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Matt White

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    • Rick, I really appreciate your article. A good friend of mine is a couple weeks removed from a knee replacement, and I was happy to be able to share your encouragement and tips.

      Post: Pretty Nice Joint

      Link to comment from April 6, 2023

    • Thanks for reading!

      Post: When to Spend

      Link to comment from April 6, 2023

    • Thanks, Rick! I guess you could say it’s everybody else’s job to figure out how to suck us in (marketing, etc) and up to us to decide whether to put up any resistance.

      Post: When to Spend

      Link to comment from April 6, 2023

    • Thanks, Richard! Reading your comments also reminded me of this: Even if there is an extraordinary expenditure that you want to fund that doesn't fit in your otherwise established plan, it could be an option to find an extraordinary income source to offset it. There might be a side project that could provide both income and enjoyment--especially if you have the goal and the reward in front of you as motivation.

      Post: When to Spend

      Link to comment from April 6, 2023

    • Yeah, Mark, keeping up with where money goes is hard enough without breaking up purchases into twelve monthly installments. I like your ideas. There is something very helpful about intentionally and visually separating money for what's important to you--as you propose.

      Post: When to Spend

      Link to comment from April 6, 2023

    • Thank you, Ed! It really is true. I'm thankful for my wife.

      Post: When to Spend

      Link to comment from April 6, 2023

    • We are natural rationalizers. It helps to know that about ourselves so--while in our moments of clarity--we can set up some systems to help make wiser decisions. It made me smile to read your comment that you think this can be helpful for a lot of people. Thank you! I hope it is.

      Post: When to Spend

      Link to comment from April 6, 2023

    • I love this, Ed. What’s your favorite thing to grow in your garden?

      Post: Planning My Time

      Link to comment from March 29, 2023

    • Yeah, I think there is something to that. I hope to see more research challenging the common, blanket encouragement to always save more for retirement.

      Post: Going Our Own Way

      Link to comment from December 26, 2022

    • I feel that dilemma too. I’ve also been deterred from traveling much during child rearing years.

      Post: Going Our Own Way

      Link to comment from December 26, 2022

    Articles

    When to Spend

    Matt C. White   |  Apr 5, 2023

    IF YOU HAVE READ enough HumbleDollar articles, you’ve probably noticed that frugality has played a major role in the financial success of many of the site’s writers. Peruse the article comments and the site’s “Voices” section, and you’ll find that readers often share the same thriftiness. Frugality is also a key theme running through many of the 30 financial life stories in the forthcoming book, My Money Journey. Sure enough,

    Going Our Own Way

    Matt C. White   |  Dec 22, 2022

    HOW WE THINK ABOUT money affects almost every aspect of our lives. All the landmark decisions we make have a thread of money influence running through them. I’m talking about college, career, marriage, kids, the people and places we associate with—even how we spend our time. If we don’t make these decisions intentionally, we’ll drift downstream, carried by the current of the most popular money management ideas.
    That brings me to a study recently published by the Journal of Retirement and entitled,

    Wiser in 21 Ways

    Matt C. White   |  Nov 9, 2022

    WHEN I MET ARON FOR dinner, the occasion marked a milestone for both of us. Aron had earned his bachelor’s degree in audio production in 2020—during the thick of the pandemic—and finding his place in the industry had been more difficult than he’d hoped.
    Now that things were finally falling into place, Aron approached me for help with his finances. In particular, he wanted to understand his tax situation, which had grown into a mixture of self-employed contract work and part-time employment.

    A Home Run

    Matt C. White   |  Sep 12, 2022

    MY WIFE SARAH AND I recently dusted off our old Scrabble board. We reviewed the rules and were reminded of the Scrabble Bingo—the 50-point bonus awarded to a player who figures out how to play every letter tile from the tray on a single turn.
    Neither of us could remember ever achieving the Scrabble Bingo. That wasn’t surprising, we reasoned, because it’s rare for all the stars to align. You’d need the right combination of seven letters,

    Read That Statement

    Matt C. White   |  Jul 21, 2022

    HAVE YOU HEARD that you shouldn’t check your 401(k) at times like this? Market volatility can wreak havoc not only with our account balances, but also with our decision-making. Ignoring our 401(k) statements might help us stick with our long-term investment plan.
    True as that may be, there’s a good reason to peek at your second-quarter statement: to see if you can find a new feature—the lifetime income illustration. It was mandated by Congress as part of the 2019 SECURE Act,

    No Help

    Matt C. White   |  Jul 4, 2022

    OUR LAST SUMMER road trip didn’t exactly go as planned. That ordeal changed my mind about an annual expense I’d been paying without much thought. I gained a new perspective—even if I did learn my lesson the hard way.
    On a Saturday morning last summer, Sarah and I woke our kids at 4 a.m. for a predawn drive through the mountains of East Tennessee and across the Carolinas. We were on our way to enjoy the beaches of Hilton Head Island,

    Insuring Infirmity

    Matt C. White   |  Jun 20, 2022

    LONG-TERM-CARE insurance and disability insurance can both be part of a comprehensive financial plan. But is it a good idea to have both coverages at the same time, or could one substitute for the other? After all, both policies are designed to help those who are, in some way, infirm.
    To answer this question, let’s start with another one: What’s the purpose of insurance? The best use of any type of insurance is to guard against financial disaster.

    No Guarantees

    Matt C. White   |  Jun 2, 2022

    TARGET-DATE FUNDS are riding a wave of popularity. Morningstar reports that investors placed $170 billion into these funds in 2021, more than double their 2020 inflow. Morningstar also reports that, as of 2019, 58% of all 401(k) participants were invested in a target-date fund. That percentage is likely higher today.
    It’s clear why the funds have become so popular. They can be an excellent solution for retirement savers who prefer a hands-off approach. To this end,

    Perspective Needed

    Matt C. White   |  Apr 26, 2022

    THE HIGHEST expression of complexity is thoughtful simplicity. It’s like standing on a mountaintop after navigating the ascent.
    The work of the mountain’s trailblazer is arduous. He or she must focus intently on the task at hand, glancing left and right, guessing what will come around each new bend. But from the pinnacle looking down, the perspective puts the most efficient path in clear view. It becomes possible to make a map to aid those who will come next.

    Time to Settle Up

    Matt C. White   |  Apr 12, 2022

    TAX DAY IS ALMOST here, and I have a feeling that some of you may be less than excited. The cash that changes hands every year around this time gets a lot of attention, but it tells an incomplete story. The size of the check you write—or the refund you’re receiving—doesn’t, by itself, say much of anything about your tax situation.

    Back in the days before technology made transferring money so convenient, did you ever let a tab run both ways with a friend?

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