When we were house-shopping in the Seattle area in 2021, the market was insanely competitive because of the pandemic, and offering asking price was a futile exercise. We bid $40K over asking for one place and didn't even make the final 8 for re-offers. It was like running a personal best in the Olympic semifinals and not even making the finals. (The house sold for $110K over asking.) Then we accidentally found the one place that asking-price bidding was certain to succeed -- a new-home development, still under construction. If you meet the developer's pre-set price, you cannot be outbid. We happened to drive by on the morning that a just-completed house at the top of the neighborhood hill fell out of escrow. It was way bigger than we wanted, and because it was pouring rain we had to take the agent's word that it had the spectacular view we were seeking of Mount Rainer and the Sound. The place was selling for exactly 50 dollars less than the top of our approved mortgage limit. It took us about ten minutes to decide. The developer's rule was that the offer had to be submitted by a realtor, and our shellshocked buyer's agent was actually napping on a beach in Maui when I called and woke him up. He faxed in the offer from the hotel lobby. We had the house by 4pm. It has been perfect -- big enough for my wife's entire family when needed, and perfectly located for our lifestyle and needs. We have room to install an elevator when Mama can't make the stairs anymore. And yes, the view is insane, especially at dawn. It's my frog house. I'm here until I croak.
Based on the advice I have read here over the years, I am right now making the move from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare, a Medigap G and a Part D plan I just signed up for this morning.I had been thoroughly happy with my AARP United Healthcare MA plan, but last month I received notifications -- first from the Fred Hutch Cancer Center and then from UHC, which was odd -- that the plan was being discontinued.I called an independent health insurance agent I've worked with for several years on my wife's and my mother-in-law's Obamacare health plans. She enthusiastically recommended I take the opportunity that UHC had kindly granted to make the choice overwhelmingly preferred by the denizens of HD. So I have. My Medicap will come from Premera, a company operating only in WA and AK, and I let UHC keep my Part D business, since I really like their mail pharmacy Optum. And on we go.
Love that. I read American history constantly. Currently working my way through a series of books by historian Walter Lord, and my bathroom book is The Sit Room (how appropriate!) by George Stephanopolous. How lucky you are to now live where history was actually made. You're right, nothing much ever happened in the Pacific Northwest.
Mr. Actor, my technique for brain exercise is... I've become an actor! I'm doing community theater. Our opening night of Fiddler on the Roof last night drew a standing ovation. Memorizing lines, songs, movements and dance choreography has my 70-year-old synapses firing (and misfiring) like crazy. I make it a point to be the first in the cast to be "off-book" -- all my lines memorized -- ahead of the teenagers in the show. But I cannot remember any of their names, so I hide a cast guide in my briefcase. In all seriousness, I detect deficiencies in my brain already, not just people names (I even forget friends' names) but proper names of books and songs and TV shows and movies. I find myself preparing my sentences in advance before speaking them, or I risk hesitating in mid-comment. Exercise has always been a big part of my life, and I still walk and pump iron, but knowing I needed some heavy mental lifting I've gone showbiz. And I can feel it working.
I bought a universal life policy in the 1980s. Built up a nice stash... until it went away one day. Remember the Executive Life/First Capital collapse in '91? That was me. I eventually got back $7000 in the settlement and distribution of remaining assets. The rest all disappeared in the junk bond wreckage.
Your columns are always valuable, Adam. Thanks. I am in the process of transitioning to a new life insurance policy at 70. My previous term policy hit the 20-year mark a couple of years ago, and of course the premiums absolutely exploded. For this year they want $5100 for $250K of coverage. No thanks. I'm dropping the policy. By any financial measure, I don't really need life insurance at this point... but it's an investment in my wife's peace of mind. If I keeled over tomorrow, she would want to sell the house to finance her life until she can start tapping into our IRAs, but we know from experience that selling a house in an unpredictable market can take up to two years. So I'm taking out a new, cheaper policy with a 10-year term and a smaller payout that would carry her through for two years. The cost will be less than half. And when she decides we don't need it anymore, I'll simply cancel.
Mark, I was about to tell you about my childhood with my nose in books, how my parents knew I was reading before I could talk because when they read to me I'd follow along the page with my finger. How I'd walk from classroom to classroom reading. How I'd sit in the back row of a boring class with the textbook open and propped up to fool the teacher while I read another, smaller book inside. How my irate father would pound on the bathroom door to tell me to stop camping out with a book (I would hide it in the bottom of the clothes hamper and deny I'd been reading). And how much all that absorbed vocabulary contributed to my business success. But then you spoiled it by kicking a raw nerve of mine. I just celebrated my 50th year as a soccer referee, and the image of a school principal running onto the field to argue with a ref in a children's game infuriates me. The guy is a complete ass and a despicable role model for the kids on the pitch, and I hope the young ref had the courage to red-card him. (A teenaged ref I met in England told me that amid all the abuse he took, he most enjoyed sending irate parents to the car park.) Continued good luck to your grandson -- and his team!
You're no outlier, Mark. I'm a fanatical reader of nonfiction -- history and autobiographies, usually two at a time (one on the meal table, one in the... ahem... bathroom) -- but I don't have a single personal finance book on my shelf.
Comments
When we were house-shopping in the Seattle area in 2021, the market was insanely competitive because of the pandemic, and offering asking price was a futile exercise. We bid $40K over asking for one place and didn't even make the final 8 for re-offers. It was like running a personal best in the Olympic semifinals and not even making the finals. (The house sold for $110K over asking.) Then we accidentally found the one place that asking-price bidding was certain to succeed -- a new-home development, still under construction. If you meet the developer's pre-set price, you cannot be outbid. We happened to drive by on the morning that a just-completed house at the top of the neighborhood hill fell out of escrow. It was way bigger than we wanted, and because it was pouring rain we had to take the agent's word that it had the spectacular view we were seeking of Mount Rainer and the Sound. The place was selling for exactly 50 dollars less than the top of our approved mortgage limit. It took us about ten minutes to decide. The developer's rule was that the offer had to be submitted by a realtor, and our shellshocked buyer's agent was actually napping on a beach in Maui when I called and woke him up. He faxed in the offer from the hotel lobby. We had the house by 4pm. It has been perfect -- big enough for my wife's entire family when needed, and perfectly located for our lifestyle and needs. We have room to install an elevator when Mama can't make the stairs anymore. And yes, the view is insane, especially at dawn. It's my frog house. I'm here until I croak.
Post: Full Asking Price
Link to comment from November 6, 2026
Based on the advice I have read here over the years, I am right now making the move from Medicare Advantage to Original Medicare, a Medigap G and a Part D plan I just signed up for this morning. I had been thoroughly happy with my AARP United Healthcare MA plan, but last month I received notifications -- first from the Fred Hutch Cancer Center and then from UHC, which was odd -- that the plan was being discontinued. I called an independent health insurance agent I've worked with for several years on my wife's and my mother-in-law's Obamacare health plans. She enthusiastically recommended I take the opportunity that UHC had kindly granted to make the choice overwhelmingly preferred by the denizens of HD. So I have. My Medicap will come from Premera, a company operating only in WA and AK, and I let UHC keep my Part D business, since I really like their mail pharmacy Optum. And on we go.
Post: Dropping My Subsidized Retiree Health Plan for a Medigap Plan G—Am I Crazy to Pay $2K+ More?
Link to comment from November 1, 2026
Love that. I read American history constantly. Currently working my way through a series of books by historian Walter Lord, and my bathroom book is The Sit Room (how appropriate!) by George Stephanopolous. How lucky you are to now live where history was actually made. You're right, nothing much ever happened in the Pacific Northwest.
Post: Brain Power
Link to comment from October 31, 2026
Mr. Actor, my technique for brain exercise is... I've become an actor! I'm doing community theater. Our opening night of Fiddler on the Roof last night drew a standing ovation. Memorizing lines, songs, movements and dance choreography has my 70-year-old synapses firing (and misfiring) like crazy. I make it a point to be the first in the cast to be "off-book" -- all my lines memorized -- ahead of the teenagers in the show. But I cannot remember any of their names, so I hide a cast guide in my briefcase. In all seriousness, I detect deficiencies in my brain already, not just people names (I even forget friends' names) but proper names of books and songs and TV shows and movies. I find myself preparing my sentences in advance before speaking them, or I risk hesitating in mid-comment. Exercise has always been a big part of my life, and I still walk and pump iron, but knowing I needed some heavy mental lifting I've gone showbiz. And I can feel it working.
Post: Brain Power
Link to comment from October 31, 2026
I bought a universal life policy in the 1980s. Built up a nice stash... until it went away one day. Remember the Executive Life/First Capital collapse in '91? That was me. I eventually got back $7000 in the settlement and distribution of remaining assets. The rest all disappeared in the junk bond wreckage.
Post: Life Insurance
Link to comment from October 17, 2026
Your columns are always valuable, Adam. Thanks. I am in the process of transitioning to a new life insurance policy at 70. My previous term policy hit the 20-year mark a couple of years ago, and of course the premiums absolutely exploded. For this year they want $5100 for $250K of coverage. No thanks. I'm dropping the policy. By any financial measure, I don't really need life insurance at this point... but it's an investment in my wife's peace of mind. If I keeled over tomorrow, she would want to sell the house to finance her life until she can start tapping into our IRAs, but we know from experience that selling a house in an unpredictable market can take up to two years. So I'm taking out a new, cheaper policy with a 10-year term and a smaller payout that would carry her through for two years. The cost will be less than half. And when she decides we don't need it anymore, I'll simply cancel.
Post: Life Insurance
Link to comment from October 17, 2026
Mark, I was about to tell you about my childhood with my nose in books, how my parents knew I was reading before I could talk because when they read to me I'd follow along the page with my finger. How I'd walk from classroom to classroom reading. How I'd sit in the back row of a boring class with the textbook open and propped up to fool the teacher while I read another, smaller book inside. How my irate father would pound on the bathroom door to tell me to stop camping out with a book (I would hide it in the bottom of the clothes hamper and deny I'd been reading). And how much all that absorbed vocabulary contributed to my business success. But then you spoiled it by kicking a raw nerve of mine. I just celebrated my 50th year as a soccer referee, and the image of a school principal running onto the field to argue with a ref in a children's game infuriates me. The guy is a complete ass and a despicable role model for the kids on the pitch, and I hope the young ref had the courage to red-card him. (A teenaged ref I met in England told me that amid all the abuse he took, he most enjoyed sending irate parents to the car park.) Continued good luck to your grandson -- and his team!
Post: A Million Words to a Million Dollars?
Link to comment from October 16, 2026
You're no outlier, Mark. I'm a fanatical reader of nonfiction -- history and autobiographies, usually two at a time (one on the meal table, one in the... ahem... bathroom) -- but I don't have a single personal finance book on my shelf.
Post: FINANCIAL MISTAKES
Link to comment from October 8, 2026
Meep! Meep!
Post: Room For Happiness
Link to comment from October 7, 2026
I suspect you may wash out before a live audience.
Post: Laundered
Link to comment from October 4, 2026