THE FATHER BLOG

It’s funny how as the kids grow older, the excitement of Halloween really fades away. We used to make a big deal of the day. We would all head to my parents’ house, including my brother’s family, for pizza dinner. Then the kids would all go trick or treating through the neighborhood that we grew up in.

The kids would get back, lay all their candy on the floor, and start making trades for their favorites.

Once high school started, there wasn’t much of that anymore. Now that my daughter and niece are both in college, and the boys are Juniors in high school, it’s completely over.

For those of you with young ones still…enjoy yet another childhood experience that just becomes a memory….until one day maybe grand kids come around and the cycle restarts!

Here are some early pictures from Emily and Mikey Halloween days. This was technically Emily’s second Halloween because she was only a month old on her first one.

I recently did a review of my portfolio as the year is coming to an end. Like most years, I made mostly solid decisions with a sprinkle of “what the hell was I thinking buying that” mixed in. The majority of stocks I own are either growing well or providing very solid dividends. But when is the time to make a switch?

That time was a week or so ago for one. I was holding onto a high yield dividend stock for years that was down around 8%. I didn’t really care since over the years the dividends had me well into the green and showing a great profit. I already had some stock wins during the year as well that put my gains strongly into the positive figures. So why now?

Because there will always be a high yield dividend stock out there for you to make a quick dollar. I made my money on the previous one and sold at a loss to offset my capital gains for the year. Then distributed the left-over money into another high yield dividend fund. I’ll even tell you which one: AMZY. Risky? More than most in my portfolio but it’s only about 2% of total portfolio and the returns are great. It pays a weekly dividend, so you get your money quick. If it ever tanks, I’ll dump that one for the tax loss and find another. Rinse and repeat my friends.

Sustainable? Take a look: The answer is NO. They pay almost a 50% dividend yield but the dividend growth is shrinking at a rate nearing 40%. Make your money, take the overall loss, and get out. Winner-Winner.

AMZY Dividend Yield

49.35%

Annual Dividend

$4.96

Ex-Dividend Date

Oct 22, 2026

Payout Frequency

Weekly

Payout Ratio

n/a

Dividend Growth

-36.58%

I’ve been working for a very long time and through those years, I have experienced quite a bit. When people ask how to define a company’s culture, it was always tricky to answer for me. I really didn’t know. I have worked for some amazing people and some complete duds and assholes as well. But that was always more of a “who you report to” scenario than an indictment on the company itself. For the most part, I have learned that the majority of company cultures range from “OK” to very good. However, there are exceptions….

I have finally learned how to define a company’s culture because when you see BAD….you know it. I won’t elaborate because they keep sending me paychecks every couple weeks but here is a great article defining toxic company culture with 15 signs. I would say their batting average is pretty high…. hitting at least 10 of the 15 signs at a minimum!

The Top 15 Signs of Bad Company Culture (And How to Fix It)