FREE NEWSLETTER

Why will folks spend 30 years in a job they hate to get a pension, but won’t delay Social Security by a few years to get a larger check?

Latest PostsAll Discussions »

What do we Americans want? We want “free” healthcare

"Harry, you've hit on one of my pet peeves, I hate those commercials. I truly don't know how the cost impacts prices. I do know there are many other factors that cause the discrepancy among prices. Richard? Your thoughts?"
- Dan Smith
Read more »

…..taxes and you

"I think it works the same in Canada."
- Dan Smith
Read more »

Just the facts about Social Security

"Couple of typo's. In the first paragraph,
 I out this fact sheet together.
In the last paragraph,
...will be insufficient to pay full benefits which has been the case since 2021 when bands started to be redeemed.
"
- Jim Burrows
Read more »

Celebrating the Win

"Thank you so much, Cheryl. Her non-401(K) (brokerage, ROTH and T-IRAs) have three ETFs for US Total Market, ex-US Intl Market and Short-term Treasury (for emergency + sinking fund). As for ROTH, she already has a reasonable amount there. I had her open it when she was in high school and took a parttime work at local Starbucks. At that time, she didn't understand much about investments or account types, so I had to give step-by-step instructions that she blindly followed. (I explained those things later when she was in college). Rest of the fund came from her work during the gap-year. Together, the IRAs are of decent size as of now, especially after the rollover of her gap-year's 401(k) employer account. That's why we haven't talked much about the tax-optimization aspects of her money and keeping things simple for now. Thanks for the suggestion about splitting 401(K) into ROTH vs pre-tax. I'll bring that up in an opportune time in the future."
- Sanjib Saha
Read more »

Gold and Diamonds

"This made me think of Prof. Galloway’s observation that young men need credible ways to signal commitment and future potential. An engagement ring has traditionally served that purpose. Lab-grown diamonds may change the economics, but not the underlying social function. The challenge remains showing commitment without confusing the price of the ring with the value of the relationship."
- Mark Gardner
Read more »

The $8,000 Cost of Peace of Mind

"Back in 2010 (near the bottom of the real estate market after the GFC) when we bought our first house, interest rates were pretty low. We looked into getting a mortgage, but rate on the loan Wells Fargo (our primary bank) was offering was significantly higher than I expected. It ticked me off that they wouldn't give me anything near the 3.5% that was possible, but only offered about 5.3%. So, I liquidated some of our investments and made a cash offer on the house. We now own three houses, and I've never had a mortgage on any of them. #2 son was sitting on a pile of cash and lent us a little to get us into the second house. We paid him off quickly after we had bought the 3rd house a short time later. (Why 3 houses? It's a long story and not relevant to this topic, but #1 home is now part of our passive income strategy thanks to the efforts of a property manager we pay to look after the place.) My wife and I definitely fall into the "peace of mind" camp."
- John Doe
Read more »

Quiet Failure: Time for Me to Say What I Think

"Javier, thanks for a great series of posts. I agree about having vision. Sadly, many have none, which may  help explain why so many never seek guidance or attempt to plan."
- Dan Smith
Read more »

What Remains: Money and Me

"Thank you for sharing this. What touches me most is hearing how Jonathan’s writing helped shape your journey, especially during those formative years when you were building your life and looking for guidance. I think one of Jonathan’s greatest gifts was his ability to write about money while never losing sight of the people behind it. As you said, money was never the destination, it was a tool for building the life we hoped to live. I also appreciate the Stephen King quote. There is something deeply true in the idea that words can never fully capture what someone means to us. Yet we keep trying because some people leave such an imprint on our lives that they deserve the effort. Thank you for taking the time to share what Jonathan meant to you. It means a great deal to me and my family."
- Andrew Clements
Read more »

Defining Enough

"I think too many of us focus on asset accumulation, returns and spending in retirement. These are very important, but other areas are also very important such as healthcare, estate planning, tax strategy, where to live in retirement and others. These are all important and need to be considered in a good retirement plan."
- Jerry Pinkard
Read more »

Not missing the point

"I think that pretty much nails it. I'm a planner (as you may have guessed): For my hikes tend to have plans B and C for things that matter (eating, shelter, etc). Pretty sure that's also a proxy for wanting control of the situation. My financial planning probably has the same motivation. The trick here I think is to internalize the "serenity prayer" (accept what you can not change, change what you can, know the difference). The accept part I think is the hardest for planners. "The best layed plans of mice and men..." Thanks for reminder, and may the "accept what you can not change" go well for you."
- eludom
Read more »

Better Alternatives to Buying an Annuity

"I recognize that financial planning isn't a one size fits all strategy. I assume we all accept that reality. I'm no fan of annuities and my calculations say they are a bad deal for most. However, the peace of mind that it gives some cannot be underestimated. I'd never buy one because as Roth states, I can create my own income streams at a much lower cost while retainingcontrolof my money. Some people may think an annuity is beneficial to them and it's the job of the advisor to point out all the options available and help them chart the best course. All that said, I understand the point made by Roth but I have no issues if folks want annuities if it makes them sleep better at night."
- Mike Xavier
Read more »

What do we Americans want? We want “free” healthcare

"Harry, you've hit on one of my pet peeves, I hate those commercials. I truly don't know how the cost impacts prices. I do know there are many other factors that cause the discrepancy among prices. Richard? Your thoughts?"
- Dan Smith
Read more »

…..taxes and you

"I think it works the same in Canada."
- Dan Smith
Read more »

Just the facts about Social Security

"Couple of typo's. In the first paragraph,
 I out this fact sheet together.
In the last paragraph,
...will be insufficient to pay full benefits which has been the case since 2021 when bands started to be redeemed.
"
- Jim Burrows
Read more »

Celebrating the Win

"Thank you so much, Cheryl. Her non-401(K) (brokerage, ROTH and T-IRAs) have three ETFs for US Total Market, ex-US Intl Market and Short-term Treasury (for emergency + sinking fund). As for ROTH, she already has a reasonable amount there. I had her open it when she was in high school and took a parttime work at local Starbucks. At that time, she didn't understand much about investments or account types, so I had to give step-by-step instructions that she blindly followed. (I explained those things later when she was in college). Rest of the fund came from her work during the gap-year. Together, the IRAs are of decent size as of now, especially after the rollover of her gap-year's 401(k) employer account. That's why we haven't talked much about the tax-optimization aspects of her money and keeping things simple for now. Thanks for the suggestion about splitting 401(K) into ROTH vs pre-tax. I'll bring that up in an opportune time in the future."
- Sanjib Saha
Read more »

Gold and Diamonds

"This made me think of Prof. Galloway’s observation that young men need credible ways to signal commitment and future potential. An engagement ring has traditionally served that purpose. Lab-grown diamonds may change the economics, but not the underlying social function. The challenge remains showing commitment without confusing the price of the ring with the value of the relationship."
- Mark Gardner
Read more »

The $8,000 Cost of Peace of Mind

"Back in 2010 (near the bottom of the real estate market after the GFC) when we bought our first house, interest rates were pretty low. We looked into getting a mortgage, but rate on the loan Wells Fargo (our primary bank) was offering was significantly higher than I expected. It ticked me off that they wouldn't give me anything near the 3.5% that was possible, but only offered about 5.3%. So, I liquidated some of our investments and made a cash offer on the house. We now own three houses, and I've never had a mortgage on any of them. #2 son was sitting on a pile of cash and lent us a little to get us into the second house. We paid him off quickly after we had bought the 3rd house a short time later. (Why 3 houses? It's a long story and not relevant to this topic, but #1 home is now part of our passive income strategy thanks to the efforts of a property manager we pay to look after the place.) My wife and I definitely fall into the "peace of mind" camp."
- John Doe
Read more »

Quiet Failure: Time for Me to Say What I Think

"Javier, thanks for a great series of posts. I agree about having vision. Sadly, many have none, which may  help explain why so many never seek guidance or attempt to plan."
- Dan Smith
Read more »

What Remains: Money and Me

"Thank you for sharing this. What touches me most is hearing how Jonathan’s writing helped shape your journey, especially during those formative years when you were building your life and looking for guidance. I think one of Jonathan’s greatest gifts was his ability to write about money while never losing sight of the people behind it. As you said, money was never the destination, it was a tool for building the life we hoped to live. I also appreciate the Stephen King quote. There is something deeply true in the idea that words can never fully capture what someone means to us. Yet we keep trying because some people leave such an imprint on our lives that they deserve the effort. Thank you for taking the time to share what Jonathan meant to you. It means a great deal to me and my family."
- Andrew Clements
Read more »

Defining Enough

"I think too many of us focus on asset accumulation, returns and spending in retirement. These are very important, but other areas are also very important such as healthcare, estate planning, tax strategy, where to live in retirement and others. These are all important and need to be considered in a good retirement plan."
- Jerry Pinkard
Read more »

Free Newsletter

Get Educated

Manifesto

NO. 78: OUR THREE most precious resources are health, wealth and time. Handle all three with the care they deserve, and we’ll greatly improve the odds of a rich and meaningful life.

Truths

NO. 84: IF YOUR portfolio earns 6% annually and you spend the entire 6% every year, you’ll face a financial reckoning. The spending power of the 6% will shrink with inflation, forcing you to either cut your standard of living or dip into principal to maintain it. The latter is dangerous, especially early in retirement, because you can quickly eviscerate your nest egg.

think

LOSS AVERSION. Behavioral finance experts say we aren’t so much risk averse as loss averse: We get more pain from losses than pleasure from gains—perhaps twice as much. This is why losing stocks cause such anguish. Some react by panicking and selling. But others will double down on losing stocks, taking more risk in hopes of quickly recouping the loss.

act

GET A WILL. Less than half of U.S. adults have a will. Without one, many of your assets will be distributed according to state law, plus you won’t have a say in who becomes your children’s guardian. Some folks don’t bother with a will, because they have a living trust. But when you die, there’ll inevitably be assets outside the trust—and, for them, you need a will.

Retirement

Manifesto

NO. 78: OUR THREE most precious resources are health, wealth and time. Handle all three with the care they deserve, and we’ll greatly improve the odds of a rich and meaningful life.

Spotlight: Markets

$3 Trillion S&P 500 Gatecrashers

HAVE YOU GIVEN any thought to what’s about to happen to your S&P 500 tracker?
Three enormous IPOs are expected later this year: SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Based on their most recent private transactions, SpaceX appears to be valued at around $1.25 trillion, OpenAI at roughly $800 billion, and Anthropic at approximately $380 billion. Combined, we could be looking at close to $3 trillion in private market value that wants to go public. To put that in perspective,

Read more »

Double FOMOitis

I have an exasperating and ever-increasing case of double FOMOitis. Today’s stretched stock market valuations have given me a case of fear of missing out (FOMO) for not selling and locking in assured gains – sensible rebalancing theory suggests that we should all be selling on the way up. On the other hand, I have FOMO even considering selling because of the potential opportunity cost of not capturing further gains in a market with clear upward momentum – sensible investing theory (and Jonathan recently) suggests that we should ride the winners while they are hot.

Read more »

Asset Location Decisions

WHERE YOU PUT your investments can make a huge difference for your after-tax wealth. 
As you know, we have 3 main investment accounts:

Taxable account. A traditional brokerage account where you are taxed every time you dividends or sell investments at a gain.
Tax deferred account. Traditional 401(k), 403(b), and traditional IRAs allow taxes to be deferred to the future. You pay taxes when your investments are withdrawn, and generally come with an immediate tax deduction.

Read more »

HSA Tips

HEALTH SAVINGS ACCOUNT (HSA) is the most efficient tax-advantaged investment account because it offers a triple tax advantage:

Contributions are tax-deductible
Earnings grow tax-free
Withdrawals are tax-free if used for medical expenses

One of the best uses of an HSA is to actually invest the balance.
For example, I keep $500 (the minimum required balance) in cash. The rest, I invest in low-cost index funds. This allows me to maximize compounding inside the HSA account.

Read more »

Is The Stock Market Overvalued?

STOCK MARKET INVESTORS are enjoying yet another strong year. The S&P 500 has gained about 14% so far, shrugging off, for the most part, uncertainty over tariffs, interest rates and the latest government shutdown.
Should this worry us?
Since ancient times, soothsayers have been attempting—without luck—to forecast the future. As it relates to investment markets, the frustrating reality is that no one knows what the future will bring. But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do.

Read more »

This post contains a secret and words I used in a few forum posts ago. Why is it not encouraging.

The secret is revealed at the end.

TIME VALUE OF MONEY, asset class, diversification, dollar-cost averaging: This is the language of investment professionals. But it isn’t the language of everyday Americans, including those saving for retirement in their employer’s 401(k) plan.
Trust me, I know. During my nearly 30 years overseeing 401(k) plans, including providing financial education to participants, it became clear to me that using such plans as intended wasn’t easy for most people.

Read more »

Spotlight: Crothers

The Financial Metric I Refuse to Calculate

I guess I'm going to be hounded out of the forum with pitchforks and flaming torches for confiding this dirty little secret. Apparently, confession is a catalyst for redemption, so here's the truth: I never have and probably never will produce a statement of net worth. I really don't see the point. My two homes and cars aren't for sale, and their personal contents are just that—personal and not for sale. Since I don't view any of these possessions as liquid, they hold no practical monetary value for me. I only care about knowing the position and value of my actual liquidity: cash, stocks, and bonds. My financial foundation is built on zero debt. Given this principle, I can't chip a brick from my home's wall or remove a wing mirror from my car to use either as payment at the grocery store. These items are irrelevant to my financial planning, as are the assets they belong to. To me, the only reason to include illiquid assets in financial calculations is if you plan on leveraging those assets to take on debt—which I don't. My illiquid assets, along with remaining liquid assets, will simply be passed on to my children and grandchildren to do with as they choose. It won't be a difficult task for my heirs to sell any illiquid assets and valuable personal possessions to distribute the money as per the will. They'll just have to accept any impediment as a fee to access my illiquid assets. However, it won't be difficult because a detailed account of my liquid assets will be available, and all deeds, titles, and policies will be deposited with the will. My wife Suzie is fully on board with this philosophy and is fully aware of all our financial positions should I shuffle off…
Read more »

Financial Trauma

SOMETIMES WORLD events beyond your control create a hard reset point in your financial life. A before and after. For me, that point was the 2007 Great Financial Crisis (GFC). The psychological scars still reverberate into my current life.   Looking back, I was aware of something rumbling about in the financial landscape but didn't take much notice due to being deeply involved in running my business. Little did I realize the impact heading my way. At that point, we had finally reached a good place in life. It was ten years since founding my company and the memory of the first five tough, lean years were a fading thought in my mind. Meaningful cash was flowing into our personal accounts, and business was very profitable with dreams of life-changing expansion on my mind. Nothing seemed impossible. We were young and proud of our achievements. Mid-2008 saw banks in my country going under and the government stepping in to prop them up. My wife Suzie worked for a large UK-based international bank. I distinctly remember one Saturday morning chatting together about the crash in Suzie's employer's share price and whether we should take a big personal position. We both thought the company was fundamentally strong and a massive bargain. Any thoughts about investing went out the window by that Monday afternoon. My bankers called me to an urgent afternoon meeting. With little in the way of diplomacy, immediate repayment of loans and overdrafts was demanded within seven days. The final insult was informing me that a small, unused $100 overdraft on my personal account was withdrawn with immediate effect. Shell-shocked understates how I felt as I left the meeting. It’s a bit of a blur, and so were the next 18 months of fighting for survival. All of mine and…
Read more »

The Illusion of Wealth

I was sitting on the deck of my holiday home, enjoying the morning sunshine and breakfast, when a deep rumble announced the arrival of an expensive, sporty car. It was my neighbour. He's a very nice man in his 40s who always dresses impeccably, with two well-turned-out kids and an immaculate wife – to all intents and purposes, a family living the dream. Contrast that with me: I drive a seven-year-old SUV with 70,000 miles on the clock, habitually run around in shorts and T-shirts, own three pairs of trainers, one pair of dress shoes, and exactly one suit. It's obvious there's no comparison in who's "winning the game of life"... or is there? About 18 months ago, a conversation started when I mentioned I'd just paid off the mortgage because my wife was retiring. My neighbour then spoke with pride about his ability to juggle credit cards, expertly transferring balances with 0% transfer rates. However, he also revealed a concern about his own mortgage. As is common in the UK, his rate was fixed for five years, and with two years left on his 1.25% rate, he couldn't see how he'd afford the jump to around 5%. That nice car, the designer clothes, the immaculate facade – they all come with a hefty, often hidden, price tag. While my neighbour projected an image of success, his confession about juggling credit cards and his anxiety over the impending mortgage hike painted a different picture. This isn't just about the obvious payments for the car or the latest fashion; it's the relentless pressure to maintain a certain lifestyle. The "keeping up with the Joneses" trap is real, amplified by social media. People feel immense pressure to project prosperity, even if it means accumulating significant debt. This pursuit often takes a quiet…
Read more »

Enriching Our Collective Wisdom

I'm truly a bit of a techno refusenik when it comes to social media and much of the current online content. For example, I'm honestly not 100% sure how you'd find or listen to a podcast. Vlogs are a total mystery to me. I don't know what they are, and I simply don't have the curiosity to find out. Obviously, I'm not a total dinosaur. After all, I'm writing this post for Humble Dollar, a most decidedly online retirement and personal finance forum. In my opinion, it provides its visitors with intelligent and thoughtful reading by a small group of amateur writers as they articulate their thoughts and feelings on various retirement topics. I've been contributing since the site moved to the forum model, trying to share my journey through revelations and experiences about my recent retirement, along with anything else I think would be of interest. My unconscious style seems to be mostly conversational and light-hearted. I guess that comes from not taking myself or life too seriously. I was a long-time lurker, reading and enjoying the content. Over time, I realised that most articles were penned by a small portion of the readership. Seeing an opportunity to add to the material's diversity and originality, I wanted to try my hand at contributing—to give back something in appreciation for the site's efforts to educate and entertain. My motivation for writing this particular article is simple too. I've noticed in the comments section of the authors' articles a large wealth of articulate and intelligent individuals who obviously have the talent and life experience to compose interesting and unique writing to enhance the site—but fail to do so. I think it would be wonderful and very much appreciated if some of our commentators and the family of silent readers would share…
Read more »

Gold and Diamonds

I was in my friend's workshop recently. He's a goldsmith, the proper kind, with a laser welder, a magnifying glass tucked above one eye, and old fashioned tools he uses to make expensive things even more expensive. We were there because Suzie had lost a claw from the setting of her diamond engagement ring. One of those four tiny prongs that holds the whole romantic enterprise in place had simply given up, which made Suzie anxious until he fixed it in about ten minutes flat. The argument about whether I should pay him lasted considerably longer than the repair. Once that was settled, badly from his perspective, we sat drinking coffee and he told me something I found genuinely fascinating. It doesn't fit neatly into a financial story. I'm sharing it anyway. Suzie's ring has a half-carat main stone. Half a carat was what we could stretch to at the time, and we could only manage that because the owner of the business I worked for happened to know someone in the wholesale jewellery trade who let us in through the back door of the pricing. Without that connection, we'd probably have been looking at a very nice cubic zirconia or a microscope diamond. But here's what my goldsmith friend explained, coffee in hand, in that particular tone of a man sharing trade knowledge he suspects you'll find more interesting than you have any right to. The cost relationship between the diamond and the gold in a ring like Suzie's has completely reversed since the day I bought it. Forty-odd years ago, the rough split was 80/20, eighty per cent of the ring's cost was the diamond, twenty per cent was the gold. Today, that ratio has essentially flipped. The gold now accounts for around eighty per cent of the…
Read more »

Flexing the Retirement Spending Muscle

Suzie and I are packing a travel bag right now. Later this morning, we're off to the Fermanagh Lakelands, a two-hour drive from our holiday home. We're staying for three nights in a fancy hotel that's also the wedding venue for the daughter of a very close friend. We'll be attending the festivities there. I'm looking forward to the wedding, except, of course, for the suit I'll have to wear. I'm particularly interested in seeing the bride in her wedding dress because, unusually enough, I purchased it for her. Certainly not the traditional way with a wedding dress, but the bridal budget was having a cash flow crisis at the time. I was deep in the throes of sorting out my retirement finances when this not insignificant purchase happened, and I admit, very unusually for me, I dallied slightly before making the offer. But a realization hit me: I'm retiring soon. If this wasn't the perfect opportunity to give myself permission to spend in retirement, when would be? I reasoned this would be a perfect test of flexing my retirement spending, putting the generosity line on the spreadsheet into real-world practice. Thinking about this, I considered the other outcome that people might have chosen in the same situation. After years of carefully saving for retirement and being careful with their budgeting, it's not a given that this spending muscle would be ready for its task, and the offer of bridal help may never have happened. I've read and seen a few real examples of people never fully embracing this phase when they enter retirement, living a life far below their means. They let their spending muscle atrophy through fear of running out of funds in their later years, or from simply being unable to shed the psychological shackles of frugality…
Read more »