medhat

Comments:

• As usual, thank you for highlighting the complexity and various factors to consider. Jon, you and I are almost the identical age which makes some of the comparison determinations easier (to a degree). All in all a good problem to have, but optimizing the situation is a challenge.

  Post: Paying to Avoid Pain

  Link to comment from May 11, 2024

• Insightful as always, but curious with regards to your third point. If P/E should trend down to a historical 20 (understanding that past performance is no guarantee of a future P/E), if the end result is a return of ~5% rather than an ~ 6.7%, wouldn't that likely be viewed by many as worth the risk, relative to a treasury return?

  Post: Not Scared of Bears

  Link to comment from April 27, 2024

• Jon, like many have long appreciated your candor, obviously from the financial perspective but also for how it's impacted your own life. Sorry to hear of the more recent events but wish you the best, money wise and otherwise.

  Post: Growing Pains

  Link to comment from October 2, 2023

• I may take you up on the offer Jon, but reading the financial exploits of others, both good and less good, make me feel my personal story is rather bland. And for that I'm eternally grateful.

  Post: What’s Your Story?

  Link to comment from August 6, 2023

• Thank you Steve for this really interesting take, exactly what readers want from Humble Dollar. As a sector-biased investor this is a lot of confirmation bias on my part (also, my career is in healthcare to there's that too). To add to your great observation, I would add that the Peter Lynch analogy was intended for individual stock picking vs a sector play, but obviously the extrapolation makes sense, in not a safer balance between an industry overweight (e.g., Vanguard Healthcare) vs. a single stock (e.g., Intuitive Surgical). When it comes to choosing which path I suppose it all comes down to risk tolerance.

  Post: Healthy Choices

  Link to comment from April 25, 2023

• As other commenters have mentioned, compounding isn't limited to dividend-generating stocks. On a broader level, it's really using the value of time to build upon a sensible foundation, which in turn is probably helped by some sort of diversification, as putting all one's eggs in a single basket where they either don't hatch or don't grow negates any compounding effect.

  Post: Saved by Compounding

  Link to comment from April 13, 2023

• While I agree wholeheartedly with Andrew's advice to learn to cook, and by extension "eat at home more often," I am somewhat resigned to believe we're swimming against the current of convenience on this one. Yes, typically going out to eat at a restaurant, fast food or otherwise, is more expensive than cooking a meal at home. But factoring in both "time is money (opportunity cost)" together with the veritable explosion in take home foods in places from gas stations to Whole Foods, one can see that this market is exploding, not shrinking. Being a home cook, on the still somewhat infrequent occasion where I'm looking for a fast meal, I'm still guided by the cost of alternatives, and typically will go the route of drive through at a fast food outlet where I typically have mobile order "deals." So my gentle recommendations, when asked (for example, by my children) is to keep an eye on their dining spending, and if they aren't going to cook at home (they're actually modestly good about this for their ages), then separate dining out for functional subsistence from dining out as entertainment, and budget accordingly.

  Post: What’s Cooking?

  Link to comment from September 13, 2022

• Interested in the experiences of others, but as someone who's gone through the college admissions carousel 3 times (all done now!), as a family we never really paid too much attention to any of these rankings. Our kids all had a sober idea of where they would be competitive for admission, and as parents we tried as best as we could to let them figure out what would be the best "fit" for each of them individually (they all chose vastly different educational environments). While cost was a consideration, we were in a position where we could value fit > cost (then there were grants and scholarships that helped as well). But never was there a consideration that, because a school was ranked 17 vs 20, or unranked, that came into the picture.

  Post: Games Colleges Play

  Link to comment from September 13, 2022

• I'll be succinct. Spot. On. Maybe a bit is confirmation bias, but the tool recommended everything we already do (I'm a longtime reader, back to the WSJ days), and this made me feel pretty good we've charted a solid path. Thanks!

  Post: Check on Yourself

  Link to comment from August 6, 2022

• Jon, I trust you know many of the HD readers have been vicarious passengers along your professional (and occasionally, when it's revealed, your personal journey, and if we listened half the time, did pretty well with your advice. We're of very comparable age, and with similar qualms over the concept of "working too much." Yeah, maybe so, but I continue to believe it beats the alternative, not having enough to fill the day. Further, while most of us like to complain some, I think if we're in that position the ability to do something at any age that brings some sort of satisfaction, accomplishment, or the feeling of contribution is one that shouldn't be taken lightly. And if someone is willing to pay us for it, all the better! I was just asked yesterday when I planned to "quit work." My answer was that, so long as on a net basis I find my work interesting and rewarding enough to overcome the modest hassles that likely come with any job, then I'll keep doing it as long as they'll have me, and as long as I can contribute meaningfully. At times over the years has it been at the expense of time that could have been spent with family? Absolutely. But on the other hand I don't regret the example I've set for my children with regards to the balance between work/pay/life. It's different for everyone obviously, but I for one have greatly enjoyed your writing over the years. Thanks.

  Post: Now and Then

  Link to comment from July 30, 2022