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Early signs of financial progress are a great motivator. Of course, fear of poverty also works pretty well.

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

Andrew Clements  |  Jun 17, 2026

"Thanks for sharing this real story, Andrew. I learned a lot. Keep these great articles coming. Sorry for your loss."
- William Dorner
Read more »

What’s in your portfolio ?

Larry  |  Jun 12, 2026

"SS is my annuity. Despite the doomsayers, it’s not going away. Maybe it will be means tested at some point."
- Scott Dailey
Read more »

Leverage

Catherine  |  Jun 19, 2026

"I don't particularly like debt, but when 1st mortgages were 2.125%, I couldn't resist. Our house will be paid off when we're 90. I feel pretty confident that my return on assets will far outweigh 2% in the meantime. I certainly don't mind a mortgage!"
- john deam
Read more »

How financially illiterate are Americans?

R Quinn  |  Jun 19, 2026

"Charlie Munger said, "It’s waiting that helps you as an investor, and a lot of people just can’t stand to wait. If you didn’t get the deferred-gratification gene, you’ve got to work very hard to overcome that.”"
- SanLouisKid
Read more »

Risk Adjusted: The Family Ledger 

Mark Crothers  |  Jun 18, 2026

"My father was not advancing at his company at the pace he thought he should be, so he left for a position at another company that paid twice what he was making. Nine months later he came back at this old salary (effectively a 50% pay cut) and remained at that company for 49 years. I guess the grass is always greener."
- SanLouisKid
Read more »

He Said I Wasn’t Very Nice

Dan Smith  |  Jun 18, 2026

"William, I wish I could diffuse a confrontation like Swayze’s character did in Road House🤜"
- Dan Smith
Read more »

Close to Everything I Need

ArticleDennis Friedman  |  Jun 20, 2026

I DON’T HAVE MANY regrets in life. But there is one conversation with my mother that I wish I had never had. It was about moving her into an assisted living facility. She was in her 90s, and I thought it would be best for both of us. My mother would receive better care, and I could take much-needed breaks. She could even keep her house and spend time there when I was with her. It seemed like a middle-of-the-road approach to providing care. I thought it was a win-win situation for both of us. But I couldn't convince my mother to leave the home she had lived in for 42 years. She would ask me questions like, “How far my bed would be from the front door?” I was beginning to understand that she was afraid of moving to an unfamiliar place. It was simply too much to ask of her.  About six weeks later, my mother had a heart attack. She passed away a week afterward in a rehabilitation facility after being discharged from the hospital. Looking back, I sometimes wonder if our discussions about assisted living were harder on her than I realized. It's something I've thought about many times since. After reaching age 75 and coming closer to the possibility of needing more care myself, I now have a better understanding of why my mother wanted to age in place. She valued the familiarity and emotional comfort of her home. She knew exactly how far her bed was from the front door. She maintained relationships with neighbors who would stop by to chat and share a glass of wine. She also knew the people at the stores and restaurants she visited regularly. A few of them even attended her funeral. All of her doctors were nearby. She would often say, "I'm close to everything I need." Recently, when I was experiencing problems with my eyesight, I've felt more vulnerable. One day, while having lunch with my wife, I brought up the topic of how we might receive care in our later years. As soon as I mentioned assisted living, Rachel grew quiet and a sad look came over her face. I've seen that look before. At that moment, I realized I was hearing the same concern I had heard from my mother years earlier. They were thinking about leaving behind a familiar life and moving to a place where everything would be different. My wife and my mother are not alone. About three-quarters of Americans over age 50 say they want to remain in their current homes as they age. I count myself among them. Part of our long-term care planning is an effort to preserve the life we've built here for as long as possible. It's not an easy decision because none of us knows what our future health will look like. Aging in place offers advantages, but it also involves risks. If we need only limited assistance, staying in our home could be significantly less expensive than moving to a senior living community, especially since our mortgage is paid off. We can purchase only the services we need—housekeeping, meal delivery, transportation, or occasional home health care—and adjust that support as circumstances change. At the same time, we retain ownership of our home and any future appreciation in its value. That equity remains available if we eventually need more extensive care. Of course, there is no guarantee that our health will cooperate. Serious illnesses or cognitive decline could create care needs that are difficult or expensive to manage at home. That's one reason some people choose a continuing care retirement community (CCRC), which offers a continuum of care and contracts that can provide insurance-like protection against future long-term care costs. For us, the decision comes down to a tradeoff: Do we value maximum independence and flexibility today, or do we value having a built-in care system already in place for the future? For now, we're taking a hybrid approach. We plan to remain in our home through our 70s and early 80s. We're in reasonably good health, and my eyesight is no longer a major issue. We are planning to invest in accessibility improvements, including a stair lift to our upstairs master bedroom, grab bars in the bathrooms, and brighter lighting. Our house already has a walk-in shower, doorways and hallways wide enough for a walker, and space for a caregiver if one is ever needed. In addition, we’re setting aside a dedicated reserve of 20% of our investment portfolio to help cover future care needs. Most people do not spend years in a nursing home. As a result, we're not trying to fund the most expensive long-term-care scenario imaginable. Instead, we're setting aside enough money to cover the most likely care needs without significantly affecting our lifestyle. If we encounter a more extreme situation, we still have the remainder of our portfolio and the equity in our home available. That’s just basic financial planning: managing risk to a comfortable level instead of spending a fortune to eliminate it completely. We'll reevaluate our situation every few years and remain open to moving to a CCRC or assisted living community if health, mobility, or caregiving needs increase significantly. There may come a day when Rachel and I decide that a CCRC or assisted living community is the right choice. None of us can predict the future, and flexibility has value. But I now understand something I didn't fully appreciate when my mother was alive. A home is more than a place to live. It is a collection of routines, relationships, memories, and comforts that become increasingly important as we grow older. My mother knew that instinctively. She wasn't being stubborn. She was protecting a life she loved and a sense of independence that mattered deeply to her. When she told me she was close to everything she needed, she wasn't talking about stores, restaurants, or doctors. She was talking about belonging. It took me years to understand what she meant. If I had understood it sooner, our conversations about assisted living might have been very different.   Dennis Friedman retired from Boeing Satellite Systems after a 30-year career in manufacturing. Born in Ohio, Dennis is a California transplant with a bachelor’s degree in history and an MBA. A self-described “humble investor,” he likes reading historical novels and about personal finance. Follow Dennis on X @DMFrie and check out his earlier articles
Read more »

Bonds vs. Bond Funds

Matt Halperin  |  Jun 12, 2026

"Great article, always nice to learn about Bonds."
- William Dorner
Read more »

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

"I doubt if Congress will allow it. It would be a strange thing for members of the House and Senate to jeopardize their own jobs and mess with this entitlement."
- Mark Gardner
Read more »

Pricing the Future

ArticleAdam M. Grossman  |  Jun 20, 2026

THE WAY INVESTORS think about the stock market may be entirely wrong. Intuition tells us, and academic research confirms, that a company’s stock price should respond to important news and information. When a company announces a new product, for example, its stock should go up. And when results fall short of expectations, it should decline.  But a new paper titled “The Inefficient Pricing of News” calls this idea into question. The authors found that investors respond much more slowly and inconsistently to market news than previously thought. In some cases, it took a year or more for a stock price to respond.  Why would that be the case? Tony Fadell is often referred to as “the father of the iPod.” For years, he worked side-by-side with Steve Jobs, first developing the iPod, then the iPhone. In a recent interview, Fadell shared details of what the product development process looked like inside Apple, and how the reality on the inside often differed from the way it appeared on the outside. Fadell’s comments can help us understand why stock prices often miss the mark. The nature of competition. Investors, Fadell argued, often have a one-dimensional understanding of companies. As an example, he told the story of the development of the iPhone. When it was first released, many observers dismissed it as an overpriced toy. Unlike the BlackBerry, the dominant mobile device for corporate users at the time, the first iPhone lacked key security features and didn’t have a physical keyboard. As a result, it was perceived as a niche product with narrow appeal. Fadell explained, though, that Apple looked at the market differently. Yes, BlackBerry had a very high market share among business users, but it had only a small share of the overall mobile phone market—just 1% or 2%. Apple was interested in the rest of the market: “What about the other 98% of the people? What would they want?” That was the question Apple was asking internally. Observers on the outside, though, underestimated the iPhone’s potential because they assumed they understood Apple’s competitive objectives. The definition of success. Investors often make another mistake, Fadell said. They use the wrong yardstick in measuring successes and failures. He notes that early versions of both the iPod and the iPhone had significant shortcomings. The first iPod worked only with Apple computers. The first iPhone was underpowered and wasn’t open to outside app developers. The App Store didn’t debut until a year after the iPhone’s release. For all these reasons, early critics continued to underestimate the iPhone’s potential even as it gained market share. But inside Apple, the potential was clear. They knew that all of the core components would get better each year and that cell phone networks would get faster. Fadell, who also invented the Nest thermostat, made this observation: “Everything needs three generations. I’ve never seen anyone get it right the first time.” Wall Street, however, tends to not be that patient, and that can lead to a disconnect between perception and reality in stock prices. Fadell notes that even when a product fails, it can be valuable. Apple learned a lot from the Newton, its first attempt at a mobile device. Similarly, Amazon had a short-lived mobile phone called the Fire. From the outside it was deemed a costly mistake, but Jeff Bezos saw it differently. “You can’t, for one minute, feel bad,” he said. The voice recognition technology Amazon developed for the Fire ultimately turned into Alexa. The bottom line: Wall Street’s obsession with quarterly results can cause investors to use the wrong scorecard, and that’s another reason stock prices can move in the wrong direction. The timeline to profits. Fadell noted that the first iPhone was unprofitable but that this wasn’t a concern. Because sales were increasing, Apple would be able to lower production costs. Together with technology advances, management knew that the product would eventually yield profit. “You make the product, you fix the product, then you fix the business,” Fadell explained. Companies pursuing a new idea are often underestimated because they’re judged prematurely. Consider Amazon. It was unprofitable for almost 10 years after its founding. Why? During that decade, the company was growing quickly, but it reinvested as much as it could into warehouses. The result is that it can now deliver packages to many customers the same day. That may have been Jeff Bezos’s vision from early on, but outside observers couldn’t see the roadmap he had in his desk drawer, and for that reason, Amazon was regularly criticized for its lack of profits. The most notable misjudgment: In 1999, Barron’s magazine ran a cover story with the headline “Amazon.bomb.” How did Barron’s editors get it wrong? They had no idea where the company was headed, and for competitive reasons, Bezos certainly wasn’t going to tip his hand. This pattern repeats frequently, and it’s a key reason why stock prices often end up out of line with a company’s true long-term value. "All overnight success takes about 10 years,” Bezos later commented. Timeline to bankruptcy. Sometimes, Wall Street makes the opposite mistake, failing to see when a company is headed into decline. The most famous example in this category may be Kodak, which was the dominant maker of film for traditional cameras. Remarkably, it was a Kodak engineer who invented the first digital camera all the way back in the 1970s. But recognizing the threat it represented, the company shelved the project. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, other companies introduced digital cameras, with the result that, between 1990 and 1997, Kodak’s revenue dropped almost 25%. And yet, throughout that period, its stock kept rising, hitting an all-time high in 1997. Investors just couldn’t appreciate the reality of what was happening. But then, just five years later, Kodak filed for bankruptcy. In general, and on average, stock prices do reflect the value of public companies. But for all the reasons Fadell cites, that relationship is often imperfect. This is a fundamental reason why, in my view, investors are best served by choosing diversified index funds rather than trying to pick individual stocks.   Adam M. Grossman is the founder of Mayport, a fixed-fee wealth management firm. Sign up for Adam's Daily Ideas email, follow him on X @AdamMGrossman and check out his earlier articles.
Read more »

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

R Quinn  |  Jun 16, 2026

"Yes, that’s a factor, but so is the lifestyle and conveniences that go with it. I could move to the lowest cost state in the US and live like a king, but would I want to?"
- R Quinn
Read more »

A Sunday Thought About Money

Mark Crothers  |  Jun 14, 2026

"Mike, I just watched that YouTube video, painfully accurate. My granddaughter eats like a food critic who's already decided she hates the restaurant. My wife Suzie's over there stressed out, negotiating with a four-year-old like it's a hostage situation, while I casually point out we've got a full pantry of candy and potato chips, so nobody's wasting away before pickup time. Cue the look from Suzie, you know the one, somewhere between "thanks for the help, Einstein" and "we'll discuss this later." Lol."
- Mark Crothers
Read more »

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

Andrew Clements  |  Jun 17, 2026

"Thanks for sharing this real story, Andrew. I learned a lot. Keep these great articles coming. Sorry for your loss."
- William Dorner
Read more »

What’s in your portfolio ?

Larry  |  Jun 12, 2026

"SS is my annuity. Despite the doomsayers, it’s not going away. Maybe it will be means tested at some point."
- Scott Dailey
Read more »

Leverage

Catherine  |  Jun 19, 2026

"I don't particularly like debt, but when 1st mortgages were 2.125%, I couldn't resist. Our house will be paid off when we're 90. I feel pretty confident that my return on assets will far outweigh 2% in the meantime. I certainly don't mind a mortgage!"
- john deam
Read more »

How financially illiterate are Americans?

R Quinn  |  Jun 19, 2026

"Charlie Munger said, "It’s waiting that helps you as an investor, and a lot of people just can’t stand to wait. If you didn’t get the deferred-gratification gene, you’ve got to work very hard to overcome that.”"
- SanLouisKid
Read more »

Risk Adjusted: The Family Ledger 

Mark Crothers  |  Jun 18, 2026

"My father was not advancing at his company at the pace he thought he should be, so he left for a position at another company that paid twice what he was making. Nine months later he came back at this old salary (effectively a 50% pay cut) and remained at that company for 49 years. I guess the grass is always greener."
- SanLouisKid
Read more »

He Said I Wasn’t Very Nice

Dan Smith  |  Jun 18, 2026

"William, I wish I could diffuse a confrontation like Swayze’s character did in Road House🤜"
- Dan Smith
Read more »

Close to Everything I Need

ArticleDennis Friedman  |  Jun 20, 2026

I DON’T HAVE MANY regrets in life. But there is one conversation with my mother that I wish I had never had. It was about moving her into an assisted living facility. She was in her 90s, and I thought it would be best for both of us. My mother would receive better care, and I could take much-needed breaks. She could even keep her house and spend time there when I was with her. It seemed like a middle-of-the-road approach to providing care. I thought it was a win-win situation for both of us. But I couldn't convince my mother to leave the home she had lived in for 42 years. She would ask me questions like, “How far my bed would be from the front door?” I was beginning to understand that she was afraid of moving to an unfamiliar place. It was simply too much to ask of her.  About six weeks later, my mother had a heart attack. She passed away a week afterward in a rehabilitation facility after being discharged from the hospital. Looking back, I sometimes wonder if our discussions about assisted living were harder on her than I realized. It's something I've thought about many times since. After reaching age 75 and coming closer to the possibility of needing more care myself, I now have a better understanding of why my mother wanted to age in place. She valued the familiarity and emotional comfort of her home. She knew exactly how far her bed was from the front door. She maintained relationships with neighbors who would stop by to chat and share a glass of wine. She also knew the people at the stores and restaurants she visited regularly. A few of them even attended her funeral. All of her doctors were nearby. She would often say, "I'm close to everything I need." Recently, when I was experiencing problems with my eyesight, I've felt more vulnerable. One day, while having lunch with my wife, I brought up the topic of how we might receive care in our later years. As soon as I mentioned assisted living, Rachel grew quiet and a sad look came over her face. I've seen that look before. At that moment, I realized I was hearing the same concern I had heard from my mother years earlier. They were thinking about leaving behind a familiar life and moving to a place where everything would be different. My wife and my mother are not alone. About three-quarters of Americans over age 50 say they want to remain in their current homes as they age. I count myself among them. Part of our long-term care planning is an effort to preserve the life we've built here for as long as possible. It's not an easy decision because none of us knows what our future health will look like. Aging in place offers advantages, but it also involves risks. If we need only limited assistance, staying in our home could be significantly less expensive than moving to a senior living community, especially since our mortgage is paid off. We can purchase only the services we need—housekeeping, meal delivery, transportation, or occasional home health care—and adjust that support as circumstances change. At the same time, we retain ownership of our home and any future appreciation in its value. That equity remains available if we eventually need more extensive care. Of course, there is no guarantee that our health will cooperate. Serious illnesses or cognitive decline could create care needs that are difficult or expensive to manage at home. That's one reason some people choose a continuing care retirement community (CCRC), which offers a continuum of care and contracts that can provide insurance-like protection against future long-term care costs. For us, the decision comes down to a tradeoff: Do we value maximum independence and flexibility today, or do we value having a built-in care system already in place for the future? For now, we're taking a hybrid approach. We plan to remain in our home through our 70s and early 80s. We're in reasonably good health, and my eyesight is no longer a major issue. We are planning to invest in accessibility improvements, including a stair lift to our upstairs master bedroom, grab bars in the bathrooms, and brighter lighting. Our house already has a walk-in shower, doorways and hallways wide enough for a walker, and space for a caregiver if one is ever needed. In addition, we’re setting aside a dedicated reserve of 20% of our investment portfolio to help cover future care needs. Most people do not spend years in a nursing home. As a result, we're not trying to fund the most expensive long-term-care scenario imaginable. Instead, we're setting aside enough money to cover the most likely care needs without significantly affecting our lifestyle. If we encounter a more extreme situation, we still have the remainder of our portfolio and the equity in our home available. That’s just basic financial planning: managing risk to a comfortable level instead of spending a fortune to eliminate it completely. We'll reevaluate our situation every few years and remain open to moving to a CCRC or assisted living community if health, mobility, or caregiving needs increase significantly. There may come a day when Rachel and I decide that a CCRC or assisted living community is the right choice. None of us can predict the future, and flexibility has value. But I now understand something I didn't fully appreciate when my mother was alive. A home is more than a place to live. It is a collection of routines, relationships, memories, and comforts that become increasingly important as we grow older. My mother knew that instinctively. She wasn't being stubborn. She was protecting a life she loved and a sense of independence that mattered deeply to her. When she told me she was close to everything she needed, she wasn't talking about stores, restaurants, or doctors. She was talking about belonging. It took me years to understand what she meant. If I had understood it sooner, our conversations about assisted living might have been very different.   Dennis Friedman retired from Boeing Satellite Systems after a 30-year career in manufacturing. Born in Ohio, Dennis is a California transplant with a bachelor’s degree in history and an MBA. A self-described “humble investor,” he likes reading historical novels and about personal finance. Follow Dennis on X @DMFrie and check out his earlier articles
Read more »

Bonds vs. Bond Funds

Matt Halperin  |  Jun 12, 2026

"Great article, always nice to learn about Bonds."
- William Dorner
Read more »

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

"I doubt if Congress will allow it. It would be a strange thing for members of the House and Senate to jeopardize their own jobs and mess with this entitlement."
- Mark Gardner
Read more »

Pricing the Future

ArticleAdam M. Grossman  |  Jun 20, 2026

THE WAY INVESTORS think about the stock market may be entirely wrong. Intuition tells us, and academic research confirms, that a company’s stock price should respond to important news and information. When a company announces a new product, for example, its stock should go up. And when results fall short of expectations, it should decline.  But a new paper titled “The Inefficient Pricing of News” calls this idea into question. The authors found that investors respond much more slowly and inconsistently to market news than previously thought. In some cases, it took a year or more for a stock price to respond.  Why would that be the case? Tony Fadell is often referred to as “the father of the iPod.” For years, he worked side-by-side with Steve Jobs, first developing the iPod, then the iPhone. In a recent interview, Fadell shared details of what the product development process looked like inside Apple, and how the reality on the inside often differed from the way it appeared on the outside. Fadell’s comments can help us understand why stock prices often miss the mark. The nature of competition. Investors, Fadell argued, often have a one-dimensional understanding of companies. As an example, he told the story of the development of the iPhone. When it was first released, many observers dismissed it as an overpriced toy. Unlike the BlackBerry, the dominant mobile device for corporate users at the time, the first iPhone lacked key security features and didn’t have a physical keyboard. As a result, it was perceived as a niche product with narrow appeal. Fadell explained, though, that Apple looked at the market differently. Yes, BlackBerry had a very high market share among business users, but it had only a small share of the overall mobile phone market—just 1% or 2%. Apple was interested in the rest of the market: “What about the other 98% of the people? What would they want?” That was the question Apple was asking internally. Observers on the outside, though, underestimated the iPhone’s potential because they assumed they understood Apple’s competitive objectives. The definition of success. Investors often make another mistake, Fadell said. They use the wrong yardstick in measuring successes and failures. He notes that early versions of both the iPod and the iPhone had significant shortcomings. The first iPod worked only with Apple computers. The first iPhone was underpowered and wasn’t open to outside app developers. The App Store didn’t debut until a year after the iPhone’s release. For all these reasons, early critics continued to underestimate the iPhone’s potential even as it gained market share. But inside Apple, the potential was clear. They knew that all of the core components would get better each year and that cell phone networks would get faster. Fadell, who also invented the Nest thermostat, made this observation: “Everything needs three generations. I’ve never seen anyone get it right the first time.” Wall Street, however, tends to not be that patient, and that can lead to a disconnect between perception and reality in stock prices. Fadell notes that even when a product fails, it can be valuable. Apple learned a lot from the Newton, its first attempt at a mobile device. Similarly, Amazon had a short-lived mobile phone called the Fire. From the outside it was deemed a costly mistake, but Jeff Bezos saw it differently. “You can’t, for one minute, feel bad,” he said. The voice recognition technology Amazon developed for the Fire ultimately turned into Alexa. The bottom line: Wall Street’s obsession with quarterly results can cause investors to use the wrong scorecard, and that’s another reason stock prices can move in the wrong direction. The timeline to profits. Fadell noted that the first iPhone was unprofitable but that this wasn’t a concern. Because sales were increasing, Apple would be able to lower production costs. Together with technology advances, management knew that the product would eventually yield profit. “You make the product, you fix the product, then you fix the business,” Fadell explained. Companies pursuing a new idea are often underestimated because they’re judged prematurely. Consider Amazon. It was unprofitable for almost 10 years after its founding. Why? During that decade, the company was growing quickly, but it reinvested as much as it could into warehouses. The result is that it can now deliver packages to many customers the same day. That may have been Jeff Bezos’s vision from early on, but outside observers couldn’t see the roadmap he had in his desk drawer, and for that reason, Amazon was regularly criticized for its lack of profits. The most notable misjudgment: In 1999, Barron’s magazine ran a cover story with the headline “Amazon.bomb.” How did Barron’s editors get it wrong? They had no idea where the company was headed, and for competitive reasons, Bezos certainly wasn’t going to tip his hand. This pattern repeats frequently, and it’s a key reason why stock prices often end up out of line with a company’s true long-term value. "All overnight success takes about 10 years,” Bezos later commented. Timeline to bankruptcy. Sometimes, Wall Street makes the opposite mistake, failing to see when a company is headed into decline. The most famous example in this category may be Kodak, which was the dominant maker of film for traditional cameras. Remarkably, it was a Kodak engineer who invented the first digital camera all the way back in the 1970s. But recognizing the threat it represented, the company shelved the project. Over the course of the 1980s and 1990s, other companies introduced digital cameras, with the result that, between 1990 and 1997, Kodak’s revenue dropped almost 25%. And yet, throughout that period, its stock kept rising, hitting an all-time high in 1997. Investors just couldn’t appreciate the reality of what was happening. But then, just five years later, Kodak filed for bankruptcy. In general, and on average, stock prices do reflect the value of public companies. But for all the reasons Fadell cites, that relationship is often imperfect. This is a fundamental reason why, in my view, investors are best served by choosing diversified index funds rather than trying to pick individual stocks.   Adam M. Grossman is the founder of Mayport, a fixed-fee wealth management firm. Sign up for Adam's Daily Ideas email, follow him on X @AdamMGrossman and check out his earlier articles.
Read more »

Free Newsletter

Get Educated

Manifesto

Jun 19, 2026

NO. 33: WE HAVE two great financial advantages: time and our income-earning ability. To grow wealthy, we should take a slice of each month’s earnings—and invest it for as much time as possible.

act

Jun 20, 2026

GET ORGANIZED. Keep the backup material for your past seven tax returns. The rest can be tossed. If your brokerage firm and mutual funds provide the cost basis for your investments, there may be no need to keep old statements. Tell your family where they can find your will, a list of your financial accounts, and all your usernames and passwords.

Truths

Jun 19, 2026

NO. 76: TAX DEFERRAL lets you use dollars that’ll eventually go to Uncle Sam to earn extra gains for yourself. An example: If you invested $1,000 at 6% a year and paid 22% in taxes every year, you would have $3,944 after 30 years. But if you put off the 22% tax bill for 30 years by funding a tax-deferred retirement account, you’d end up with $4,700, or 19% more.

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.

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Manifesto

Jun 19, 2026

NO. 33: WE HAVE two great financial advantages: time and our income-earning ability. To grow wealthy, we should take a slice of each month’s earnings—and invest it for as much time as possible.

Spotlight: Saving

Trump Account

Bogdan Sheremeta   |  Feb 21, 2026

TRUMP ACCOUNT WAS created as part of the OBBBA signed on July 4, 2025. I’ve been getting a lot of messages about it, because there is a lot of conflicting information. The IRS has also posted some instructions for the account.
My goal with this post is to walk through the rules and give my take on when (if ever), this account makes sense.
Timing & Creation
First and foremost, no contributions are allowed in this savings account for children until 12 months after the law’s enactment,

Read more »

Feeling grateful and paying forward

Mark Crothers   |  Jun 16, 2025

Just weeks into my retirement, while sitting on a beach beside the Giant’s Causeway on Ireland’s north coast, a profound sense of gratitude washed over me. It was for a person whose name I couldn’t recall and a face I’d forgotten.
Forty years prior, in my very first job, I served a customer who turned out to be a pension salesman. To make a long story short, he persuaded an 18-year-old me to open a personal pension,

Read more »

Personal Finance Reading List

Adam M. Grossman   |  Dec 20, 2025

LOOKING FORWARD TO some downtime over the holidays? Below are some favorite new personal finance books and articles to consider for your reading list.
A Richer Retirement by William Bengen – Back in the 1990s, financial planner William Bengen developed what’s come to be known as the 4% rule. It’s a framework to help retirees determine a sustainable portfolio withdrawal rate. This year, Bengen updated and expanded his research. The most compelling addition: Bengen addresses the question of asset allocation.

Read more »

Beyond Bank Accounts

Sanjib Saha   |  Jun 13, 2026

I OPENED MY FIRST bank account in the US at a local credit union (CU) close to my workplace. The CU had several convenient offers for employees of our company. With minimal effort, I opened checking and savings accounts, got free checkbooks and a credit card despite having no credit history in the US.
I was so pleased with the convenience that I handled all my banking needs through this CU for many years.

Read more »

Financial Happiness

Adam M. Grossman   |  Jan 24, 2026

ACCORDING TO THE World Happiness Report, Finland ranks as the happiest nation in the world, a title it’s held for eight years in a row.
Each time this report is updated, it makes the news for a day or two but then fades. That’s for good reason, I think. As much as Finland might be a nice place, it isn’t necessarily practical to suggest that anyone pick up and move.
The good news, though,

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A Pleasant Dilemma

Craig Stephens   |  Jun 27, 2023

THIS SIMPLE EQUATION is arguably the most important in personal finance: income – expenses = savings.
Think back to your early paychecks. Most of your after-tax salary likely went toward housing, food and maybe a few debt payments. For many of us, little was available to save each month for the first year or two of our working lives.
Then one day, on the last day of the month, there was money left over.

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Spotlight: Marsh

Peace Premium

Edmund Marsh   |  Sep 29, 2023

TWO YEARS AGO, at age 59½, I thought I was on the verge of taking a major step toward retirement. At the time, my usual zest for my work as a physical therapist was waning. Though I don’t think the quality of my patient care suffered, I found it took more effort to maintain the energy needed to complete a day at the clinic, and concentrating on work became tougher. In addition to the tension building on the inside, I was also feeling external pressures. One concern was the care my wife and I were providing to our families. Over the past decade, we’ve become intricately involved in the lives of several family members who need our help because of age or illness. We love them dearly, and don’t consciously begrudge the time we give them. Still, anything that stretches time thin can fray nerves and shorten tempers. Further stress came from the pandemic. We were all affected by COVID-19 in some way, from the annoyance of the toilet paper shortage to the heart-rending loss of a loved one. The social narrative about the disease took on a surrealistic life of its own. I finally stopped discussing it with nearly all except my wife, and I won’t comment on it here. I can’t deny, however, that the pandemic profoundly affected how I felt about my job. My experience is hardly an anomaly. Howard, a coworker, notes that the pandemic magnified the stress inherent in a health care career. His opinion is supported by a study led by researchers from Harvard-affiliated Brigham and Women’s Hospital. It discovered some 50% of workers from all areas of health care reported an increase in stress during the pandemic. The highest levels of job-related stress, which can cause an occupational phenomenon termed burnout, were reported…
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Keep Moving

Edmund Marsh   |  Jan 20, 2025

Physical strength is essential to making our way in this world. While we may not have to rally our muscles to subdue wild beasts or unruly neighbors, we do need them to accomplish our daily objectives. At a minimum, we have to muster the energy to get from bed to bathroom to breakfast table. Even if we make money with our minds, rather than our bodies, chances are we’ll need the stamina to sit up and manipulate a keyboard. Some of us start out with more strength than others, and some keep it longer. Take my 78-year-old neighbor, Jerry. Several weeks ago, we teamed up to turn oak logs into firewood. As we labored together, I pondered the effects of aging on strength and mobility. Jerry showed little sign of the decreasing vigor most folks feel as they age. Despite chronic illness that affects some of his organs, he kept pace without complaint. I suspect favorable genetics play their part, but Jerry has also had a hand in helping himself stay strong. Long a part-time farmer, he shifted to full-time after retiring from his job as an air traffic controller. I doubt Jerry has exercised on purpose since leaving the Navy as a young man. But farm life keeps him fit. Because he’s never slowed down, Jerry hasn’t faced the challenge of starting back up. Lack of use leads to muscle atrophy, which describes the condition of muscles that are smaller and weaker. Some muscle loss with aging is normal, but avoiding physical activity accelerates the problem. Yet even if we find our muscles are missing, all is not lost. Life-long exercise might carry a bigger payoff. But even if we get a late start, there’s a ton of evidence supporting the positive effects of exercise on preserving strength, along…
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At Dave’s Request

Edmund Marsh   |  Aug 5, 2024

In the comment section of Jonathan’s recent newsletter, Dave Arey asks that I post the list of questions I referenced in my comment. Background: Several months ago, my fellow deacons and I emailed a list of questions focused on personal financial readiness to the members of our church. Our small congregation includes single people, young families and older folk. A few are retired, but most still work. Also, most are not as financially sophisticated as the typical HumbleDollar reader. The deacons’ letter was prompted by real conversations we’ve had over the last few years with members who were facing financial difficulties or decisions. I consider the list short, but it covers topics that the deacons were asked to assist with, or that we anticipate having to address. What would you include on your list? Here’s ours for Dave and the other readers who upvoted his comment: Questions for young people: Are you teaching good money habits to your children? Do you allow them to spend all the money they are given or earn on entertainment? Or do you teach them to tithe and save? The habits they develop as children will likely be with them for life. Do you have sufficient savings to cover routine "emergencies", such as an appliance replacement or new tires, so that you don't have to use a credit card to purchase them? Do you carry a credit card balance? Are you working to eliminate this big obstacle to sound finances? Do you have a plan to pay for the inevitable costs of health problems, such as health insurance or other third party payor? Do you have life insurance to replace income that supports dependents? Have you made arrangements—through your will—for custody of your minor children in the event of the death of both parents? Have…
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Social Security Alert?

Edmund Marsh   |  Jul 12, 2024

My mother received an email today from "Social Security Administration"  warning of "Important Changes to Access Your Social Security Account!" It states that "soon you will no longer be able to sign into your online Social Security account using your username and password." It goes on to say in the future, only a Login.gov or ID.me.account, and ends with a big button that says "Sign In to Your Account." I suspect this is bogus. Has anyone else received a similar email?
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Just Say Noël

Edmund Marsh   |  Nov 28, 2022

MY FAMILY IS FRUGAL all year long, even during the Christmas season. We’re modest with our gifts and sparing with our decorations. Each year, our sprucing up consists of one cut-your-own Christmas tree trimmed with the same ornaments we used the year before. I can’t say the same for our neighbors. They pull out all the stops to create a seasonal spectacle. There’s no need to take a long, cold sleigh ride to the North Pole to scope out Santa and his companions frolicking in snowy splendor. A short drive around my neighborhood reveals reindeer prancing across lawns and elves dancing in doorways. Santa himself strolls among candy canes or climbs down the chimney with a sack full of goodies. Strings of lights festoon trees, fences and eaves. It’s just as well Mrs. Claus stays home on Christmas Eve. She would be holly green with envy if she could see the dressed-up digs around here, and Santa’s wallet would be a lot lighter. I’ve never been tempted to follow suit before. But this year, I decided to see what all the fuss is about—and how much it costs to be fussy. With that in mind, I sat down one evening for some e-commerce on the computer. As a Noël novice, I know I can’t compete with the decorating doyens right out of the starting gate. I just hope to raise our neighborhood standing a couple of notches by adding a little more Christmastide curbside appeal. Icicle lights for the eaves at $24 a strand seemed like a painless beginning, until I realized I needed five to span the distance. Holiday necessity also demanded a $24 single strand for the rest of the roof, along with seven lighted green garlands for the porch columns at $40 each. The house will be…
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Stellar Results

Edmund Marsh   |  Nov 5, 2022

THE NATIONAL Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has good reason to boast. Its programs serve as a catalyst to generate billions of dollars of economic activity that’s spread across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Also, the transfer of NASA spinoff technologies and products to private businesses improves the lives of each of us in myriad ways. Along the way, it’s even put men on the moon—and plans to do so again, along with the first woman. A couple of years ago, NASA released a comprehensive analysis of the economic impact the space agency has had. It estimated that NASA’s 2019 budget of $21.5 billion spawned $64 billion of economic activity, and supported more than 312,000 good-paying jobs nationwide. In addition, the work of NASA engineers touches all of us. Whether it's an omega-3 fatty acid in baby formula or the memory foam that helps our aging bodies sleep well at night, there’s a good chance that NASA knowledge benefits us every day of our lives. In 2019 alone, the work of the agency’s personnel generated 85 new patent applications, and 122 new patents were approved. Many of these innovations eventually find their way into private businesses and American homes. NASA makes a strong argument for the economic benefits that accrue to Americans through its efforts. But as great as they are, I think there’s another economic star to celebrate in our lives—one that’s arguably delivered even greater financial benefits: the index fund. Its results have been an epic success since its introduction in 1976. The total amount invested in passively managed index funds eclipsed that in active funds for the first time this year, and for good reason: They outperform them. A recent report found that 95% of actively managed large-cap stock funds lagged their benchmark index over 20 years.…
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