SanLouisKid

Comments:

• You were missed at the Bogleheads conference last weekend in Minneapolis, but you were present in thoughts and comments by the attendees. I have 95% of my paper scanned. Documents, letters, pictures, etc. All my movies are digitized (from DVDs) and all my music is now digital. I jokingly say the executor of my estate just has to hit the "delete" key on my computer and that part of the estate will be taken care of. One observation: The less you leave, the more important it will be in the future. I have one handwritten letter (now scanned) from my grandfather that has become an important part of family legacy that I will pass on.

  Post: Turned Upside Down

  Link to comment from October 5, 2024

• " Life makes sense in retrospect." I feel blessed to able to look back over my life. Many of my classmates did not make it this far. What seemed like being in a giant pinball machine at the time can be viewed with the perspective that all that happened put me in position for the good things that happened. I've kind of forgotten the bad things. Or they don't seem so bad now.

  Post: Never Quite Enough

  Link to comment from September 21, 2024

• "But as a pair of self-employed people without the corporate benefits that others take for granted, we long ago gave up trying to keep up with the Joneses." Not keeping up with the Joneses is an important thing. My wife swears that 2/3rds of her clothing came from Costco. If it happens to be a name brand it's because she liked the color, and it fits. I've never met anyone as label blind as she is. That's helped our retirement. With steady income and controlled expenses, you seem to have a good plan in place.

  Post: Laying Down a Floor

  Link to comment from September 14, 2024

• Another deeply introspective article. It's hard to be grateful about life with your diagnosis but I understand what you are saying. I keep a list of classmates who have passed (because someone in our class is always asking for one) and it constantly reminds me that I've truly been lucky in that respect, and in basically all other respects too. I often think about my own lifespan and facetiously decide that all I want is a little bit more than I'm going to get.

  Post: No Regrets

  Link to comment from September 7, 2024

• This is a great idea. It's something everyone should consider. I would give anything to have a recording or video of my grandfathers.

  Post: On the Clock

  Link to comment from August 17, 2024

• I was influenced by my upbringing. My father ran an insurance company which had to invest conservatively. Mom was exactly the opposite. The worse the market got, the more she invested. I hope I lean more toward her philosophy. My small investment in Berkshire Hathaway is kind of a cash play. This recent headline caught my eye, "Buffett's Berkshire currently holding more short-term US Treasury bills than the Federal Reserve." I'm retired and doing a little "reverse dollar cost averaging." During this great run up we've had, I've been taking money out of the market monthly. I'm not sure Mom would approve.

  Post: Turning on a Dime

  Link to comment from August 10, 2024

• It's good to be thinking this way. It's the "Black Swan" of estate planning. Every couple of years I make an appointment with our estate attorney and sit and say, "I'm dead. Show us how the plan plays out." That way my wife gets a preview of what is involved.

  Post: Unasked Questions

  Link to comment from August 5, 2024

• We are beneficiaries of a very unique situation. One the finest financial minds is sharing with us his thoughts during this tough time of his life. Most writers do a lot of theoretical writing/planning. For example, a 30-year-old writing about retirement planning may know the formulas but doesn't have the practical experience that comes with retiring. Jonathan is giving us perspective that I don't think I've ever read about anywhere. It reminds me of Teddy Roosevelt's The Man in the Arena. And, of course, the comments are priceless. So many make great additions to the theme. Questions that you wouldn't otherwise think about. The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson is an interesting book about clearing your clutter. I think she was in her 80s when she wrote it, so she had that perspective. In spite of its title, it takes a light-hearted approach and is funny at times.

  Post: Unasked Questions

  Link to comment from August 3, 2024

• This is an excellent idea. If you want a response from the kids, make the first line of your letter, "Do you want to be in the will/trust?" That might elicit a response.

  Post: Unasked Questions

  Link to comment from August 3, 2024

• You've been amazingly pragmatic, and informative, about your situation. In addition to a trust, and account titling, etc., I've made a somewhat detailed list of what to do if I'm not here. I did it with the thought that successor trustees would need some guidance and then realized my wife would need it too, since I've been handling most of the financials. Things like which bills are automatically paid. For some of those you don't even see the bill unless you check the email. It's basically "This is what I've been doing that you'll need to do" and supplying all the necessary information. I don't think it's perfect, but it does fill in some of the "what is going on here" questions that will come up.

  Post: No Slowing Down

  Link to comment from July 27, 2024