"Back in 2008, I was in an unusual situation that worked out well for me, ironically. In November, 2007, I joined a major fraternal financial services organization, affiliated with a major Protesant religious denomination. I had just sold my insurance agency, and was recieving my payout over a 3 year period, at roughly $70k a year. The first year was paid out in 12 installments, so as I was building my book of business from 11-2007 through 12-2008, I had a base of income in addition to the commissioins earned from product sales and bonuses earned. If any of you had advisors in those days, you may recall they were nowhere to be found and rarely heard from. from roughkly 2008-2010. This created a perfect storm for me, in that I was offering to serve their financial services needs as their portfolios were blowing up and theur advisors had abandined them. I gaithered clients hand over fist and by the end of 2008, I had built a substantial book. Even better, the clients I gathered stayed with me through their renewals in months 13 and later. 2009 was another banner year for me, in which I qualified for performance bonuses again. In 2010, I realized a lifelong dream, when I joined The American College and began a 15 years career teaching in the CFP, CLU, ChFC, and finally the RICP curricula. My students benefitted greatly because unlike traditional college professors who rarely have any real world expereince, I had been in financial services for 38 years and I was not teachuing theory. Over my 15 years career my peers and I taught and trained thousands of well educated financial sercices professional, most of whom will serve hundreds of client families, across the US. In 2013, I "met" The Bogleheads, through a friend with whom I rode motorcyles. He was a physician and actually lived on the street where John Bogle lived, in Bryn Mawr, PA. I also had a number of Vanguard employees as students, and one of them gifted me an autographed book on Mutuial Funds, authored by John Bogle. I moved all my accounts to Vanguard and used Vanguard funds in my 403b, and never looked back. Prior to retiring, I used the traditional Vanguard 4 Fund Portfolio. As I approached retirement in 2024, I purchased a series of annuities to be paired with my social security, using roughlky 40% of my fortfolio, and used them as the Bond porttion of my portfilio. Today, my 60% equity portion is 00% invested in VTI and VXUS, 80/20. Our income is almost 40% income tax free, since the annuities were funded with Roth dollars, and of course, our Social Security has a COLA feature. Our guaranteed income is over 120% of our retirement expenses, and our portfilio is there for late in life emergencies like LTC for my wife, and legacy funding. (I have a very rich LTCi policy myself, and our annuities have a LTC benefit that increases the payout by 50% for up to 5 years, for either of us. I wasn't able to buy an LTCi policy for my wife because she didn;t qualify.) I have seen any number of posts on HD where annuities are disparaged, and for those who don't like or want them, more power to them. In our case, they are doing exactly what they were purchased to do...provide a guaranteed stream of income, for life, for both my wife and me...and making the volitilty the market irrelevant. Like most HD contributors and readers, I am a huge proponent of a broadly diversified portfolio of low cost ETFs or Mutual Funds. I do not time the market, and either does anyone else,,,sucessfully. Wall Street is a shell game and the house always wins, especially when it is treated like a casino. Although not a popular opinion among many who think they are smarter than their record would indicate, I believe the market is moved by three components...Greed, Fear, and Stupidity...and I refuse to play. Continued success in your investments and retirement!"

"Thanks for the thoughtful reply. It’s fascinating to see how that 'least useful financial adviser' operates, isn't it? It seems the voice speaks a few different languages. To me, on the buy side, it whispers in the language of FOMO and regret ('should have put more in'). To you, on the sell side, it switches dialect to the language of pride and precision ('you can time this exit perfectly'). But as you rightly pointed out, it’s the exact same trap. Your big win on the energy stock this year is the ultimate test—it’s the market handing you a green light after running a red, tempting you to believe it was good judgment rather than good luck. The fact that it already emboldened you to add to another declining position shows just how persuasive that voice can be! Here’s to the rest of the journey toward that 5-stock limit!"

"Timely post! Suzie and I have spent the day in the garden — I have the thorn scratches to prove it. Between bouts of weeding and tree pruning, we found ourselves wondering whether converting three-quarters of our half-acre plot into a virtually maintenance-free space might actually be cheaper than moving house — which, as we get older, is something we're increasingly having to consider. The garden is a joy, but the sheer scale of it is becoming harder to keep on top of. You've given us a data point to consider. The more I think about it, the more I reckon there's a decent post in there somewhere!"

"Thank you Jerry. Your experience highlights a lesson many families learn the hard way. When someone dies intestate, even relatively modest assets can become far more complicated and expensive to transfer than anyone expects. It's frustrating when legal fees and delays end up consuming a significant portion of what was intended to be passed on. Thank you for sharing your story, it reinforces why having a valid will is one of the simplest gifts we can leave our families."

"Thank you Marilyn. I love that story. It sounds like Social Security gave you the freedom to spend more time with your granddaughter, and that's a return that can't be measured by any break-even calculation. No regrets indeed."

"Thank you Rick. I think that's one of the lessons I've learned as well. We rarely know the full story behind someone's journey or the challenges they may have faced along the way. If the article encourages a little more understanding and a little less assumption, then it was worth writing."

"I just read the interview. It was very well done. Bravo Adam!"

"I think you are correct. The median net worth of Americans is about $192,000 while the average is just over $1 million. So, at least half have a very different perspective, especially since that includes their homes."

"The man had priorities. Misguided, perhaps, but consistent."

"Not necessarily. There has been a nursing care shortage for a long time that is rapidly being exacerbated by the growing number of elderly boomers who need health care. The current administration has also revoked asylum for workers from Haiti and elsewhere and is taking additional steps to limit legal immigration. A hospital staff nurse here in NYC averages about $125k and can make much more with overtime. Those salaries have an upward influence on less skilled healthcare workers. The norm for companies that provide home health care is to charge twice as much for their services as what they pay their employees. Thus, the top companies here charge about $40/hr."