Your focus on mastery seems like overkill. Per a physician a few years back, the only puzzle proven to aid w/dementia is the crossword puzzle. Guessing it helps with word recall. Also guessing it may not do much/anything for other brain functions. Personally, the daily LinkedIn puzzles are really good. I favor the logic puzzles, but have gotten to like, and get much better at, the word puzzles as well. Can be competitive (if you want it to be), as you can see your ranking against your connections that play each puzzle. (You can hide your scores if you want to.) They are scored by 'time to complete'.
That, in addition to the NYT. Enjoy.
When I started the work/invest journey 40+yrs ago, I saw the long term bond & equity returns was something like 5% & 11%.
Since I was in it for the long term, I was always 100% equities. I am recently retired. But my outlook is for another 35yrs. So I am still Long Term goal oriented.
My conclusion from seeing the above 5% & 11% returns was: "Bonds are for Suckers".
(But wait!! "Bonds are less risky". I call BS. If a company goes Chapter 11, the bondholders either lose most or all of their investment the vast majority of the time-- So a big fat red herring)
Here's the deal (ie decision matrix) - Extreme 1 - Save every dime, don't spend on anything except food, clothing and shelter and spend the minimum on that-- ie, live like a pauper & leave a large inheritance (ie to a cat shelter) Extreme 2 - SKI uR butt off aka Die w/ Nothing SomeWhere In the Middle (SWIM <--- New coined term. Send royalties to charity. J) -- The challenge for each of us is figuring out where that "middle" is. IMHO- SKIing & Die w/ Nothing is beyond silly. The typical person does not know how long they will live. Guess wrong then ur a burden to ur kids, or homeless, etc. I'm a SWIM guy, ie, Moderation
Re: "Also, this 4% is pretax" This is not necessarily true. It could be all after-tax, or tax-free, or pre-tax- Or more likely a combination of all three.Also, the previous article in this series hits on the 4% rule, do maybe ybe this article should be come before that one?Just suggesting
It would be very useful if all articles had a published date, and a revised date, as updates are made. I can't tell if the data in this article is from last week or 10 yrs ago. Thx
Ok, so you are referring to the percentage of the benefit lost compared to before the loss.
So the loss of SS household income would range between 1/3 to 1/2. (If I did the math right, looking at the extreme cases) Correct?
RE: "If the disappearing benefit was larger than the spousal benefit, the hit would be even larger"Sorry but I do not understand this statement. The surviving spouse is entitled to receive the larger of the 2 benefits, upon the passing of the other spouse. Can you elaborate pls.Thx
Comments
Your focus on mastery seems like overkill. Per a physician a few years back, the only puzzle proven to aid w/dementia is the crossword puzzle. Guessing it helps with word recall. Also guessing it may not do much/anything for other brain functions. Personally, the daily LinkedIn puzzles are really good. I favor the logic puzzles, but have gotten to like, and get much better at, the word puzzles as well. Can be competitive (if you want it to be), as you can see your ranking against your connections that play each puzzle. (You can hide your scores if you want to.) They are scored by 'time to complete'. That, in addition to the NYT. Enjoy.
Post: Brain Power
Link to comment from October 31, 2026
When I started the work/invest journey 40+yrs ago, I saw the long term bond & equity returns was something like 5% & 11%. Since I was in it for the long term, I was always 100% equities. I am recently retired. But my outlook is for another 35yrs. So I am still Long Term goal oriented. My conclusion from seeing the above 5% & 11% returns was: "Bonds are for Suckers". (But wait!! "Bonds are less risky". I call BS. If a company goes Chapter 11, the bondholders either lose most or all of their investment the vast majority of the time-- So a big fat red herring)
Post: Why Bonds Matter
Link to comment from October 3, 2026
Here's the deal (ie decision matrix) - Extreme 1 - Save every dime, don't spend on anything except food, clothing and shelter and spend the minimum on that-- ie, live like a pauper & leave a large inheritance (ie to a cat shelter) Extreme 2 - SKI uR butt off aka Die w/ Nothing SomeWhere In the Middle (SWIM <--- New coined term. Send royalties to charity. J) -- The challenge for each of us is figuring out where that "middle" is. IMHO- SKIing & Die w/ Nothing is beyond silly. The typical person does not know how long they will live. Guess wrong then ur a burden to ur kids, or homeless, etc. I'm a SWIM guy, ie, Moderation
Post: Anyone For S.K.I.ing?
Link to comment from September 26, 2026
You should add TOD to the Beneficiaries section. It is mentioned in another section Titling Accounts) as well, but also belongs there.
Post: Estate Checklist
Link to comment from May 11, 2026
Re: "Also, this 4% is pretax" This is not necessarily true. It could be all after-tax, or tax-free, or pre-tax- Or more likely a combination of all three. Also, the previous article in this series hits on the 4% rule, do maybe ybe this article should be come before that one? Just suggesting
Post: Four Percent Rule
Link to comment from January 7, 2026
The Savings section should touch on: after-tax, taxe-deferred, and tax-free.
Post: Retirement Income
Link to comment from January 7, 2026
It would be very useful if all articles had a published date, and a revised date, as updates are made. I can't tell if the data in this article is from last week or 10 yrs ago. Thx
Post: Life Expectancy
Link to comment from January 7, 2026
Ok, so you are referring to the percentage of the benefit lost compared to before the loss. So the loss of SS household income would range between 1/3 to 1/2. (If I did the math right, looking at the extreme cases) Correct?
Post: Unasked Questions
Link to comment from August 3, 2024
RE: "If the disappearing benefit was larger than the spousal benefit, the hit would be even larger" Sorry but I do not understand this statement. The surviving spouse is entitled to receive the larger of the 2 benefits, upon the passing of the other spouse. Can you elaborate pls. Thx
Post: Unasked Questions
Link to comment from August 3, 2024