March Madness

There have been many events in my life which should have motivated me. Mistakes, jobs, relationships, estrangement, military service. For most of my life my inexperience, immaturity, and stupidity have held me back. I lacked proper guidance as a young man.

In March of 2026, I was given a 30-day sabbatical from work. I spent a lot of time with my son, read, went to the gym, and cleaned my house from top to bottom.

World of Warcraft Anniversary released The Burning Crusade expansion during my leave. This was the expansion that I have always felt the most longing for. I thoroughly enjoyed leveling through it again during my time off. We are currently in Phase Two, raiding TK and SSC. I play an Arcane Mage, Jmonie. It's bittersweet.

Nebraska Basketball.

I love Nebraska Basketball. My earliest Nebrasketball memory is asking my father if twenty wins was good for our basketball team. I was eight or nine years old. He told me it was, and it is. For the purposes of this particular blog, it would be impossible to fully explain the satisfaction this season provided. At some point, my love for Husker athletics will become clear, but it simply cannot be captured in a few paragraphs. Just know that Nebraska's historic season formed part of the backdrop for one of the most memorable months of my life.

Nebraska defeated Troy and Vanderbilt and made it to the Sweet 16.

And so, you have the scene. A 30-day vacation. Reading. Bench pressing. World of Warcraft. Spring break with boy; he's growing up so fast. Nebraska Basketball making the Sweet 16. I cried. I could cry now.

Through speculative trading in the stock market during my time off, I made a little over $50,000. This is not life-altering money in and of itself, but it sparked an awakening.

What should I do with this money? How should it be invested? What are the tax implications? How much time have I wasted?

I learned and incredible amount in the last few months about personal finance from answering these questions.