This is my alternate profile...it's what happens when you have too many email accounts. Not much is linked here as this is not my preferred account for HumbleDollar. My author profile can be found here: Ken Cutler's HumbleDollar Page
Forum Posts
Comments
About a year and a half ago, I wrote an article explaining why I kissed rebalancing goodbye: https://humbledollar.com/2024/02/letting-it-ride/. I haven't wavered from that approach. At the time, my stock percentage was 57%. Now it's up to 64%. Low maintenance "couch potato" investing suits me fine these days.
I think you'd find many of the HD readers who see managing money as stewardship are in fact keenly interested in how the organizations they support manage their funds. Your previous post's statement I don’t see tithing 10% to any religious organization as a productive use of the funds is rather sweeping. Do you feel giving to all educational institutions, the arts, or museums is a similar waste of largess? I'm not interested in subsidizing bronze doors or a televangelist's new airplane, but there are lots of resources available to evaluate how religious charities use their funds. Plenty of them do use a high percentage of income to actually help people. Additionally, my church publishes a detailed budget so I have a good idea how that portion of our giving is used.
Eric, you have a lot of "what ifs" running through your brain. I get it-I did too when I was in my 40s. Still, you stated what your objective is: Moreover, and more importantly to me, the author and perfecter of my faith commands us not to worry and not to store up treasure on earth and to give to anyone who asks. He proclaims, “You cannot serve both God and money,” and he ever emphasizes care for the poor. Here are links to a couple of my old articles that touch a bit on the issues you raised: https://humbledollar.com/2024/02/prophet-motive/https://humbledollar.com/2023/09/all-my-children/ Hope they are helpful.
We have (or will have) five main streams of income in retirement: pension (not nearly as large as yours, but better than average), interest/dividends from post-tax investments, 401(k) withdrawals, income from my part-time gig, and (eventually) Social Security. What if I didn't have a pension? We would be down to four streams of income and the 401(k) percentage withdrawal would be a bit higher. I'd probably feel slightly less secure but knowing I could keep working for a while longer would take the edge off. It would not be a catastrophe.
Dan, it's great that she found you considering your name is far from unusual. The perks of being a HD celebrity. Alas, the ubiquitous Parade magazine of our youth no longer exists. The last printed edition came out November 13, 2022. I found it amusing that Parade came up in my dream as one of my early HD pieces was about a Parade article that was influential for me.
Another great article on one of my favorite HumbleDollar topics. I think about these themes a lot as I continue to work part-time in retirement. I'm currently working on a project for my old company to develop training and provide mentoring in an area where I'm a recognized expert. I was energized yesterday working on the PowerPoint and it's gratifying to still have a professional relationship with some of my favorite former colleagues. Yes, I have the good feeling that I'm being productive and am helping others. The part-time job is not the only way to get there: I have some volunteer activities that also fill the bill. But as I've not yet been creative enough to develop a portfolio of volunteer activities to replace the hours from part-time employment, the paid work fulfills my needs for now. An unrelated but humorous (at least to me) aside: I had a dream last night that one of my HumbleDollar articles was published in Parade Magazine. I couldn't wait to email Jonathan to tell him about it, and I was particularly happy that my article was cited by another writer in the same issue.
Charles, you make a good point. We would be drawing down our tax-deferred funds completely to pay LTC costs prior to accessing any Roth funds. Looking at the Roth IRAs as last-resort LTC insurance is really just a mental accounting trick on my part.
Comments
About a year and a half ago, I wrote an article explaining why I kissed rebalancing goodbye: https://humbledollar.com/2024/02/letting-it-ride/. I haven't wavered from that approach. At the time, my stock percentage was 57%. Now it's up to 64%. Low maintenance "couch potato" investing suits me fine these days.
Post: Rethinking Rebalancing
Link to comment from July 4, 2025
I think you'd find many of the HD readers who see managing money as stewardship are in fact keenly interested in how the organizations they support manage their funds. Your previous post's statement I don’t see tithing 10% to any religious organization as a productive use of the funds is rather sweeping. Do you feel giving to all educational institutions, the arts, or museums is a similar waste of largess? I'm not interested in subsidizing bronze doors or a televangelist's new airplane, but there are lots of resources available to evaluate how religious charities use their funds. Plenty of them do use a high percentage of income to actually help people. Additionally, my church publishes a detailed budget so I have a good idea how that portion of our giving is used.
Post: Saving and Giving
Link to comment from June 23, 2025
Eric, you have a lot of "what ifs" running through your brain. I get it-I did too when I was in my 40s. Still, you stated what your objective is: Moreover, and more importantly to me, the author and perfecter of my faith commands us not to worry and not to store up treasure on earth and to give to anyone who asks. He proclaims, “You cannot serve both God and money,” and he ever emphasizes care for the poor. Here are links to a couple of my old articles that touch a bit on the issues you raised: https://humbledollar.com/2024/02/prophet-motive/ https://humbledollar.com/2023/09/all-my-children/ Hope they are helpful.
Post: Saving and Giving
Link to comment from June 21, 2025
We have (or will have) five main streams of income in retirement: pension (not nearly as large as yours, but better than average), interest/dividends from post-tax investments, 401(k) withdrawals, income from my part-time gig, and (eventually) Social Security. What if I didn't have a pension? We would be down to four streams of income and the 401(k) percentage withdrawal would be a bit higher. I'd probably feel slightly less secure but knowing I could keep working for a while longer would take the edge off. It would not be a catastrophe.
Post: A theoretical, simplified road to retirement income without a pension. I’ve learned it doesn’t exist.
Link to comment from June 21, 2025
Looking forward to hearing Jonathan at 10:00 AM today.
Post: Full Circle
Link to comment from June 21, 2025
Dan, it's great that she found you considering your name is far from unusual. The perks of being a HD celebrity. Alas, the ubiquitous Parade magazine of our youth no longer exists. The last printed edition came out November 13, 2022. I found it amusing that Parade came up in my dream as one of my early HD pieces was about a Parade article that was influential for me.
Post: Taking Center Stage
Link to comment from January 25, 2025
Another great article on one of my favorite HumbleDollar topics. I think about these themes a lot as I continue to work part-time in retirement. I'm currently working on a project for my old company to develop training and provide mentoring in an area where I'm a recognized expert. I was energized yesterday working on the PowerPoint and it's gratifying to still have a professional relationship with some of my favorite former colleagues. Yes, I have the good feeling that I'm being productive and am helping others. The part-time job is not the only way to get there: I have some volunteer activities that also fill the bill. But as I've not yet been creative enough to develop a portfolio of volunteer activities to replace the hours from part-time employment, the paid work fulfills my needs for now. An unrelated but humorous (at least to me) aside: I had a dream last night that one of my HumbleDollar articles was published in Parade Magazine. I couldn't wait to email Jonathan to tell him about it, and I was particularly happy that my article was cited by another writer in the same issue.
Post: Taking Center Stage
Link to comment from January 25, 2025
Patrick, you are absolutely right on both counts. I'm blessed to have such a fine son and to be able to regularly spend quality time with him.
Post: Retirement Realignment
Link to comment from January 18, 2025
Rick, maybe you can find (or derive) the details of that calculation and share it with me!
Post: Retirement Realignment
Link to comment from January 14, 2025
Charles, you make a good point. We would be drawing down our tax-deferred funds completely to pay LTC costs prior to accessing any Roth funds. Looking at the Roth IRAs as last-resort LTC insurance is really just a mental accounting trick on my part.
Post: Retirement Realignment
Link to comment from January 14, 2025