Gnussen623, My spouse can relate to you. She needed to end her career as a school teacher, when her widowed mother died, in order to have the time to manage the settlement of the estate. Her parents left a mess (financial complexity and mysteries, dysfunctional psychological state of siblings and another involved person, house of a hoarder) that she needed to sort out. It was a full-time job. 4+ years later she is still working on it, but at least in the past year or so it is part time.
Related to you, she also has to endure “how is retirement going, what are you up to?” “enjoying retirement?”. She would FAR rather be working with children than what she has gone though. She can say nothing, or only a vague “well, I have been working on my parent’s estate”. Even her good friends don’t want to, and couldn’t, listen to all the problems she is dealing with.
My token advice: don’t expect them to understand. Just do what you need to do, and keep moving forward, putting one foot in front of the other. Thank your wife for her understanding and support.
Regarding “if I am truly ready to take a role with less responsibility and compensation than I previously had”, could a good response be “I am truly ready to take a role with more responsibility and compensation than I currently have.“?
Best wishes. Keep talking to those you can about this.
LH, I have used Lastpass and Bitwarden, and found them to be virtually identical in terms of simplicity of use. I suspect all of the major brands are similar in terms of simplicity or complexity. I use Bitwarden currently, I found LastPass had troubles with some of the sites and browser combinations I use.
Yes, the major bands can be installed on an Android device.
Two notes related to simplicity and phones:
1) On a computer the password manager can be installed as a browser extension. This makes the password manager VERY easy to use as you are looking at a webpage login screen, it fills in the login with one click (it can also be installed as an app). On my android the password manager can only be installed as an app, separate from the browser I use. This means on the android, when looking at a login screen in a browser, there are the multiple steps (and clicking) of jumping back-and-forth from the password app (storing the username and password) to the browser window to copy the username and then the password from the password app to the browser window.
2) On a computer with the password manager installed as a browser extension, the manager “sees” you logging into a webpage and offers to store and remember the login if it is not in the manager yet. This is a very easy way to train the password manager, and slowly enter your usernames & passwords into it, as you are using them. On an android this does not happen. You would need to open the password app and use “add a Login” to then enter the site address, username, and password and save them in the password vault.
The effort of using a password manager is well worth the benefit. I also extensively use the “Notes” feature to store securely other private information I need to have handy to run my life.
I suggest you start with just ONE website that is not critical to you, such as a store you shop at. Practice there to get a feel for it.
S, I am with you that I can’t totally explain, nor do myself, all the math calculations related to TIPS on TIPSWATCH.com. But I do understand TIPS are a good tool to address inflation risk. A recent retire with style episode #235 stated, “Inflation protection is strongest when layered across multiple tools—including delayed Social Security, TIPS, I Bonds, and appropriately sized equity exposure”. I already had money in a short term TIPS fund, but my understanding was that holding individual TIPS to maturity in a tax sheltered account in a ladder that matched future yearly liabilities (i.e. expenses) was superior to just a TIPS fund which can go down in value like any bond fund can. But I was also daunted with HOW to set up a TIPS ladder, as a person who had never bought individual bonds or stocks. Fortunately, Laura Kelly explained what I needed to know in a HD posting (humbledollar.com/2024/09/laying-down-a-floor/), then I supplemented with the Berger video previously mentioned. So I started with a short smallish 5-year bridge ladder. All went well in the purchasing, the rungs have not started to expire yet. Subsequently, this spring I built a larger longer ladder. Some people buy their TIPS from TreasuryDirect, but I chose to buy my TIPS from Vanguard. The purchase interface steps have a few quirks for a novice, but they are easily figured out.
Comments
Gnussen623, My spouse can relate to you. She needed to end her career as a school teacher, when her widowed mother died, in order to have the time to manage the settlement of the estate. Her parents left a mess (financial complexity and mysteries, dysfunctional psychological state of siblings and another involved person, house of a hoarder) that she needed to sort out. It was a full-time job. 4+ years later she is still working on it, but at least in the past year or so it is part time. Related to you, she also has to endure “how is retirement going, what are you up to?” “enjoying retirement?”. She would FAR rather be working with children than what she has gone though. She can say nothing, or only a vague “well, I have been working on my parent’s estate”. Even her good friends don’t want to, and couldn’t, listen to all the problems she is dealing with. My token advice: don’t expect them to understand. Just do what you need to do, and keep moving forward, putting one foot in front of the other. Thank your wife for her understanding and support. Regarding “if I am truly ready to take a role with less responsibility and compensation than I previously had”, could a good response be “I am truly ready to take a role with more responsibility and compensation than I currently have.“? Best wishes. Keep talking to those you can about this.
Post: Being terminated…
Link to comment from September 12, 2026
LH, I have used Lastpass and Bitwarden, and found them to be virtually identical in terms of simplicity of use. I suspect all of the major brands are similar in terms of simplicity or complexity. I use Bitwarden currently, I found LastPass had troubles with some of the sites and browser combinations I use. Yes, the major bands can be installed on an Android device. Two notes related to simplicity and phones: 1) On a computer the password manager can be installed as a browser extension. This makes the password manager VERY easy to use as you are looking at a webpage login screen, it fills in the login with one click (it can also be installed as an app). On my android the password manager can only be installed as an app, separate from the browser I use. This means on the android, when looking at a login screen in a browser, there are the multiple steps (and clicking) of jumping back-and-forth from the password app (storing the username and password) to the browser window to copy the username and then the password from the password app to the browser window. 2) On a computer with the password manager installed as a browser extension, the manager “sees” you logging into a webpage and offers to store and remember the login if it is not in the manager yet. This is a very easy way to train the password manager, and slowly enter your usernames & passwords into it, as you are using them. On an android this does not happen. You would need to open the password app and use “add a Login” to then enter the site address, username, and password and save them in the password vault. The effort of using a password manager is well worth the benefit. I also extensively use the “Notes” feature to store securely other private information I need to have handy to run my life. I suggest you start with just ONE website that is not critical to you, such as a store you shop at. Practice there to get a feel for it.
Post: Beefing Up Security
Link to comment from August 17, 2026
S, I am with you that I can’t totally explain, nor do myself, all the math calculations related to TIPS on TIPSWATCH.com. But I do understand TIPS are a good tool to address inflation risk. A recent retire with style episode #235 stated, “Inflation protection is strongest when layered across multiple tools—including delayed Social Security, TIPS, I Bonds, and appropriately sized equity exposure”. I already had money in a short term TIPS fund, but my understanding was that holding individual TIPS to maturity in a tax sheltered account in a ladder that matched future yearly liabilities (i.e. expenses) was superior to just a TIPS fund which can go down in value like any bond fund can. But I was also daunted with HOW to set up a TIPS ladder, as a person who had never bought individual bonds or stocks. Fortunately, Laura Kelly explained what I needed to know in a HD posting (humbledollar.com/2024/09/laying-down-a-floor/), then I supplemented with the Berger video previously mentioned. So I started with a short smallish 5-year bridge ladder. All went well in the purchasing, the rungs have not started to expire yet. Subsequently, this spring I built a larger longer ladder. Some people buy their TIPS from TreasuryDirect, but I chose to buy my TIPS from Vanguard. The purchase interface steps have a few quirks for a novice, but they are easily figured out.
Post: Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) are a Generational Bargain Right Now
Link to comment from July 28, 2026