Carol Buck

Comments:

• For what ever reason, generally women are pressured to stay younger looking as they get older. Thus, the need for $300 in makeup. Not so true for men. As an example, go look at a picture of Kamala Harris and Tim Walz. I was surprised to learn they are only one year apart in age.

  Post: Women and men are different. Quinn’s in trouble again

  Link to comment from August 20, 2024

• After what I experienced during Covid, I decided to research prepaid funeral and cremation services. My mother died from Covid during the shutdown. Thank goodness she had pre-purchased a cremation policy from the Neptune Society . There were so many problems with the whole system due to the shutdown. Everything was delayed. But Neptune had to deal with them, not myself or my family. Because of her pre-planning we were able to obtain her ashes about two months after she passed and held a private funeral a year later. Because of that experience after doing quite a bit of research, I also purchased a cremation policy for myself, and a burial plan for my husband. I liked that I could purchase insurance to pay to have our remains moved to where we were living at our deaths and/or where we wanted to be buried or cremated. We enjoy traveling and we did not want my family to have to make all the necessary arrangements, while they are grieving, if either of us passed away from home. I also did not want to have the situation where a relative has to pull out their credit card to pay for everything and then later, figure out who pays what. During my research, my husband and I discovered we both had very different wishes for our burial and funeral arrangements. I want to be cremated. He does not. I want my ashes scattered in the ocean. He wants his body to be transported to another state to be buried next to his parents. Thus we purchased a preplanned burial and service package from the funeral home where his parents were buried. This took quite a bit of work! And it was not cheap. Therefore we are on a payment plan. Hopefully it will be paid off and none of our relatives will be asked to pay the remainder due upon our death . Plus, because of legislation, in most states, if you do not use the service you paid for, your heirs get a refund. In my opinion, the more details you can give to your family regarding your burial wishes, the better. And if you pre-pay some of these services, that’s even better.

  Post: Signing up for pre-planned funeral services – Is it worth it?

  Link to comment from July 24, 2024

• Thank you Jonathan for all the knowledge you have shared through the years. Humble Dollar is my must read every morning and I have shared your site with many friends and family. True to form, I should’ve known that you would have a legacy plan.

  Post: Raise Your Voice

  Link to comment from June 23, 2024

• Interesting that Chat GPT provided Vanguard Funds as an example and included an International Fund recommendation. I asked Chat-GPT to write a similar article but to identity 3 Fidelity funds. It named a similar bond fund and total index fund but instead of an International Fund it named a REIT fund.

  Post: All You Need Is Three

  Link to comment from May 27, 2024

• It appears the technology does not exist to keep our personal information stored by others safe.

  Post: Passing Them On

  Link to comment from July 7, 2023

• What an interesting journey and thanks for the book list. I intend to check them out at the library to see what else I can learn. As a former social worker, who is now a retired judge I too have seen many individuals who could use a helping hand due to circumstances out of their control or due to lack of education. Your new project sounds interesting and I will keep an eye out for your upcoming website. And thanks again Jonathan for this wonderful newsletter. Their is nothing else like it and I am always learning something new.

  Post: Free to Give

  Link to comment from July 5, 2023

• Fun! I’m retired. So is my husband. But since he receives a pension I marked him as employed and entered net yearly income from pension. However, why do you not ask for debt from mortgage?

  Post: Two-Minute Checkup

  Link to comment from August 6, 2022

• The scam involving telling someone that their grandchild needs money after being arrested in a foreign country happened to my mother when she was in her 80’s. Luckily, she called me to ask if it were true. This was a wake up call for me as prior to this my mother would have never believed this and would have know immediately it was a scam. After this while she continued to oversee her investments, she agreed to a system where she kept only few months worth of needed funds in her bank account. In order to transfer more money into the fund she would call her investment advisor to request and the advisor would then have to call me to confirm funds could be transferred. The system worked very well. She was able to maintain a sense of financial independence for many years while I was able to insure that the bulk of her funds were safe from financial predators.

  Post: Bad Guy on Line One

  Link to comment from August 4, 2022

• Jonathan. So glad I discovered you during your Wall Street Journal days. I was a little older than you and after finishing law school, starting work, getting married and having one child I discovered to my surprise that I was going to be the one that managed all our savings and investments! With your advice, a stent in an investment club and meeting with a financial advisor a few times, my husband and I are living comfortably in retirement. I too give your books to those that are just starting out. It was fun to read about your life and financial journey in this article.

  Post: Now and Then

  Link to comment from August 1, 2022

• Wish you had a section on annuities. There must be some way to figure out which ones are better than others.

  Post: Start Here, Go Anywhere

  Link to comment from April 15, 2022