Yes, those buyouts were even worse and I was lucky to be able to take advantage of both the stay and voluntary exit packages that were sometimes offered. The M&A has also terrible for our local communities that rely on people and businesses paying taxes and for all the young people coming out of school hoping for careers in especially HR, IT and finance that got hacked when the companies tried to "squeeze the value" out of these mergers. Suspect AI will be more of the same.
So sad on the human level. I worked at Maxwell House (general Foods) which got taken over by Philip Morris and then Kraft. I then decided Pharm was better and I went to work for Ciba Geigy which ended up "merging" with Sandoz to become Novartis. I decided food was better and escaped to Nabisco-which then got taken over by PM/Kraft. After being independent for a while I joined Organon which then got taken over by Schering Plough and ultimately Merck. I am now getting a tiny pension from Heinz. I was so very lucky and thrived and with the help of a number of voluntary severance packages, able to retire early with retiree medical. Yes, I know, very lucky. I worked with so many wonderful people who were not so lucky and whose lives were turned upside down and in some cases, destroyed. And the business side of things did not pan out in almost all these M&A.
We have umbrellas but I struggle with the "deep pocket" conundrum e.g. the richer the take, the more the incentive to sue baby sue. In the end we decided on the amount to cover about either half our non IRA accounts OR about half the house. Who knows what's right with insurance. We had to argue with the insurance company to raise the amount on our home owners, real estate in our area is rising faster than I could have imagined. THough it's nice that it's done, does not feel like it's increasing happiness
Fidelity had some sort of digital safe where you can store important documents and provide names of people who can access when you are gone. Assume if the docs are MS docs, you could also password them. I keep meaning to check it out but have not done as of now.
The house is still a 1959 3 bedroom split ~2000 sqft. Just all redone and with a second garage and expanded rooms above. Have you looked at real-estate in your old neighborhood? Might shock you.
Yep, they reaccessed the house to market value, ahead of the 10 year reaccessment. They then have a factor that brings the house inline with the town accessment from 2020. After all this math magic, our bill went up 8k. Now our new accessment can't increase more than 2%. Honestly, fixing up our house, including replacing a 45 yr old GE a/c unit, they don't make them like they used to, made financial sense even given the taxes. No ranches here, almost at any price, and I did not want to commit to lots of far driving. Can actually walk to basics here for as long as I can do that. Its all pretty nuts
We live in essex county, nj, w high taxes and great schools. Have no kids and are both seniors. Just redid our =2000 sqft 3 bedroom house and got accessed 8k/yr more bringing us to 20k/yr. Sometimes feels like the schools and towns behave like drunken sailors but also believe the children of this town are getting a great start in life and that's paying it forward. Most of the smaller houses, like ours, get knocked down when seniors move to build MacMansions with even more taxes (45k). Hopefully they plan well for the future but suspect some come just for the time their kids are in school and then they flee. It all feels unsustainable, but maybe thats because we are on a fixed income. We are lucky in that our state has many income based programs to help with state taxes. Think treasuries vs. Interest/dividends. Having my tax dollars go to private schools would set my hair in fire. Sorry so long, a subject I have some passion for
Excellent point but I believe the new tax law may now limits this. Think it may be based on income but is now about 6500 max. Hope I misunderstood the change. I converted 2/3 of my ira when I retired but before taking SS. Invested Roth more aggressively. Put ira into basic cds hoping to control rmds and yet it keeps growing. Know I am lucky to have this "problem" and there's a good chance I will need a lot of help as I get older but still happy I made the conversion when I did, and while nj taxes were deductible from federal taxes. The game keeps changing.
Love your article but what hit me most is how wise and lucky you are to realize and appreciate the loved ones you have now. I know people who are racked with regret over not having done....you will clearly not be one of those. Thank you for the thought provoking article as someone living with a 74 year old.
Comments
Yes, those buyouts were even worse and I was lucky to be able to take advantage of both the stay and voluntary exit packages that were sometimes offered. The M&A has also terrible for our local communities that rely on people and businesses paying taxes and for all the young people coming out of school hoping for careers in especially HR, IT and finance that got hacked when the companies tried to "squeeze the value" out of these mergers. Suspect AI will be more of the same.
Post: How Deals Hurt Returns
Link to comment from April 5, 2026
So sad on the human level. I worked at Maxwell House (general Foods) which got taken over by Philip Morris and then Kraft. I then decided Pharm was better and I went to work for Ciba Geigy which ended up "merging" with Sandoz to become Novartis. I decided food was better and escaped to Nabisco-which then got taken over by PM/Kraft. After being independent for a while I joined Organon which then got taken over by Schering Plough and ultimately Merck. I am now getting a tiny pension from Heinz. I was so very lucky and thrived and with the help of a number of voluntary severance packages, able to retire early with retiree medical. Yes, I know, very lucky. I worked with so many wonderful people who were not so lucky and whose lives were turned upside down and in some cases, destroyed. And the business side of things did not pan out in almost all these M&A.
Post: How Deals Hurt Returns
Link to comment from April 4, 2026
And vig
Post: Sector Fund by Stealth
Link to comment from March 7, 2026
We have umbrellas but I struggle with the "deep pocket" conundrum e.g. the richer the take, the more the incentive to sue baby sue. In the end we decided on the amount to cover about either half our non IRA accounts OR about half the house. Who knows what's right with insurance. We had to argue with the insurance company to raise the amount on our home owners, real estate in our area is rising faster than I could have imagined. THough it's nice that it's done, does not feel like it's increasing happiness
Post: Financial Happiness
Link to comment from January 24, 2026
Fidelity had some sort of digital safe where you can store important documents and provide names of people who can access when you are gone. Assume if the docs are MS docs, you could also password them. I keep meaning to check it out but have not done as of now.
Post: Financial Happiness
Link to comment from January 24, 2026
The house is still a 1959 3 bedroom split ~2000 sqft. Just all redone and with a second garage and expanded rooms above. Have you looked at real-estate in your old neighborhood? Might shock you.
Post: Property taxes, our schools, our towns and seniors. Shared responsibility.
Link to comment from November 30, 2025
Yep, they reaccessed the house to market value, ahead of the 10 year reaccessment. They then have a factor that brings the house inline with the town accessment from 2020. After all this math magic, our bill went up 8k. Now our new accessment can't increase more than 2%. Honestly, fixing up our house, including replacing a 45 yr old GE a/c unit, they don't make them like they used to, made financial sense even given the taxes. No ranches here, almost at any price, and I did not want to commit to lots of far driving. Can actually walk to basics here for as long as I can do that. Its all pretty nuts
Post: Property taxes, our schools, our towns and seniors. Shared responsibility.
Link to comment from November 30, 2025
We live in essex county, nj, w high taxes and great schools. Have no kids and are both seniors. Just redid our =2000 sqft 3 bedroom house and got accessed 8k/yr more bringing us to 20k/yr. Sometimes feels like the schools and towns behave like drunken sailors but also believe the children of this town are getting a great start in life and that's paying it forward. Most of the smaller houses, like ours, get knocked down when seniors move to build MacMansions with even more taxes (45k). Hopefully they plan well for the future but suspect some come just for the time their kids are in school and then they flee. It all feels unsustainable, but maybe thats because we are on a fixed income. We are lucky in that our state has many income based programs to help with state taxes. Think treasuries vs. Interest/dividends. Having my tax dollars go to private schools would set my hair in fire. Sorry so long, a subject I have some passion for
Post: Property taxes, our schools, our towns and seniors. Shared responsibility.
Link to comment from November 29, 2025
Excellent point but I believe the new tax law may now limits this. Think it may be based on income but is now about 6500 max. Hope I misunderstood the change. I converted 2/3 of my ira when I retired but before taking SS. Invested Roth more aggressively. Put ira into basic cds hoping to control rmds and yet it keeps growing. Know I am lucky to have this "problem" and there's a good chance I will need a lot of help as I get older but still happy I made the conversion when I did, and while nj taxes were deductible from federal taxes. The game keeps changing.
Post: Contrarian Thinking About Roth Conversions
Link to comment from October 18, 2025
Love your article but what hit me most is how wise and lucky you are to realize and appreciate the loved ones you have now. I know people who are racked with regret over not having done....you will clearly not be one of those. Thank you for the thought provoking article as someone living with a 74 year old.
Post: I Cry More Easily Now. I Didn’t Use To
Link to comment from August 2, 2025