Mark Gardner

Comments

• Thank you! I rebalance to the band rather than target.

  Post: When to Leave Your Portfolio Alone

  Link to comment from June 27, 2026

• I only know which assets were the winners in hindsight. At the time I rebalance, I don’t know whether today’s winner will keep winning or when today’s laggard will recover. This process keeps me disciplined.

  Post: When to Leave Your Portfolio Alone

  Link to comment from June 27, 2026

• Jonathan, thanks for a thoughtful article. One reason these debates never seem to go away is that capitalism and democracy pull in different directions. Markets create wealth, but they also tend to concentrate power and influence. The history of labor protections, antitrust laws, progressive taxation, and similar reforms is really the story of trying to keep opportunity broad while preserving the benefits of a market based economy. I also suspect many Americans hear “socialism” less as an economic system and more as a question of who pays and who benefits. That turns an economic discussion into an emotional one given the history of our nation. In reality, most of us seem comfortable with a mixed economy. The real debate is where to draw the line and whether we can evolve into a more accommodating multi-cultural society, not whether capitalism or socialism should win outright.

  Post: The S Word

  Link to comment from June 23, 2026

• I doubt if Congress will allow it. It would be a strange thing for members of the House and Senate to jeopardize their own jobs and mess with this entitlement.

  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

• I suspect part of the discomfort is that this wasn’t clearly an emergency, nor was it clearly discretionary. It fell into that messy middle ground where reasonable people could justify either spending cash or borrowing. The other thing that struck me is that avoiding debt and avoiding regret aren’t necessarily the same thing. You may sleep better without the loan, yet still feel a twinge as you watch the accounts slowly recover. Sometimes the financially optimal choice and the psychologically satisfying choice aren’t the same.

  Post: Leverage

  Link to comment from June 19, 2026

• I found https://www.fisherinvestments.com/en-us/insights/market-commentary/the-politics-and-practicalities-of-the-social-security-trust-fund useful on this topic.

  Post: Fixing Social Security is not that hard, here’s how

  Link to comment from June 19, 2026

• Your post about the family ledger reminded me of a conversation I had a few years back with one of my managers. I was proudly showing him a fairly sophisticated retirement model I had built in Excel and was feeling pretty pleased with myself. He listened for a while, then stopped me. “Let me tell you something,” he said. “A few years ago, I was exactly where you are. I spent countless hours building spreadsheets and optimizing every detail of our financial future. I knew the numbers cold. What I didn’t pay enough attention to was my relationship with my wife and what she wanted out of life.” He paused and then added, “Eventually, the marriage ended. We divided the assets, and I’m still working because I need to.” That conversation stuck with me.

  Post: Risk Adjusted: The Family Ledger 

  Link to comment from June 18, 2026

• It’s highly personal IMO. My essential expenses include taxes, insurance premiums, prescriptions, HOA fees, utilities, groceries, preventive healthcare, and even a modest amount of travel and entertainment, especially in my 60s. I hope my risk portfolio will fund the rest of my lifestyle spending—the “joy” category—but I’d rather reduce that discretionary spending during market stress than compromise my essential expenses or become a burden to my children.

  Post: Defining Enough

  Link to comment from June 16, 2026

• I am lucky enough to be able to afford 25 years of essential spending.

  Post: Defining Enough

  Link to comment from June 16, 2026

• Yes. For a retiree, home equity can be a reasonable consideration as a contingency fund for unanticipated spending shocks.

  Post: What’s in your portfolio ?

  Link to comment from June 15, 2026