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I am a retired CPA who wants to spend more time with my grandsons than my portfolio. In retirement, i have realized change remains the only constant, and I have to adapt. My priorities: family, food and fun.
Quotes
12 replies
AUTHOR: Mark Eckman on 7/2/2024
FIRST: Matt Morse on 7/2/2024 | RECENT: Jeff Bond on 11/18/2024
Alternative to the 4% rule
4 replies
AUTHOR: Mark Eckman on 10/12/2024
FIRST: bbbobbins on 10/12/2024 | RECENT: Mark Eckman on 10/13/2024
I KNOW FOLKS WHO consider their income to be the best measure of their wealth. Income, however, doesn’t gauge whether you’re making headway toward financial independence.
What does? My financial statement provides everything I need to measure my progress. At the end of each December, I gather the dollar amounts for my assets and liabilities, and assemble the details on a spreadsheet that compares my current standing with prior years. If you’re inspired to do the same,
HEALTH SAVINGS accounts (HSAs) were introduced in 2003, and have since become commonplace in employee benefit plans. My experience with HSAs dates to 2004, when my employer offered $400 in one-time seed money as an incentive to sign up.
HSAs differed from existing health-care flexible spending accounts, and offered some features I preferred. To me, the HSA’s most appealing feature was that I controlled the money. There’s no “use it or lose it” rule,
MY WIFE AND I PLANNED our retirement using several standard assumptions, including how long we might live. Dorothy was healthier than me, so we assumed I’d be the first to go. But on June 30, she died suddenly, and I was the one left to deal with the fallout—including the many pesky, practical details.
Those details were bureaucratic and technical, and it didn’t take long to complete them. Dealing with the funeral home, Social Security and various financial institutions was straightforward.
THE BEST DESCRIPTION for my career would be “corporate vagabond.” I moved the family six times to five different states over 42 years.
Because we never settled down in one place, my wife and I spent 15 years visiting potential retirement locations. We visited sprawling metropolitan areas, small towns, retirement communities and the town where we both grew up. We also considered the areas where we’d lived, but nothing appealed to us.
One evening,
WHEN YOU SEE an advertisement, you expect some hype. Ads for investment newsletters are, alas, no exception.
Sometimes, you hear about their unique investment process or how the newsletter regularly beats the market. Some offer one-sentence testimonials from happy subscribers. The message: You, too, can enjoy the benefits of their secret methodologies for a low, low price.
Yes, the ads are undoubtedly compelling. But you need to separate the hype from reality. Fortunately, Hulbert Financial Digest does just that—by tracking the performance of investment newsletters.
USE THE RIGHT TOOL for the job and you’ll get the best result. If you need to connect two boards, you could use a hammer and a nail or a screwdriver and a screw. Either methods work—and they’re certainly better than banging in a screw with a hammer, which I’ve seen tried. It was not effective.
Participants in 401(k) plans, alas, display similar behavior with target date funds, or TDFs. A TDF offers a diversified portfolio in a single fund,
WHEN YOU NEED expertise, you hire an expert. Water leak? Call a plumber. Electrical issue? Call an electrician. But when it’s a financial issue, the choice may not be so clear. Do you go to a CKA, a GFS or maybe a C3DWP? Chances are you haven’t heard of these designations.
I have 10 letters in my name. I also have 10 letters after my name: CPA, CISA and MBA. What do they mean?
NOTHING COMPARES to the human body when it comes to the combination of strength, flexibility and control. Build a strong core, and the possibilities are limitless. Through the discipline of Pilates, you can strengthen your core, while developing flexibility and control. It’s a wonderful tool, but one that’s underutilized.
The same can be said for health savings accounts, or HSAs, which can be funded if you have a high-deductible health plan. With an HSA,
“WE NEED TO TALK.” How many relationships have ended with those four words? They’re a verbal cue to take the news calmly and move on with life. But I would guess just as many relationships have ended without any words or possibly with harsh words. That’s what happens when we don’t talk about our relationship—or about our financial situation and financial plans.
A few years ago, my wife used those four words after I announced I was reducing our life insurance.
Comments
Concentration risk is real. I would prefer to invest in an S&P 493 fund - the S&P 500 without the Mag 7.
Post: Does Vanguard Know Something?
Link to comment from June 27, 2026
Yes, but so is the annuity company.
Post: Automatic Income stream? How important to you?
Link to comment from June 27, 2026
Excellent thought piece. A guaranteed level of income is important, and as a society, we have affirmed that belief through Social Security. Between my Social Security payment and small pension, I don't worry about income. Annuities are becoming more mainstream investments in some 401k plans but have always been an option for rollovers. Both Fidelity and Principle, the two largest 401k plan providers, offer annuities directly on their website. Not advertised, but available. My concern with in-plan annuities is they are hybrid investments that become an annuity when you take distributions from the plan. Most start with a target date fund and add an annuity withdrawal feature as the only distribution choice. Plan providers do not want to lose the assets, so they add an annuity distribution to maintain the assets while providing lifetime income. Ask yourself three questions; what good, for what people, at what cost. When I apply that frame to in-plan annuities, very mixed results occur. While the annuity may be good for some, it is not the one size fits all solution regulations seek. But I believe you have skimmed the edge of this issue. Many people want $1M net worth by retirement, and that's fine. But $900k in home equity doesn't produce income. As to the DIY choice, most people do not invest for total return and or have a cash management strategy like a pension fund or an annuity company. Those concepts are not taught in schools or by 401k plans. An annuity is the simple way to derive income from a pot of money and solves the issue for many. It creates a rigid framework for the many that can invest independently.
Post: Automatic Income stream? How important to you?
Link to comment from June 27, 2026
"It's remarkable how much you have to learn to find out how little you need to know." Jason Zweig
Post: How financially illiterate are Americans?
Link to comment from June 20, 2026
The bug guy was at my door yesterday. He had been here about 2 months ago and I reminded him I was not interested then and not interested now. as the young retiree in the neighborhood, it is rather depressing. I have an attack Dachshund. She will have your shoes untied in about 20 seconds.
Post: He Said I Wasn’t Very Nice
Link to comment from June 20, 2026
Social Security is one item where Donald Trump has kept his word - He will not touch Social Security. Instead, he intends to let it collapse on itself.
Post: Many seniors think we paid for our Social Security benefits based on the FICA taxes we paid. Let’s dispel that myth- we didn’t
Link to comment from June 20, 2026
Not sure what you are reaction "If we didn’t, who did?" is about. the piece is educating, not complaining.
Post: Many seniors think we paid for our Social Security benefits based on the FICA taxes we paid. Let’s dispel that myth- we didn’t
Link to comment from June 20, 2026
Since my wife died several years ago, I have a difference in the who and why my assets will transfer. I sit down with my chidren and told them my daughter will be the executor and all of the directions are in a letter to them containtng the who, what, when, where, and why of my finances, Currently, it is 38 pages long, my will is 5 pages. While they know where the documents are located, they do not have access. The kids do not know dollar amounts and details, but they do understand what they recieve will be controlled by beneficiary designations, my will and trust documents. My daughter will have few decisions, just lots of managment. My discussion with the kids renews each year around Christmas, just to give an update and answer any questions.
Post: Time to share our financial info with children?
Link to comment from June 8, 2026
The old rant of "easy to say is not easy to do" applies here. It would be nice to get a simpler plan, but my experience is each of the current designs came about from someones desire for simple. The question is simple for who? So ask 3 questions, what good, for what people, at what cost. Simple for the sake of society, for participant sanity, for overall costs? Any way we slice this, somebody screams. Simple for the participant, the plan sponsor, the IRS? Simple can drive cost both ways. How do we deal with the exiting plans, do we roll the DB plans into a DC environment? Who bears that cost? Do we just freeze plans till the last participant dies off in say 60 years? Lots of adminstration cost wasted.
Post: Time to scrap IRAs, 401k, 403b and all the rest
Link to comment from May 23, 2026
People do not understand compounding on investments or debt. If they did, we would not see credit cards with double digit interest rates. They destroy wealth faster than it can be earned.
Post: Is saving really that hard? Nope, not for the great majority of Americans.
Link to comment from May 2, 2026