My wife is very similar to the lady in the article, she tries at times to stay updated on everything but ultimately her eyes gloss over and it just becomes very frustrating for her.So what we have done is try to make everything as simple as possible
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1) We only have funds at Fidelity and Vanguard at this time, my wife still has a 401k with Principal at her work, we will transfer those over to Fidelity or Vanguard once she turns 59.5 next year. 2) All of our accounts are kept both digitally and in paper form in our safe deposit box that gets updated as needed for both her and the kids. 3) I found a Financial Advisor who charges a very reasonable fee that works out to about one tenth of 1%, (0.12%). They only invest in index funds, we meet 1x a year to go over our plan, we have access to him as needed throughout the year with no extra costs, and he does our taxes every year. He has done our Roth conversions, and this year is doing tax gain harvesting for us. So it's a win/win situation, much less stress for me trying to get her more involved and much less frustration for her.
Back in the 80's I was working in a French Bistro as a bartender in a wealthy CT town about 30-40 minutes outside of midtown Manhattan. This was during the prime of the 3 martini lunch and we had 6-7 regulars who were mostly finance guys who would come in every day for the liquid refreshments and lunch.
All of them had been long time customers of the establishment and just ran a tab that they paid at the end of each month. I can remember being impressed at the amount of liquor these guys could hold and the amount of money they were spending on lunch each month. Different world back then! I never would have been able to function after lunch if I tried to do that, but there were stressful days at work when I wouldn't have minded having a bourbon or 2 to get through the afternoon lol
I’m trying to figure out how you couldn’t buy wine at 18 years old 55 years ago, what was the age limit back then?
I was able to legally buy at 18, 45 years ago (and actually a few years earlier due to some well known liquor stores not being too worried about carding you lol)
That's quite a post, not sure I know many people who could so eloquently romanticize Travelers Cheques. Kudos! I'm personally glad I no longer have to go to my local bank or AAA office to stand in line and go through the process of getting these prior to a trip, give me the swipe of plastic or paying digitally with my phone or watch, all day, everyday.
Just read an article on Marketwatch last week that 10% of millennials and Gen Z are purposefully not putting any money into their retirement accounts because they expect to receive a big inheritance later on in life. I'm sure it will work out for some but not all of them...
Dana,
You bring up some terrific points, it really is easy to win at this game! I think that the issue that Mark is not seeing is how easy it can be in the US to do it. I know the UK and EU do not have these kind of sign up bonuses and rewards that we do, but a person here who does not want to put any effort into it can open up a card that has almost enough points for a round trip business class from the east coast to Europe. Over the past 18 months my wife and I have been on 6 "free" cruises,( well, 2 were completely free, and 4 that required you to pay the port fees of a couple hundred dollars).
We had three 7 day cruises, 2 to the Caribbean, 1 to Alaska, a 10 day Mexico cruise, a 12 day Mediterranean and a16 day Panama Canal cruise just from each of us opening 1 credit card. We actually left 2 cruises on the table because my wife is still working and didn't have enough time to do it. And it is not like it is some big secret deal, there are websites that give you detailed and specific information on how to do it.
That's not all from rewards to the card though, all credit cards charge a fee whether or not they offer a bonus or reward so those costs are going to be passed on no matter what. They also profit much more from people who don't pay their cards off each month. But I have to agree it is a bizarre model, I still can't imagine the first business being pitched the idea of accepting this plastic card instead of cash, and we are going to charge you a fee to have you accept this card!! But either way there is no way you are going to change the system at this point so you might as well recoup some of the cashback, miles or points that they offer. That being said, I got into the points and miles game about 15 years ago and I can honestly tell you I have gotten much more in value than any costs that have been passed along to me.
Comments
My wife is very similar to the lady in the article, she tries at times to stay updated on everything but ultimately her eyes gloss over and it just becomes very frustrating for her.So what we have done is try to make everything as simple as possible . 1) We only have funds at Fidelity and Vanguard at this time, my wife still has a 401k with Principal at her work, we will transfer those over to Fidelity or Vanguard once she turns 59.5 next year. 2) All of our accounts are kept both digitally and in paper form in our safe deposit box that gets updated as needed for both her and the kids. 3) I found a Financial Advisor who charges a very reasonable fee that works out to about one tenth of 1%, (0.12%). They only invest in index funds, we meet 1x a year to go over our plan, we have access to him as needed throughout the year with no extra costs, and he does our taxes every year. He has done our Roth conversions, and this year is doing tax gain harvesting for us. So it's a win/win situation, much less stress for me trying to get her more involved and much less frustration for her.
Post: Untangling finances
Link to comment from November 2, 2025
Back in the 80's I was working in a French Bistro as a bartender in a wealthy CT town about 30-40 minutes outside of midtown Manhattan. This was during the prime of the 3 martini lunch and we had 6-7 regulars who were mostly finance guys who would come in every day for the liquid refreshments and lunch. All of them had been long time customers of the establishment and just ran a tab that they paid at the end of each month. I can remember being impressed at the amount of liquor these guys could hold and the amount of money they were spending on lunch each month. Different world back then! I never would have been able to function after lunch if I tried to do that, but there were stressful days at work when I wouldn't have minded having a bourbon or 2 to get through the afternoon lol
Post: Drinking on the Job
Link to comment from October 17, 2025
Learn something new everyday! Our state and all the surrounding states were 18 at that time, just assumed that all the states were that way...
Post: The Wine Chronicles
Link to comment from October 11, 2025
I’m trying to figure out how you couldn’t buy wine at 18 years old 55 years ago, what was the age limit back then? I was able to legally buy at 18, 45 years ago (and actually a few years earlier due to some well known liquor stores not being too worried about carding you lol)
Post: The Wine Chronicles
Link to comment from October 10, 2025
That's quite a post, not sure I know many people who could so eloquently romanticize Travelers Cheques. Kudos! I'm personally glad I no longer have to go to my local bank or AAA office to stand in line and go through the process of getting these prior to a trip, give me the swipe of plastic or paying digitally with my phone or watch, all day, everyday.
Post: Memories With a Cold Spanish Beer
Link to comment from September 29, 2025
So sorry to hear this, though we never met I still feel like a lost a friend. Rest in Peace.
Post: Farewell Friends
Link to comment from September 25, 2025
So sorry to hear this very few people have had the ability to reach so many on such an important subject. You are one of them. Godspeed
Post: Jonathan and website update
Link to comment from September 20, 2025
Just read an article on Marketwatch last week that 10% of millennials and Gen Z are purposefully not putting any money into their retirement accounts because they expect to receive a big inheritance later on in life. I'm sure it will work out for some but not all of them...
Post: The Catch-22 of Success: How Our Achievements Shape Our Children’s Choices
Link to comment from September 17, 2025
Dana, You bring up some terrific points, it really is easy to win at this game! I think that the issue that Mark is not seeing is how easy it can be in the US to do it. I know the UK and EU do not have these kind of sign up bonuses and rewards that we do, but a person here who does not want to put any effort into it can open up a card that has almost enough points for a round trip business class from the east coast to Europe. Over the past 18 months my wife and I have been on 6 "free" cruises,( well, 2 were completely free, and 4 that required you to pay the port fees of a couple hundred dollars). We had three 7 day cruises, 2 to the Caribbean, 1 to Alaska, a 10 day Mexico cruise, a 12 day Mediterranean and a16 day Panama Canal cruise just from each of us opening 1 credit card. We actually left 2 cruises on the table because my wife is still working and didn't have enough time to do it. And it is not like it is some big secret deal, there are websites that give you detailed and specific information on how to do it.
Post: What is your credit card rewards strategy?
Link to comment from September 13, 2025
That's not all from rewards to the card though, all credit cards charge a fee whether or not they offer a bonus or reward so those costs are going to be passed on no matter what. They also profit much more from people who don't pay their cards off each month. But I have to agree it is a bizarre model, I still can't imagine the first business being pitched the idea of accepting this plastic card instead of cash, and we are going to charge you a fee to have you accept this card!! But either way there is no way you are going to change the system at this point so you might as well recoup some of the cashback, miles or points that they offer. That being said, I got into the points and miles game about 15 years ago and I can honestly tell you I have gotten much more in value than any costs that have been passed along to me.
Post: What is your credit card rewards strategy?
Link to comment from September 11, 2025