easily mentioned in the second half of my blog where I deal with my main hobby of scoring travel rewards. Because it fits right in: The Death of the Amex Lounge: Why the Upper Middle Class Isn’t Special Anymore.

The upper middle class is getting too big. There are too many people who are millionaires and multi-millionaires and there simply isn’t enough space to accommodate them. Why do you think the Amex lounge is a zoo? Why do you think house prices haven’t come down? Why do you think vacations evolved into cut throat competitions? Because there are too many people with lots of money.

Since 2007, the median net worth of U.S. households has increased from $173,151 to $192,700, up 11% in total after inflation. But among the top 10% of U.S. households, it increased from $1,302,640 to $1,936,900, a 49% surge.

Interesting. Looks like Brexit worked out well for the UK, NOT! Ranked: The Countries Gaining and Losing Millionaires in 2025.

 

 

SCAMS/CRYPTO/AI/TECH

Yeah, it certainly feels this way these days: The Force-Feeding of AI on an Unwilling Public. This isn’t innovation, it’s tyranny.

This is how AI gets introduced to the marketplace—by force-feeding the public. And they’re doing this for a very good reason. Most people won’t pay for AI voluntarily—just 8% according to a recent survey. So they need to bundle it with some other essential product. You never get to decide.

Before proceeding let me ask a simple question: Has there ever been a major innovation that helped society, but only 8% of the public would pay for it? That’s never happened before in human history.

The article gets deeper and concludes we can’t escape it unless laws are written. Which is clearly not happening anytime soon. We hope it all works out for the sake of us all…

I mean, prepare for more shit like this: How a Canadian’s AI hoax duped the media and propelled a ‘band’ to streaming success. Elevating a hoax to a higher level hoax wow.

Frelon’s hoax supercharged The Velvet Sundown’s success; the band’s audience has grown by about 700,000 monthly listeners on Spotify since his hoax started, hitting one million on Saturday. In yet another twist, the band’s official X account admitted on Saturday to its use of AI after playing coy for weeks, saying in a social media statement it is a “synthetic music project guided by human creative direction, and composed, voiced, and visualized with the support of artificial intelligence.”

Some people are just born for this: How a fake astronaut fooled the world, broke women’s hearts, and landed in jail. For years, Robert Hunt convinced everyone he could that he was a NASA astronaut. The truth was anything but. Imagine disappointing your parents over and over and they still stick with you. So many people hurt, what a loser.

For years, Hunt had led cops and the FBI on a cat-and-mouse chase across the country, posing as a U.S. Marine, baseball star, senator and other prominent figures, always escaping prosecution. Only when he became an astronaut did he create a security panic, embarrass politicians and captivate a nation.

I remember this guy, what a great story: How Commodore Invented the Mass Market Computer. The untold story of Jack Tramiel, Holocaust survivor and home computing’s first king.

In his latest piece for The Crazy Ones, Gareth Edwards recounts Tramiel’s journey from Auschwitz to founding Commodore, and later reviving Atari. His ruthless approach to vertical integration and relentless cost-cutting made computers accessible to millions of families who could never have afforded them otherwise—launching a generation of tech careers and helping shape our digital present.

The Chinese do it again: ‘Another DeepSeek moment’: Chinese AI model Kimi K2 stirs excitement.