I'm a college professor, and been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to have a 6 month sabbatical.
Having the opportunity to really think is an absolutely amazing gift. This is what my sabbatical have me.
One peice of advice I give to my students as they send the "accept" email to their first career employer is to first think about all the decisions made, choices taken, choices not taken, that had led them to this moment where they can say "yes" to a career.
I trek them to them send the email, and then spend some time thinking about how their life just completely changed, ans was sent in a particular direction. What short and long term goals do they now have?
It seems to me that you have the mirror of this (rather than a career, a lack of career), but can still go through the same process
Not sure why this is getting down votes, as I think your comment here is almost entirely correct.
We're moving into an Agentic AI world. I'm a business school professor, and I think what graduates need is the ability to figure out what parts of a business process can be automated. Then they need to be able to build an AI agent to do this. And most importantly they need to be able to audit the output, and figure out what the agent does when it encounters edge cases, incorrect, or malicious data. Plenty of critical thinking skills as well as business skills needed here.
After all this has been agenticised, they need critical thinking skills to figure out what the business can now do that it couldn't do before as it didn't have the time, energy, or people-power.
On top of this, what we're seeing is that business people want to work with, and deal with, business people, not AI Agents. But both sides expect that those people will be using AI to do the routine tasks, and help make data driven decisions. They expect that people they work and deal with will have audited the AI output. But at the end of the day, they want to talk to a person. Someone who understands the context, the nuance of the situation, and the human intricacies that are there.
I think universities that have strong liberal arts courses that nurture and build this emotional intelligence component will prepare students well for the future. There's plenty of evidence that "some, if not many" students will use AI to complete assignments and exams using AI whether there's an ethics code, or even screen and student videoing. I think this is a failure to be "just addressing plagarism by students" as you mention.What's needed is a complete re-think of what we're trying to teach and how we assess the learning of that. With no small irony, I am using our university's RAG AI platform to try and figure this out!
I am more than a little surprised that Humble Dollar readers are not suggesting that you use Consumer Reports to make your decision. I certainly will when it comes time.
With their exceptionally thorough testing, they have shown that just because a brand is good doesn't mean a particular model in that brand is good. They also have a really good feature called "popular choice vs. better choice".
I would recommend buying the "car issue" or just subscribing to Consumer Reports. They have a car buying service too that I will likely use.
I finished reading Adam's excellent weekly missive, and as I tapped the link to come to this article I was thinking: "I wish we actually had articles that address the impact of AI", and voila, this article! An excellent description of why self-driving technology can be useful, safe, and efficient with money. We just spent a week down in Mission Beach San Diego, over our Spring Break. A rental car was going be $700 for the week, and parking extremely difficult. We decided to go 100% Uber. Fabulous decision. Total cost for the week was $300. It was lovely to Uber back to our beachside condo and just be dropped off, no parking hassles. A trip to the San Diego zoo dropped us right off at the front gate, no need to pay for parking. Being free of a vehicle was fabulous.
It's because of Jonathan Clements, and this particular principle, that I did NOT install the TIAA app on my phone. It's much easier to not look at your portfolio when it's a little more difficult to do so!
I really enjoyed this article.
Fabulous post, thank you!
"At that point, the question isn’t “How do I maximize my retirement balance?” It’s “What is the best use of my next dollar?” My wife and I were with friends this weekend, and they asked us about when we'll take Social Security.
My wife is 7 years older than me, and I'm the main money earner.
We decided to take her Social Security at 62 years old. It's not the "100%" solution, but a "99% solution" from the calculator that's been posted here on HD.
The key for us is that we'd get the money to spend on travel when we wanted to, and can, travel. We feel this is the "best use of the next dollar".
Our mortgage is paid off, kids college is paid for.
What your article highlights, which I had not thought about, is the level of dollars in my 401k that gets you to this crossover point from “How do I maximize my retirement balance?” to “What is the best use of my next dollar?”. That was really incredibly useful.
Your suggestion on planning ahead, simplicity, connection, and individuality combined for us last week.
Our daughter has been a fan of the globally famous k-pop group BTS for a decade, and has managed to get my wife to love them too.
Me, not so much.
BTS is playing in a small number of huge stadiums in the US in September.
My daughter's job was to procure the tickets, and we told her that this was probably the only time my wife would go, so we were all in: get best available tickets, VIP, whatever was possible, and to use our credit card (daughter does not have enough credit).
Daughter miraculously secured amazing tickets.
The Simplicity was to just get tickets,whatever the cost.
I immediately booked the flights to Los Angeles and an Airbnb in Manhattan Beach for the entire week.
I am certain that the flights were not the cheapest, and the Beach Airbnb is also not, but they are locked in.
Simplicity.
With BTS tickets in hand, and flights and accommodation secured, there has been much time spent looking forward to the experience.
My daughter lives in Portland and we live in Montana, so this is a chance for my wife and daughter to connect over a shared passion.
Connection.
I get to not have to go to a BTS concert.
Individuality.
There has been an excessive amount of happiness in our home this week!
Mark, this is an excellent post. I bothered to read through all the comments, and see that the numbers in the main (first) post are not correct. Would it be possible to update them to be correct? Otherwise you have to read through the comments, in the correct order, to figure out what is going on. The problem with this is, of course, the comments then become meaningless.
Comments
I'm a college professor, and been fortunate enough to have had the opportunity to have a 6 month sabbatical. Having the opportunity to really think is an absolutely amazing gift. This is what my sabbatical have me. One peice of advice I give to my students as they send the "accept" email to their first career employer is to first think about all the decisions made, choices taken, choices not taken, that had led them to this moment where they can say "yes" to a career. I trek them to them send the email, and then spend some time thinking about how their life just completely changed, ans was sent in a particular direction. What short and long term goals do they now have? It seems to me that you have the mirror of this (rather than a career, a lack of career), but can still go through the same process
Post: Fear of the Unknown…
Link to comment from July 26, 2026
Not sure why this is getting down votes, as I think your comment here is almost entirely correct. We're moving into an Agentic AI world. I'm a business school professor, and I think what graduates need is the ability to figure out what parts of a business process can be automated. Then they need to be able to build an AI agent to do this. And most importantly they need to be able to audit the output, and figure out what the agent does when it encounters edge cases, incorrect, or malicious data. Plenty of critical thinking skills as well as business skills needed here. After all this has been agenticised, they need critical thinking skills to figure out what the business can now do that it couldn't do before as it didn't have the time, energy, or people-power. On top of this, what we're seeing is that business people want to work with, and deal with, business people, not AI Agents. But both sides expect that those people will be using AI to do the routine tasks, and help make data driven decisions. They expect that people they work and deal with will have audited the AI output. But at the end of the day, they want to talk to a person. Someone who understands the context, the nuance of the situation, and the human intricacies that are there. I think universities that have strong liberal arts courses that nurture and build this emotional intelligence component will prepare students well for the future. There's plenty of evidence that "some, if not many" students will use AI to complete assignments and exams using AI whether there's an ethics code, or even screen and student videoing. I think this is a failure to be "just addressing plagarism by students" as you mention. What's needed is a complete re-think of what we're trying to teach and how we assess the learning of that. With no small irony, I am using our university's RAG AI platform to try and figure this out!
Post: Degrees of Doubt: When Higher Education Misses the Mark
Link to comment from July 26, 2026
I am more than a little surprised that Humble Dollar readers are not suggesting that you use Consumer Reports to make your decision. I certainly will when it comes time. With their exceptionally thorough testing, they have shown that just because a brand is good doesn't mean a particular model in that brand is good. They also have a really good feature called "popular choice vs. better choice". I would recommend buying the "car issue" or just subscribing to Consumer Reports. They have a car buying service too that I will likely use.
Post: Buying a car in retirement
Link to comment from July 22, 2026
I finished reading Adam's excellent weekly missive, and as I tapped the link to come to this article I was thinking: "I wish we actually had articles that address the impact of AI", and voila, this article! An excellent description of why self-driving technology can be useful, safe, and efficient with money. We just spent a week down in Mission Beach San Diego, over our Spring Break. A rental car was going be $700 for the week, and parking extremely difficult. We decided to go 100% Uber. Fabulous decision. Total cost for the week was $300. It was lovely to Uber back to our beachside condo and just be dropped off, no parking hassles. A trip to the San Diego zoo dropped us right off at the front gate, no need to pay for parking. Being free of a vehicle was fabulous.
Post: Ageing and the Open Road
Link to comment from May 2, 2026
It's because of Jonathan Clements, and this particular principle, that I did NOT install the TIAA app on my phone. It's much easier to not look at your portfolio when it's a little more difficult to do so! I really enjoyed this article.
Post: Resist the Urge to Act
Link to comment from April 11, 2026
Fabulous post, thank you! "At that point, the question isn’t “How do I maximize my retirement balance?” It’s “What is the best use of my next dollar?” My wife and I were with friends this weekend, and they asked us about when we'll take Social Security. My wife is 7 years older than me, and I'm the main money earner. We decided to take her Social Security at 62 years old. It's not the "100%" solution, but a "99% solution" from the calculator that's been posted here on HD. The key for us is that we'd get the money to spend on travel when we wanted to, and can, travel. We feel this is the "best use of the next dollar". Our mortgage is paid off, kids college is paid for. What your article highlights, which I had not thought about, is the level of dollars in my 401k that gets you to this crossover point from “How do I maximize my retirement balance?” to “What is the best use of my next dollar?”. That was really incredibly useful.
Post: Should You Stop Contributing To Your IRA?
Link to comment from February 17, 2026
Your suggestion on planning ahead, simplicity, connection, and individuality combined for us last week. Our daughter has been a fan of the globally famous k-pop group BTS for a decade, and has managed to get my wife to love them too. Me, not so much. BTS is playing in a small number of huge stadiums in the US in September. My daughter's job was to procure the tickets, and we told her that this was probably the only time my wife would go, so we were all in: get best available tickets, VIP, whatever was possible, and to use our credit card (daughter does not have enough credit). Daughter miraculously secured amazing tickets. The Simplicity was to just get tickets,whatever the cost. I immediately booked the flights to Los Angeles and an Airbnb in Manhattan Beach for the entire week. I am certain that the flights were not the cheapest, and the Beach Airbnb is also not, but they are locked in. Simplicity. With BTS tickets in hand, and flights and accommodation secured, there has been much time spent looking forward to the experience. My daughter lives in Portland and we live in Montana, so this is a chance for my wife and daughter to connect over a shared passion. Connection. I get to not have to go to a BTS concert. Individuality. There has been an excessive amount of happiness in our home this week!
Post: Financial Happiness
Link to comment from January 26, 2026
Mark, this is an excellent post. I bothered to read through all the comments, and see that the numbers in the main (first) post are not correct. Would it be possible to update them to be correct? Otherwise you have to read through the comments, in the correct order, to figure out what is going on. The problem with this is, of course, the comments then become meaningless.
Post: Please Sir, Can I Have Some More?
Link to comment from December 23, 2025
Could someone please direct me to Jonathan's last article? The one where he mentioned at the beginning about a stone in his front garden.
Post: Information on Jonathan’s Memorial Service
Link to comment from October 3, 2025
Holliday, I would to hear more about your travels
Post: Another HD Post About Cars
Link to comment from May 31, 2025