cesplint

Comments:

• If I went from debt to Powerball winnings, I think I would hire someone. As a normal investor over decades, starting with a few good books and your bank/brokerage site would maybe be a good first stop. As Jonathan headed education at a bank, I would be curious to know if he thinks the banks/brokerages do a good job for the new investor. I cannot keep up with the amount of material that Fidelity and Morgan Stanley kick out. TIAA could do a better job, ironically for all their work in the education industry. I started by reading Your Money or Your Life way back and went from there.

  Post: I Ain’t Stupid Ya Know

  Link to comment from August 28, 2024

• My own regrets are character failings—e.g. impatience, judgment—not a wish that work time had been less or different. Also, choosing a steady and lucrative field (and luck) meant we didn’t spend much time beyond the first few years with budgets or extensive financial planning. Spending time with dear ones and really listening help me to improve, I hope!

  Post: Did we do this all wrong?

  Link to comment from August 28, 2024

• For the first 10 years of professional life frugality was a necessity and not necessarily fun, but as time has passed the balance is now more fun frugality than necessity. Some things are habit, some have been learned from the wisdom of others: the Swedish Death Cleaning and Marie Kondo books made big impacts on our materialism. We had an enormous amount of books and when Kondo recommended dividing the number of books by likely years of life remaining, it didn’t take mathematical genius to see we were serious self-deceivers. I then went crazy applying this same exercise to clothing, streaming services, food and items stored for a rainy day, etc. We aren’t extreme minimalists yet, but we’re closer to that now than we were in our 20s.

  Post: Is being frugal a way of life, a necessity, habit or fun? RDQ thinks about it.

  Link to comment from August 28, 2024

• You do not have to travel to meet, study, work or volunteer with people from all over the world who have come to America. That is among the beautiful aspects of this successful melting pot of ours! Travel can indeed be expanding, but it comes at a personal financial cost, an environmental cost and people can achieve exactly what you experience when you travel and talk to people for a couple of hours, by volunteering at their local hospital or engaging in a hobby. As many pointed out, self-study of different places through books, newspapers and video can also give far more expertise than a one-day cruise ship stop at the Parthenon, for example. I have known people to go into serious debt over the pressure to travel including students taking on more loans to do so. There are other ways to engage with diverse people and learn about sites.

  Post: Travel is a valuable learning experience – our world is linked like never before, we need more understanding 

  Link to comment from August 24, 2024

• Thanks for writing a follow up to your previous JEPI article.

  Post: A Foolish Option

  Link to comment from August 24, 2024

• This is great advice, and agree that New Jersey has some beautiful areas!

  Post: Here to Stay

  Link to comment from August 24, 2024

• This is exactly why PA is out of the running for our retirement destination. We always hope states use rational reasons for the formulas they use to achieve a budget, so this may make sense for PA based on the low number of people who would be affected by this structure.

  Post: A Time to Give

  Link to comment from August 24, 2024

• We have superfunded, but it’s key to remember that states have limits on the amount that can be held in each 529 (generally $300ish - $600ish). Of course a student can be beneficiary of different 529s and one can transfer funds to another recipient if a fund becomes overloaded. https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/529-contribution-limits Also, if one superfunds but dies before the 5 years have been reached, there are tax implications for the estate.

  Post: A Time to Give

  Link to comment from August 24, 2024

• Covering at least half of college costs for nieces, nephews, and others close to us including grad school. We had to put ourselves through under our own steam aside from scholarships, and we both worked 40+/ week all the way through school. Maxed out all workplace retirement plans, income deferrals, IRAs. It can be harder to retire early this way, but you shelter income from lawsuits (thankfully not but in medicine it happens). Against advice we bought individual stocks mostly in tech and health care/pharma/devices, areas of our competency (except for my Chipotle early gamble, competency in burrito studies). It worked out, this will be legacy money to reprice at our deaths. Retirement money in bonds and indexes. Big regret in ever buying houses, cars and all the junk that goes in them. We are hopeless losers at real estate investment for personal or rental reasons. Here’s to late discovery at the enjoyment of minimal space in a secured building in a great location with public transportation. I regret not having a couple of golden retrievers through the journey, and my husband regrets not having a couple of chatty Siamese cats, but with each of us allergic to the other’s pet of choice, we have saved lots on vacuums!

  Post: Committing Ourselves by Jonathan Clements

  Link to comment from August 24, 2024

• Kinda of surprised most of the amounts here are modest. Great question, though, I’ll be getting more to keep other than the sub-$500 I keep in small bills. Maybe not so much as several months of payroll!

  Post: Cash On Hand

  Link to comment from August 24, 2024