eludom

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• As of last week's PET scan results my wife is officially clear of cancer. The first year and a half of retirement was not at all what I had planned. Doctors, hospitals, insurance companies, etc. One thing I noticed was that of all the facilities, the people at the cancer center were the most caring ... from the oncologist on down. Why? I think it's because they are in the "business" of working with people who may be staring the end of life in the face. At least in our experience it seems this brings out the humanity in everyone involved. The world could use more of this.

  Post: Kind Hearts are More than Coronets

  Link to comment from April 29, 2025

• It's been, what? 55 years since I've seen a cigarette commercial. You have come a long way baby https://youtu.be/da0EUKh-8cE?si=lUrl8OmJSGbZ3If1 :-)

  Post: You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby by Marjorie Kondrack

  Link to comment from April 26, 2025

• Well, I finally looked at my balances. Nothing to do (still well within my rebalance trigger %). If I'd been glued to the finanial media, I'd probably have panicked done something dumb. But I've been imbibing the wise words here for a couple years, so with plans and asset allocations in place, it is time to just sit tight. Thanks, all. "I'm just sittin' here watching the wheels go round and 'round..."

  Post: Tariffs and our retirement assets

  Link to comment from April 12, 2025

• Longfellow put it poetically in "A psalm of Life"

  Tell me not, in mournful numbers,

     Life is but an empty dream!

  ...

  Let us, then, be up and doing,

     With a heart for any fate;

  Still achieving, still pursuing,

     Learn to labor and to wait

  https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44644/a-psalm-of-life This is one of the few poems I've memorized (thanks to my grandmother). There is a deep well of wisdom in poetry such as this.

  Post: Don’t Push It

  Link to comment from April 11, 2025

• And you're going to read the fine print and stay on top of things that takes them an army of lawyers to create? As you age and your mental abilities decline? You're going to stay on top of the latest phishing campaigns, known vulnerabilities (let alone 0-day exploits) in the devices you use? I couldn't keep up when I was in the industry and it was my job. What's the bigger risk? Poor investments returns due to the bite of AUM or trust fees etc or you getting duped?

  Post: Hope is Not a Plan

  Link to comment from March 13, 2025

• Jonathan was an early guest on the "Bogleheads On Investing Podcast". Listen if you want his takes from 2018 https://bogleheads.podbean.com/e/bogleheads-on-investing-episode-003-special-guest-jonathan-clements-host-rick-ferri/

  Post: Asking the Editor

  Link to comment from March 13, 2025

• https://humbledollar.com - good community, articles, guide, etc.

  Post: My Favorite Websites

  Link to comment from March 13, 2025

• A few days after "Hope is not a plan" was posted here, news hit that Bank of America had lost customer data. I was a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) for a while, which is perhaps the cybersecurity equivalent of a CFA in the financial world. I worked in security for Amazon, AOL, MITRE/DoD, and others. A year ago, I retired from Palo Alto Networks which is a large security-only vendor. During my second job in security at BankOne (now part of Chase), I entered with the belief that "surely, at a top 5 bank, security is taken seriously for its own sake." However, I learned that the huge staff-up that I was part of, complete with Ernst & Young consultants flying in weekly from New York, was about checklist compliance. That's where started to stop believing. I later developed an open-source security tool with contributions from a tech director at the NSA and the senior VP of security at Cisco, who is now an angel investor. I also published an Internet "Standard" (IETF RFC), which launched a security working group that has been active for over 20 years, driving international industry security standards. So, back to "Hope is not a plan." The list of suggestions is all good, and I thank David for compiling and posting it. Awareness and education are very important parts of cybersecurity. I may add some of them to my personal practices and encourage readers here to do so as well. Just don’t confuse "doing something" with being secure. BankOne had a very well-funded security program when I was there, and I'm sure Bank of America is similarly equipped today. The same was probably true for the US Government Office of Personnel Management when it lost sensitive background investigation data for top secret clearances. Equifax lost credit score data on 147 million Americans (almost certainly yours). "And the beat goes on, and the beat goes on..." Cybersecurity can be a fun hobby. You can make a living at it. It’s essential to get the basics right. However, even with my professional background, I can’t single-handedly fend off all the hackers (and sheer stupidity) out there, especially as I age. Considering this, transferring risk may be the most rational approach: - Move my money into a trust - Allow an investment firm to manage my assets - Explore insurance options  - Pay a large lump sum to a CCRC and forget about it (and maybe everything else if I have to go the memory-care route). Much as I like the tech end of cybersecurity, it's no longer my life. I'm going to do other things with my time and energy, like hiking and booking our family trip to Europe.

  Post: Hope is Not a Plan

  Link to comment from March 12, 2025

• I use https://keepassxc.org/ on Linux. Quite good. Browser integration. Built in TOTP if you like. Integrated with YubiKey. No data in the cloud.

  Post: Hope is Not a Plan

  Link to comment from March 12, 2025

• I learn something every time read what Jonathan writes/speaks. I can't say that of very many people. The little bit about Jack Bogle being both a driven person and so present at home that his daughter wondered if he had a job blew me away. The world needs more people like Bogle and Jonathan. I'll be learning from Jonathan's writings for years to come (Lord willing).

  Post: Asking the Editor

  Link to comment from March 8, 2025