Jack McHugh

Comments:

• I appreciate the "stable" of writers Jonathan has assembled for this page. I would love to see the page keep going with new material from those writers, plus adding some new ones from time to time. Yes I know, I'm talking about a succession plan, but why not?

  Post: Behind the Curtain

  Link to comment from September 22, 2024

• I'm not totally buying the diet effects. Mainly, I'd love to see a test where those specified items are isolated and are compared. Specifically, the "eat more vegetables!" bit sounds a bit too pat and too consistent with "pop" lifestyle recommendations. My views are based on what I learned years ago from a Nutrition 211 course in the School of Nursing during my college career, plus a second ingredient that years of experience has indicated: First, eat a healthy, sensible well-rounded diet that includes approximately the "right" balance of carbs, protein and lipids, obtained through a sensible mix of meat/dairy, vegetables, and grains. (I also take a daily multivitamin pill to avoid going short on any important micro-nutrients.) Second, personal experience and other studies strongly suggest one more critical component: At least every other day, cardio-vascular exercise that gets you breathing reasonably hard for 30-60 minutes. In my case, that means jogging at a steady but not too rigorous pace, with some modest increased-pace intervals (ie., hills). I am always aware of what and how much I am eating and in what proportions, and avoid under- or overdoing any category, ie. carbs/fats/protein and animal/vegetable/grain products. So I just don't find it credible or supported by evidence that greatly increasing the proportion of vegetables in an already well-rounded diet with regular cardio exercise makes a significant difference.

  Post: Feed Your Brain

  Link to comment from September 21, 2024

• Very sensible. I put two-thirds of my fixed income into a five-year TIPS last spring, because I'm too chicken to go longer than that. Don't trust the gubmint, don't trust the big-spending pols. <shrug> Fingers-crossed that something like its 2.1% real return will be available when this one matures.

  Post: Laying Down a Floor

  Link to comment from September 14, 2024

• Discount used books from ThriftBooks are the key to my post-retirement learning - and stimulating entertainment. Probably three of the latter for every one of the former, but it all adds up to keep the mental gears engaged. I still miss the old used bookstores, but realistically they could never keep up with my rate of consumption.

  Post: Still Learning

  Link to comment from August 25, 2024

• My concern is the same concentration in the Vanguard Total Market Fund. The same applies to the comparable funds at the other big mutual fund companies. The Vanguard version has around 3,000 holdings (I think), not 500, but I'm sure the "Mag Seven" are causing close to the same level of overweighting there as in the S&P.

  Post: One Is Not Enough

  Link to comment from July 27, 2024

• This and similar articles read as if the question is to be either all-in the market or all-out. But isn't there a case for taking some profits from the high-flyers when animal spirits seem a bit over-the-top? A lot may depend on the stage of life of a particular investor. The picture may look different for a younger person in prime accumulation-mode, versus someone approaching or in distribution-mode. For the latter, doesn't it make sense at such moments to take-a-little-off-the-top from those high-flyers? (Or from an index in which the high-fliers constitute an out-sized share.)

  Post: Should We Worry?

  Link to comment from June 16, 2024

• Well S-word. Sympathy to you and your family. Sympathy to me, because I get a lift when the link to the latest appears in my in-box twice a week. :(

  Post: The C Word

  Link to comment from June 15, 2024

• I was already moving rollover IRA funds into Roths up to the top of my tax bracket for general best-practice reasons, but raised-consciousness regarding RMDs to-come has made me even more diligent about it.

  Post: Do you favor Roth or traditional retirement accounts, and why?

  Link to comment from May 25, 2024

• How confident are you that MMF rates will beat inflation? What does history say about that? Are you looking at TIPS to mitigate the risk that they won't stay ahead? I too am approaching a point where I don't have years-and-years to wait for a potential Bear to return to his den. Thankfully, with a 50/50 stocks/bonds allocation, I have "enough" to comfortably live on TIPS returns plus Social Security. Specifically, by summer's end my fixed-income holdings will be two-thirds TIPS and one-third MMF. Then I just have to remember that while my survivors may care what stocks do/did, I don't have to care. <grin>

  Post: Waiting It Out

  Link to comment from May 25, 2024

• The article focuses on the relationship between income and happiness, but that leaves out a critical second factor: Nest-egg. It's not quite the same thing as income. I am now retired, and can report that having an ample nest-egg is the essential foundation of my happiness. Not a day goes by that I don't count my blessings in having it, and I don't like to think of the alternative. When I was working, building that nest-egg was more important and gave me greater satisfaction than living the high-life. The same applies now after retirement. The nest-egg is a bit more than ample (especially in this lovely low-cost-of-living area) - not cutting it close is part of the happiness-generator - so I could spend more. But I'm pretty darned content at the current level. Over the decades I managed to see a good deal of the world - most of those boxes are checked - and have no interest now in luxury travel for its own sake. Finally, I probably have enough to make my survivors identifiable as the ones with smiles at the funeral ;-) - which makes me happy - but the amounts won't be hugely life-changing.

  Post: Happy Conclusion

  Link to comment from May 15, 2024