dl777

Comments:

• Always appreciate your articles. I find it very difficult to track spending as we have 7-8 active credit cards and I still have a son using one. I am exhausted after work each day and can't imagine sitting in front of a computer any longer after work. We have hundreds of mico-payments through the month and to categorize each of those would take time away from my wife and family. Maybe I will give it another go but it seems easier to take my after tax and savings net income and use that as a yard stick for future.

  Post: Where It Goes

  Link to comment from April 13, 2024

• Great article and a lot of food for thought. I am trying to understand why one would do a bond fund like VSGDX (.5% gain YTD) versus using money market funds that offer 5.2% (Fidelity FZDXX for example). Interest rates seem to have to stay at this level or go up in the long term based on the debt in our country. I live in a low tax state as well (3%). Thanks!

  Post: Totally Your Choice

  Link to comment from March 30, 2024

• Thanks for the article. One thing that I didn't know until recently was if your wife takes her social security benefit early, her spousal benefit at 70 would be reduced for the rest of her life. If her own benefit is more than half of yours then you are good to go with her taking early.

  Post: Our Waiting Game

  Link to comment from February 28, 2024

• Thanks for smiles and laughs this morning.

  Post: Inns and Outs

  Link to comment from February 27, 2024

• Thanks. My savings are mostly in FZDXX and a few various stocks I picked up over the years. I did just pick up some of those iShares TIPS Bond ETF to fund the years from 65-70 prior to social security so I should just invest the rest in stocks but it seems so high right now. I should probably set a VTI stock price that I would purchase at and then either get in at that level or start the monthly purchase process at that level. The question is what is that number? 10% below current? :) Thanks again.

  Post: Lean Against the Wind

  Link to comment from December 23, 2023

• Thanks for the article Jonathan. It feels like herd mentality right now driving prices up. I am 63 right now and have been on the sidelines relative to owning stocks (20/80) for a long time. I keep seeing all the retirement videos and articles telling us we should be 60% or 100% stocks even in retirement otherwise inflation will decimate our savings over time. I understand the thinking behind it but it is very hard to invest in stocks right now at these price levels. I think a greater than 10% negative correction to my savings would cause significant mental anguish. It is hard to know how get more exposed to stocks.

  Post: Lean Against the Wind

  Link to comment from December 23, 2023

• Glad to hear there are others like me. I keep walking around the house switching off lights in rooms no one is using. I would be happy to pay someone to fix things if they would charge a reasonable rate ($60/hour or less). Everyone seems to want to get $115 or more and then they don't do the greatest job either.

  Post: Frugality Has a Cost

  Link to comment from November 8, 2023

• I am still unclear on the reliability of annuities. It seems to be a non-governmental company offering and that company could easily get wiped out and go bankrupt through bad management or market conditions. As we have seen in the past, ratings agencies are not to be trusted so it seems like the only game in town is the federal government who can print money if needed. Thanks for your input!

  Post: Financial Superpowers

  Link to comment from August 19, 2023

• It can be disheartening to hear about so many government workers that have pensions and lifetime medical while private sector employees get everything taken away from them. It feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders when you have paid a crazy amount of taxes over the past forty years only to see Social Security and Medicare running out of money exactly when you will be retiring in a few years.

  Post: My Good Fortune

  Link to comment from April 29, 2023

• It seems the best path forward is to get a government job (federal or state) where you can get a defined benefit pension and pay equal to industry. A friend of mine just retired from a supreme court technology position in his late fifties and is receiving a pension equal to his pay (around $100K per year.) The government will never be able to reduce jobs as they will just print more money and/or raise taxes.

  Post: College Conundrum

  Link to comment from March 7, 2023