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I TURN AGE 58 TODAY—and, a few days ago, HumbleDollar turned four. The good news: Only one of us is slowing down.
In 2020, HumbleDollar garnered 3.6 million pageviews, up from 2.6 million in 2019, 1.7 million in 2018 and 900,000 in 2017, which was our first year. Here’s a closer look at those numbers and what’s been happening here at HumbleDollar:
Some perspective on that number: Since HumbleDollar’s launch, the site has published around 1,300 articles, while our money guide runs to more than 500 web pages. Why have those 20 articles, which account for just 1% of the site’s pages, been so popular? In some cases, they enjoyed huge traffic because another, far larger website linked to the piece. I am, of course, grateful—but it does mean that a small but significant part of HumbleDollar’s success has hinged on the kindness of strangers with big online followings.
Still, HumbleDollar’s comment section has two ongoing problems. First, many folks can’t figure out how to post comments. A refresher: You can either use your username and password from Facebook, Google (Gmail) or Twitter, or you can set up an account with Disqus, which provides the software we use for the comments section. To log in using any of those four methods, just click on the appropriate icon at the top of the comments section.
Second, I’ve noticed—as have some readers—that the comments directed at the site’s female writers tend to be more critical. I’m not sure what to do about this, but it concerns me, in part because I don’t want potential writers to be deterred.
For instance, we introduced a new chapter devoted to basic financial questions, while also merging the saving and spending chapters. In the math chapter, we added a section explaining the difference between time-weighted and dollar-weighted returns. To the chapter devoted to big ideas, we added sections on present value and negative bonds. We also added two new sections to the great debates chapter, one on whether buying a home is a good idea and the other on the question of whether to invest or pay down debt.
To the best of my knowledge, no other financial website has our business model (if you can call it that). Unlike so many sites, we don’t accept sponsored articles or sponsored links. The latter involves linking to another site in return for payment. We also don’t have any affiliate marketing relationships, where we get a kickback if you click through to another site and open, say, a brokerage or credit card account. As smart consumers of financial information, I encourage you to ask how the sites you visit make money—because it could have a big influence on what you’re reading and what’s getting recommended.
I’ve come to think of HumbleDollar as a community—of writers who want to help others by sharing their stories, of readers who are drawn to the site by a common financial philosophy, and of donors who want to promote prudent money management. I may have launched this site, but it would be nothing without all of you. My profound thanks.
Jonathan Clements is the founder and editor of HumbleDollar. Follow him on Twitter @ClementsMoney and on Facebook. Jonathan’s most recent articles include What Money Can Buy, Time Limited and Long Time Coming.
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Jonathan- Happy Birthday! Thanks for all you do.
Happy Birthday and New Year Jonathan! You and your contributors have helped many of us think and look at our financial lives in different ways. Many thanks!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JONATHAN! And a great big THANK YOU to you and all of the other contributors!
+1
Couldn’t have said it better!
Happy birthday. Thanks for the HD website
Happy Birthday to you and a belated Happy Birthday to HumbleDollar!! Perhaps HD’s popularity is because it is straight forward and makes sense. I fear there is not much common sense in our world anymore.
Happy Birthday, Jonathan. It’s a honor to be a very small part of such a great endeavor.
Rick: Your articles have been a great addition to the site. Thanks so much!
I wish I could remember when I was 58. Being able to write for HumbleDollar has made my retirement more enjoyable.
And I — and HD’s readers — appreciate all your excellent articles!
Absolutely!!!
The profound thanks is back to you Sir. Your writing is nostalgic, succinct and I feel there is an old-school honesty I can trust. I take inspiration (and hope and validation) from your experience. I try to align ourselves inline with your experiences to stay the course. We’re all in on S&P 500 index funds. We’ve never sold, invest every paycheck irrespective of the market. We live simple lives. Thanks, and a very happy birthday.
Great roundup article. Happy Birthday to you and Humble Dollar.
Happy Birthday Jonathan! Its been an honor to write for the site.
Happy Birthday! I’m honored to have been a part of HD since the beginning. I remember how nervous I was sending you my first writing inquiry. I had just finished reading your book, Money Guide 2016, and I’d learned so much from it. You were (and continue to be) my personal finance hero!
My thanks to you and the other writers for all you do. I’m a (semi-retired) fee-only financial planner focused on retirement planning and I always mention you site to clients as a source for practical, common-sense financial guidance.
Happy Birthday and Cheers to a fantastic 2021!
I’m a CPA and a former early retirement blogger. I used to read a wide range of financial articles but I’m enjoying my retirement too much and am now pretty particular about which sites I visit. I ALWAYS make time to read your weekly article because I ALWAYS learn something or come away with a different way to look at something I thought I knew.
Thank you to you and all of your contributors. You are changing lives!
Congrats and thank you for all that you do. I am retiring from the financial planning business after 35 years. I followed and promoted your advice when you wrote for the WSJ, and found you again a few years ago. I’m often asked “what resources do you recommend?” or “where can we learn more?”. I used to keep several books on my shelf as a lending library, but after I found you again, and Humble Dollar, I now have the “go to” recommendation. I’ve always valued and promoted financial literacy. I’ve always wanted my clients to be their own best advocate. Your modest little newsletter has provided the resources to do so. And if I’m no longer there to provide guidance, I’m comforted to know that you and your contributors are. Thank you.
Happy Birthday Jonathan! And thanks for creating this great community. So much nonsense goes on under the guise of offering objective financial advice, but this site is where I send people because of the wisdom you and the other writers offer. I hope you keep it up for many more years! Congrats on achieving some very impressive numbers in just 4 years!
Thanks, Joe — and thanks for joining the site’s community of contributors.
Happy birthday, Jonathan! Thank you for starting this humble and inspiring experiment.
Thanks, David. I look forward to your next article. How’s that for a not-so-subtle nudge?
Many thanks Jonathan and happy birthday. I found HD about a year ago and every morning when I open my tabs such as the NYT and WSJ I make sure to include HD.
I now read it religiously and look forward to another 4 years.
Happy Birthday, Jonathan! Thank you for all the education and great articles you have written and shared over the years!
Happy Birthday and Happy New Year! Jason Zwieg once wrote that producing a personal finance column was the art of saying the same thing over and over again without your editor catching on. Humble Dollar may have the same problem but you and your contributors make the articles varied and interesting and I sincerely hope you can continue for a long time.
Jonathan,
Thank you! I am one of those loyal and committed weekly newsletter readers. I guess that would make me a groupie, I call myself a wise Clementine :).
From Our Report Card you relayed how easy it is to sign up and post a comment. I am NOT on social media and I do not talk just to be heard. Registered…. here we go. This is my first chat comment, ever! I am grateful to be part of your community.
Forty years ago, as an immigrant from a former communist country, the idea of commercialization of peoples life, consumption and thinking was new to me. This capitalistic concept is still not comforting for me. In fact, it gives me the chills. I am grateful for reassurance that there is no direct sale of my private information or commercialization or coercion of my time.
From “Our Report Card”, I also learned that the Money guide, that I bought and read front to back in 2015, is always being updated. It would be helpful to know the schedule of when the new information has been added or the schedule of made updates to the original book. As tax policy changes, so does financial strategy. This would most efficiently prevent me from not missing anything new of value without needing to redundantly reread the body of the book.
Lastly, the data analytics of HD community is interesting, but not so much for me. However, I do pledge to send HD a token donation for every novel idea that I read (may want to update your business model with that concept). My definition of a novel idea, is a life or a financial lesson that I am willing to use my very limited political capital to try to beat into my teenagers heads during our dinner conversation.
Your loyal and committed Clementine.
Thanks for the comment. I update various stats on the site throughout the year. Many of those updates occur right at year-end. I update the tax figures in late October, when the next year’s thresholds are announced. And whenever there’s new legislation, I try to update the relevant sections of the money guide right away.
Will a change log / simple table for the content updates of sections be potentially helpful?
Happy birthday Jonathan from one 58 year old to another. My first financial book was “25 Myths” way back in 1999. I still have the book and still follow the advice. Thank you for your sound advice through the years, for creating this website, and wish you many more birthdays.
Happy birthday. 58 is the new 35! Thank you for building this site, and many writers for sharing financial insights. To a greater & healier 2021!