What a great example of "It's never too late!" It reminds me of what I use to tell folks back in my financial advisor days, "The best day to start saving for retirement was the day you turned 18. The second best day is today!" I had less than $150,000 in my IRA when I started my last job, in 2009, at 58 years old. When i retired in January 2024, my 403b and our Roth IRAs were over $700,000 and our total Net Worh was $1.3 M. (My wife did not work ourside the hoime except for 6 years in the late 1990s early 2000s, when we owned a Natioinwide Insurance Agency.) It really isn't ever too late!
Everyone's numbers are all over the board...as are the feelings regarding how good seniors have it. Both my wife and I take a prescription drug that has an exorbitant cost. Hers was $1,400 a month, and mine was $1400 per 3 months in 2025...I don't have the price yet for 2026. I sincerely hope President Trump's efforts to bring down drug prices in the US are successful, but either way, we will both Max Out our Plan D Maximum OOP before mid-year. For my wife and I we have the following costs: Medicare Part B Kevin (2026) $202.90 $2,434.80
Medicare Part B Kim (2026) $202.90 $2,434.80 Med Sup - Kevin Plan G. (Annual) $1,516.44
Med Sup - Kim Plan G (Annual) $1,154.88 Medicare Part D Premium Kevin - $43.20
Medicare Part D Premium Kim - $43.20 Medicare Part D Deductible Kevin - $615.00
Medicare Part D Deductible Kim - $615.00 Deductibles Part B Deductibles - $283 ea. -$566.00 Maximum Out Of Pocke7 $4,200.00 Total Cost for Medicare in 2026 will be approixmately $13,623.32, assuming no hospitalizations.We do not have IRMAA issues due to proper lifetime income planning. Gross Income for 2025 was @133,000. Taxable income for 2025 was $5,320. Inocme Tax due for 2025: $368 Federal, $107 State. We will actual recieve a refund of $3791, because in 2025 I had dollars voluntarily withheld for the first 6 months of the year, from our social security benefits. No Pension...Social Security, Annuity Income (72% Inocme Tax Free), and 4% Withdrawals from a brokerage account. (Zero Capital Gains). We will enjoy basically no income taxes due for 2026-2029.
Wow... how unobservant have I been? Never noticed the arrows. I comment on things I agree with and also on those I disagree with. It wouldn't occur to me to do it anonymously. Where's the fun in that? I, for one, enjoy Dr. Lefty's stuff. As someone else may have mentioned, as an Academic, I was used to being criticized by students when they were graded on lazy, underwhelming, zero-effort work. I ignored their comments and focused on my student evaluations, which were always in the top 10% of faculty at my institution....with them frequently being in the top 5%.
I had a 401 K Plan on all my jobs except my first job, Ford Motor Company, from 1971 until 1981. They added one a few years after I left them. In all my other jobs, I had a 401k. In two of my jobs, I also qualified for small pensions....Ford Motor Company and Mitsubishi Motors of America. Ford's was $219/mo for a joint survivor annuity at 50% and Mitsubishi was $485/mo JSA 50%. Both former employers gave me the opportunity in 2012 to take a buyout, and I did. Those funds were rolled into my Traditional IRA at Vanguard, where they have done spectacularly since. The biggest "mistake" I ever made financially occurred in 1987, when I left a job and did not roll over my 401(k) balance. Instead, I "cashed it out," and it was spent...and I don't remember on what. As I remember, the amount received was $13,000. My trusty HP 10bii tells me that had I left that $13,000 invested in the market, even as a traditional 401(k), without a Roth Election, earning the average rate of the S&P over the 37 years until I retired in 2024, it would have grown to approximately $488,150. As it is, I retired in January 2014, with a total nest egg of @$1.3M. From 1987 until 2024, I am certain I made some smaller additional financial errors. mostly "dumb purchases," but overall, I am happy about my 401(k)/403(b) experience. I added 403(b0 because over my last 15 working years, I was an academic, so I have a 403(b). It wasn't until 2021/2022, however, that our provider began offering the Roth Election, so although I did take advantage of it for three years, over 65% of my 403(b) dollars were traditional, and the balance Roth Election. So contrary to the article, which was obviously written by a biased author with an agenda, the retirement stool still has four legs, for my wife and me.
My Qualified Retirement Dollars...my non-qualified retirement dollars, our social security benefits, and our brokerage portfolio dollars. It is not the tools, it is the craftsman who is responsible for the outcome. As my least favorite financial guru, Dave Ramsey says, and it is typical of his poor advice on investing, if you invest $100 a month from 25 until 65, you will have over $1.17M for retirement. He is obviously using an interest rate of 12%, much higher than the 10.5% average of the S&P, because my calculations say you will have $736,904.36. Either way...ANY Investment plan, constantly applied, over an extended period, will result in a better result than failing to do so. I am glad I had the 401(k)/403(b) option available.
Quan: May God Bless you in your time of sorrow. My older brother was KIA in Vietnam in 1965, when I was 15. I lost my nom and step mom in a 10 month span, in 2010-2011. My dad died at 53, very early on in my life, 1980, when I was 29. My younger broither died of AIDS in 1991, when I was 41. My stepdad died at 94, in 2018, when I was 68. My younger sister died in 2020, when I was 70. Question 1. We never know when our loved ones will leave us, but at my age, (75) I have few loved ones left to lose...my wife, my two children, and one younger sister, (who is 72 and is suffering from dementi aand has just moved in with her daughter,) all all the family I have left. My wife is in a similar situation, with two of her siblings still living, but her parents and 3 other siblings having already passed. Question 2. I retired in 2024. I have't really been surprised by anything...but I was amazed to feel the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders, when I realized that I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to do, because other than my wife of 51 years, I owed nothing to anyone. We are debt free, no mortgage, and have well more than we need financially. Originally, like most retirees, I was concerned about the money lasting as long as iwedo, but annuities and Social Security solved that issue. Our guanteed income is almost twice our retirement expoenses...with only using 4% of our portfolio annually. If we need additional income in the future, we can simply stop using our RMDs ($16,777.31 in 2026) as QCDs. After reading Bill Perkins' book, Die With Zero, we have begun gifting annual gifts to our 2 children, rather than waiting for them to inherit whatever is left, when we die. Question 3. Because we are financially free, I have been volunteering pro-bono at my church, a food pantry, Meals on Wheels, and a number of other charities through my affiliation with the Knights of Columbus. To fulfill a life long ambition to earn my doctorate, I am also completing a doctoral degree in Ministry and became a licensed chaplain. The secret to a fulfilling life is now, and always will be, service to others. Happy New Year!
And once again the question must be asked...WHERE did this "AI" get its information, and WHO "programmed" the AI source? Add to that the laziness of so-called journalists today, and you get the reports upon which this AI is based, and conversely, the sources other journalists use for their sources. BEWARE of quoting AI.
Nick: I was a practicing CFP for over 30 years, and I taught financial and retirement planning to Financial Advisor professionals for the last 15 years before retiring in 2024. I will absolutely second your opinion. The level of financial ignorance among the American Population is far greater than most would imagine, and it is not limited to lower-income Americans. It isn't so much what people don't know, it is more so that what they think they know...is wrong. It begins in high school, and i am happy to report that help is on the horizon, since many states are now mandating an economics course for high school juniors and seniors, in order to graduate.
RQ: I second that motion. Sowing division and class envy is a staple of the Main Stream Media. I sent a note to my children regarding Black Friday sales... pointing out that apparently I have reached the true level of "wealth"...and that is contentment. I bought absolutely nothing on Black Friday, for the 3rd or 4th year in a row. Christmas presents are a similar issue...My wife asked for new PJs and furry slippers with rubber soles. (She has been wearing an emerald and ruby ring that was "for Christmas, for the past month, Ha!) I asked for a fancy coffee blend from Fresh Market and an Amazon Gift card. I told my kids to get gift cards to "Word on Fire," a Catholic Publisher whose books I love,
if they feel the need to get me something. (I tell them I do not need anything, but that never works.) John Bogle wrote a great book entitled "Enough." Like most of his works, it was spot on. I am thankful that I have been blessed in my life in many ways, including financially, and I believe I do have "Enough."
R Quinn...Unlike several of those responding to this article, I agree with your perception of this being a positive step forward for the average employee and average investor. Based on the lack of financial intelligence of the vast majority of consumers of financial products, having the options worked out for them is key, since otherwise, they would either pick wrong or not pick at all. Sort of like people in 401-k or 403bs, with all their money in GIC accounts. As someone who purchased a series of 4 large annuities prior to retirement, 3 of 4 with Roth Dollars, I absolutely love the checks that are deposited in my bank account on the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 15th of every month, along with our social security checks on the second Wednesday of every month. Having a significant guaranteed income provides the greatest peace of mind imaginable. Just like I find on the Bogleheads website, many HD readers are apparently "annuity averse," to say the least. The one annuity I funded with Traditional IRA dollars will be converted to Roth over the next 2 years, while keeping me in the 12% tax bracket, and within 4 years, approximately 50% of my current traditional IRA will also be converted to Roth Dollars, because of the One Big Beautiful Bill provisions in effect for these 4 years. Five years from now, 90% of my income will either have COLA and/or be income tax-free. Those opposed to annuities are only too happy to accept their Social Security Checks...the world's best annuity...so it is a mystery to me why so many are averse to owning additional annuities controlled by the investor. To each their own...so they say!
Comments
What a great example of "It's never too late!" It reminds me of what I use to tell folks back in my financial advisor days, "The best day to start saving for retirement was the day you turned 18. The second best day is today!" I had less than $150,000 in my IRA when I started my last job, in 2009, at 58 years old. When i retired in January 2024, my 403b and our Roth IRAs were over $700,000 and our total Net Worh was $1.3 M. (My wife did not work ourside the hoime except for 6 years in the late 1990s early 2000s, when we owned a Natioinwide Insurance Agency.) It really isn't ever too late!
Post: It’s Never Too Late
Link to comment from February 27, 2026
Everyone's numbers are all over the board...as are the feelings regarding how good seniors have it. Both my wife and I take a prescription drug that has an exorbitant cost. Hers was $1,400 a month, and mine was $1400 per 3 months in 2025...I don't have the price yet for 2026. I sincerely hope President Trump's efforts to bring down drug prices in the US are successful, but either way, we will both Max Out our Plan D Maximum OOP before mid-year. For my wife and I we have the following costs: Medicare Part B Kevin (2026) $202.90 $2,434.80 Medicare Part B Kim (2026) $202.90 $2,434.80 Med Sup - Kevin Plan G. (Annual) $1,516.44 Med Sup - Kim Plan G (Annual) $1,154.88 Medicare Part D Premium Kevin - $43.20 Medicare Part D Premium Kim - $43.20 Medicare Part D Deductible Kevin - $615.00 Medicare Part D Deductible Kim - $615.00 Deductibles Part B Deductibles - $283 ea. -$566.00 Maximum Out Of Pocke7 $4,200.00 Total Cost for Medicare in 2026 will be approixmately $13,623.32, assuming no hospitalizations. We do not have IRMAA issues due to proper lifetime income planning. Gross Income for 2025 was @133,000. Taxable income for 2025 was $5,320. Inocme Tax due for 2025: $368 Federal, $107 State. We will actual recieve a refund of $3791, because in 2025 I had dollars voluntarily withheld for the first 6 months of the year, from our social security benefits. No Pension...Social Security, Annuity Income (72% Inocme Tax Free), and 4% Withdrawals from a brokerage account. (Zero Capital Gains). We will enjoy basically no income taxes due for 2026-2029.
Post: How important is planning for Medicare premiums in retirement? VERY!
Link to comment from January 28, 2026
Wow... how unobservant have I been? Never noticed the arrows. I comment on things I agree with and also on those I disagree with. It wouldn't occur to me to do it anonymously. Where's the fun in that? I, for one, enjoy Dr. Lefty's stuff. As someone else may have mentioned, as an Academic, I was used to being criticized by students when they were graded on lazy, underwhelming, zero-effort work. I ignored their comments and focused on my student evaluations, which were always in the top 10% of faculty at my institution....with them frequently being in the top 5%.
Post: The “Mean Girls”/Junior High Bullies at HumbleDollar
Link to comment from January 11, 2026
I had a 401 K Plan on all my jobs except my first job, Ford Motor Company, from 1971 until 1981. They added one a few years after I left them. In all my other jobs, I had a 401k. In two of my jobs, I also qualified for small pensions....Ford Motor Company and Mitsubishi Motors of America. Ford's was $219/mo for a joint survivor annuity at 50% and Mitsubishi was $485/mo JSA 50%. Both former employers gave me the opportunity in 2012 to take a buyout, and I did. Those funds were rolled into my Traditional IRA at Vanguard, where they have done spectacularly since. The biggest "mistake" I ever made financially occurred in 1987, when I left a job and did not roll over my 401(k) balance. Instead, I "cashed it out," and it was spent...and I don't remember on what. As I remember, the amount received was $13,000. My trusty HP 10bii tells me that had I left that $13,000 invested in the market, even as a traditional 401(k), without a Roth Election, earning the average rate of the S&P over the 37 years until I retired in 2024, it would have grown to approximately $488,150. As it is, I retired in January 2014, with a total nest egg of @$1.3M. From 1987 until 2024, I am certain I made some smaller additional financial errors. mostly "dumb purchases," but overall, I am happy about my 401(k)/403(b) experience. I added 403(b0 because over my last 15 working years, I was an academic, so I have a 403(b). It wasn't until 2021/2022, however, that our provider began offering the Roth Election, so although I did take advantage of it for three years, over 65% of my 403(b) dollars were traditional, and the balance Roth Election. So contrary to the article, which was obviously written by a biased author with an agenda, the retirement stool still has four legs, for my wife and me. My Qualified Retirement Dollars...my non-qualified retirement dollars, our social security benefits, and our brokerage portfolio dollars. It is not the tools, it is the craftsman who is responsible for the outcome. As my least favorite financial guru, Dave Ramsey says, and it is typical of his poor advice on investing, if you invest $100 a month from 25 until 65, you will have over $1.17M for retirement. He is obviously using an interest rate of 12%, much higher than the 10.5% average of the S&P, because my calculations say you will have $736,904.36. Either way...ANY Investment plan, constantly applied, over an extended period, will result in a better result than failing to do so. I am glad I had the 401(k)/403(b) option available.
Post: How do you really feel about 401k plans?
Link to comment from January 11, 2026
Quan: May God Bless you in your time of sorrow. My older brother was KIA in Vietnam in 1965, when I was 15. I lost my nom and step mom in a 10 month span, in 2010-2011. My dad died at 53, very early on in my life, 1980, when I was 29. My younger broither died of AIDS in 1991, when I was 41. My stepdad died at 94, in 2018, when I was 68. My younger sister died in 2020, when I was 70. Question 1. We never know when our loved ones will leave us, but at my age, (75) I have few loved ones left to lose...my wife, my two children, and one younger sister, (who is 72 and is suffering from dementi aand has just moved in with her daughter,) all all the family I have left. My wife is in a similar situation, with two of her siblings still living, but her parents and 3 other siblings having already passed. Question 2. I retired in 2024. I have't really been surprised by anything...but I was amazed to feel the weight of the world lifted from my shoulders, when I realized that I didn't have to do anything I didn't want to do, because other than my wife of 51 years, I owed nothing to anyone. We are debt free, no mortgage, and have well more than we need financially. Originally, like most retirees, I was concerned about the money lasting as long as iwedo, but annuities and Social Security solved that issue. Our guanteed income is almost twice our retirement expoenses...with only using 4% of our portfolio annually. If we need additional income in the future, we can simply stop using our RMDs ($16,777.31 in 2026) as QCDs. After reading Bill Perkins' book, Die With Zero, we have begun gifting annual gifts to our 2 children, rather than waiting for them to inherit whatever is left, when we die. Question 3. Because we are financially free, I have been volunteering pro-bono at my church, a food pantry, Meals on Wheels, and a number of other charities through my affiliation with the Knights of Columbus. To fulfill a life long ambition to earn my doctorate, I am also completing a doctoral degree in Ministry and became a licensed chaplain. The secret to a fulfilling life is now, and always will be, service to others. Happy New Year!
Post: Seeking the Wisdom of the Ages
Link to comment from January 2, 2026
And once again the question must be asked...WHERE did this "AI" get its information, and WHO "programmed" the AI source? Add to that the laziness of so-called journalists today, and you get the reports upon which this AI is based, and conversely, the sources other journalists use for their sources. BEWARE of quoting AI.
Post: Black Friday blues come February
Link to comment from December 10, 2025
Nick: I was a practicing CFP for over 30 years, and I taught financial and retirement planning to Financial Advisor professionals for the last 15 years before retiring in 2024. I will absolutely second your opinion. The level of financial ignorance among the American Population is far greater than most would imagine, and it is not limited to lower-income Americans. It isn't so much what people don't know, it is more so that what they think they know...is wrong. It begins in high school, and i am happy to report that help is on the horizon, since many states are now mandating an economics course for high school juniors and seniors, in order to graduate.
Post: Black Friday blues come February
Link to comment from December 10, 2025
RQ: I second that motion. Sowing division and class envy is a staple of the Main Stream Media. I sent a note to my children regarding Black Friday sales... pointing out that apparently I have reached the true level of "wealth"...and that is contentment. I bought absolutely nothing on Black Friday, for the 3rd or 4th year in a row. Christmas presents are a similar issue...My wife asked for new PJs and furry slippers with rubber soles. (She has been wearing an emerald and ruby ring that was "for Christmas, for the past month, Ha!) I asked for a fancy coffee blend from Fresh Market and an Amazon Gift card. I told my kids to get gift cards to "Word on Fire," a Catholic Publisher whose books I love, if they feel the need to get me something. (I tell them I do not need anything, but that never works.) John Bogle wrote a great book entitled "Enough." Like most of his works, it was spot on. I am thankful that I have been blessed in my life in many ways, including financially, and I believe I do have "Enough."
Post: Black Friday blues come February
Link to comment from December 10, 2025
R Quinn...Unlike several of those responding to this article, I agree with your perception of this being a positive step forward for the average employee and average investor. Based on the lack of financial intelligence of the vast majority of consumers of financial products, having the options worked out for them is key, since otherwise, they would either pick wrong or not pick at all. Sort of like people in 401-k or 403bs, with all their money in GIC accounts. As someone who purchased a series of 4 large annuities prior to retirement, 3 of 4 with Roth Dollars, I absolutely love the checks that are deposited in my bank account on the 5th, 6th, 7th, and 15th of every month, along with our social security checks on the second Wednesday of every month. Having a significant guaranteed income provides the greatest peace of mind imaginable. Just like I find on the Bogleheads website, many HD readers are apparently "annuity averse," to say the least. The one annuity I funded with Traditional IRA dollars will be converted to Roth over the next 2 years, while keeping me in the 12% tax bracket, and within 4 years, approximately 50% of my current traditional IRA will also be converted to Roth Dollars, because of the One Big Beautiful Bill provisions in effect for these 4 years. Five years from now, 90% of my income will either have COLA and/or be income tax-free. Those opposed to annuities are only too happy to accept their Social Security Checks...the world's best annuity...so it is a mystery to me why so many are averse to owning additional annuities controlled by the investor. To each their own...so they say!
Post: The annuities are coming, the annuities are coming‼️
Link to comment from December 5, 2025
Congrats on actually “investing the difference!” Far to few do.
Post: Let’s do the math on Social Security- my simplistic math not guaranteed and possibly flawed, but with a good end result for us – I hope. RDQ
Link to comment from October 25, 2024