David Lamb

Comments:

• I know many of each type, and truly the maximizers are the less happy lot. In many cases, their regret revolves around their "wrong" decision about when to start their social security benefits. I did the math under various scenarios including death assumptions, and found that for me the difference between FRA benefits and trying to wring the last penny out of the SS trust fund amounted to a few thousand dollars over the course of many years, no matter how long I lived. Who cares?! I am a satisficer.

  Post: Try to Be Satisfied

  Link to comment from April 27, 2024

• Very good. If you are correct, as you most likely are, that your "optimism, it seems, isn’t shared by many HumbleDollar readers", it explains why so many investors' returns lag the overall market's: they let sentiment get in their way, trying to time markets, chose sectors, and generally thinking they can figure it all out. They can't. Buy the haystack, and leave it alone.

  Post: Not Scared of Bears

  Link to comment from April 27, 2024

• Excellent! "The way I look at it, I graduated high school in 1961 and got a job paying just above minimum wage. Between then and now, my wife and I put four children through college, purchased a vacation home, built a secure retirement, and amassed financial assets that put us in the top 10% of our age group, with the prospect of leaving behind a healthy legacy for our children. What more could anyone ask?" Indeed! Some are simply wedded to the notion of "maximizing" their Social Security take; not me. I agree heartily with "I also think it’s irrelevant whether you get the most out of Social Security in terms of total lifetime benefits. People should take their benefit when they need the money the most." Absolutely. Great piece.

  Post: He Asked, I Answered

  Link to comment from March 9, 2024

• Wow! I was $12,500 in 1976...

  Post: It’s Not So Bad

  Link to comment from December 20, 2023

• Yes, why don't people think for themselves, rather than following along like sheep?

  Post: It’s Not So Bad

  Link to comment from December 20, 2023

• Every older generation thinks the younger has it easy. "Back in MY day..." Uphill to school both ways, yada yada. Times change, and so too does society and culture. No one could work from home 25 years ago because there wasn't the technology to do so, nor were jobs conducive to WFH. OTOH, are gas prices really "high"? 25 years ago, the average price / gallon was $0.65 = $3.75 in 2023 $.

  Post: It’s Not So Bad

  Link to comment from December 20, 2023

• Are there any IRMAA considerations?

  Post: Running Up the Tab

  Link to comment from December 9, 2023

• The theory that SS income is "guaranteed" will be tested in 10 years or less.

  Post: A Profitable Read

  Link to comment from November 1, 2023

• I agree, you did great. I'm always intrigued when I learn what others spent on their engagement rings, because I got away so relatively cheaply, about $5K in today's dollars. Yep, it's a tiny stone, but my wonderful spouse has always refused my offer to "upgrade"; such is her emotional attachment to that ring. Occasionally we'll privately ask each other, "What do you think they spent on THAT rock?!", but that's as far as it goes, thank goodness. No criticism - everyone makes their own choices, as it should be.

  Post: Coming Full Circle

  Link to comment from October 7, 2023

• Boy, does sound so sadly familiar! The emotional tie to a "forever home" - in my parents' case, 70 years in the same house! - is so very difficult for many of us to cut. I hope my wife and I do better when the time comes.

  Post: A Half-Century Later

  Link to comment from September 27, 2023