I have to agree with "I find your constant rants to be a little self-serving." It is hard to have a civil conversation and sharing of ideas when one person thinks it has to be his way or the highway.
It is NOT a great deal for "everybody". If a married couple contributed in all of their working years, then pass away before receiving benefits, they are not getting such a good deal. If their children are not minors, they receive nothing. It would be better for the family if some of the FICA payments went into a personal SS fund that allowed account growth and distributions to heirs for such common situations.
I read Jonathan's columns in the Wall Street Journal for many years. When he mentioned in one of his articles that he was leaving the WSJ, I sent Jonathan a thank you email for providing great advice embedded in his columns. Jonathan responded that he had plans for continuing to write about finances in the near future.
Months later, Jonathan sends another email announcing the birth of Humble Dollar and a link to the new website.
I humbly appreciate Jonathan communicating and keeping in touch with his fans, and for providing a fantastic service and practical advice for decades.
The convenience of consolidation sounds wonderful, but, but, but ......with cyber crime and identity theft being rampant, if all your investments are with a single brokerage, an unauthorized access to the single account can be catastrophic. By using several brokerages, you can mitigate the risk of a complete loss (or freeze) and utilize the untampered accounts while the ID theft problem is being investigated and hopefully resolved. As the saying goes, "Ask me how I know"
"Parting Shot: What I Learned From Writing 1,008 Columns" Jonathan,
The above is the title from your final WSJ article on April 9, 2008. Starting in the 90's, I enjoyed your common sense column for over 10 years in the WSJ, and your words "leaving journalism to take my mother's advice and get a real job" gave me a good laugh that morning. I saved the final column in Word because your advice on how to think about money was excellent.
I quickly sent you a "wish you well" email at 713 am, and you promptly responded at 801 am with a thank you and a link to jonathanclements.com, where you promised more updates and building up that sites educational content.
I continued following your website, and on January 1, 2017, you sent an email announcing "Our New Home: HumbleDollar.com". The rest is history!
Jonathan, you are a man with a plan, and you followed through on your plans to help others with great information. Based on the comments, you have helped so many people, myself included, with decades of great advice while entertaining us with your wit.
It is encouraging to hear about the success of modern cancer treatments from the Humble Family medical doctors that commented on this page.
I pray for you and your family, and thank you for sharing your kindness and wisdom with the Humble Family. God bless you.
Thanks, Jonathan and Rick, for discussing the medical expense taxation scenario. It is hard to quantify using this method in any calculation with so many unknowns. But it does provide a reasonable justification in my risk analysis for leaving some of the IRA and 401k portfolios funded in order to make the RMD's slightly more tax efficient.
Thanks, wtfwjtd. I see your reference in the next paragraph that I referenced in IRS Pub 969. As usual, the IRS rules are full of if, ands, and buts. If only they were candy and nuts, we would have a Merry Christmas.
Regarding your comment: "Too bad that I can’t use those funds for my wife’s premiums. The regs make clear that it’s only for the named insured."Mike, I just checked the 2022 IRS Publication 969, HSA, and clipped 2 sections: Qualified medical expenses are those incurred by the following persons.
You and your spouse.
AND Insurance premiums.You can’t treat insurance premiums as qualified medical expenses unless the premiums are for any of the following
4. Medicare and other health care coverage if you were 65 or older (other than premiums for a Medicare supplemental policy, such as Medigap). My conclusion is you should be allowed to use the HSA funds to reimburse yourself for your wife's Medicare premiums (not the Medigap though) as long as she is at least 65. Please clarify how you interpreted the regs to disallow your wife's Part B premiums. Thanks.
I agree, Peter J. Another article/comment in today's email from HD mentions a Socratic Dialectic where different opinions are sought in a debate to verify or dispute a common belief. So the number of down votes you received should have been explained by the downvoters with valid points rather than comments than it "works" so it must be okay.
Doing simple data analysis, a SS contributor can create a spreadsheet of taxes paid into SS over the years, and allow for each year's SS tax to compound annually until the year the benefactor starts to withdraw. Use a reasonably low 3% for the compound rate. The accumulated value of the taxes at Full Retirement Age can then be annuitized to determine what your self managed benefit would have been.
I would have preferred to manage my own SS money over the years, but Uncle Sam did not allow that self directed option.
Comments
I have to agree with "I find your constant rants to be a little self-serving." It is hard to have a civil conversation and sharing of ideas when one person thinks it has to be his way or the highway.
Post: Quinn’s latest rant has serious consequences
Link to comment from May 15, 2025
It is NOT a great deal for "everybody". If a married couple contributed in all of their working years, then pass away before receiving benefits, they are not getting such a good deal. If their children are not minors, they receive nothing. It would be better for the family if some of the FICA payments went into a personal SS fund that allowed account growth and distributions to heirs for such common situations.
Post: You versus Social Security – Quinn is betting against you.
Link to comment from May 6, 2025
Question for you, Linda. If you had the HSA receipts for appropriate expenses in your possession, why did the tax preparer need the HSA receipts too?
Post: Our kids do listen to us.
Link to comment from January 22, 2025
I read Jonathan's columns in the Wall Street Journal for many years. When he mentioned in one of his articles that he was leaving the WSJ, I sent Jonathan a thank you email for providing great advice embedded in his columns. Jonathan responded that he had plans for continuing to write about finances in the near future. Months later, Jonathan sends another email announcing the birth of Humble Dollar and a link to the new website. I humbly appreciate Jonathan communicating and keeping in touch with his fans, and for providing a fantastic service and practical advice for decades.
Post: How and when did you find out about HumbleDollar?
Link to comment from September 25, 2024
The convenience of consolidation sounds wonderful, but, but, but ......with cyber crime and identity theft being rampant, if all your investments are with a single brokerage, an unauthorized access to the single account can be catastrophic. By using several brokerages, you can mitigate the risk of a complete loss (or freeze) and utilize the untampered accounts while the ID theft problem is being investigated and hopefully resolved. As the saying goes, "Ask me how I know"
Post: All in One Place
Link to comment from July 3, 2024
"Parting Shot: What I Learned From Writing 1,008 Columns" Jonathan, The above is the title from your final WSJ article on April 9, 2008. Starting in the 90's, I enjoyed your common sense column for over 10 years in the WSJ, and your words "leaving journalism to take my mother's advice and get a real job" gave me a good laugh that morning. I saved the final column in Word because your advice on how to think about money was excellent. I quickly sent you a "wish you well" email at 713 am, and you promptly responded at 801 am with a thank you and a link to jonathanclements.com, where you promised more updates and building up that sites educational content. I continued following your website, and on January 1, 2017, you sent an email announcing "Our New Home: HumbleDollar.com". The rest is history! Jonathan, you are a man with a plan, and you followed through on your plans to help others with great information. Based on the comments, you have helped so many people, myself included, with decades of great advice while entertaining us with your wit. It is encouraging to hear about the success of modern cancer treatments from the Humble Family medical doctors that commented on this page. I pray for you and your family, and thank you for sharing your kindness and wisdom with the Humble Family. God bless you.
Post: The C Word
Link to comment from June 15, 2024
Thanks, Jonathan and Rick, for discussing the medical expense taxation scenario. It is hard to quantify using this method in any calculation with so many unknowns. But it does provide a reasonable justification in my risk analysis for leaving some of the IRA and 401k portfolios funded in order to make the RMD's slightly more tax efficient.
Post: Called to Account
Link to comment from January 27, 2024
Thanks, wtfwjtd. I see your reference in the next paragraph that I referenced in IRS Pub 969. As usual, the IRS rules are full of if, ands, and buts. If only they were candy and nuts, we would have a Merry Christmas.
Post: Messing Us Up
Link to comment from December 3, 2023
Regarding your comment: "Too bad that I can’t use those funds for my wife’s premiums. The regs make clear that it’s only for the named insured." Mike, I just checked the 2022 IRS Publication 969, HSA, and clipped 2 sections: Qualified medical expenses are those incurred by the following persons.
- You and your spouse.
AND Insurance premiums. You can’t treat insurance premiums as qualified medical expenses unless the premiums are for any of the following 4. Medicare and other health care coverage if you were 65 or older (other than premiums for a Medicare supplemental policy, such as Medigap). My conclusion is you should be allowed to use the HSA funds to reimburse yourself for your wife's Medicare premiums (not the Medigap though) as long as she is at least 65. Please clarify how you interpreted the regs to disallow your wife's Part B premiums. Thanks.Post: Messing Us Up
Link to comment from December 2, 2023
I agree, Peter J. Another article/comment in today's email from HD mentions a Socratic Dialectic where different opinions are sought in a debate to verify or dispute a common belief. So the number of down votes you received should have been explained by the downvoters with valid points rather than comments than it "works" so it must be okay. Doing simple data analysis, a SS contributor can create a spreadsheet of taxes paid into SS over the years, and allow for each year's SS tax to compound annually until the year the benefactor starts to withdraw. Use a reasonably low 3% for the compound rate. The accumulated value of the taxes at Full Retirement Age can then be annuitized to determine what your self managed benefit would have been. I would have preferred to manage my own SS money over the years, but Uncle Sam did not allow that self directed option.
Post: Unkind Cuts
Link to comment from May 6, 2023