T.G.I.F. Friday: Volume 181

Welcome to “Thank God I’m FI” Friday, Volume #181

Here are some things I really like and that you might too!

Financial Independence/Work Life/Retirement Articles & Content

Clarity is the new currency (Empower – full study here)  “Working Americans are more financially active than ever — managing more accounts, using more tools, and setting more goals. Yet their confidence remains elusive.” Dave’s comment: The stats about managing multiple (or many) financial accounts hit home to me. While it’s probably safer in some ways to have your money spread around to numerous banks/brokerages/sites in this age of AI when hacking can be done by bots, there’s a lot to be said about consolidation.

Is All the Hype Around Roth IRA Conversions Justified? (Can I Retire Yet)  “I’m going to share an unpopular opinion. Roth conversions are one of the most overhyped topics in retirement planning.“

Video

Racing road bikes is dangerous. A skilled road rider has many non-roadie tools in his/her toolbox, like bunny-hopping. Watch this kid (this was an under-23 race) bunny-hop his teammate who went down right in front of him. The kid has really good reflexes and obviously has done some off road riding.

Bunnyhop skillz 5/5 #TourdelAvenir pic.twitter.com/JT5ZnyKDTG

— Eemeli (@LosBrolin) August 20, 2026

What I’m Grateful For

That my best buddy recovered from West Nile Virus. He was in pretty bad shape and spent some time in the hospital. A good use of AI would be to eliminate mosquitos, and ticks.

Lyrically Speaking

Well nothing here is what it seems
I’ll risk the wreckage of your dreams
It’s so that you are always shopping
To steal away the cash your dropping
Listen to me when I say
Your fantasies are built to fade
So there you are, you’re always shopping
Don’t even try, there is no stopping

From “Shopping” by Duncan Sheik 

Anyone who is old enough to remember radio in 1996 probably remembers the song “Barely Breathing“.  Fewer would remember it was written and performed by Duncan Sheik, probably because Sheik wanted it that way by dodging fame and the spotlight after his huge hit.  The music press cast him as a sex symbol and heartthrob, and he wanted none of it.  As Sheik himself said according to Spin, “I thought, I’m not going to win in this game of trying to be Justin Timberlake,” he said in a 2022 interview. “Maybe I should try and do something different.” 

Sheik went on to create some great music, but with a wide pallet of influences and styles he could really never be pinned down. Again, this was probably deliberate.  He even won awards scoring musicals on Broadway and made records up until 2022.  Sheik struggled with alcoholism and tragically died this past week at the young age of 56.  R.I.P. Mr. Sheik and thanks for the music.  As for the lyrics above, I once went on a few dates with a girl only to find out she could be described by the lyrics quoted. Let’s just say the relationship went nowhere.

Miscellaneous

This popular fermented food may help flush nanoplastics from the body – “A bacterium found in kimchi may help trap nanoplastics in the gut and boost their removal from the body.” Dave’s Comment: I love kimchi and eat it often so this story made me happy.

Traffic noise can be deadly. Why don’t we act like it? – “When traffic noise is above approximately 50 decibels, it is more likely to cause premature cardiovascular deaths.”

Google’s AI genome system evaluates every possible one-base change – “Most one-base changes to the human genome do nothing, but a few are significant.”  Dave’s Comment: There’s lots of AI-Doom in the news lately which I am not disregarding, but there’s good news too.

**Note To My Readers – I sometimes get complaints about ads on my blog (too many).  I’m kind of astonished that anyone browses the internet without an ad-blocker.  I haven’t seen ads in over a decade, and you shouldn’t either.  Please use an ad blocker, your life will improve 500%