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The condo, HOA, senior citizen conundrum

R Quinn | Apr 19, 2026

"I’ll add my two cents as a condo owner and an HOA board member. We are a community of 3 buildings with 197 condominiums units ranging in Size from 1-3 bedrooms. Located at the New Jersey shore, many residents own this property as a 2nd home enjoyed mostly in the summer months, but there are many full-time year round residents too. We engage a professional management company and have a full-time on site manager. As a board member I can say that we are as concerned about HOA fees as all the residents but our overriding priority is to maintain the integrity of the building, grounds and amenities (we have a pool, clubhouse and beautiful grounds) and maintain financial stability of the community for current and any future repairs. while maintenance fees have increased over the past few years we are very transparent with all owners as to the reasons and amounts of increases by holding quarterly open board meetings which all owners are invited to attend. our population consists of various ages and demographic groups most of which are concerned about expenses and property values. Although we don’t have a lot of turnover, property values continue to rise and this is a direct result of the way the property has been maintained. Our approach is not very different than an owner of a single home but it does impact ALL regardless of their economic situation and might cause more stress on some than others. Overwhelmingly, the residents/owners are quite happy with the running of the condominium association and property. We have very few collection issues for HOA fees."

- luvtoride44afe9eb1e

Staying Rational

ArticleAdam M. Grossman | Apr 18, 2026

IT'S BEEN MORE than six years since Covid first entered our vocabulary. It goes without saying that investors have experienced a lot, and for better or worse, recent market events provide some useful lessons. The first has to do with the nature of the stock market. What drives stock prices? Open a finance textbook, and the answer will be clear: The value of a stock should equal the sum of the company’s future profits. This idea is known as intrinsic value, and it’s the textbook explanation of how stock prices work. But there’s clearly a disconnect, since stock prices bounce around far more than the math suggests they should. How can we square this circle? Over the long term, the data tell us that intrinsic value is a valid idea. Chart the price of any given stock, then overlay the company’s profits, and there will often be a reasonably close relationship. But only if you’re Rip Van Winkle. Over shorter periods of time, anything can happen. Stocks often move far above or far below their intrinsic values in response to the news of the day. Especially during times of economic uncertainty, intrinsic value analysis is typically cast aside and replaced by some combination of emotion, conjecture, speculation and storytelling. That’s what we saw in the early months of 2020. Stores were closed, employees had been sent home and the economy went into recession. And since no one had a crystal ball, that’s when storytellers were able to step in with their extreme predictions, causing the stock market to drop more than 30% in the space of six weeks. The lesson for investors: No one can predict when the next crisis will roll around or what form it will take. But there is one very reasonable way to be able to keep it in perspective: by remembering that, at the end of the day, intrinsic value is what matters, and ultimately that’s what drives stock prices. Basic arithmetic illustrates how this can help us manage through the next crisis. Consider that the price-to-earnings ratio of the U.S. stock market has historically averaged around 16. The average company’s total stock market value, in other words, has been equal to about 16 times its annual profits. Now let’s imagine that the next crisis results in every company in America losing an entire year of earnings. That’s extreme and hasn’t happened since the Depression, but it’s useful as a thought experiment. In that scenario, what would be the impact to those companies’ intrinsic value? In simple terms, it would be just one-sixteenth, or a modest 6%. What if a crisis were so severe that a company lost two years of earnings? Using this simple model, the impact would be about 12%. This is meaningful, I believe, because crises typically result in stock price declines that are far more severe than just 6% or 12%. In 2000 and in 2008, the market dropped more than 50%. While every crisis is different, I think it’s useful to keep these numbers in mind whenever the next geopolitical event causes stocks to drop. When that occurs, storytellers will inevitably take over, and the news will be downbeat. But if stocks drop to an extreme degree, as they have in the past, we can probably view it as an overreaction. That won’t help anyone’s portfolio recover any faster, but it should help us tune out the worst of the forecasters and maintain our equanimity. How else can you maintain an even keel during a market crisis? It’s important to understand the impact of recency bias. This bias is the tendency to extrapolate from current conditions, to assume that the future will look like the present, and to downplay the possibility that things might change. That tendency is what contributed to the cycle of negative news during the depths of 2020, and this is why I think it’s so important for investors to be aware of market history. Again, extensive analysis isn’t required. We need only look back across some of the crises the country has weathered, from the Civil War to the Depression to World War II. In each case, the economy recovered and went on to become larger and stronger than before. The lesson for investors: In the depths of a crisis, it’s very difficult to know when or how it will end. But a sense of history can help carry us through. Those are ways to manage through a crisis. Covid also provided a lesson on how to prepare—specifically, how to prepare our portfolios—for a future downturn. In 2022, investors were caught flat-footed when popular total-bond market funds delivered surprising losses. These funds are one pillar of the well-known three-fund portfolio and have traditionally been viewed as the default choice for a set-it-and-forget-it bond allocation. But in 2022, when the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates, these funds dropped a surprising 13%. That was during the same year that the U.S. stock market dropped nearly 20%, creating a very difficult situation for those in retirement and needing to withdraw from their portfolios. The lesson for investors: Total-bond market funds may be well diversified, but they carry risk along another very important dimension known as duration. This is a bond metric that measures, in simple terms, how long it will take for bondholders to be repaid, and it’s a key determinant of risk. The longer the duration, the greater the risk of loss when rates rise. While total-bond market funds have holdings across a broad range of durations, they average out to nearly six years. That’s why they lost so much value in 2022. What’s the alternative? Short-term bond funds tend to have a duration in the neighborhood of just two years. As a result, in 2022, short-term government bond funds like Vanguard’s Short-Term Treasury ETF (ticker: VGSH) lost a far more manageable 4% of their value. To be sure, every crisis is different, and it’s easy to rationalize about the past once it’s in the past. But these lessons, I think, can help us better prepare both our emotions and our portfolios for whatever comes next. 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.

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

DAN SMITH | Apr 12, 2026

"That's pretty impressive. An 80-cup Lavazza Keurig-cup box at Costco was priced at about 46 cents a cup today (I bought a box), while most supermarkets sell those cups in boxes that pencil out to more than $1.25 a cup. Coffee prices are spiking."

- Martin McCue

Navigating a Turbulent Career

ArticleRichard Connor | Apr 18, 2026

A RECENT article by Adam Grossman relayed an interesting story of the 2015 merger of Kraft and Heinz. One of the aspects that made this merger unique was the involvement of Warren Buffet. Adam’s story is a cautionary tale for investors – research shows that, more often than not, the hoped-for corporate synergies and growth are elusive. The story provides more evidence for the benefits of indexing to investors. There is, however, another side to this story that is very important to an individual’s personal financial life. In addition to being investors, most of us are, or were, employees of a corporation. What if you are an employee of a company that is acquiring another company, being acquired by another company, or part of a merger? How do you navigate the challenges of this significant career event? In late November 1985, I interviewed with RCA’s Astro Space division in East Windsor, NJ. Several weeks later I interviewed with GE Aerospace in King of Prussia, PA. In between those 2 interviews it was announced that GE was acquiring RCA. I received an offer for a position in the thermal engineering group of both companies. The GE offer was for $32,000, $4,000 more than the RCA offer. The GE plant was about 8 miles from our home; the RCA plant was 62 miles from our home. I accepted the GE offer. When I called the RCA manager to tell him my decision, he was professional and understanding. He remarked that “who knows, we may end up working together and you got a better deal out of it”. Four months later that RCA manager became the senior manager of the merged thermal engineering organization – my new boss’s boss. Seven years later my division was sold to Martin Marietta, whose space operations were based in Denver, CO. Two years later Martin Marietta merged with Lockheed, in Sunnyvale, CA, to form Lockheed Martin. Later that year it was announced that the company was closing its 2 east coast plants and moving the work to Sunnyvale and Denver. Over the 31 years starting in 1986, I was part of numerous acquisitions, mergers, two plant shut-downs, and being sold to a private equity company. Somehow, I managed to stay employed, and grow my career. I wasn’t special – hundreds of colleagues trod the same path. When I look back I can identify some of the attributes that helped me navigate a turbulent career. Build your Reputation: Be someone that people want to hire. If you move up, be someone that people want to work for. My first senior manager position came about because the hiring team remembered me from 4 years previous Maintain Flexibility: Are you willing to travel or relocate? Would you take a lateral position, or even a step down, if it meant keeping a job? During my career I traveled extensively, commuted 62 miles for four years, and took new positions that challenged me and my family. Focus on your Skills: What are the skills and behaviors that are valued by your company, and differentiate successful employees? These include technical, leadership, managerial, and interpersonal skills. My first GE manager provided a sound technical base, but also taught me just as much about work ethic, and professionalism. Focus on the Culture: Combing organizations means combining cultures, just as much as products or processes. This may require you to be open to a different way of doing things. It requires a willingness to learn and grow. It will also likely require some diplomacy skills. Change is hard for employees, and nobody enjoys being told their processes or products are inferior. When we merged with RCA, we found there was a significant difference in the way that managers and senior technical leaders challenged their employees in public forums, in front of customers. GE preferred to work out technical differences and approaches in-house, and present a united front to customers. This took some time to resolve into a shared approach. Focus on the People: When my first GE manager retired, we held a group luncheon. He was universally liked and respected. Someone described him as the best “BTU chaser” he’d ever seen, which was high praise. He gave a short speech at his retirement, where he discussed the exciting space programs he had supported. He ended that the thing that made his career special wasn’t the projects and technology, it was the people. I was also fortunate to work on some exciting, ground-breaking projects. It wasn’t always easy, and the path certainly wasn’t straight. Looking back, it is the people I think of most, and I miss the most. Richard Connor is a semi-retired aerospace engineer with a keen interest in finance. He enjoys a wide variety of other interests, including chasing grandkids, space, sports, travel, winemaking and reading. Follow Rick on Twitter @RConnor609 and check out his earlier articles.

A Life You Build

Jeff Peck | Apr 19, 2026

"Mark, I was thinking the same thing about my life. Looking back I took the correct path when I met numerous forks in the road and was "lucky" to choose the correct path most times. Getting across the finish line is the important thing. How you get there can be an infinite number of paths as I've read over the years here on Humble Dollar."

- Tom Brady

Something to Think About

David Lancaster | Mar 24, 2026

"This is an issue for an optimizer but not a satisficer. I'm more concerned with the total amount I convert each year than the timing. But I do have optimizer tendencies: I tend to leave maybe half or more of my Roth conversions for December so I can guess better and make my income near the top of the tax bracket and keep my capital gains in the 0% bracket."

- Randy Dobkin

Fixing Social Security once and for all

R Quinn | Apr 15, 2026

"I’ve read that is so! 😂"

- David Lancaster

The IRA Decision That Affects Your Kids

David Lancaster | Apr 17, 2026

"Children yes"

- R Quinn

One Good Call?

Mark Crothers | Apr 14, 2026

"Jeremy. A very sharp observation, and it brings to mind that old saying: invert, always invert. To answer your question directly: no, I haven't analysed my wife's portfolio to that extent — and if I'm honest, I probably won't. She's determined to stay with the adviser, and I'm content with what we've achieved: a fee reduction and a new commitment to advise based on our total combined holdings rather than hers in isolation. Sometimes you have to know which hill to die on — and when to retreat with a partial victory."

- Mark Crothers

What happens to Medicare Supplement coverage when moving to a different state?

Carl C Trovall | Mar 15, 2026

"Triple check but I believe that the Medigap insurer you originally picked stays with you if you move to another county or state (and don't change plans or companies). A few states even allow you to change companies and/or plans without underwriting or higher premiums (community pricing). Each state has an 800 SHIP (State Health Insurance. Assistance Program) hotline to connect you with knowledgeable folks."

- R Mancuso

A Bit More Humble

ArticleEdmund Marsh | Apr 18, 2026

I LOVE TO PLAN. My wife, Sharon, often catches me nestled in my chair, gazing out a window at a distant object as my mind wanders even farther afield. My musings become scribbles on a scrap of paper, destined for discussion with Sharon at length over coffee and long walks. Eventually, we hammer out the settled strategies we think will best bring us happiness in adventures ranging from our next hike to the next few decades of life. Of course, I know our intended track, or even the final destination, may change over time. I'm just a little boat on a big sea, blown about by winds and carried along by deep currents that may push me far off my charted course. Still, though it may be somewhat of an illusion, I cling to the comfort of control. Smooth sailing. And for most of 2025, life was comfortable. In April, I shifted to part-time work as a physical therapist. I termed my new lifestyle “semi-retirement”. My reduced salary, added to Sharon’s contribution from a few hours’ work each month, still gave us enough income from our jobs to cover expenses, with leftovers for a little investing and so forth. Along with that, we gained enough new-found, free time to pursue a bit more fun while catching up on projects around the house. As an added bonus, I expected delaying full retirement a couple of years might lead to more happiness in the decades ahead. How so? Because my post-retirement plan was still a work-in-progress. “I studied and planned for two years before I retired,” Mike told me at a large family gathering. In his mid-70s, his excitement was evident as he recounted his active lifestyle. At home, his schedule includes participation in our state’s Master Gardener program and regular trips to the gym. Abroad, he organizes groups to walk the Camino de Santiago in Spain. I had a yen for a fulfilling retirement like Mike’s. My roster of reasons to jump out of bed each morning might have a different twist or two, but I wanted the same zest for living. My unique recipe for retirement happiness still needed time to cook, however. Oh, I knew I had plenty to keep my hands active. Even so, I wasn’t yet convinced I could substitute the mental stimulation provided by my patients and colleagues. According to a decades-long study from Harvard University, some folks discover that work supplies satisfaction not found elsewhere. I have a nagging suspicion I’m one of those restless souls, and I dreaded the thought of finding myself adrift, with little sense of purpose beyond indulging my own selfish needs. And let’s face it: I still get a thrill from watching my money grow. Earning an income delays the need to plunge my fingers into my pile of savings to pay the grocery bill. All told, I figured my best move was to stay put until a clear exit appeared. Unexpected storm. Meanwhile, my employer was moving in its own interest. In December, I learned that with the new year came new management for our outpatient physical therapy clinics. Our hospital system opted to outsource operations with the hope of securing guaranteed revenue. After the revamping, my boss would keep some new iteration of her job, but the outpatient clinics would report to the new administration, rather than her. The news was a blow to my ordered life. No longer was I sailing through calm waters toward the sunset of my choosing. Instead, I faced the probability of turbulence as our clinic transitioned to the new system. And we were already struggling to implement a comprehensive computer software replacement that would take many more months to fashion into a serviceable tool. I sensed danger ahead. Or, at the very least, a year or two of starts, sputters and stops before the clinic machine was humming again. I decided to bail, and on February 18th clocked my last day with my former employer, four days after Sharon. It turns out my radar was right. The details are dirty, but the gist is the transition is stalled and leadership of the affected clinics in limbo. New direction. On the face of the situation, it seems my “clear exit” did indeed appear, and that I acted with autonomy to choose the course of my life. After all, I had exercised the option of jumping out of a job headed south and into the retirement I had dreamed of for decades. On top of that, I landed in a new, part-time job with Miranda, an old friend. Back in December, Miranda called to ask if I could help cover patients in her clinic while she was out on extended leave. I wasn’t seeking more work, but she needed help. I couldn’t refuse. So, starting with one half-day per week in January, I’m now up to two or three half-days. Miranda’s made it clear I’m welcome to work more, but I’m satisfied for now. And the atmosphere in the clinic is great. It’s staffed by easy-going folks who are serious about patient care. Still, it’s hard to shake the sense I’ve been scrambling to right myself after getting shoved off balance. During the last few weeks with my former employer, I had the feeling I was getting pushed out of a satisfying job before I was ready to leave. My usual optimism suffered, as did my sleep habits and typical interests, like gardening and writing. Why? Perhaps the answer is the sudden, unplanned departure from my job. Research indicates forced retirement can lead to negative feelings about health and to depression. I have to admit I found my new temperament described in the pages of a research paper. Other studies on job loss, found here, here and here, examine and compare the emotions experienced by losing a job to that of other types of loss, such as grief after the death of a loved one. Considered in this light, the Kubler-Ross model of the five stages of grief might help someone--like me–understand and deal with the psychological aftermath of job loss. Peering ahead. Back to my reality, I know I’m painting a grim picture of a life that’s actually very blessed. Others have experienced far worse with fewer complaints. My perceived suffering pales beside that of a person who’s lost a loved one, or an income needed for survival. Also, as I get used to the shift in my lifestyle, I’m beginning to find my groove again. Last spring, I started the season thinking I was at life’s helm, confident I could steer in any direction and choose my pace. I was thankful, but a little smug as I laid plans for my vision of retirement. One year later, I’m still planning and still thankful–but a bit more humble. Ed is a semi-retired physical therapist who lives and works in a small community near Atlanta. When he's not spending time with his church, family or friends, you may find him tending his garden and wondering if he will ever fully retire. Check out Ed’s earlier articles.

What Bangladesh Taught Me About Enough

Andrew Clements | Apr 16, 2026

"Thank you Sundar for sharing your experiences and your encouragement to keep writing. I appreciate it."

- Andrew Clements

The condo, HOA, senior citizen conundrum

R Quinn | Apr 19, 2026

- luvtoride44afe9eb1e

Staying Rational

ArticleAdam M. Grossman | Apr 18, 2026

Penny Wise, Pound Foolish

DAN SMITH | Apr 12, 2026

- Martin McCue

Navigating a Turbulent Career

ArticleRichard Connor | Apr 18, 2026

A Life You Build

Jeff Peck | Apr 19, 2026

- Tom Brady

Something to Think About

David Lancaster | Mar 24, 2026

- Randy Dobkin

Fixing Social Security once and for all

R Quinn | Apr 15, 2026

"I’ve read that is so! 😂"

- David Lancaster

The IRA Decision That Affects Your Kids

David Lancaster | Apr 17, 2026

"Children yes"

- R Quinn

One Good Call?

Mark Crothers | Apr 14, 2026

- Mark Crothers

Manifesto

Apr 19, 2026

NO. 59: MOST FOLKS should avoid alternative investments. Yes, they promise returns uncorrelated with the stock market and gains when shares are tumbling. But isn’t that why we own bonds?

act

Apr 20, 2026

ALERT U.S. EMBASSIES to your travel plans. Before leaving on a foreign trip, sign up for the State Department's free Smart Traveler Enrollment Program and detail where you’re going. The local U.S. embassy or consulate will then contact you if, say, there’s a natural disaster or terrorist incident while you’re traveling abroad—and it may be able to offer advice or help.

think

Apr 20, 2026

INFLATION RISK. Suppose inflation runs at 2.5% a year. If you were living off a traditional employer pension or interest from long-term bonds, your income would lose more than half its spending power over a 30-year retirement. What to do? You might keep more in stocks, while also delaying Social Security so you have more inflation-indexed income.

humans

Apr 19, 2026

NO. 64: WE MAY feel stuck—but often others can point the way forward. We’ve all struggled with seemingly intractable problems, mulling them over and over, trying to figure out the answer. But sometimes, the solution isn’t to think harder. Instead, it’s to ask others, who will have a different perspective—and may suggest solutions that hadn’t occurred to us.

Money Guide

Manifesto

Apr 19, 2026

NO. 59: MOST FOLKS should avoid alternative investments. Yes, they promise returns uncorrelated with the stock market and gains when shares are tumbling. But isn’t that why we own bonds?

Spotlight: Insurance

The Cloth Seller Who Invented Social Security

Mark Crothers | Aug 10, 2025

I’ve always had a deep fascination with maths, and recently, thanks to my retirement and the freedom of time it’s given me, I’ve been conducting a bit of “self-educating” on the topic of actuarial science. During this process, I discovered a little-known but fascinating historical character named John Graunt.
He was a 17th-century cloth seller from London who had a very strange hobby. Before starting his workday, he liked to study the Bills of Mortality, which were weekly records compiled by parish clerks,

Going Naked

Greg Spears | Mar 17, 2025

Every day brings me another insurance offer. In today’s mail, I was invited to insure against identity theft for $34.99 a month.
Last week, I was sent a “final notice” to purchase a home warranty. In the same batch of mail, I was offered a $20,000 whole life insurance policy for $132 a month.
My most faithful correspondent is my water company. Every month it invites me to insure the water pipes under my lawn for about $1,000 a year.

Quinn’s last rant for 2024. Misinformation is frustrating. No, your wife is not a car!

R Quinn | Dec 13, 2024

In a previous post I outlined what I see as the dilemma Americas face when it comes to paying for health care.
Since then I have been tracking social media comments on the topic. If the people posting are close to reflecting a significant portion of the population, we are in trouble.
I suspect the lack of a fundamental understanding of insurance, how companies operate and individual responsibility is not limited to health issues, but also explains a lot about how people manage their finances and use the resources available to them –

Their Loss, Your Gain

Adam M. Grossman | Jun 27, 2021

LONG-TERM-CARE insurance policies are, in my opinion, both a blessing and a curse. They’re a blessing because they can help cover critical and costly care when a family might have no other financial options.
But they can also feel like a curse. That’s because of what many owners of traditional long-term-care (LTC) insurance refer to as “the letter.” This is the renewal letter that policyholders receive each year. These letters provide a menu of renewal options,

Clues Left by a Killer Echo Widespread Anger at Health Insurers

R Quinn | Dec 6, 2024

So reads a Wall Street Journal headline.
This begs the question, how do Americans want to pay for their health care?

They don’t want to spend their money- even for relatively minor expenses like a co-pay
They want someone else to take the risk, but not make any money
They want quality care, but with little idea how to define that other than more of it at high prices
They don’t want high premiums or taxes
They don’t want to wait for care
They don’t want restrictions on accessing care or selecting a provider
They don’t want anyone approving care or denying to pay for it.

We Drive, They Spy

Sonja Haggert | Jun 25, 2024

YOUR CAR IS TALKING to your insurance company. You aren’t part of the conversation. Suddenly, though, your insurance premium shoots up 50%. Welcome to the brave new world where your car is spying on you.
In one instance, a Florida resident drove his Cadillac around a racetrack during a special event. His insurance subsequently skyrocketed—by $5,000 a year.
Has artificial intelligence taken over? No, but automobile companies have, and without our knowing it. Carmakers are spying on drivers and passengers,

Good Enough

Kenyon Sayler | Nov 16, 2022

AT THE FIRST Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting I attended, Charlie Munger was explaining an investment that the company had made. He said it was likely to provide satisfactory returns. At the time, that seemed like an odd statement. Satisfactory? Not great returns. Not market-beating results. Not returns of 10% or 15% per year. Not even market average performance. Just satisfactory. Since that meeting, I’ve come to appreciate satisfactory returns. Satisfactory covers a wide range, everything from beating the performance of Treasury notes to bragging-around-the-office-coffee-pot returns. It also allows me to keep holding my portfolio. For the past 30 years, I’ve had a significant small capitalization and foreign stock tilt. With U.S. large-cap stocks on a tear over the past decade, it’s been a tough period for a portfolio with such a tilt. Friends question my asset allocation—as well as my sanity. I do believe that small-cap stocks will outperform over the long haul. I also think it’s better to pay less for future corporate earnings rather than more. Since most foreign stock markets have a lower price-earnings ratio than the U.S., I believe that performance across markets will converge. That could mean that foreign stocks soar or U.S. stocks struggle. It doesn’t matter to me. Either way, I’ll see some benefit from diversifying globally. Unfortunately, we may not know if my convictions are correct for another three or four decades. Both small caps and foreign stocks have had long periods of underperformance. It could turn out that having these two tilts will look brilliant. Or it could look like a huge mistake. Over the past decade, my portfolio has underperformed the S&P 500. But I’m okay continuing to hold it because the returns have been satisfactory. We’ve sent our children to college. We’ve retired on our own timeline. Life is…

The Company You Keep

Kenyon Sayler | Jul 18, 2023

AFTER ENRON'S COLLAPSE in 2001, there were numerous articles about employees who had most of their money in the company’s stock and how they’d lost it all. Taking that message to heart, I’ve endeavored to keep our holdings of my company’s stock below 10% of our net worth. I must confess, however, that in good times it’s crept up to 15%—and in bad times it’s fallen to zero. I can’t claim any particular insights or novel thoughts on how to manage company stock. I’m willing to share what I’ve done, however, and let you decide how to handle your situation. My company stock came from three main sources: the employee stock purchase plan, the match on my 401(k) contributions, and the stock options or restricted stock awards received as part of my annual compensation. As you’ll see, these three stock programs represent the good, the bad and the ugly of my investing career. The employee stock purchase plan was the good. In our plan, we were allowed to divert up to 10% of our salary to company stock. The best part was that we could buy the stock at a 15% discount to current market prices. Early in my career, there was a machine operator who was retiring. The word in the factory was that he was wealthy. He had been stashing 10% of his pay in company stock for the past 45 years. He had never touched the shares. I’m sure his retirement was much more comfortable than that of most machine operators. I also spent my first five years at the company not touching the stock. We then sold it to make the downpayment on our house. Shortly thereafter, I decided I needed to rethink how to handle the stock purchase plan so I wasn’t overly reliant on…

Showing an Interest

Kenyon Sayler | Mar 30, 2022

WHILE VISITING MY mother, I walked along my old paper route. It made me wonder: Which customer am I? It helps to have a little background on these long-ago entrepreneurs. Paper carriers were independent contractors with the local newspaper. We were given a territory—the route. We purchased the papers from the newspaper company and then delivered them to our customers. Every other week, we would also go around to our customers and ask for payment for the preceding two weeks. When they paid us, we gave them a tiny, preprinted receipt. Of my 60 customers, I remember only two clearly. Neither was really a bad customer, but I remember the two extremes—my favorite customer and the one that caused me headaches. Mrs. Kramer was my favorite customer. She was almost always home when I was collecting money. She usually rounded up her bill by a quarter or 30 cents. If she was going out of town for a few days, she would pay two weeks ahead. When I next collected after her return home, we’d settle up the difference for the days she was gone. Mrs. Kramer always asked how I was doing in school or Scouts. On winter days, she would offer me hot cocoa. I never took her up on the offer, but it was nice knowing she was thinking about me. In December, she usually gave me a tip of $2 or $3. My least favorite customer was the doctor. The doctor’s family was seldom at home. I often extended them credit for eight or even 12 weeks of newspapers. Even as I waited to collect from the doctor, I was paying the newspaper company. When I was able to collect, we settled up for the exact amount due. In December, the doctor would usually give me…

Any Interest?

Kenyon Sayler | Feb 25, 2021

REMEMBER THE OLD joke about the efficient markets theory? An economics professor and a student are walking across campus, when the student says, “Look, there’s a $100 bill on the path,” to which the professor replies, “That can’t be true, because somebody would’ve already picked it up.” I’ve been thinking about that joke not because of the efficient markets theory, but because I’m amazed at how many smart people walk by a $100 bill every day. These folks have their emergency savings in an online bank, which right now might pay 0.5% interest. Many brick-and-mortar banks are paying one tenth that amount. Meanwhile, Series I savings bonds (don’t roll your eyes) are currently offering 1.68%. That’s an extra $118 in annual interest on a $10,000 emergency fund. Friends will debate which exchange-traded fund is better based on a one basis point (0.01%) difference in fees. You’d need more than $1 million invested for one basis point to amount to $118—and yet could make that much extra simply by moving $10,000 from your online bank to an I savings bond. For those not familiar with I bonds, they’re a type of U.S. savings bond that’s guaranteed to keep up with inflation. The Treasury Department introduced the I bond in 1998. When you buy one, you get a fixed rate that’s set for the life of the bonds. Currently, that fixed rate is zero, which doesn’t sound very appealing. But on top of that fixed rate, you get inflation protection. To compensate for inflation, I bond holders receive a semi-annual interest rate that changes twice a year. Currently, it’s 0.84%. If you multiply that semi-annual interest rate by two and then add it to the fixed rate, you get the annual interest rate, which today is 1.68%. Like all Treasury instruments, I…

Tail Wagging

Kenyon Sayler | Jul 19, 2022

A POPULAR REFRAIN is that we shouldn’t let the tax tail wag the investment dog. I struggle with this one. Currently, 87% of our stock portfolio is in broad-based, low-cost index mutual funds, with the other 13% in individual stocks. I prefer the index funds—and yet I continue to hold the individual stocks because I don’t want to pay the taxes on our gains. About 6.7% of our total stock portfolio, equal to half our money in individual stocks, is in my former employer’s shares, which I received as part of my compensation. Over the years, I’ve worked diligently to keep our holdings below 10%. Our next largest individual holding is Target Corp., at about 2.8%. When my wife picked me up from work on Oct. 19, 1987, all of the news was about the stock market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average had crashed 22.6%. On the drive home, I asked my wife what she thought we should do. She promptly replied, “Buy Dayton Hudson.” Dayton Hudson was our local department store. Its major division was its Target discount stores. Being a young couple, we shopped at Target, so the next day I bought 100 shares of Dayton Hudson. The department stores are long gone, but Target lives on. Between our initial purchase and reinvested dividends, our cost basis is now $13.80 a share. Yesterday's closing price was $149.36 (symbol: TGT), almost an 11-fold increase. Although I’d like to unload the stock and put the money in an index fund, the thought of paying the taxes—even at the long-term capital gains rate—has kept us from selling. Our third largest holding is McDonald’s, representing about 2.5% of our portfolio. In late 1981, I bought a single share of McDonald’s and enrolled in its dividend reinvestment plan. That gave me the ability…

Suiting Myself

Kenyon Sayler | Jun 10, 2022

EBAY CAN BE a fantastic teacher of basic economic principles. I’ve been an active buyer recently, and enjoy watching the interaction among supply, demand and price. Take the market for business attire. Demand has declined for suits, blazers and jackets. This has happened at the same time that supply has risen, so prices are cheap. Suits were once the everyday uniform for both men and women. When I started working, I owned six suits in shades of blue and gray: a winter suit, a summer suit and four three-season suits. Getting ready for work was easy: just pull out a suit and coordinated shirt. The only real decision I needed to make involved choosing a tie. Business fashion eventually switched from suits to sportcoats and chinos. It then became even more casual. Nowadays, many offices only require chinos and a shirt. I always loved jackets. Living in Minnesota, I found a sportcoat to be a valuable piece of clothing. I could wear it seven months a year and remove it when the weather got warm. I still own a number of jackets in various materials and styles. My favorite jackets are made of wool tweed. They’re durable and wrinkle resistant, and look sharp. I paid more than $150 for my favorite tweed jacket back then—but I could never bring myself to splurge on a classic Harris Tweed. Harris Tweeds are handwoven on Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, with the cloth available in wonderful patterns. Harris Tweeds command a premium because of their high quality. If you’ve ever watched Downton Abbey, you may have noticed Hugh Bonneville’s character wearing tweed suits. They look fabulous on him. Nobody will ever confuse me with a television star. Still, I pull on a tweed jacket whenever I want to look fancier than normal. Over the past…

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