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What Addiction Couldn’t Take: My Sister’s Story

Andrew Clements | Jun 17, 2026

"Thank you Jim. “Vivacious” describes Tory perfectly. She brought so much laughter and energy into the lives of those around her. I think many of us who have lost someone to addiction carry the question of whether we could have done more, but I take comfort in knowing that her kindness, spirit, and the love she shared continue to live on in the memories of those who knew her. Thank you for your thoughtful words"

- Andrew Clements

Risk Adjusted: The Family Ledger

Mark Crothers | Jun 18, 2026

"Andrew, it's definitely a difficult tightrope to navigate successfully. During my own career, I admit to a few wobbles over the years. To extend the metaphor, your family and friends are ultimately your biggest safety net — and that's worth remembering."

- Mark Crothers

HD Reader’s Demographics

Mark Bergman | Jun 16, 2026

"Indeed it is, Dan. Sometimes those who "unhumbly" cast judgment are blind to their conduct and tone. Quite unfortunate when that happens on HD. My first email exchange with Jonathan was in April of 2021, by the way. That was the start of a treasured semi-professional, semi-personal relationship."

- Dan Malone

Many seniors think we paid for our Social Security benefits based on the FICA taxes we paid. Let’s dispel that myth- we didn’t

R Quinn | Jun 15, 2026

"Which also means those earnings do not produce any benefits for the individual or create any liability for SS. SS was intended to be limited in the benefits provided and taxed accordingly."

- R Quinn

…..taxes and you

Dan Smith | Jun 11, 2026

"Is that really true about the minimum tax on older cars? I always have older cars, and this year I paid: 2005 Sienna: state: $66, town: $82.50 2004 Sentra: state: $48, town: $42.50 2012 Focus: state: $54.50, town $48.00 1980 man lift: state: $40, town $30.50 2003 popup camper: state: $13.20, town $35.50 various one-axle trailers: state: $13,20 (one was $3.30), town $10.50"

- Jon Daley

Interesting insight

Mike A | Jun 13, 2026

"I wonder about this, too. I find I can live on my Social Security income alone (admittedly, it would be a spartan lifestyle), but I've reached the age of RMDs. I spend part of my RMD and save/invest the balance. At the same time, the boom you've described is growing both my investment and retirement accounts - in spite of all the bad news we're pounded with each day. One of my two kids is doing very well for himself. The other was doing fine until all the wheels fell off - job loss, divorce, kid expenses, etc. I can be a financial backstop as needed and within reason, but not forever. In your second to last paragraph you refer to Boomers not being immortal. That's all well-and-good, the end comes to us all. But I intend to keep living as well and as long as possible - so the Boomer wealth transfer will need to wait!"

- Jeff Bond

Fixing Social Security is not that hard, here’s how

R Quinn | Jun 13, 2026

"There is a difference. With Medicare? All recipients pay a premium. With SS, there are spousal beneficiaries who never contributed."

- Marilyn Lavin

A Sunday Thought About Money

Mark Crothers | Jun 14, 2026

"I am so jealous...my kids haven't had kids, so my best grandparents' years are going to waste. I thought your grandparents might enjoy this comedy from Kathleen Madigan. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LeOMMqvwLI&t=8s. The grandparents' part starts at 1:45."

- Mike Lynch

Bonds vs. Bond Funds

Matt Halperin | Jun 12, 2026

"Thank you all for the comments. Mark's line — "the main issue here is a misalignment of timeline and purpose" — really does get at the heart of it. When you put money into a bond fund without ever looking at the index it's managed against, you're not choosing a risk profile, you're inheriting whatever risk profile that index happens to carry at that moment, and that profile isn't fixed. As the Hartford chart shows, the Agg's duration has swung meaningfully over time, drifting higher as rates fell and issuance patterns shifted, then snapping back as rates rose again. An investor who bought in with a rough mental model of "this is a five-year-ish bond fund" could easily find themselves several years later holding something with a noticeably different interest-rate sensitivity, without ever having made an active decision to change it. That's the randomness I'm pointing to: not that the fund is mismanaged, but that its risk level is set by the bond market's borrowing patterns and the benchmark's construction rules, not by your goals. That's exactly why a bond ladder, or a CD ladder, is a useful alternative for some investors: you pick the duration profile that matches your own timeline and risk tolerance, and it stays matched to that purpose rather than drifting with the index. And the CD ladder point is well taken too. For someone who wants that certainty without dealing with the secondary-market mechanics of individual bonds, a CD ladder is often the simplest way to get there. Matt"

- Matt Halperin

SpaceX IPO: Is Margin Optional?

Mark Gardner | Jun 4, 2026

"A good article from Morningstar explaining the Space X impact on index funds. The SpaceX IPO: How Index Funds Are Adapting | Morningstar"

- Harold Tynes

How well off are Americans compared to the rest of the world? Fun facts.

R Quinn | Jun 16, 2026

"I should modify my comment. Living P to P is always real, just not always necessary and surely not always or mostly associated with low income as generally assumed."

- R Quinn

What’s in your portfolio ?

Larry | Jun 12, 2026

"We used to hold Fidelity Floating Rate High Income. Still think it’s a good choice, just decided to keep things simple. Managers of our biggest bond holding Fidelity Total Bond can invest in these issues if they want."

- Michael1

What Addiction Couldn’t Take: My Sister’s Story

Andrew Clements | Jun 17, 2026

- Andrew Clements

Risk Adjusted: The Family Ledger

Mark Crothers | Jun 18, 2026

- Mark Crothers

HD Reader’s Demographics

Mark Bergman | Jun 16, 2026

- Dan Malone

Many seniors think we paid for our Social Security benefits based on the FICA taxes we paid. Let’s dispel that myth- we didn’t

R Quinn | Jun 15, 2026

"Which also means those earnings do not produce any benefits for the individual or create any liability for SS. SS was intended to be limited in the benefits provided and taxed accordingly."

- R Quinn

…..taxes and you

Dan Smith | Jun 11, 2026

- Jon Daley

Interesting insight

Mike A | Jun 13, 2026

- Jeff Bond

Fixing Social Security is not that hard, here’s how

R Quinn | Jun 13, 2026

"There is a difference. With Medicare? All recipients pay a premium. With SS, there are spousal beneficiaries who never contributed."

- Marilyn Lavin

A Sunday Thought About Money

Mark Crothers | Jun 14, 2026

- Mike Lynch

Bonds vs. Bond Funds

Matt Halperin | Jun 12, 2026

- Matt Halperin

Manifesto

Jun 17, 2026

NO. 38: AS STOCK prices fall, our enthusiasm should climb. The decline raises expected returns and offers the chance to buy at lower prices, both with new money and through rebalancing.

humans

Jun 18, 2026

NO. 75: WE'RE HAPPIER when we count our blessings. All of us have reasons to be happy—we just need to keep those things in mind. If we spend a few minutes pondering our friends and family, the lovely things we own and the great experiences we’ve had, we can squeeze more happiness out of our past spending and get more joy out of each day.

think

Jun 18, 2026

SKEWNESS. The most a stock can lose is 100%, but its potential gain is unlimited. Every year, a minority of stocks with huge returns skew the market higher, so most stocks end up trailing the averages. The irony: The big winners make beating the market seem easy—and yet betting on a handful of stocks will likely result in market-lagging performance.

act

Jun 17, 2026

DROP UNNECESSARY insurance. If you no longer work or have enough saved for retirement, you can likely ditch your disability insurance. If the kids have left home or you have a sizable nest egg, you might drop your life insurance. If your car is old and doesn’t have much value, you might get rid of your auto policy's collision and comprehensive coverage.

Money Guide

Manifesto

Jun 17, 2026

NO. 38: AS STOCK prices fall, our enthusiasm should climb. The decline raises expected returns and offers the chance to buy at lower prices, both with new money and through rebalancing.

Spotlight: Charity

What’s the best strategy for charitable giving?

Jonathan Clements | Mar 30, 2023

All My Children

Ken Cutler | Sep 15, 2023

ONE OF THE CLEARER mandates for a Christian such as myself is to help the poor. Jesus said the poor “will always be with you.” It doesn’t take amazing powers of observation to see that he was correct. There are lots of ways to help the poor, with churches and thousands of worthy charitable institutions working to address the causes and effects of poverty.
Many years ago, I became acquainted with a large Christian organization called Compassion International.

Going to the Dogs

Andrew Forsythe | Sep 17, 2021

“THERE IS A VERY fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness’,” according to humorist Dave Barry.
Some years ago, we had a weekend place—a cabin on acreage—which we greatly enjoyed, even if it did come with challenges. One thing I especially enjoyed: taking the kids on nighttime walks to see how many critters we could spot. That led to an interest in flashlights, and I collected a bunch of them. That, in turn, led to a keen interest in pocketknives.

Give and Receive

Julian Block | Oct 10, 2018

MANY OF MY CLIENTS volunteer to perform chores for religious institutions and other charitable organizations. I remind them that volunteers qualify for tax breaks. Their itemized deductions include what they spend to cover unreimbursed out-of-pocket outlays—though there are limits to the IRS’s generosity.
I caution clients not to count on deductions for the value of the unpaid time that they devote to charitable chores. Let’s say the prevailing rate for the kind of services they render is $100 per hour and they spend 100 hours to render those services during the year in question.

Not Dead Yet

David Gartland | May 9, 2024

FOR MY BIRTHDAY this year, my wife gave me a card that declares, “Not Dead Yet.” That might sound morbid, but I laughed. The reason: My wife had misinterpreted something I used to say to colleagues at my final job.
When they saw me at the coffee machine, they’d often ask, “How are you doing, Dave?”
Instead of saying “fine,” I used to say, “I’m still breathing. Count your blessings. Blessing No. 1: I’m still breathing.”
In many cases,

Christmas All Year

Matt C. White | Dec 24, 2021

I GAVE THE BEST PEP talk I could muster, but it didn’t help. Our family of four entered Walmart in solidarity, planning to buy gifts to fill an Operation Christmas Child shoebox. Two of us left early in disarray.

I had to wrestle my screaming two-year-old all the way to the car because she knew only one way to approach the toy department—with herself in mind. Eliza melted down over her refusal to part with a cheap plastic toy.

Ready or Not

Sanjib Saha | Mar 26, 2020

THE PAST FEW WEEKS have brought back memories of the 2008 financial crisis. Back then, stocks were at bargain prices, but I had little money to invest. Today, my financial house is much stronger—and I want to be ready to buy if stocks get dirt cheap. I’ve already made some portfolio adjustments. But from here, my plan is to keep an eye on stock market valuations. A large percentage drop by the market averages might—by itself—create the false impression that stocks are cheap, so instead I prefer to watch valuation measures such as the market’s price-earnings multiple, price-to-book value and dividend yield. What are these metrics saying? Despite a 27% drop from its peak, the S&P 500 isn’t exactly cheap. For instance, the cyclically adjusted P/E ratio, or CAPE, is still above its historical average by a large margin. Most other valuation measures paint a similar picture. At these levels, the odds of superior market returns are still low. I’ve decided to wait to overweight stocks, at least until valuations are closer to normal. I’d put a normal valuation for the S&P 500 at around 1800—a 47% drop from the Feb. 19 all-time high. That size drop has happened just five times, including two occasions since 2000. That’s when I’ll start shifting my asset allocation to overweight stocks. Until then, I’m fine with dollar-cost averaging my ongoing savings into my current asset allocation. Meanwhile, I’d consider stocks dirt cheap if valuations fall 25% below their historical averages. That would require a whopping 60% drop from the peak, taking the S&P 500 well below 1400. A drop of that magnitude, which would motivate me to bet big, hasn’t happened since the Great Depression. Even at the depth of the 2007-09 bear market, the fall was smaller. Think I’m daydreaming? Perhaps. The stock market…

Taking Shelter

Sanjib Saha | Dec 20, 2021

EARLIER THIS YEAR, I swapped the Vanguard Short-Term Bond Index Fund (symbol: VBIPX) in my 401(k) for an inflation-indexed Treasury ETF (VTIP). The trade worked out well: The replacement fund has since fared better, thanks to this year’s accelerating inflation. To buy the inflation-indexed ETF, I had to open a brokerage subaccount within my company’s retirement plan—a feature some 401(k)s offer, though these “brokerage windows” typically aren’t heavily promoted for fear employees will end up trading too much. Initially, I didn’t think I’d use the subaccount for anything else. But I’ve come to realize that the flexibility to choose from thousands of securities in a tax-deferred account could come in handy. For instance, in my regular taxable account, I had bought income-producing funds that own real estate investment trusts (REITs). I like the generous dividends, but not the tax bill, even after the 20% deduction. I wish I owned these in my 401(k) subaccount instead. That way, I could defer the taxes, instead of footing the bill during my high-earning years. Another problem I often face: headaches caused by tax-loss harvesting. In the past, I’d sell an investment to book a loss and use the proceeds to buy a similar, but not substantially identical, investment to preserve my market exposure. I’d then look to switch back to the original investment after the 30-day wash-sale period. But if the temporary investment had gone up in the intervening period, often I’d be reluctant to reverse course. The reason: The short-term capital gain from the sale would partly negate the harvested tax loss. Result? I’d be stuck with the temporary fund indefinitely. Now, I can simply buy the temporary fund in the tax-deferred subaccount instead of my taxable account. Even if the temporary fund climbs in value, I can sell it after 30 days—with no taxes owed—and…

Behind Closed Doors

Sanjib Saha | Dec 3, 2020

IF YOU OWN AN actively managed mutual fund, you expect the fund’s managers to buy and sell stocks and bonds as they see fit—and yet all that trading isn’t necessarily driven by their investment decisions. Why not? Imagine the fund has had a few years of underperformance. That might prompt impatient investors to take their money elsewhere. This exodus can create headaches for the shareholders who still have faith in the fund. How so? When shares are redeemed, the fund has to pay departing investors their share of the fund’s assets. The fund would have some money set aside for this purpose. That cash, alas, can drag down a fund’s performance in rising markets. What if there isn’t enough standby cash to cover large outflows? Unless a fund can transfer assets in-kind to departing shareholders—a rare occurrence—it’s required to sell part of its holdings to raise cash. That’s where the trouble starts. First, a fund’s own selling can further drive down the price of a stock or bond it’s looking to unload, hurting the fund’s return. This selling also generates trading costs, taking a bite out of the fund’s performance. To make matters worse, selling appreciated assets can cause the fund to realize capital gains, leading to big tax bills. Who foots that tax bill? Not those who jumped ship. Instead, it’s the investors who hung tough. Sound bad? Given a choice, I wouldn’t want the destiny of my funds to be controlled by the actions of my fellow investors. That’s why I became intrigued by a possible alternative, closed-end funds, or CEFs. A CEF is an actively managed fund that can be bought and sold in the secondary market, just like the shares of any publicly traded company. At its initial public offering (IPO), a closed-end fund raises money by selling a fixed…

Options in Disguise

Sanjib Saha | Jun 28, 2022

DO YOU INVEST IN options? Think twice before saying that you’d rather go to Vegas. My bold claim: Options investing has a lot in common with investing in stocks and corporate bonds. Intrigued? Let’s recap a European style call option. It’s a discretionary contract that allows someone to buy an underlying asset at a set strike price at a future date. Let’s say the buyer of the call, Bob, has an option on a stock with a strike price of $100. Bob will only exercise the contract if it’s profitable. If the stock price rises to $150 by the time the option expires, Bob can acquire the shares for $100 and immediately sell them for a $50 profit. On the other hand, if the stock price drops to $80, Bob has no obligation to exercise the option. His call option will simply expire worthless. Bob’s only chance at profit comes if the underlying asset clears the strike price. That brings us to the option seller, Shelly. She owns the underlying stock and is participating in a covered call, meaning she’s selling a call option on an asset she already owns. In return, Shelly receives a call premium from Bob. Selling covered calls is a popular strategy for generating extra income. In exchange for the income she receives from selling the covered call, Shelly risks having to sell the stock at the strike price. If the shares rise to $150, Shelly must still sell for $100. The covered call limits her payoff. If the asset doesn’t exceed the strike price, Shelly keeps her shares and pockets the income. What if the stock falls? Shelly still has her option premium, but that may be more than offset by the share price decline. Now, let’s consider the positions of stock and bond investors…

Bracing for the Worst

Sanjib Saha | Apr 6, 2023

BACK IN 1989, AS I was finishing the final semester of my undergraduate degree in India, I managed to bag two decent job offers. The first was from a government organization in my hometown, and the second was from an out-of-state private company in western India. I had a few weeks to make up my mind. I was leaning toward the second offer. Not only did the idea of living on my own in a faraway town sound adventurous, but also the private employer’s compensation package was better. Still, my father suggested the other job. Being a government employee himself, he liked the job security of public sector employment. Frankly, I didn’t think that was important, but I went with the local job anyway because most of my friends were still in town. A decade and a few jobs later, I moved to the U.S. to work for a multinational software company. I’ve stayed with the firm ever since. My job has always felt safe and secure. But that began to change in recent months, when several tech companies announced plans to downsize. I got a phone call from an anxious friend who works at my company. My friend and his wife had their first child last November and were busy adjusting to caring for a newborn. He rejoined work when his parental leave was over and heard rumors from his teammates about upcoming layoffs. I didn’t know anything about any layoffs, so I advised him to ignore the rumors, and focus on his family and work. The rumors, however, grew louder and, over the next few days, started showing up in the media. Soon after, our CEO announced plans to reduce the workforce in the coming months. The anxiety and confusion were now official. Everyone seemed to have the same…

Grateful Debt

Sanjib Saha | Jul 18, 2022

THE AGE-OLD DEBATE about not borrowing to buy depreciating assets came up again in a recent HumbleDollar article. Despite being a big proponent of debt-free living, I could relate to the story of borrowing to buy a car. In fact, I’m guilty of having gone deeply into debt in my younger days to feed my passion for music—and I don’t regret it. I grew up listening to Indian music of various genres, but it wasn’t until my college days that I came to really appreciate the sound quality and texture of music. Our dorm had a high-fidelity stereo, plus a decent collection of vinyl records and audio cassettes. I’d spend hours in the common room, listening to classic rock or favorite Bollywood film scores. My newfound love of music, alas, came to an end after I left college and moved back home to Kolkata. We had a portable radio and cassette player in our house, but it didn’t satisfy my craving for quality sound. My life felt so incomplete without a good audio system that I decided to buy one once my paychecks started coming in. I grabbed a coworker named Natesh, who shared my love for music, and we visited an upscale audio showroom near our office. Luckily, the store stocked a nearly identical sound system to the one in my dorm. It was a top-of-the-line modular audio system named Uranus 2 by Sonodyne, one of the most innovative stereo makers in India. I instantly fell in love with the set and wanted to take it home. There was just one small problem. I couldn’t afford it. In the late 1980s, premium audio products weren’t cheap in India. The model I wanted would cost almost a year of my take-home pay. That helped explain why the salesperson didn’t take us…

What Addiction Couldn’t Take: My Sister’s Story

Risk Adjusted: The Family Ledger

HD Reader’s Demographics

Many seniors think we paid for our Social Security benefits based on the FICA taxes we paid. Let’s dispel that myth- we didn’t

…..taxes and you

Interesting insight

Fixing Social Security is not that hard, here’s how

A Sunday Thought About Money

Bonds vs. Bond Funds

SpaceX IPO: Is Margin Optional?

How well off are Americans compared to the rest of the world? Fun facts.

What’s in your portfolio ?

What Addiction Couldn’t Take: My Sister’s Story

Risk Adjusted: The Family Ledger

HD Reader’s Demographics

Many seniors think we paid for our Social Security benefits based on the FICA taxes we paid. Let’s dispel that myth- we didn’t

…..taxes and you

Interesting insight

Fixing Social Security is not that hard, here’s how

A Sunday Thought About Money

Bonds vs. Bond Funds

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Get Educated

Manifesto

humans

think

act

Money Guide

Manifesto

Spotlight: Charity

What’s the best strategy for charitable giving?

All My Children

Going to the Dogs

Give and Receive

Not Dead Yet

Christmas All Year

Spotlight: Saha

Ready or Not

Taking Shelter

Behind Closed Doors

Options in Disguise

Bracing for the Worst

Grateful Debt