Thank you, Jonathan! During a time of polarized American political discourse (sometimes even at the family breakfast table) one of the primary reasons that HumbleDollar has remained a daily must-read for me on issues involving personal finance has been the implicit understanding among HD readers that we can "agree to disagree...without being disagreeable". So may it be forever more.
Jonathan - you have historically been a thoughtful voice of moderation, providing succinct, actionable steps that readers can employ during periods of upheaval in the investment market. Today's list is a gift, particularly for younger investors who may be experiencing their first taste of broad-scale market volatility. Thank, you!
Indeed, David - we are living in interesting times. This was addressed in one of the three principles mentioned above for successful long-term investing (faith, patience, and discipline). Faith is first on the list for a reason....Faith in the efficiency of free markets, faith in the nobility of free minds and faith in the steely determination of a free society to take the required corrective actions when confronted with the threat of tyranny. I am genetically hard-wired as an optimist in this regard...My 5th great grandfather was a signer of the ultimate document of faith - the Declaration of Independence.
Two alternating thoughts. Regarding our existing market holdings, I once again will channel my inner Bogle: "Don't just do something, stand there". The cause of this particular market upheaval may be unique, but the inevitable outcome for plan-oriented, long-term investors is not. Faith, patience and discipline. As it relates to current (excess) cash holdings, I always liked this analogy: Tuna is now on sale at the local market / we enjoy tuna / tuna has an extremely long shelf life / time to fill up our cart with tuna.
Jonathan - I felt like I was running stride-by-stride with you in this 5K - what an exceptional narrative. Thank you for sharing this experience. My takeaway is that it's our toil in pursuit of a worthy goal that tends to stay ingrained in our brains, long after the achievement of the stated objective fades from memory. This reality compliments your regular advice about focusing retirement discretionary spending on memorable experiences, not material goods. Cervantes said it well: "The road is always better than the Inn"
Adam, the multiple URL links to other resources in this week's article are exceptionally helpful! I have read a good number of the works you cited, but your narrative helps to nicely connect the dots for newer investors on the 4 key concepts highlighted. I am forwarding a copy of this article to my adult children. Thank you for this insightful posting.
Aggravation vs. Devastation is the contrast that Greg seems to be addressing in this thoughtful posting. In my "day job" I typically suggest to clients that they focus their insurance dollars on protecting against devastation (e.g. Liability Umbrella, disability and life insurance for HH income protection) and opt to self-insure whenever possible against aggravation (via selecting higher home / auto insurance deductibles that correspond with their level of cash reserve funds) and generally bypass most warranties and service plan type offers. The majority of folks I work with could recover from a $1000 out-of-pocket collision deductible after an auto accident without too much difficulty. Very few could say the same after a $1,000,000 personal injury judgement against them, or the loss of a breadwinner's paycheck due to injury, illness or premature death. An intentional strategy of re-deploying insurance dollars previously spent on aggravation-level exposures to instead buy protection against devastation-level events can also help to keep their total annual out-of-pocket premiums paid for all HH coverage more manageable.
"In order to know where you are going, it's first helpful to know where you've been..." Back in the mid-90s, when my wife and I were struggling with the financials around whether she could afford to leave the workforce after the birth of our first child, the exercise of building out all our expenses by category in Quicken was absolutely critical to helping us make that decision . A twelve month "look-back" of what we spent (and where we spent it - by specific category) helped us come to some common ground as a couple on whether "needs" in our purchasing were actually "wants" or merely just "wishes". She did end up leaving the workforce while raising our children...and I've been a die-hard Quicken user ever since, primarily for this reason. As we now approach the possibility of an early retirement, Quicken reports on our expenses are extremely helpful in helping us identify what is a reasonable annual retirement spending target in our planning. I'm sorry, but some arbitrary "rule of thumb" (e.g. "plan to live on 75% of your pre-retirement income") is way too vague for my comfort. The details matter. There is comfort in being able to do year-over-year comparisons of expenses, particularly since we are both self-employed. Quicken does that for us. Our CPA also thanks us at tax time and gives us a nice discount on his preparation rate based on the robust tax reports that Quicken runs in mere seconds for us. In short - I'm not a budgeter, I'm a tracker.
When our 2 children entered middle school and high school, I encouraged both to compete in speech and debate (aka forensics) as an extracurricular activity. My hope was that by doing so, they would develop strong communication and critical thinking skills. My own HS years spent engaged in this activity have contributed significantly to whatever modest professional success I've been able to enjoy as an adult. I initially volunteered as an assistant coach and event judge at tournaments when our kids competed in the early 2010s. Spending 15-20 Saturdays a year engaging with hundreds of earnest kids, each working diligently to get just a little better at their craft each week - it was just a wonderful thing to be a part of. After our kids moved on to college, I opted to continue coaching at 2 other high schools, eventually assuming a head coach / moderator role at my alma mater for 2 years. It's like I have 25 kids of my own that are all now moving into young adulthood. The regular interactions I still have with students I've coached over the last decade has been like drinking from the fountain of youth for this old timer! After retirement, my plan is to seek out an inner-city HS that wants to start up a speech and debate team and work part-time in helping them build and develop a sustainable program. I seem to have a thing for seeking out start-up opportunities in my work-life, so helping another generation of kids discover this wonderful activity in schools where it doesn't currently exist seems like a perfect fit to keep me busy and happy.
Comments
Thank you, Jonathan! During a time of polarized American political discourse (sometimes even at the family breakfast table) one of the primary reasons that HumbleDollar has remained a daily must-read for me on issues involving personal finance has been the implicit understanding among HD readers that we can "agree to disagree...without being disagreeable". So may it be forever more.
Post: Let’s Be Adults by Jonathan Clements
Link to comment from April 22, 2025
Jonathan - you have historically been a thoughtful voice of moderation, providing succinct, actionable steps that readers can employ during periods of upheaval in the investment market. Today's list is a gift, particularly for younger investors who may be experiencing their first taste of broad-scale market volatility. Thank, you!
Post: Making Lemonade by Jonathan Clements
Link to comment from April 6, 2025
Indeed, David - we are living in interesting times. This was addressed in one of the three principles mentioned above for successful long-term investing (faith, patience, and discipline). Faith is first on the list for a reason....Faith in the efficiency of free markets, faith in the nobility of free minds and faith in the steely determination of a free society to take the required corrective actions when confronted with the threat of tyranny. I am genetically hard-wired as an optimist in this regard...My 5th great grandfather was a signer of the ultimate document of faith - the Declaration of Independence.
Post: Tariffs and our retirement assets
Link to comment from April 4, 2025
Two alternating thoughts. Regarding our existing market holdings, I once again will channel my inner Bogle: "Don't just do something, stand there". The cause of this particular market upheaval may be unique, but the inevitable outcome for plan-oriented, long-term investors is not. Faith, patience and discipline. As it relates to current (excess) cash holdings, I always liked this analogy: Tuna is now on sale at the local market / we enjoy tuna / tuna has an extremely long shelf life / time to fill up our cart with tuna.
Post: Tariffs and our retirement assets
Link to comment from April 4, 2025
Jonathan - I felt like I was running stride-by-stride with you in this 5K - what an exceptional narrative. Thank you for sharing this experience. My takeaway is that it's our toil in pursuit of a worthy goal that tends to stay ingrained in our brains, long after the achievement of the stated objective fades from memory. This reality compliments your regular advice about focusing retirement discretionary spending on memorable experiences, not material goods. Cervantes said it well: "The road is always better than the Inn"
Post: Hitting Repeat by Jonathan Clements
Link to comment from April 4, 2025
Adam, the multiple URL links to other resources in this week's article are exceptionally helpful! I have read a good number of the works you cited, but your narrative helps to nicely connect the dots for newer investors on the 4 key concepts highlighted. I am forwarding a copy of this article to my adult children. Thank you for this insightful posting.
Post: Paying Your Tuition
Link to comment from March 30, 2025
Floss...daily.
Post: Help Wanted
Link to comment from March 26, 2025
Aggravation vs. Devastation is the contrast that Greg seems to be addressing in this thoughtful posting. In my "day job" I typically suggest to clients that they focus their insurance dollars on protecting against devastation (e.g. Liability Umbrella, disability and life insurance for HH income protection) and opt to self-insure whenever possible against aggravation (via selecting higher home / auto insurance deductibles that correspond with their level of cash reserve funds) and generally bypass most warranties and service plan type offers. The majority of folks I work with could recover from a $1000 out-of-pocket collision deductible after an auto accident without too much difficulty. Very few could say the same after a $1,000,000 personal injury judgement against them, or the loss of a breadwinner's paycheck due to injury, illness or premature death. An intentional strategy of re-deploying insurance dollars previously spent on aggravation-level exposures to instead buy protection against devastation-level events can also help to keep their total annual out-of-pocket premiums paid for all HH coverage more manageable.
Post: Going Naked
Link to comment from March 23, 2025
"In order to know where you are going, it's first helpful to know where you've been..." Back in the mid-90s, when my wife and I were struggling with the financials around whether she could afford to leave the workforce after the birth of our first child, the exercise of building out all our expenses by category in Quicken was absolutely critical to helping us make that decision . A twelve month "look-back" of what we spent (and where we spent it - by specific category) helped us come to some common ground as a couple on whether "needs" in our purchasing were actually "wants" or merely just "wishes". She did end up leaving the workforce while raising our children...and I've been a die-hard Quicken user ever since, primarily for this reason. As we now approach the possibility of an early retirement, Quicken reports on our expenses are extremely helpful in helping us identify what is a reasonable annual retirement spending target in our planning. I'm sorry, but some arbitrary "rule of thumb" (e.g. "plan to live on 75% of your pre-retirement income") is way too vague for my comfort. The details matter. There is comfort in being able to do year-over-year comparisons of expenses, particularly since we are both self-employed. Quicken does that for us. Our CPA also thanks us at tax time and gives us a nice discount on his preparation rate based on the robust tax reports that Quicken runs in mere seconds for us. In short - I'm not a budgeter, I'm a tracker.
Post: Detailed tracking expenses and spending. Is there real value?
Link to comment from March 10, 2025
When our 2 children entered middle school and high school, I encouraged both to compete in speech and debate (aka forensics) as an extracurricular activity. My hope was that by doing so, they would develop strong communication and critical thinking skills. My own HS years spent engaged in this activity have contributed significantly to whatever modest professional success I've been able to enjoy as an adult. I initially volunteered as an assistant coach and event judge at tournaments when our kids competed in the early 2010s. Spending 15-20 Saturdays a year engaging with hundreds of earnest kids, each working diligently to get just a little better at their craft each week - it was just a wonderful thing to be a part of. After our kids moved on to college, I opted to continue coaching at 2 other high schools, eventually assuming a head coach / moderator role at my alma mater for 2 years. It's like I have 25 kids of my own that are all now moving into young adulthood. The regular interactions I still have with students I've coached over the last decade has been like drinking from the fountain of youth for this old timer! After retirement, my plan is to seek out an inner-city HS that wants to start up a speech and debate team and work part-time in helping them build and develop a sustainable program. I seem to have a thing for seeking out start-up opportunities in my work-life, so helping another generation of kids discover this wonderful activity in schools where it doesn't currently exist seems like a perfect fit to keep me busy and happy.
Post: Sweet Bird of Youth by Marjorie Kondrack
Link to comment from March 8, 2025