David Baese

Comments:

• Johnathan You've done great work and I've been reading you since your WSJ days. I like Humble Dollar for the polite conversations and insights of the readers. They are a reflection of you. I suspect that 99% of us are educated and financially secure. What I wish is that we had conversations with currently poor folks. I suspect we'd have a lot to learn from each other. Thank you for existing. - Dave

  Post: No Regrets

  Link to comment from September 10, 2024

• You are a good man, Richard. My wife feels a lot better about me after reading your articles.

  Post: Women and men are different. Quinn’s in trouble again

  Link to comment from August 19, 2024

• Jonathan, I very much appreciate your writing and what you've created with this website. I especially like your use of the word "resilience." I call it "sleep good" money. The market can go down 1000 points in a day and it's more of an opportunity than a problem. Thank you for your generosity with your insights, - Dave Baese

  Post: Turning on a Dime

  Link to comment from August 10, 2024

• Jonathan - Regarding # 3, "The Widows Tax," I've told my wife and our M.D. that if I'm dying on Dec. 31 I want to be put onto a cheap resuscitator so I stay alive until Jan.1. Then they can yank the cord, let me die, and my widow can file a joint return for that year, and have that full year to figure out the best tax strategies for her remaining years. - Dave

  Post: Unasked Questions

  Link to comment from August 3, 2024

• Excellent article. Excellent insights in the comments. Thanks to all of you. - Dave

  Post: Better to Be Rich?

  Link to comment from July 14, 2024

• My wife and I are in the happy position that everything we like to do is either free, cheap, or only a misdemeanor if we stole it. We started our estate planning when our boys were in grade school by educating them through college and grad school. We helped them purchase their first homes, and have then contributed enough to our grandchildren to pay for the first year of college at a good public university. We are also rewarding our grandchildren for having 1099 employment income with contributions to their Roth IRAs. Having done all this we have managed our own affairs in such a way that we can both check into nursing homes for a couple of years and still leave money from our estates. If we both live longer than that and have to move into a cheap Medicaid nursing home we'll probably both be so senile we won't know the difference and won't care anyway

  Post: Long Odds

  Link to comment from May 4, 2024

• We've given each of our four grandchildren enough for 1 year at a state university. We figure their parents should be good for 2 years, and it will be part of the grandkids educations to be on the hook for the forth year. We are also matching current earnings and contributions to Roth IRAs. I like to fantasize about each of our grandchildren going to a bank after graduation and having more money in their Roth IRAs then they want to borrow.

  Post: Is it better to give away money now or upon death?

  Link to comment from April 13, 2024

• I congratulate you on the happiness your good choices have brought you.

  Post: Money Buys Choices

  Link to comment from March 15, 2024

• Good article Tony. It's like hearing the confession of a penitent sinner.

  Post: Fearing Nothing

  Link to comment from March 11, 2024

• Richard - I am not concerned about leaving an estate to our two sons. Our estate to them was expensive and mostly paid for educations while they were growing up, in college, and in grad school. They both finished grad school with minor debt relative to their incomes. I'm fine with leaving our intact estates to them if we don't require nursing home care. If we do require that care our estate to them will be that they didn't have to support our nursing home stays. We've already given one year of college costs at a State University to each of our four grandchildren. My wife and I were both raised in Lutheran parsonages so we both know how to live modestly and save money. Neither one of us have figured out how to spend it. We're happy with our modest and comfortable lives as they are. Other people choose to aspire and live differently and we pass no judgement on their choices. You, and Jonathan are both good guys and it is a pleasure to read and learn from you.

  Post: He Asked, I Answered

  Link to comment from March 9, 2024