AUTHOR: Rick Connor on 4/27/2026 FIRST: Mark Crothers on 4/27 | RECENT: Kenneth Tobin on 4/29
Comments
John, thanks for an informative and useful article. Transitioning from a W-2 word with taxes withheld is a challenge for many retirees. I've seen this many times preparing voluntary tax returns for AARP. Unfortunately, by the time we get to help folks it may be too late to take advantage of your suggestions.
Andrew, thanks for this and your previous articles about your brother. I'm still amazed and humbled that someone of Jonathan's stature spent so much of his time mentoring amateurs trying to see if they had anything worthwhile to say. He was always kind, generous, and fun to engage with. Jonathan saw the potential in a community of everyday people to bring something special to the world.
Dan, thanks for an interesting post. I've thought about this quite a bit over the last 9 years. I've read, and believe, there is a difference between productivity and being productive. Productivity is a measurement; being productive is how we behave and act - engaging in things we value and want to accomplish. Another way I think of it is that I want to be useful - to my family, friends, community, and greater society. I'm lucky enough to enjoy a comfortable retirement and I get to define how I want to be useful. Jonathan wrote frequently about continuing to do work he loved and that he felt helped people. I believe that HD is full of smart, experienced, and good people. I enjoy hearing how many of them have found ways to be useful.
Just a clarification - It is my understanding that FiCalc does not perform Monte Carlo analysis. The About section on the site says this: FI Calc is a calculator that utilizes backtesting to evaluate different withdrawal strategies. It uses historical asset return data to backtest a retirement plan. This is a fundamentally different technique than Monte Carlo analysis, but both have value in evaluating a retirement plan.
Andrew, thank you for your courage and honesty in telling us your sister's story. I'm so sorry for the tragic loss you and your family have experienced. In one of the last email exchanges I had with Jonathan he told me that your sister had passed away. It seemed so unfair, and I can't imagine the pain you and your family must have felt last fall. My father's alcholhism led to financial ruin and put me, my wife, and my brothers in the position of taking over my parent's finances in our late 30's. But that experience, and helping my in-laws in their retirement years, helped me learn how to plan for our retirement.
Andrew, thanks for a lovely article. I found Jonathan's combination of kindness and honesty to be rare, admirable, and something to emulate. Thanks for your kindness and honesty.
I found this article to be very challenging, both poignant and heartbreaking. Like many, I was amazed by Jonathan's equanimity during his journey. But I knew how much his family meant to him, and this article demonstrates the pain he felt. I recently lost a close friend to a butterfly glioblastoma that covered both hemispheres of his brain. He was about the same age as Jonathan, very sharp, with a big loving family, and young grandkids. His disease took his cognition first, and then his body. It was hard to know what he understood of his condition as it progressed. Two good friends, one stayed mentally sharp until the end, one lost his cognition well before he lost his life. I guess there are blessings and curses with each. I apologize for the mournful thoughts. My wife says the thing she dislikes the most about aging is that the challenges your loved ones face are big deals. As Jonathan often wrote, my takeaway is what a gift he gave us by allowing his family, friends, and the HD community to share his life, until the end.
Javier, thanks for an interesting post. A few years before I stopped working full-time I took a CFP course and passed the test. I then took the Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP) course. I took the courses for my own education, in large part after being put in a position of managing my parents and in-laws finances as they aged and became infirm. That experience was a crash course in all things retirement, and shaped a lot of my thinking. I also considered switching to a second act career in financial planning, but chose not to. My first article for HumbleDollar was about looking at financial planning as more than just investment management. I know planners who provide holistic planning - investments, insurance, estate, taxes, cash flow, ... I also have friends who pay a significant AUM fee for wealth management - with all other services either not provided, or at additional cost. I would only work with a planner who does holistic planning. I don't have an answer to your second question. Like many others on HD, I do volunteer tax preparation. I am certain that many of the lower and middle income clients we serve would benefit from some basic financial planning. I've looked for organizations or programs that provide pro-bono planning but haven't found one similar to the tax preparation program. Far too often we have clients who could have made small choices that would improve their finances, but it's too late when they get to us.
Dana, congratulations on the move. I wish you many happy years in your new home. We moved in 2021 and, then moved again in 2023 to our current home. It's never fun but both moves went OK. I noticed your mention of extension cords and three prong adapters. I think you previously wrote that the new home was built in the 60s, and I was wondering if the outlets are ungrounded? If so is this something that can be addressed during renovations?
Comments
John, thanks for an informative and useful article. Transitioning from a W-2 word with taxes withheld is a challenge for many retirees. I've seen this many times preparing voluntary tax returns for AARP. Unfortunately, by the time we get to help folks it may be too late to take advantage of your suggestions.
Post: Don’t Let a Roth Conversion Trigger a Penalty
Link to comment from July 11, 2026
Andrew, thanks for this and your previous articles about your brother. I'm still amazed and humbled that someone of Jonathan's stature spent so much of his time mentoring amateurs trying to see if they had anything worthwhile to say. He was always kind, generous, and fun to engage with. Jonathan saw the potential in a community of everyday people to bring something special to the world.
Post: The Making of Jonathan Clements
Link to comment from July 11, 2026
Dan, thanks for an interesting post. I've thought about this quite a bit over the last 9 years. I've read, and believe, there is a difference between productivity and being productive. Productivity is a measurement; being productive is how we behave and act - engaging in things we value and want to accomplish. Another way I think of it is that I want to be useful - to my family, friends, community, and greater society. I'm lucky enough to enjoy a comfortable retirement and I get to define how I want to be useful. Jonathan wrote frequently about continuing to do work he loved and that he felt helped people. I believe that HD is full of smart, experienced, and good people. I enjoy hearing how many of them have found ways to be useful.
Post: Haunted Head
Link to comment from July 3, 2026
Just a clarification - It is my understanding that FiCalc does not perform Monte Carlo analysis. The About section on the site says this: FI Calc is a calculator that utilizes backtesting to evaluate different withdrawal strategies. It uses historical asset return data to backtest a retirement plan. This is a fundamentally different technique than Monte Carlo analysis, but both have value in evaluating a retirement plan.
Post: Still Teaching
Link to comment from June 25, 2026
Andrew, thank you for your courage and honesty in telling us your sister's story. I'm so sorry for the tragic loss you and your family have experienced. In one of the last email exchanges I had with Jonathan he told me that your sister had passed away. It seemed so unfair, and I can't imagine the pain you and your family must have felt last fall. My father's alcholhism led to financial ruin and put me, my wife, and my brothers in the position of taking over my parent's finances in our late 30's. But that experience, and helping my in-laws in their retirement years, helped me learn how to plan for our retirement.
Post: What Addiction Couldn’t Take: My Sister’s Story
Link to comment from June 17, 2026
RIP Big Man. Jake is a pretty great backfill.
Post: What Remains: Money and Me
Link to comment from June 10, 2026
Andrew, thanks for a lovely article. I found Jonathan's combination of kindness and honesty to be rare, admirable, and something to emulate. Thanks for your kindness and honesty.
Post: What Remains: Money and Me
Link to comment from June 10, 2026
I found this article to be very challenging, both poignant and heartbreaking. Like many, I was amazed by Jonathan's equanimity during his journey. But I knew how much his family meant to him, and this article demonstrates the pain he felt. I recently lost a close friend to a butterfly glioblastoma that covered both hemispheres of his brain. He was about the same age as Jonathan, very sharp, with a big loving family, and young grandkids. His disease took his cognition first, and then his body. It was hard to know what he understood of his condition as it progressed. Two good friends, one stayed mentally sharp until the end, one lost his cognition well before he lost his life. I guess there are blessings and curses with each. I apologize for the mournful thoughts. My wife says the thing she dislikes the most about aging is that the challenges your loved ones face are big deals. As Jonathan often wrote, my takeaway is what a gift he gave us by allowing his family, friends, and the HD community to share his life, until the end.
Post: Mourning the World
Link to comment from June 7, 2026
Javier, thanks for an interesting post. A few years before I stopped working full-time I took a CFP course and passed the test. I then took the Retirement Income Certified Professional (RICP) course. I took the courses for my own education, in large part after being put in a position of managing my parents and in-laws finances as they aged and became infirm. That experience was a crash course in all things retirement, and shaped a lot of my thinking. I also considered switching to a second act career in financial planning, but chose not to. My first article for HumbleDollar was about looking at financial planning as more than just investment management. I know planners who provide holistic planning - investments, insurance, estate, taxes, cash flow, ... I also have friends who pay a significant AUM fee for wealth management - with all other services either not provided, or at additional cost. I would only work with a planner who does holistic planning. I don't have an answer to your second question. Like many others on HD, I do volunteer tax preparation. I am certain that many of the lower and middle income clients we serve would benefit from some basic financial planning. I've looked for organizations or programs that provide pro-bono planning but haven't found one similar to the tax preparation program. Far too often we have clients who could have made small choices that would improve their finances, but it's too late when they get to us.
Post: The Quiet Failure of Good Advice
Link to comment from May 31, 2026
Dana, congratulations on the move. I wish you many happy years in your new home. We moved in 2021 and, then moved again in 2023 to our current home. It's never fun but both moves went OK. I noticed your mention of extension cords and three prong adapters. I think you previously wrote that the new home was built in the 60s, and I was wondering if the outlets are ungrounded? If so is this something that can be addressed during renovations?
Post: Moving is Expensive!
Link to comment from May 31, 2026