Ya -- definitely some self-knowledge was needed! Before we even got married, it was clear that we had very different financial personalities -- she's awful at keeping track of anything and tends to be a spender; I'm "so cheap, he squeaks," as she puts it. And that was even before I went back to college and got a degree in accounting! So we had to figure out a system that would work, and quickly settled on, no joint accounts! In the end, it works out about the same, because, I as I note, we do share expenses and own our home jointly. (We also used to live in a community property state, so like it or not, we legally owned the car jointly -- but it was her car, and I knew better than to pretend otherwise). We just don't share bank/investment accounts. We grew up with parents who fought about money and didn't want to do that... so we don't!
He catches huge flak - mostly because he says no one needs a financial advisor - but if you actually do what he recommends, not what the carpers think he recommends, it's pretty sound. He says, "Your retirement nest egg should be in index funds -- this stock-picking is basically just for bling on the side, with a few dollars you can afford to lose." He also says, spend an hour a week doing homework on each of the stocks you currently own. AND be able to explain, to any layman who asks, why you own that stock. Does anyone do that? The rapid-fire segments where he says buy this and sell that, he is not really saying "go click the BUY button right now." He's saying do some homework on the stock, but that he likes (or hates) the sound of it. The showbiz is just showbiz; the substance is really not far away from what any prudent investor would do. But I don't watch him these days, because he's friends with a certain high-up individual who will remain nameless, but you know who I mean.
I know, I know, everyone hates that TV guy who shouts too much; but his simple advice, "No one ever made a dime by panicking," has saved my bacon countless times. In the crash that led to the Great Recession, I resisted the temptation to sell out, and stood pat all the way down and all the way back up. In the 2020 Covid crash, I did lighten a few funds, but basically did the same thing. And in the current Iran imbroglio, I have made sure I've got enough cash to cover my bills for a fairly long period of time -- but that's it. The small investor tends to be emotional and reactive, and that's a hard trait to overcome. That TV guy is "for entertainment purposes only," in that his "buy-buy-buy" and "sell-sell-sell" riffs are not to be taken seriously -- but the overall philosophy is sound.
I had an old motorcycle ('72 BMW) that was in storage in an unheated but well sealed garage for 18 years, at a cost of $110/month. Last fall, I decided it was time to deal with it. So I spent $1800 to have my mechanic haul it to his shop and get it running again. Then, I sold the bike for $1000. I pretty much knew this would happen, but did it anyway, as penance for neglecting a classic machine for so long. The good news is, I found it a good home with an owner who's really interested in BMWs of that era and plans to restore it to stock trim. And has promised to send pictures when it's done!
I'll tell you why "hers and mine and mine and hers" works so well, for a married couple (since 1997, in my case). I've got my money and she's got hers -- and as a result, we don't fight about money! Unlike both sets of parents, who spent their whole lives arguing, my wife and I keep it separate. Sure, we own our home (that is, condo) jointly, and we share expenses -- in a rather haphazard fashion; I pay the taxes and utilities, she pays the condo fee, buys groceries, and the phone bill. But "upstream," there are no joint checking, savings, or investment accounts. Hence, no "we can't afford that," or "why do you always buy what you want but I never get to buy what I want?" To say nothing of "We're overdrawn again, what did you do?" That's what my parents -- and my wife's -- were doing their whole lives, and we wanted to avoid that. So, she's got hers and I've got mine. (We finally got around to having our lawyer do us a will, so whoever dies first, the other gets their assets.) Keeping our money separate isn't a financial decision; it's a relationship one -- and for us, it's worked really well. We always advise our younger friends to follow our example... but they never do!
I'm much more of an AI skeptic than Adam -- I use the LLM bots on a daily basis, but just to search, answer questions, and do language translation (which they're really good at). I can't see any way they're going to make money, let alone "change the world." Altman is a charlatan, in my view. But as with any bubble, markets can stay irrational a long time, and you can miss a lot of gain by being right too soon! In the Great Recession, I took the advice of that TV guy everyone loves to hate, who always says, "No one ever made a dime by panicking." I stood pat, all the way down, and all the way back up. It was nerve-wracking, but as a small investor, I know very well that if I try to time the market, I'm always going to be wrong. I made a very lucky guess with some Nvidia shares in 2021, then decided not to be greedy and sold 2/3 of them a year or so ago, figuring the rest is house money and I'd let it ride. AI today is looking more and more like real estate in 2006 -- but seeing it is the easy part. Timing the market, not so easy!
Sounds like a plan! A minimal amount of research suggests a high deductible plan isn't expensive. When the time comes (I still have three years to think about it), I'll probably do something along those lines.
How important is it to have a Medigap policy? I know this is really unanswerable, but for a reasonably healthy person (easy for me to say at 62), I pay some out-of-pocket costs now, for my Health Connector coverage (I'm retired). If I decide to just have Medicare cover what it covers and pay the rest out of pocket, and invest the money I'd have spent on a Medigap policy, am I being foolish?
"No one ever made a dime by panicking." -- from that guy on TV who everyone hates, at least in the financial services industry, so I won't mention him by name. His show is *not* about stock picks - that part is just for fun - but the first 10 minutes, where he says, this is what happened in the market today, this is what the hedge funds and the big guys are doing, this is why they're doing these crazy things, and reminds us that no one ever made a dime by panicking! Hate him if you must, but he saved my bacon during the 2007 crash, just by talking me down off the ledge every day, and preventing me from selling everything because I couldn't take the pain, which would have locked in my losses. Instead, I did pretty much nothing, and ended up recovering with the market! I used to love Jonathan's "Getting Going" column, by the way! :)
Comments
Ya -- definitely some self-knowledge was needed! Before we even got married, it was clear that we had very different financial personalities -- she's awful at keeping track of anything and tends to be a spender; I'm "so cheap, he squeaks," as she puts it. And that was even before I went back to college and got a degree in accounting! So we had to figure out a system that would work, and quickly settled on, no joint accounts! In the end, it works out about the same, because, I as I note, we do share expenses and own our home jointly. (We also used to live in a community property state, so like it or not, we legally owned the car jointly -- but it was her car, and I knew better than to pretend otherwise). We just don't share bank/investment accounts. We grew up with parents who fought about money and didn't want to do that... so we don't!
Post: One Good Call?
Link to comment from April 14, 2026
He catches huge flak - mostly because he says no one needs a financial advisor - but if you actually do what he recommends, not what the carpers think he recommends, it's pretty sound. He says, "Your retirement nest egg should be in index funds -- this stock-picking is basically just for bling on the side, with a few dollars you can afford to lose." He also says, spend an hour a week doing homework on each of the stocks you currently own. AND be able to explain, to any layman who asks, why you own that stock. Does anyone do that? The rapid-fire segments where he says buy this and sell that, he is not really saying "go click the BUY button right now." He's saying do some homework on the stock, but that he likes (or hates) the sound of it. The showbiz is just showbiz; the substance is really not far away from what any prudent investor would do. But I don't watch him these days, because he's friends with a certain high-up individual who will remain nameless, but you know who I mean.
Post: One Good Call?
Link to comment from April 14, 2026
I know, I know, everyone hates that TV guy who shouts too much; but his simple advice, "No one ever made a dime by panicking," has saved my bacon countless times. In the crash that led to the Great Recession, I resisted the temptation to sell out, and stood pat all the way down and all the way back up. In the 2020 Covid crash, I did lighten a few funds, but basically did the same thing. And in the current Iran imbroglio, I have made sure I've got enough cash to cover my bills for a fairly long period of time -- but that's it. The small investor tends to be emotional and reactive, and that's a hard trait to overcome. That TV guy is "for entertainment purposes only," in that his "buy-buy-buy" and "sell-sell-sell" riffs are not to be taken seriously -- but the overall philosophy is sound.
Post: One Good Call?
Link to comment from April 14, 2026
I had an old motorcycle ('72 BMW) that was in storage in an unheated but well sealed garage for 18 years, at a cost of $110/month. Last fall, I decided it was time to deal with it. So I spent $1800 to have my mechanic haul it to his shop and get it running again. Then, I sold the bike for $1000. I pretty much knew this would happen, but did it anyway, as penance for neglecting a classic machine for so long. The good news is, I found it a good home with an owner who's really interested in BMWs of that era and plans to restore it to stock trim. And has promised to send pictures when it's done!
Post: Penny Wise, Pound Foolish
Link to comment from April 14, 2026
I'll tell you why "hers and mine and mine and hers" works so well, for a married couple (since 1997, in my case). I've got my money and she's got hers -- and as a result, we don't fight about money! Unlike both sets of parents, who spent their whole lives arguing, my wife and I keep it separate. Sure, we own our home (that is, condo) jointly, and we share expenses -- in a rather haphazard fashion; I pay the taxes and utilities, she pays the condo fee, buys groceries, and the phone bill. But "upstream," there are no joint checking, savings, or investment accounts. Hence, no "we can't afford that," or "why do you always buy what you want but I never get to buy what I want?" To say nothing of "We're overdrawn again, what did you do?" That's what my parents -- and my wife's -- were doing their whole lives, and we wanted to avoid that. So, she's got hers and I've got mine. (We finally got around to having our lawyer do us a will, so whoever dies first, the other gets their assets.) Keeping our money separate isn't a financial decision; it's a relationship one -- and for us, it's worked really well. We always advise our younger friends to follow our example... but they never do!
Post: One Good Call?
Link to comment from April 14, 2026
I'm much more of an AI skeptic than Adam -- I use the LLM bots on a daily basis, but just to search, answer questions, and do language translation (which they're really good at). I can't see any way they're going to make money, let alone "change the world." Altman is a charlatan, in my view. But as with any bubble, markets can stay irrational a long time, and you can miss a lot of gain by being right too soon! In the Great Recession, I took the advice of that TV guy everyone loves to hate, who always says, "No one ever made a dime by panicking." I stood pat, all the way down, and all the way back up. It was nerve-wracking, but as a small investor, I know very well that if I try to time the market, I'm always going to be wrong. I made a very lucky guess with some Nvidia shares in 2021, then decided not to be greedy and sold 2/3 of them a year or so ago, figuring the rest is house money and I'd let it ride. AI today is looking more and more like real estate in 2006 -- but seeing it is the easy part. Timing the market, not so easy!
Post: AI Rally Market Risks
Link to comment from November 8, 2025
Sounds like a plan! A minimal amount of research suggests a high deductible plan isn't expensive. When the time comes (I still have three years to think about it), I'll probably do something along those lines.
Post: Don’t make the wrong Medicare decision
Link to comment from October 25, 2025
How important is it to have a Medigap policy? I know this is really unanswerable, but for a reasonably healthy person (easy for me to say at 62), I pay some out-of-pocket costs now, for my Health Connector coverage (I'm retired). If I decide to just have Medicare cover what it covers and pay the rest out of pocket, and invest the money I'd have spent on a Medigap policy, am I being foolish?
Post: Don’t make the wrong Medicare decision
Link to comment from October 25, 2025
"No one ever made a dime by panicking." -- from that guy on TV who everyone hates, at least in the financial services industry, so I won't mention him by name. His show is *not* about stock picks - that part is just for fun - but the first 10 minutes, where he says, this is what happened in the market today, this is what the hedge funds and the big guys are doing, this is why they're doing these crazy things, and reminds us that no one ever made a dime by panicking! Hate him if you must, but he saved my bacon during the 2007 crash, just by talking me down off the ledge every day, and preventing me from selling everything because I couldn't take the pain, which would have locked in my losses. Instead, I did pretty much nothing, and ended up recovering with the market! I used to love Jonathan's "Getting Going" column, by the way! :)
Post: What’s your favorite financial quote?
Link to comment from July 14, 2024