Issue #16: October 2025

Congratulations to this month's sponsored giveaway winners:
Eugine P., Melissa L., Thomas C., Jenny W.

Life

Unretirement: Back at the USPTO

This week marked my first week back at the USPTO. I “retired” (or really, resigned) back in January 2025 after more than 16 years of service—just before the DRP was offered. In some strange way, I actually missed being a patent examiner.

Like Venus Williams, my main motivation for returning was health insurance. The marketplace plan I had (Aetna Innovation Health) was, frankly, terrible.

Right now, I’m in the Patent Training Academy, getting retrained alongside all the new hires. It’s been fun meeting people from all over the country with such diverse backgrounds—some with advanced degrees, others fresh out of college. I first went through the Academy back in October 2008, and here I am doing it all over again in October 2025. I even did a detail years ago training new hires here, so it’s a bit surreal to be on the other side.

It honestly feels a bit like being back in college. I’ve even got a pretty chill officemate. We grabbed lunch yesterday from the Flavor Hive food truck—you know, the viral one where they pile food right on top of an open bag of chips.

Personal Finance

The Interest Effect: How Your 20s Decisions Compound Into Your 40s

I’ve been thinking lately about how time is either your biggest financial ally—or your biggest expense. The choices you make in your 20s (and even early 30s) don’t just matter later—they multiply.

If you invest $500 a month starting at 25 and earn a 7% annual return, by 40 you’ll have about $245,000. Wait until 35 to start, and by 40 you’ll have only $42,000. That’s a $200,000 difference just because of when you started—not how much you invested.

The same math works in reverse with debt. A $5,000 credit card balance at 20% interest can balloon into over $30,000 in 15 years if you only pay the minimums.

Even bigger lifestyle choices—like a pricier home or car—quietly shape your financial future. An extra $500 a month in payments is $6,000 a year that could’ve been working for you instead. Over time, that missed opportunity can easily exceed $120,000 by 40.

By your 40s, interest has already started to show its hand. Whether it’s compounding your savings or compounding your debt, time is the multiplier—and you get to decide which direction it grows.

The Latte Effect: It’s Really About Consistency

You’ve probably heard of the Latte Effect—the idea that skipping your daily $5 coffee and investing that money instead can change your future. It’s become a cliché, but the truth behind it isn’t about lattes at all—it’s about consistency.

If you invested $5 a day (about $150 a month) starting at 25 with a 7% return, you’d have around $44,000 by 40. That’s not retirement money, but it’s proof that small habits add up when done consistently.

The key isn’t cutting one coffee—it’s repeating a good habit thousands of times. Whether it’s saving automatically, paying off your card in full each month, or investing a small amount regularly, consistency beats intensity every time.

Financial progress rarely comes from one big move. It’s built through small, steady steps that quietly compound in the background—just like interest.

How to Get Rid of Your Car Payment for Life

If you’re in the market for a car right now and planning on financing it, here’s a mindset shift that can save you tens of thousands over your lifetime: make car payments to yourself—not the bank.

Let’s say you’re about to take on a $600/month car payment. Instead, what if you bought a reliable used car for cash and kept making that same $600 “payment” into a separate savings or investment account?

After 5 years, you’d have about $36,000 saved (closer to $43,000 if invested at 7%). That’s enough to buy your next car outright. Keep repeating that cycle, and you’ll never have another car payment again.

The average American spends decades in a loop of trading in cars and restarting 5–6 year loans. But breaking that cycle—just once—can free up hundreds per month for saving, investing, or enjoying life.

If you absolutely have to get financing, another option is to go ahead and finance the car, but keep it an extra 3-5 years while making payments to yourself. Then, use that cash to get out of the cycle of car payments.

If you have any personal finance questions or a suggestion for a future topic, please submit them to mrfrugalee@gmail.com.

Real Estate

My Forecast for the Next 6 Months

The next few months will likely be on the slower side, which is typical around the holidays. Activity tends to pick up again in the spring, and I expect that trend to continue—especially if mortgage rates come down a bit. If rates drop, we could see slightly more competition and a modest bump in prices, though it’s hard to say for sure.

October has been a busy month! It’s a good thing my start date at the PTO got pushed back—I had five closings in the past month and a couple more pending with my mentees in the coming weeks. After that, I’m expecting things to slow down a bit, which honestly isn’t a bad thing with the next six weeks being busy on the patent side.

Two of the closings were for investors who got assumable loans with rates of 2.25% and 2.375%. If you're looking for an investment in the next few years, let's start a conversation. Assumable loans are STILL a great opportunity.

If you have any real estate questions, reach out to me at RealtorDannyLee@gmail.com.​
Follow me on Instagram @RealtorDannyLee