OBX9397

Comments:

• Thank goodness the physician was not into Fibonacci numbers!

  Post: Nothing Odd

  Link to comment from March 26, 2024

• Marjorie,   Today, I needed a good dose of just what you provided. I plan to go get a donut this afternoon and offer up a toast to you as I enjoy it.

  Post: Alphabet Soup

  Link to comment from July 20, 2023

• Richard, thank you so much for this article. I was especially struck by your line “I look around and, on every block, see thriving businesses providing non-essential services.” Classic!   Allow me to share a few thoughts on some of your other note-worthy lines:   “Just saving the change in your pocket each day . . .” I would guess our younger generations are a near-cashless culture. I have always wondered how the ease of electronic spending and the lack of the tangible release of money impact our spending.      “. . . my conclusion is those in the workforce hope for the best but are in denial about what it takes to get to retirement.” I am sure some are in denial, but there are so many other culprits.   I recently set down with my kids and their spouses to explain, and literally give pictures of, the impacts of inflation. Until very recently, they had never seen inflation, much less thought about what it means for the long haul.   From the Boomers to new generations, has any generation come into adulthood with a wide-spread education in personal finance? I have not seen it (except in my dreams). How far back in history would we need to go to find such a generation? I have no idea.   Again, thank you for another great article.

  Post: Retirement at Risk

  Link to comment from July 20, 2023

• Anthony, you describe our country as bifurcated into one half that is generally very well off and another half that is poor. You conclude with the notion that immigrants and their descendants will mostly stay in the “lower ‘half of us.’”   No matter what the news media says, there is still a very large middle class in this country, and there is much movement up and down the income levels.   Allow me to take your bifurcation view and change it to a quintile view. In that case, we would have 20% that are well off, 20% that are poor, and 60% in the middle. I think, at the minimum, most of the people in that 60% would benefit from Richard’s article. Heck, I started out in that bottom quintile, and using advice similar to Richard’s article, I moved up a few notches.

  Post: Retirement at Risk

  Link to comment from July 20, 2023

• Since Mr. Quinn brought up some personal questions below, I will take advantage of the opening to make a request: Please update your bio picture with one where you are smiling! A smile costs nothing, so it fits with your frugal personality.   On the subject of pictures, I recommend people check out your blog. I was entranced just by the photos. You are a fantastic photographer.

  Post: Better Things to Do

  Link to comment from June 28, 2023

• Very intriguing technique. Assuming you were to leave the "high" dividends in cash, I think it would have been better to reinvest in additional shares, which would eventually generate dividends that buy more additional shares, which would eventually generate dividends that buy more . . .

  Post: Losing Value

  Link to comment from June 2, 2023

• Your question "What happened to us?" reminded me of an article in The Wall Street Journal by Phil Gramm and John Early on November 3, 2019. It is a very thought-provoking article (www.wsj.com/articles/the-truth-about-income-inequality-11572813786?mod=article_inline). Here is a paragraph which particularly addresses your question and helps explain the low labor participation rate that is hurting our country today: "Antipoverty spending in the past 50 years has not only raised most of the households in the bottom quintile of earners into the middle class, but has also induced many low-income earners to stop working. In 1967, when funding for the War on Poverty started to flow, almost 70% of prime working-age adults in bottom-quintile households were employed. Over the next 50 years, that share fell to 36%. The second quintile, which historically had the highest labor-force participation rate among prime work-age adults, saw its labor-force participation rate fall from 90% to 85%, while the top three income quintiles all increased their work effort." I am not attacking programs to help the poor, but wish such programs took into account human nature and unintended consequences.

  Post: How I Got This Way

  Link to comment from June 2, 2023

• Thank you for your thoughts. Hopefully, one day, we will have a system that works effectively and efficiently.

  Post: Medicare for All

  Link to comment from May 27, 2023

• Richard, thank you for a VERY thought provoking article. I will be pondering your thoughts for quite a while. One question up front: Would a "universal payment system" require a "universal pricing system?" To me, the biggest benefit of health insurance are the discounts insurance companies negotiate with providers. (Real example: getting a $10,000 service reduced to $300.) However, in this day and age, I worry about a centralized entity (federal government?) having that kind of absolute power. Related question: In order to have costs "calibrated relative to the individual’s ability to pay," are you thinking wealthier people will pay inflated prices, or are you thinking of a welfare-type program funded with tax revenue? Another question that just hit me: What are your thoughts on a universal "base level" of health care that everyone receives (at a reasonable cost), but services beyond the base are each person's responsibility, and for which they may protect themselves by purchasing private insurance?

  Post: Medicare for All

  Link to comment from May 27, 2023

• I like all the creative names people have found for their lists. Maybe I was being too simplistic when I created my document: I called it "Start Here."

  Post: The Mary Jean List

  Link to comment from May 27, 2023