Anybody bought a new car at a car dealership lately? The opportunities to be scammed by purchasing waaay overpriced add-on services and the modern equivalent of extra-protection body under-coating (remember that one?) (specifically, the current version is some kind of extra body paint protection) are abundant! These scam opportunities are presented by the finance manager (who gets a commission by selling them) after you thought you were done negotiating a price with the car itself from the car sales person.
For whatever reason I always had a healthy attitude about “enough”as gauged by my body going general state of contentment with my career and middle class level of material possessions. But it mid-career, I sought—and got—a more lucrative job in which my compensation included substantial bonus potential based on the profitability of my little division. (Why did I seek this position? More curiosity than greed, I think, but still I did welcome the opportunity to make more money.
Three years later I was out of a job due largely to my lack of passion for accumulating wealth. My fundamental task was to increase profits every year, ideally with gusto. So I had become a round peg in a square hole. Ultimately I landed on my feet with a job that provided “enough” $$, and lived happily ever after until my retirement. Being fired was a “learning experience” that ultimately I don’t regret having to go through.
I enjoy reading the stories of people who march to the best of their own drummer—especially when their drummer doesn’t prompt them to live a lifestyle that can harm others or degrade the planet!
I’m glad you introduced the “from a consumption perspective.” If you begin with the assumption you might not recoup the cost of a substantial remodeling project, you just need to do the best you can to predict how long you will be “consuming” the improvement and, based on that, determine its value to you. A home is more than an investment. And yes, there are no guarantees that it will prove to be a good investment.
Regarding autopay: My bank and credit card issuers give me a heads up by email before those charges hit my account. If anything looks amiss, I can look into it before the $$ is sucked out of my account. So far I have never had a problem with it.
Glad things worked out. Travel is great, and your timing turned out well given the health challenges that emerged at a time when most folks who achieved their retirement funding goals had been achieved would only begin exploring the world. One apparent factor (not specifically mentioned) that distinguishes your experience from many others is lack of children & grandkids which tend to have huge financial implications, not to mention lifestyle choices. That is NOT to say that having children and grandchildren is the only path to happiness.
Regarding the strategy for making a large gift without reducing one’s estate tax exclusion: the underlying assumption is that one’s estate is or will be big enough to have an estate tax liability down the road. But few people actually face that prospect, particularly if (a big if) the exclusion remains very high. Adam how would you suggest taking the prospect of not ultimately having an estate tax liability into consideration when trying to manage substantial gifts to children, when the gift is, say, much larger than $100K?
I always hope Adam has a post every time I read this newsletter: useful info, not unhelpful ruminations about retirement. Anyway Adam didn’t note that at a certain point it makes sense to sacrifice superior long-term returns for reduced volatility when long-term is no longer applicable—unless one is expecting to pass on wealth to heirs. But that point was beyond the scope of the analysis, of course.
Kristine I echo the praise of your perspective and writing. And why is the HD readership so male-dominated? Perhaps, despite your introverted personality, you have some female friends you could recruit to add some gender diversity to the HD contributor base. (I suspect Jonathan is working on this goal but I guess it’s a big challenge.)
About wealth: John Wesley (principal founder of the Methodist denomination) distilled the Protestant work ethic this way: Make as much money as you can so that you can have more to give away (to help the poor, etc.). I don’t recall ever seeing that theme in any of the HD posts…
Most scams are easy to detect but some are sophisticated. I recently received one purportedly from PayPal about a bill I needed to pay from a vendor I was said to have recently made a purchase from. The twist to the pitch that could fool some folks was a statement like “If you’re not sure about this charge call our help line” with an 800 number given, presumably staffed by scammers representing themselves as PayPal employees.
Also featured was a link you could follow to get more info about the charge.
This kind of pitch is so common that PayPal (the real one) has an email address to forward the spam to (something like “spoof@paypal.com”.
Caveat emptor!
Comments
Anybody bought a new car at a car dealership lately? The opportunities to be scammed by purchasing waaay overpriced add-on services and the modern equivalent of extra-protection body under-coating (remember that one?) (specifically, the current version is some kind of extra body paint protection) are abundant! These scam opportunities are presented by the finance manager (who gets a commission by selling them) after you thought you were done negotiating a price with the car itself from the car sales person.
Post: How do I scam thee? Let me count the ways
Link to comment from July 26, 2025
For whatever reason I always had a healthy attitude about “enough”as gauged by my body going general state of contentment with my career and middle class level of material possessions. But it mid-career, I sought—and got—a more lucrative job in which my compensation included substantial bonus potential based on the profitability of my little division. (Why did I seek this position? More curiosity than greed, I think, but still I did welcome the opportunity to make more money. Three years later I was out of a job due largely to my lack of passion for accumulating wealth. My fundamental task was to increase profits every year, ideally with gusto. So I had become a round peg in a square hole. Ultimately I landed on my feet with a job that provided “enough” $$, and lived happily ever after until my retirement. Being fired was a “learning experience” that ultimately I don’t regret having to go through.
Post: Enough
Link to comment from February 15, 2025
I enjoy reading the stories of people who march to the best of their own drummer—especially when their drummer doesn’t prompt them to live a lifestyle that can harm others or degrade the planet!
Post: A Quiet Life
Link to comment from March 23, 2024
I’m glad you introduced the “from a consumption perspective.” If you begin with the assumption you might not recoup the cost of a substantial remodeling project, you just need to do the best you can to predict how long you will be “consuming” the improvement and, based on that, determine its value to you. A home is more than an investment. And yes, there are no guarantees that it will prove to be a good investment.
Post: Our Money Pit
Link to comment from January 20, 2024
Regarding autopay: My bank and credit card issuers give me a heads up by email before those charges hit my account. If anything looks amiss, I can look into it before the $$ is sucked out of my account. So far I have never had a problem with it.
Post: Losing the Keys
Link to comment from December 23, 2023
Glad things worked out. Travel is great, and your timing turned out well given the health challenges that emerged at a time when most folks who achieved their retirement funding goals had been achieved would only begin exploring the world. One apparent factor (not specifically mentioned) that distinguishes your experience from many others is lack of children & grandkids which tend to have huge financial implications, not to mention lifestyle choices. That is NOT to say that having children and grandchildren is the only path to happiness.
Post: Better Things to Do
Link to comment from June 28, 2023
Regarding the strategy for making a large gift without reducing one’s estate tax exclusion: the underlying assumption is that one’s estate is or will be big enough to have an estate tax liability down the road. But few people actually face that prospect, particularly if (a big if) the exclusion remains very high. Adam how would you suggest taking the prospect of not ultimately having an estate tax liability into consideration when trying to manage substantial gifts to children, when the gift is, say, much larger than $100K?
Post: Ten Ways to Simplify
Link to comment from June 3, 2023
I always hope Adam has a post every time I read this newsletter: useful info, not unhelpful ruminations about retirement. Anyway Adam didn’t note that at a certain point it makes sense to sacrifice superior long-term returns for reduced volatility when long-term is no longer applicable—unless one is expecting to pass on wealth to heirs. But that point was beyond the scope of the analysis, of course.
Post: Losing Value
Link to comment from May 31, 2023
Kristine I echo the praise of your perspective and writing. And why is the HD readership so male-dominated? Perhaps, despite your introverted personality, you have some female friends you could recruit to add some gender diversity to the HD contributor base. (I suspect Jonathan is working on this goal but I guess it’s a big challenge.) About wealth: John Wesley (principal founder of the Methodist denomination) distilled the Protestant work ethic this way: Make as much money as you can so that you can have more to give away (to help the poor, etc.). I don’t recall ever seeing that theme in any of the HD posts…
Post: Not Like the Others
Link to comment from December 17, 2022
Most scams are easy to detect but some are sophisticated. I recently received one purportedly from PayPal about a bill I needed to pay from a vendor I was said to have recently made a purchase from. The twist to the pitch that could fool some folks was a statement like “If you’re not sure about this charge call our help line” with an 800 number given, presumably staffed by scammers representing themselves as PayPal employees. Also featured was a link you could follow to get more info about the charge. This kind of pitch is so common that PayPal (the real one) has an email address to forward the spam to (something like “spoof@paypal.com”. Caveat emptor!
Post: There Be Monsters
Link to comment from November 23, 2022