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WHEN I SUBMITTED MY first article to HumbleDollar almost six years ago, I was sure it would be rejected. I was a divorced, middle-aged woman living alone in a small apartment. I assumed my personal finance story wouldn’t be of interest to readers. Now, after writing almost 90 pieces, I realize my insights—while different from many other writers—appeal to some portion of the site’s readership.
Over the years, it’s dawned on me that some of my fellow HumbleDollar contributors have far more wealth than I’ll ever have. This was perhaps never more evident than in a recent post. A HumbleDollar writer mentioned his investment portfolio had dropped $500,000 in value in 2022. My entire nest egg was worth just over $500,000 back in January.
Many contributors pen articles about their travel adventures. This is one subject I have yet to tackle. I never got bit by the travel bug. I admit I’ve never set foot off the North American continent. I’m a homebody and an introvert who would rather stay on familiar ground than venture to faraway lands. No doubt I would be a huge disappointment to my Viking ancestors.
Many writers and readers have mentioned that they view their house as more than a financial investment. They emphasize how the memories associated with their homes are something they can’t put a value on. For me, a house is a structure. I’ve bought and sold three homes in the past 30 years. Each was purchased with an eye toward maximizing the profit that could be made from each.
A HumbleDollar contributor recently mentioned how living in a retirement community wasn’t his cup of tea. For my husband and me, living in an age-restricted community feels ideal. Our township—with 18,000 homes—is small enough that we can walk or ride our bikes almost anywhere we want to go. Several grocery stores, hardware stores and a large hospital are located less than two miles from our home.
Salaries seem to be a taboo subject on HumbleDollar. I retired after working fulltime for 30 years, having never earned more than $77,000 a year. I suspect many HumbleDollar contributors have—or had—much higher salaries. I’ve always been willing to share the details of my financial life with readers. Whether it’s my salary, my net worth or how much I sold a house for, I’m willing to put my personal information out there.
I don’t have a slew of initials behind my name denoting my proficiency in personal finance and investing. I learned much of what I know through the school of hard knocks. Getting divorced at age 45 forced me to educate myself about personal finance. I spent hours reading books, website posts and forums just to learn basic investment strategies.
I admit I’m naive about many subjects that are tackled by other HumbleDollar writers. I don’t know what an inverted yield curve is or why I should be concerned about it. I never needed to know how to open a backdoor Roth account.
So, what is it about my writing that appeals to some readers? I can only assume the theme of simplicity—which runs through my life—may resonate with others.
My husband and I have enough money to cover all of our expenses. But we don’t have so much wealth that we need to worry about complicated strategies to avoid paying taxes or elevated Medicare premiums.
Both my husband and I are content to spend most of our days at home. Over the past few months, we’ve developed a daily routine that involves training our dogs, taking walks through our neighborhood and enjoying the mild Arizona winter. Even the meals we eat are simple. A leafy green salad, along with a slab of whatever meat happens to be on sale, make up the majority of our dinners.
If there’s a unifying subject many HumbleDollar writers and readers seem eager to discuss, it would have to be pets. Many of us have an irrational fondness for the four-legged creatures we share our lives with. Whether it’s dogs or cats, we all seem content to shell out however much time—and money—it takes to guarantee happiness for our pets.
Kristine Hayes Nibler recently retired, and she and her husband now live in Arizona. She enjoys spending her time reading, writing and training their four dogs. Check out Kristine’s earlier articles.
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Not sure of the allure of age restricted communities but of course to each their own. I love seeing fellow neighbors of all age and it keeps me grounded. We evolved in groups of multi generation people and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
You sound like an extrovert. I’ll explain the allure. My suburban family neighborhood is loud. I have to constantly listen to illegally tuned up cars that teen kids own; motorcyles sans their mufflers that roar by at least 5x a day, screaming toddlers morning, noon and dinner hour. It’s stressful.
I am an introvert that craves quiet to recharge. I can’t sit outside when it’s nice out. I can’t relax indoors – the noise comes right through the windows. It’s miserable and bad for my mental health. Neither the city or police seem to care about enforcing ordinances: I guess they have bigger fish to fry.
I probably wouldn’t have this in a more expensive neighborhood…but I bought a home I could afford vs being house poor.
That is the allure of an age restricted neighborhood to folks like me. Because families today aren’t as considerate as they used to be – and age-restricted communities won’t allow this crap.
I too am introverted and value the sound of silence. When we lived in Oregon (in a relatively nice suburban neighborhood), our neighbors had two young children who ran around screaming. All. Day. Long. At times we were also forced to listen to the local garage band practicing their ‘music’ into the wee hours of the morning.
Now, in Arizona, where all the residents in our community are 55 or older, most of the sounds we hear are birds singing, coyotes howling and the cheerful ‘good morning’ greetings from other residents we pass during our early morning walks.
I get that age-restricted communities aren’t for everyone. But for people who appreciate peace and quiet, they can be quite delightful.
Perhaps it was the fact I spent 24 years working at a college that makes me want to spend the majority of my time with people my age or older.
Hate to write it, but my portfolio is down $735K in 2022. It was $4.82M on January 1, 2022. So I still have over $4M. Plus, no mortgages (a free and clear house) and pretty low monthly expenses that are easily covered by dividends and interest income.
So, I’m not worried. I got to a nearly $5M portfolio by always being 95% stocks and 5% cash since graduating from college decades ago. I don’t see myself ever changing the 95/5 portfolio.
Hate to admit what?
It sounds like you’ve done very well financially with a relatively simple investment strategy. Well done!
Like many others who have commented before this, I am always happy to see Kristine has another article, another take on life, finances, and what she’s doing. Sometimes I feel like we’re just sitting down at a coffee shop and discussing where we are, what we’re thinking of doing, and where we’d like to be. Your writing is just enjoyable and easy to relate to. Sometimes we have the same thoughts on subjects and other times I pick up a new perspective. I’m 69, tried retiring for 14 months, then was asked to return on my terms. As one HD writer once wrote, I have to be doing something so I might as well get paid for it. (I work in accounting and love it!). My wife of 45 years retired for seven years to take care of our two grandsons but once they were both in school was recently recruited to return three days a week as a reading tutor under a grant program. Keep the articles coming. It’s refreshing to hear from you!
Thank you for the kind comments–they really made my day! It sounds like you and your wife really enjoy your careers and are valued by your employers.
I have several articles in the works for HumbleDollar. Writing for HD is my favorite side hustle (along with dog training)!
I’ve always enjoyed reading your articles and agree that what makes them enjoyable reading is because of the simplicity of your subject matter and looking forward to many more to come.
Also, never forget the simple life; there’s no place like home.
Thanks for the kind words. Having a simple life (financially and otherwise), seems to suit me.
Also consider the cost of living in different parts of the country are very different and so $500K goes a lot further some places than others. We are comfortable but housing in northern NJ is crazy. Finding a ranch in our town for our older years and older dog is a Hobson’s choice with all bad options.
I also gave myself the gift of 10 years of retirement. I am female and very happy with the decision, but it came at a price. Everything is a tradeoff.
I find HD, including your articles, useful in pointing out approaches and choices and enjoy all the different voices. Thank you for contributing.
Thanks for your thoughtful comments–I couldn’t agree more.
My husband and I find our money goes a lot further in Arizona, as compared to Oregon. And I chose to retire at 55, knowing I may eventually have to go back to work at some point in the future.
Kristine I echo the praise of your perspective and writing. And why is the HD readership so male-dominated? Perhaps, despite your introverted personality, you have some female friends you could recruit to add some gender diversity to the HD contributor base. (I suspect Jonathan is working on this goal but I guess it’s a big challenge.)
About wealth: John Wesley (principal founder of the Methodist denomination) distilled the Protestant work ethic this way: Make as much money as you can so that you can have more to give away (to help the poor, etc.). I don’t recall ever seeing that theme in any of the HD posts…
Thanks for your nice comments. I have also wondered why there are so few female HD writers. Perhaps women are less willing to share their financial information publicly? Maybe they feel like their experiences aren’t worthy of sharing?
I do know some HD writers have broached the subject of sharing their wealth. Of all the topics covered on HD, how people choose to share their money is probably the most personal of all. Perhaps that’s why there is reluctance to put the information out there.
I would love to have more contributions from women and minorities. But I can only afford to pay writers a token sum, so I’m in no position to go out and hire writers. Instead, I’m dependent on folks raising their hand. And so far, relatively few women and minorities have offered to write for the site. Alas.
“My husband and I have enough money to cover all of our expenses. But we don’t have so much wealth that we need to worry about complicated strategies to avoid paying taxes or elevated Medicare premiums.”
You have found happiness. Super optimization and trying to extract the most out of every dollar takes away peace and occupies mental bandwidth.
Totally agree. Kristine is an amazing place. We are still searching for our purpose and community, despite having significant wealth and oscillate feeling like we have enough and being worried that we don’t. We were born on third base, (and so were many of our friends), and always are impressed and respect those who earned and found their own path. Kudos!
Thanks for your kind comment. Every penny I have, I earned myself. I’ve never received an inheritance. I put myself through college. I worked for thirty years straight–no sabbaticals, no maternity leave, no gap year, no extended time off. I think it’s made me appreciate what I have, possibly to a fault. I take meticulous care of every item I purchase, whether it’s a book, a car or a puppy :-).
Well said!
What a great post and a reminder that we all enjoy different wants and needs in life. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome! I really enjoyed writing this particular article.
I aways enjoy your articles, Kristine, and I think you allude to one reason: your willingness to share so many specific details of your financial story. Your straightforward approach and openness are always refreshing. And I can’t help but have a soft spot for a fellow dog lover!
Thanks Andrew! I’m always happy to share the details of my life. I know many other people wouldn’t feel comfortable putting their financial details out there for everyone to read, but I’m okay with it. And I also appreciate your dog-related columns as well. Perhaps we can branch out and form “HumbleDog”?
Nice to read a “humble down to earth” view on yourself and what you learn, or point out, from other writer’s thoughts. I always look forward to reading a new article from you because I think you represent the average reader here.
Where we live in the U.S.A. will dictate our life style and how much we pay for housing, taxes, or when to replace a vehicle. I grew up in the north where vehicles don’t last very long; mainly due to rust. Living now in a southern state for 38+ years, my vehicles last way longer and no rust. My cost of living is less and my state taxes plus property taxes are very low.
I read the article you mentioned about them losing $500K this year. I do wonder why someone would give a dollar figure versus a percentage they are down. Is the intent to let the reader know their financial status? Is that being humble?
A few weeks ago an acquaintance told me the value of his portfolio and how much in dollars it is down this year, which is held at Vanguard. I’m skeptical of his loss because because it represents a loss of ~35% for a managed account.
I’m with you and not like the others you pointed out. I could point out even more negatives that I read on Humble Dollar, but I’ll remain humble instead.
All the best to you!
Putting a dollar figure (real money) and not a percentage is humble.
Yes, when I retired, I spoke with the Vanguard Private Account folks and discussed how they were going to invest my money. They were custodian of my 401k and my defined benefit lump sum once I retired. The fee was marginally acceptable 0.40%/annum; however, I had one requirement. That was, that they had to discuss with me all investment decisions before they invested my money. They were shocked at the question and said no, you have to give us discretionary approval to invest my money without discussing it with me, based on some BS questionnaire about my investment risk. I told them where they could go, in so many words. LOL
I did this with about 15 other financial advisors or RIAs. Only one, RIA Advisors, in my home town Houston, would allow me to “approve” investments before they were processed and that was agreed by the owner/President of the company. I follow their newsletters and especially; “Lance Roberts” and his insights about the market, the economy and investments.
Two of the advisors (RIAs, by the way) said that I knew enough or more than 98% of investors and that I should invest the money myself (my wife also stated emphatically the same). I bought one of the RIA’s books, Randy Thurman’s ‘The All-Weather Retirement Portfolio‘. It is a post-retirement investment guide to a worry-free income for life. Simple to follow and rebalance accordingly. And, remember, “You Can’t Beat The Market”, because you could never beat the returns on the S&P 500 reported daily because we have to pay fees and taxes to participate in the market. Thus, began my DIY investment journey with TD Ameritrade in April, 2016, and I have not regretted NOT paying fees to these RIAs.
Randy,
I understand your frustration with investment advisors. I have tried to work with both Vanguard and Fidelity wrt to managing some of my investments. Vanguard was a disaster, after 9 months of performance that severely lagged the market I dropped them. Fidelity’s proposals were not impressive so I never started with them.
I suspect that I will just keep being an index fund user for a lot of reasons. Managing taxes is a problem, I have a good accountant but her job is preparing my tax returns, not looking at my overall situation and making recommendations.
Bill
Thanks for the nice comments. I always appreciate the feedback HD readers provide.
I hope there are lots of HD readers who can relate to my lifestyle. I’ve always lived a very modest lifestyle. I went to public K-12 schools. I put myself through college by working part-time, attending a community college and state school and getting LOTS of scholarships (most of which were $500 or less).
I’ve only carried a credit card balance once (when I had to pay for emergency surgery on one of my dogs). I’ve rarely had any debts beyond a mortgage and/or a car loan.
I suspect many would view my simple life as ‘boring’, but I don’t think ‘simple’ and ‘boring’ are necessarily synonymous.
Have a lovely day!
One thing to consider Kristine. You regret not having more than $500,000 in assets and indicate in retirement you live adequately, but modestly – enough to cover expenses, but you chose and had the ability to retire at 55. That gives you quite an advantage over many of us who accumulated more, but also worked longer, in my case to age 66.
If you never added to the $500,000, but invested it for another 11 years before retiring you would have over $1,000,000. I suspect your ER lifestyle is worth more than another $500,000.
Yes, retiring at 55 was definitely at the top of my list of ‘wants’. As I’ve mentioned before, I worked at three different jobs over my 30 years of employment, and never felt ‘passionate’ about any of it. I always worked hard, and tried to do a good job at whatever task I was doing, but I was always happy to leave work behind at 5pm. Being able to spend my days playing with dogs, running our little dog training business and reading and writing makes me way more happy than working ever did.
The clarity of your prose keeps me reading! Congratulations.
Thanks for the kind words!
All through this article it kept hitting me how different you and I are. I have indeed lost over $500K in net worth so far this year, and that’s after some pretty positive recoveries in the last few weeks. But I don’t have the kind of earned authority to discuss financial independence as you. I was lucky in life and earned a high salary, and failure would have been difficult for me. You have achieved a wonderful life in spite of divorce and a much more normal income. The fact you have a story to tell and are a gifted communicator are why your content resonates with so many people.
Thanks for your kind words. I’ve always lived a modest lifestyle and can’t remember too many times when I felt deprived. I’ve always had enough money to pursue the hobbies I enjoy and that’s been good enough for me. Given that I never had a job that was particularly ‘important’, I think my salary was reasonable.
I sometimes think about how my life would have been different if I’d pursued a more complex career. I thought about becoming a pharmacist at one point. I no doubt would have earned a lot more money if I’d followed that career path, but I don’t know if I would have been any happier.
Retired teacher here. I’m always happy when I see you’ve posted a new article, and I often reread your older ones. We’re on the same introvert (and financial) wavelength. Thank you, and please keep writing.
Thanks for the kind comment. I always enjoy hearing from folks who share my introverted (and frugal) lifestyle. I plan on continuing to write for HD for many years to come.
Wonderful post Kristine … you are not alone in the HD community – my finances mirror yours quite a bit and I’m sure there are many others like us out there … Wish I could convince you to visit Penna. to help train my crazy grand dog who still occasionally thinks potty training is optional!
Thank you for the kind comments! You’ll appreciate knowing that many of our dog training clients hire us to deal with the exact issue you are dealing with. Housebreaking is one of the more challenging issues dog owners have to deal with. The good news is that it’s usually a fairly easy issue to ‘cure’. Have a wonderful day.
Great article Kristine. I LOVE the variety of authors on this blog. Various ages, wealth and always just such unique perspectives on different topics. Don’t tell the other authors but I think you’re a top 5 writer on HD! Keep the articles coming!
Thank you for the kind words. I’m always thankful for having the opportunity to contribute my life stories to the HD website. I’ve learned so much over the years from all the other writers. I plan on being a contributor for as long as Jonathan will allow. Have a lovely day.
Sounds to me that you’ve had a clear vision of who you are, what you want out of life, and you’ve successfully steered yourself to get there. I’ve appreciated you sharing glimpses of your journey as I’ve often found your articles relevant and thought provoking. I look forward to more articles from you in the future.
And I always appreciate your kind comments on my posts! I do think I’ve always been one of those people who has been comfortable in their own skin. Even when I was a nerdy kid, who preferred reading books and writing stories to doing anything else, I felt at ease with my life.
This is Chris. I like your writings. I can relate to your simple life. HD features articles from a wide variety of folks, which is a great thing. I am not sure if I would like living in a 55 + community, but I like reading about your and other’s experiences. Just one example of how HD broadens my knowledge.
Hi Chris. Thanks for your kind words. I always enjoy reading the comments posted on my articles. And yes, I agree the strength of HD is the broad swath of knowledge the writers are able to provide. It would seem there is something on HD for just about everyone.
And you never claimed to be a victim of some perceived issue…also something to be admired.
I was raised to always take responsibility for my own actions. I think it’s served me well.
Are you happy Kristine? That is all that matters and your life and lifestyle is yours alone. If you feel financially secure, than what you have in assets doesn’t matter, especially compared with anyone else. If your income allows you to care for your dogs, do you need more? And hey, you have a new husband too.
As I read your articles over the years I had a sense of you being introverted, it all came through as someone who enjoyed the simple life and at times a bit of woe is me. It seems to me you have come through it all with success and happiness as the result.
You really should try some travel though, even it is to the amazing places within 500-1000 miles of where you live.
I had a chuckle when you describe a 55 + community with 18,000 homes. Our 55+ community has 108 units. Oh, here’s the bad part, we can have a dog, but not over 50 pounds.
I’m about as introverted as one can be. I took a test that measured extroversion/introversion on a 1-100 scale. I scored a ‘3’–on the far end of the introversion portion of the curve.
That said, I do enjoy interacting with the people we meet as a result of our dog training business. Since I instantly have something in common with them, it’s easy to come up with things to discuss.
I have done some travel. When I was younger, attending dog events allowed me to see quite a few different parts of the Western and Central United States. I’ve also been to quite a few National Parks.
We’d definitely be out of luck if we wanted to live where you do. We have approximately 250 pounds worth of dog right now!
I look forward to more traveling when I retire. I’ve enjoyed all the trips I took over the years. Your daily routine however, sounds ideal and appealing.
I’ve definitely had some good trips over the years. I’ve been to Montana several times and always enjoyed the natural beauty of that state. But, the older I get, taking trips feels more like work than fun. Having four (large) dogs certainly makes travel complicated.
I’d hazard a guess, the joy you get being responsible for your dogs, outweighs (probably by a considerable margin) the joy you might feel leaving them for a time away traveling. I get it, I’d feel the same way.
How about writing and caring for several dogs? Luckily for us readers here on HD, that’s a nice, compatible combination! Thanks for sharing.
Thanks for the kind words! You are absolutely correct about the dogs. Leaving them (to go on vacation) creates more anxiety than it does relaxation. After all, who is good enough to care for MY dogs? Answer: Almost nobody. Our dogs are a lot of work–they are all large, working dogs who rarely relax. But, I love spending time walking them, training them and just hanging out with them. And yes, writing and dogs seems to be a good combination (written as two of our four dogs are laying at my feet).