David Firth

Comments:

• Gosh, what a great story! Thank you. We spent three months earlier this year living in Madrid, and took the train to visit several other towns and cities. What a great way to travel. You see more, can read a book with ease, get up and walk around. Lovely. Would you be asked to say exactly which tour company you went with, please?

  Post: Luxury on Rails

  Link to comment from October 3, 2024

• I was struggling a bit with what a TIPS ladder is, and how to set one up, and found this Rob Berger video on YouTube to be extremely helpful: https://youtu.be/WMSOdk9Ga_Q?si=3rKtzmKm1P-KAIUo I had thought I'd be doing an annuity ladder, but a TIPS ladder sounds better to me for inflation protection.

  Post: Hedging your bet in retirement-dealing with inflation. What’s your strategy? R Quinn

  Link to comment from September 29, 2024

• I really wasn't quite understanding why you'd buy TIPS and put together a TIPS ladder, but the Rob Berger video on YouTube was absolutely fantastic (it's referenced above)! I had thought I'd be doing an annuity ladder, but now I am thinking a TIPS later is better. The video is here: https://youtu.be/WMSOdk9Ga_Q?si=lokOHfQPwD6xlFik

  Post: Laying Down a Floor

  Link to comment from September 27, 2024

• This article is EXACTLY why I love HumbleDollar so much! Real people using their own actual money to secure the retirement they want for themselves, and telling us exactly how they did it. Could you provide a link, please, to the " I also found all the answers to my “how do I…?” questions"? Could you also share why you are doing this at age 63? I had long thought I'd be doing an immediate annuity ladder, but now I am thinking I like your strategy better!

  Post: Laying Down a Floor

  Link to comment from September 15, 2024

• I think what your talking about here relates to the "ikigai" concept, sometimes called "the hedgehog". Ikigai is a venn diagram of the following four things: 1) what you love 2) What the world needs 3) what you can get paid for 4) what you're good at As you cover here, these four things don't always align.

  Post: What’s Your Talent?

  Link to comment from August 13, 2024

• Great article! As someone else mentioned here, I use Consumer Reports pretty religiously to inform my purchases (I subscribe to their digital and print magazine). For me this achieves much of what you talk about here, and I feel that I am buying quality, usually for less.

  Post: Good Enough for Me

  Link to comment from August 8, 2024

• My wife and I do a fair bit of international travel. In reference to your "I looked at the price of business class flights, and I just couldn’t bring myself to do it", here's what we've found: 1) We fly Delta. It is more expensive, but almost everything is better about them than the other carriers. 2) We paid for the rather expensive Delta AmEx card, mainly for Delta Sky Club and Amex Centurion Club access. It is definitely worth it. Travel has become much more pleasant. 3) Delta Comfort, their "premium economy" class is worth it, whereas business class is not. Indeed, I just flew back from England and got a free upgrade to business class (they call it Premium Select). I had turned down their early offer to pay $1220 for this, only even bothering to consider it because I thought they were asking $122 for it. What did I get for the upgrade: wider seats (not needed), same extra legroom as Delta Comfort, and a little white table cloth for my tray table for dinner and breakfast, though the food was no different. I accepted the upgrade only because it was to an aisle seat. For me, sitting in an aisle seat in Delta Comfort is better than a non-aisle seat in Delta Premium Select. On a recent international flight my wife and I paid $150 each for the upgrade from our 2 seats on the side (2-4-2 seat configuration) to be in the aisle and middle seat in Delta Premium Select (2-3-2 seat configuration). We wish we hadn't. Just being on our own in the 2-seats of a 2-4-2 configuration in Delta Comfort is better. 4) We will pay a higher ticket price for shorter total travel time. Indeed, I now sort my flight results by "shortest travel time". It's worth it. 5) Delta has a price-calendar option. We use this to fly when it's cheaper as we have the flexibility to be flexible around exact dates.

  Post: Looking Different

  Link to comment from July 6, 2024

• What a great story! Please keep writing.

  Post: What Friends Do

  Link to comment from July 3, 2024

• Great article! We bought our 2001 Honda Odyssey for cash brand new. Before purchase I swore we'd never eat food in the vehicle, but after 3 grueling hours grinding the dealership down on price my wife and I were both starving, so we drove the Odyssey off the dealer lot and across the road to In n Out burger which we ate on the drive home! Still got the Odyssey. Has 272,000 miles on it. I have done loads of work on it myself unless it's just too difficult. "Buy a new car under warranty—and then drive it until it’s beyond repair." Amen!

  Post: Racking Up the Miles

  Link to comment from June 30, 2024

• Hi, great article! We have thought about doing the pet sitting thing. We just spent 3 months in Madrid, Spain and our college-age son had to move home to look after the cat. Which company do you use, and could you tell me a bit more about your experience doing this, please?

  Post: Our Nomadic Life

  Link to comment from June 5, 2024