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HUMBLEDOLLAR FOUNDER and longtime Wall Street Journal columnist Jonathan Clements passed away earlier this week. He was 62.
I reached out to several of Jonathan’s close friends and colleagues to ask for their remembrances. Taken together, they paint a picture of someone who was as beloved by his peers as he was by his readers.
As Jason Zweig put it, “I have just lost a friend, and so have you.”
Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar and author of How to Retire
Since his untimely passing, almost everyone who has mentioned Jonathan Clements has spoken of his wit, his kindness, his desire to leave the world better than he found it. It’s all true. Helping others gave Jonathan so much joy and purpose that he did it right up until the end of his life, even sharing his thoughts on his cancer diagnosis and the dying process.
What I’ve seen less about is Jonathan’s fearlessness, his willingness to speak truth to power. Those qualities permeate his work, especially the collected Wall Street Journal columns in the book The Best of Jonathan Clements: Classic Columns on Money and Life.
Jonathan railed against brokerage firms and asset managers peddling the investment du jour, even though many of them doubtless were Wall Street Journal advertisers. Rather cheekily, as someone on the Journal’s payroll, he also criticized the financial media for parroting Wall Street jargon and pinning deep meaning on daily market gyrations.
Perhaps most significantly, Jonathan was an early and ardent supporter of investing in broad-market index funds rather than individual stocks or actively managed funds.
Index investing has been thoroughly mainstreamed over the past few decades, but it certainly wasn’t the default in the early 1990s, when Jonathan began urging investors to stop trying to beat the market and opt for inexpensive index funds instead. Like Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, he was ahead of the curve in realizing that bypassing expensive active strategies is the best way for investors to receive their fair share of the market’s gains. Broadcasting that message certainly wasn’t in Wall Street’s interest, but it helped scores of investors get closer to their goals. Along with his kindness and deep body of work, that impact will be an enduring part of his legacy.
William J. Bernstein, author of The Four Pillars of Investing
Not many financial journalists reached a wider audience than Jonathan. Fewer still had his influence. None were as well loved.
The reason why was obvious to all who knew him: His capacity for friendship, for starters. His ability to find humor in almost everything, including his own impending death. His sense of what matters on this earth. And, most importantly of all, his infectious and ever-present smile.
Jonathan was beyond generous with his time. Early in our friendship, he took my wife and me on a tour of the Journal. I still remember the room full of bored copy editors staring glumly at spread out newsprint, and to this day I treasure a sketch he had made of me in the Journal’s famous pointillist style. For fourteen solid years, he lived under a weekly deadline gun; I’m sure he had better things to do with his time than to spend an hour showing people around the office.
There was, however, one class of people who didn’t love Jonathan: Wall Street “pros” whom he helped millions of investors—to their great good fortune—to avoid.
Finally, in the last year of his life he taught the rest of us just how to laugh in the face of death. Like all physicians, I’ve watched too many people meet their ends; I’ve never seen anyone do this as gracefully, and with as remarkable a sensitivity to the discomfort of others, as Jonathan did.
Rest in peace, old friend. You did well in this world.
James Dahle, founder of The White Coat Investor
Jonathan was obviously a talented personal finance writer, but his most important attribute was not his ability to decipher the financial literature and point out the truth about the financial services industry.
Jonathan was particularly exceptional at recognizing and teaching what really matters in life. For Jonathan, money always remained in its proper place, as a tool to enable us to build better relationships and make a difference in the world. During the short period of time between his diagnosis and his death, he showed all of us, in the words of Tim McGraw, how to “live like we were dying.”
We’re all on death row down here, whether we choose to recognize it or not, but that shouldn’t stop us from wringing every last bit of happiness possible out of life while leaving the world a better place for those left behind. May we all be as good as Jonathan at “leaving it all on the field” and having no regrets when the eventual end comes.
RIP Jonathan, I miss you already.
Rick Ferri, host of the Bogleheads on Investing podcast.
“Hey! This is Jonathan Clements from the Wall Street Journal. Is this Rick Ferri?”
That was the first time I heard Jonathan’s distinctively English accent. It was 2001. He called to interview me for an article on low-fee investment advice. I didn’t believe it was him, but he convinced me otherwise, and I am forever grateful for the mention he gave me in a Getting Going article that month. Interest was so great from people reading the article that my phone rang off the hook for the next year. It put my fledgling asset management company on the map.
Jonathan and I stayed in touch over the years. When he left the WSJ for Citigroup, I boldly questioned his leap to the dark side, which didn’t make him happy. Jonathan thought they were going to do great things at myFi, a personal finance startup within the conglomerate. After a year or so, he started to realize that creating something beautiful inside a Wall Street bureaucracy was not going to be. But then he did create something beautiful. Jonathan started HumbleDollar in 2016, and it was a huge success.
I had lunch with him about five years ago and asked why he started HumbleDollar as a not-for-profit rather than a commercial site. He said he wasn’t doing it for the money, he was doing it “because I want to continue being part of the conversation.” I will never forget Jonathan’s answer, and I hope you all join me in ensuring that he stays part of the conversation.
Rest in peace, Jonathan. You made a difference.
Peter Mallouk, president and CEO of Creative Planning
I grew up reading Jonathan Clements. He was one of the few in the financial world who spoke plain English, told it straight, and gave advice that stood the test of time. Along with John Bogle, his writing shaped how I think about money — and life. Both men were straight shooters who believed in long-term, buy-and-hold investing, and in focusing on what really matters: your quality of life.
Years ago, I called Jonathan out of the blue and asked if he’d consider doing a podcast with me. To my surprise, he said yes. He came to Kansas City, and that’s when I first met him in person — and first realized he even had an accent. From that day, we became fast friends. He was also the one who came up with the name of our show, Down the Middle.
Over the years, we recorded many episodes together. Jonathan once told me it was one of his favorite things he’d done in his career, because it let him reach so many people with a consistent, simple, wise message. My favorite episode came just last month, when we talked about the keys to happiness. Another was our “Signal or Noise” episode, where Charlie Bilello and I dedicated the whole show to Jonathan’s wisdom. He was on top of his game then, but afterward, he admitted he didn’t expect to do too many more.
Jonathan left a real imprint. Few people truly change the way we think about money and life. He did. I’ll miss him.
Mike Piper, author of the Oblivious Investor blog
Jonathan’s writing has been a source of both learning and enjoyment for me for many years. As a financial writer myself, I’ve always seen Jonathan’s work as the example to strive for: clear and direct, soundly based on the facts, and most importantly, motivated by kindness and caring for the reader.
In 2018 I finally got to meet Jonathan in person at the White Coat Investor Conference in Park City, Utah. He was, unsurprisingly, as kind in person as he is in his writing. What really struck me though was that in person you could see the same twinkle in his eye that somehow came through in his written words—the punchline at the end of the article, that he couldn’t wait to share with you.
It has been a privilege to work on the Jonathan Clements Getting Going on Savings Initiative in his honor and now in his memory.
Allan S. Roth, founder of Wealth Logic and author of How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street
I was lucky enough to call Jonathan Clements my friend. Those who knew Jonathan knew how easy it was to both admire him and simply enjoy being around him. Jonathan had a gift for making the complicated seem simple – not just in money but in life.
Most people first knew him through his writing—whether in The Wall Street Journal, his books, or later with HumbleDollar. He had a rare talent for cutting through the noise, for reminding us that money wasn’t about getting rich but about building a good life. He gave people something far more valuable than stock tips; he gave them a path to peace of mind.
For me, Jonathan was much more than a wise financial journalist. He was funny, wry, and endlessly curious. He loved a good debate, and a good laugh. He could take serious subjects and deliver them with a twinkle in his eye. And he was generous—with his time, his advice, and his friendship. He always made you feel like you mattered, no matter how busy he was.
Jonathan also lived what he taught. He didn’t chase after more for the sake of more. He valued experiences over things, integrity over appearances, and people over possessions. He showed us that simplicity wasn’t just smart finance—it was a way of living well.
I’ll miss his counsel, his humor, and his friendship. Yet I take comfort in knowing that his words will live on, guiding people for generations. Jonathan helped countless readers, and he helped his friends as well by showing us what truly matters.
Rest easy, my friend. You made the world a clearer, kinder, and better place. Many of us will work to assure your legacy lives on and continues to help people.
Jason Zweig writes The Intelligent Investor column for The Wall Street Journal
I have just lost a friend, and so have you.
In his nearly two decades at the Journal, Jonathan wrote more than 1,000 columns in which he crusaded against high fees, lousy financial advice and mediocre investment management—and explored even bigger topics, like how to raise financially responsible children and how to use money to find happiness.
His pen was sharp as a needle, but he wielded it with humor, grace and a confessional, personal touch. Readers felt they knew him—because they did. More than any commentator before or since, Jonathan made personal finance personal.
Fortunately, Jonathan did have the truth on his side. He knew, from painstaking reporting and exhaustive research, that the claims that were central to the financial industry in the 1990s and 2000s were not only bogus but bad for investors.
He also mocked Wall Street’s jargon and empty verbiage.
What does “We’re cautiously optimistic” mean? It means “We can’t figure out what’s going on,” Jonathan wrote.
Jonathan also repeatedly wrote about the importance of spending money not on possessions, but on experiences with friends and family and on causes you care about. To him, money wasn’t the end all and be all, but only a means to an end.
To those who knew him well, Jonathan’s most characteristic trait was his laughter. Somehow, he was able to joke repeatedly about his own death. At lunch when I visited him last fall, he pondered the menu, then decided to order a beef dish. “I certainly don’t have to worry about my cholesterol anymore,” he cackled. I had to laugh, even as my heart sank.
Farewell, friend.
For a further remembrance by Jason Zweig, please see “Saying Goodbye to the WSJ’s Jonathan Clements” on The Wall Street Journal website.
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.
Thanks, Adam, for collecting these heart-felt tributes. We were financially-clueless immigrants in our forties in 1999 when Jonathan put us on a path to wealth through his honest down-to-earth column at the WSJ. RIP, Jonathan, you will always be remembered as young and beautiful and smart and good.
How do you explain feeling admiration and kinship with someone whose financial newsletter you’ve read for only a year? These comments gave me some insight. I only last month retired and will mine the advise of these colleagues to continue this newest journey. Thank you.
Adam, thank you for coming up with such a GREAT WAY to honor Jonathan.
These individuals did a fantastic job of describing Jonathan’s many positive personal qualities. They all painted such an accurate portrait of the unique man he was.
I think the remembrance that stood out the most to me among all of these tributes were these words from what Allan Roth wrote about Jonathan.
“And he was generous—with his time, his advice, and his friendship. He always made you feel like you mattered, no matter how busy he was.”
Everyone who followed Jonathan knew of and benefited from his generosity, which continued after his cancer diagnosis and up until his death. And based on the series of reflective articles that Jonathan wrote and which will be posted to Humble Dollar over the next several months, this generosity and Jonathan’s advice will continue even beyond his passing.
What better way is there for someone to show you how much you mattered to him, and how much he cared about and wanted to help you and others with the sound advice he offered, than what he did in life and in death?
Jonathan was a special person. He loved the Humble Dollar community. We and countess others were very blessed by what he wrote and that he was never too busy to make time to help us.
Jonathan’s legacy of generosity, caring, and kindness will live on. May he rest in peace.
RIP Jonathan. May your family understand your strengths and help them live on for us all. We are so grateful. God Bless, You have accomplished much more than you thought.
Adam, thanks for collecting and posting these comments. Great to hear from Jonathan’s colleagues in the world of finance. He was admired and appreciated by his peers as much as he was by us amateurs.
Rest in peace, Jonathan. My condolences to Elaine and family.
RIP, Jonathan. You will be deeply missed.
I came across this quote: “It is not the length of life, but the depth of life.” I think it captures well Jonathan’s impact on so many of us through his wisdom and kindness. Thank you, Jonathan.
Jonathan was a humble man. Perhaps his greatest gift.
Adam, thank you for these heartfelt, moving and respectful comments—true to the memory of Jonathan; how he impacted others and how he will be remembered.
Great tribute post, and well deserved. RIP Jon.
As a young professional with a young family, I remember reading Jonathan in the WSJ and wondering to myself “how am I ever going to be able to do this?” I had no money and came from nothing, but I kept on reading and then I found something I could do. It may have been put 2% into the 401(k), and I kept reading and kept finding other things I could do and obviously my income start growing, but things were always tight. But I kept reading and kept trying to find things to do then start reading Jason and now I’m 66 and retired for four years and I’m so comfortable I try to find things to spend money on. I would say Jonathan
was probably the biggest influence on our retirement success. Thank you! My condolences and best wishes to his family.
Great post, Adam, summing up all I knew (or thought I knew) about Jonathan!
Rest in Peace, Sir.
Great tributes. Rest in peace, Jonathan.
Jonathan will be sorely missed; his wit and wisdom was timeless. I will always treasure the personal, handwritten notes he took time to send. HD has been a guidepost for small investors these past few years but hoping it continues to long endure as a legacy to its creator. RIP Jonathan
My favorite email was the one coming from Jonathan. He had a special way in his writing that made you feel connected with him. I miss that and I miss his passion for us, the everyday investor trying to gain a bit of knowledge from someone we absolutely admired.
When I found Humble Dollar, and perhaps lacking said humility, offered an article to Jonathan, he didn’t just reject it, he explained why. My immediate response was, “Well, I don’t need to write this anyway.” But I continued to read Humble Dollar and a while later I thought, “I should listen to Jonathan and rewrite that article as he suggested.”
I have not become one of the greatly loved authors on the forum, but I am grateful that he edited that one and perhaps a couple more and published them on the forum. That was a gift to me if not to anyone else, and I know I am only one of many who received that gift. What a thing! Not only did I get to read his writing and see his editing at work for many others, but also to receive this same inclusion in a gentle, loving way.
Thanks Adam and all those who gave us a personal view of the wonderful person most Wall Street Journal readers knew only through his writing. One of my first jobs included the responsibility to review the Wall Street Journal and the Federal Register for items that might impact our company and report the info to a couple of superiors. That’s where I “met” Jonathan. I’m going to keep this post short and just say Jonathan made my life much, much better, and I will always be grateful for that.
These beautiful tributes from Jonathan’s friends and colleagues nicely complement those from authors and commenters on Humble Dollar. When I read a new post, I often wonder “what would Jonathan say about this?” Thank you Adam, Bogdan and the many authors who will keep this site going, as it will live on as a tribute to Jonathan. I think he would like that.
Thank you Adam for sharing your own reflections plus those of the financial pros today. So many of us learned so much from Jonathan’s skills and humanity.
Adam, thank you for curating these tributes. Each added more unique color to the palette that constituted Jonathan’s life. I would also offer that your fabulous March 2025 “Asking The Editor” interview of Jonathan remains pinned to my office wall, and is re-read often. It captured the pure essence of this wise, funny, gracious and humble man.
Thank you, Adam, I hope these words will bring peace to Jonathan’s family when they read them. Chris
Adam, I expected a special piece from you today, and you didn’t disappoint. All of these comments are much appreciated. Many mention Jonathan’s generosity. And Rick Ferri gives a quote from Jonathan that I remember reading somewhere about continuing to “be part of the conversation.” That’s what he did for others through HumbleDollar.
By opening up his pages to writers without a voice, he pulled them into the “conversation” about money and life. By doing so, he created a venue where other folks with a keen interest in money can share thoughts and friendly debate. It’s an environment that stands in stark contrast to the “cesspool of the internet” as he termed it.
Jonathan is gone, but his work stands as a testament to the life described above by his peers. And our lives are better for it.
Adam, thanks for collecting these. Great to read.
This from Peter Mallouk particularly resonates with me:
”Jonathan left a real imprint. Few people truly change the way we think about money and life. He did. I’ll miss him.”
RIP Jonathan, and thank you so much.
Thanks to all for your comments in tribute to the life and wisdom that Jonathan Clements shared with everyone.