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I am a retired Physical Therapist and Certified Athletic Trainer. I obtained my BS in Physical Therapy at the University of Vermont, and Masters in Physical Education with a specialization in Athletic Training. I retired in 2019, and my wife retired in 2020, and we have spent the majority of our lives living in New Hampshire. I have managed my own portfolio for the past twenty years and have utilized a fee only Certified Financial Advisor on occasion to provide input to my financial plan on a few occasions, especially deciding if my assets were sufficient to retire. My financial guidance has come from years of following the principles of John Bogle and being an avid fan of Vanguard. My other resources for decision making are Christine Benz/Morningstar, and of course Jonathan Clements!
IRS Adds New Reporting Code for Charitable IRA Gifts
8 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/13/2025
FIRST: baldscreen on 11/14 | RECENT: DrLefty on 11/15
How Has Living in a CCRC Affected Your Monthly Bills?
15 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/12/2025
FIRST: Bill C on 11/12 | RECENT: Chris G on 11/14
Information on Jonathan’s Memorial Service
35 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 10/2/2025
FIRST: David Powell on 10/2 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 11/4
Medicare Open Enrollment Information
3 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/2/2025
FIRST: R Quinn on 11/3 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 11/3
Wait Until We’e 70
48 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 10/22/2025
FIRST: Mark Crothers on 10/22 | RECENT: Brian White on 10/26
Are You an Entirely Dividend Investor in Retirement?
9 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 10/15/2025
FIRST: OldITGuy on 10/15 | RECENT: Ormode on 10/15
Are You Invested in International Markets?
17 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 10/9/2025
FIRST: Mark Crothers on 10/9 | RECENT: youthbudget on 10/13
Are You a Dividend Investor? If so Read This!
6 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 10/9/2025
FIRST: Jack Hannam on 10/9 | RECENT: quan nguyen on 10/9
Are You a Trader or an Investor?
32 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 10/6/2025
FIRST: David Powell on 10/6 | RECENT: normr60189 on 10/8
USA Senior Care Network
3 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 9/9/2025
FIRST: William Perry on 9/10 | RECENT: William Perry on 9/10
How Are You Planning to Pay for Potential Long Term Care Expenses?
84 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 2/4/2025
FIRST: R Quinn on 2/4 | RECENT: stelea99 on 9/6
Sequence of Return Risk
48 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 9/27/2024
FIRST: Dave Melick on 9/27/2024 | RECENT: Ormode on 8/28
An Excellent Morningstar Article on CCRCs
3 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 8/7/2025
FIRST: mytimetotravel on 8/7 | RECENT: parkslope on 8/8
Bond Conundrum
24 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 7/7/2025
FIRST: Jim Burrows on 7/7 | RECENT: S on 7/26
How Was I to Know?
12 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 7/23/2025
FIRST: Mark Crothers on 7/23 | RECENT: S on 7/26
Selling Your House and Reaping Tax Free Capital Gains May be in Jeopardy
7 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 7/24/2025
FIRST: bbbobbins on 7/24 | RECENT: stelea99 on 7/25
Are You Going to Get the Social Security Benefits You First Started Paying For?
8 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 7/18/2025
FIRST: R Quinn on 7/18 | RECENT: DAN SMITH on 7/18
Morningstar’s Historical Review of the Benefits of the 60/40 Portfolios During Market Downturns
1 reply
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 7/14/2025
FIRST: normr60189 on 7/14 | RECENT: normr60189 on 7/14
Securing Lower Taxes
13 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 7/10/2025
FIRST: stelea99 on 7/10 | RECENT: Nick Politakis on 7/11
Increased Deduction for Seniors
43 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 7/4/2025
FIRST: eludom on 7/5 | RECENT: Randy Dobkin on 7/7
Does a Happy Country lead to Happy Individuals?
31 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 6/20/2025
FIRST: bbbobbins on 6/20 | RECENT: R Quinn on 6/24
Interesting White Coat Investor on Lessons Learned Dealing with a LTC Company
6 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 6/17/2025
FIRST: 1PF on 6/17 | RECENT: smr1082 on 6/20
Let’s Stir Up the Bee’s Nest Again- Another Way of Calculating Net Worth
76 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 6/13/2025
FIRST: David Mulligan on 6/14 | RECENT: bbbobbins on 6/19
Medicare Advantage with No Premiums vs Traditional Medicare with Plan G Deductible
32 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 6/14/2025
FIRST: R Quinn on 6/14 | RECENT: DrLefty on 6/15
“Most Revealing Question in Personal Finance”
22 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 6/4/2025
FIRST: Jo Bo on 6/4 | RECENT: normr60189 on 6/8
Jonathan Is Everywhere on the Internet
1 reply
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 6/4/2025
FIRST: Andrew Forsythe on 6/6 | RECENT: Andrew Forsythe on 6/6
Lesson Four From Taking Care of a 102 yo in Her Last Year of Life- The Final Hours of Life Can be Beautiful
13 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 4/12/2025
FIRST: Edmund Marsh on 4/13 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 5/29
Another Great Post by Mike Piper
7 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 5/6/2025
FIRST: luvtoride44afe9eb1e on 5/6 | RECENT: Rick Connor on 5/7
Lesson Five From Taking Care of a 102 yo in Her Last Year of Life- Politics and the News Has the Potential to Ruin Relationships
14 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 4/19/2025
FIRST: DAN SMITH on 4/19 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 4/20
What to do as the Bear Approaches
15 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 4/8/2025
FIRST: DAN SMITH on 4/8 | RECENT: Michael1 on 4/13
Lesson Three From Taking Care of a 102 yo in Her Last Year of Life- The Role of Faith in Dying
8 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 4/6/2025
FIRST: Jonathan Clements on 4/6 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 4/7
Lesson Two From Taking Care of a 102 yo in Her Last Year of Life- Preparing Oneself for Death
2 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 4/4/2025
FIRST: mytimetotravel on 4/4 | RECENT: DAN SMITH on 4/4
Lesson One From Taking Care of a 102 yo in Her Last Year of Life- Be Grateful
6 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 3/30/2025
FIRST: Edmund Marsh on 3/30 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 4/3
Lessons Learned from Taking Care of a 102 Year Old in Her Final Year
10 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 3/28/2025
FIRST: Rick Connor on 3/28 | RECENT: Dan Wick on 3/30
How Do Allocate the Bond Portion of Your Portfolio?
20 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 3/20/2025
FIRST: R Quinn on 3/20 | RECENT: Casey Campbell on 3/23
Great Ideas from Ed Slott for Estate Planning Using Roth Savings
12 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 3/20/2025
FIRST: William Housley on 3/20 | RECENT: William Perry on 3/22
The Status of Inherited IRAs in 2025
13 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 3/17/2025
FIRST: William Perry on 3/18 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 3/20
A Simple Way to avoid Phone Scams
11 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 3/17/2025
FIRST: DAN SMITH on 3/17 | RECENT: mytimetotravel on 3/18
Morningstar’s Report on Comparing 10 Year Returns on Active vs Passive Funds
8 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 3/12/2025
FIRST: Jonathan Clements on 3/12 | RECENT: Edmund Marsh on 3/12
Acorns
9 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 2/23/2025
FIRST: David Powell on 2/23 | RECENT: bbbobbins on 2/25
Is There a Change Coming in the Direction of the Markets’ Winds?
20 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 1/14/2025
FIRST: normr60189 on 1/14 | RECENT: normr60189 on 1/18
Costs Matter
28 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/30/2024
FIRST: Rick Connor on 11/30/2024 | RECENT: Jack Hannam on 12/31/2024
How Often Do You Calculate Your Net Worth And Why
57 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/29/2024
FIRST: Patrick Murphy on 11/29/2024 | RECENT: Will Schenk on 12/5/2024
What is The 10 Year Return on Your Portfolio?
22 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/26/2024
FIRST: stelea99 on 11/26/2024 | RECENT: Steve Spinella on 12/2/2024
What Was in Your Portfolio?
4 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/23/2024
FIRST: R Quinn on 11/23/2024 | RECENT: evan rayers on 11/24/2024
HELP, I Want My Money Back!
10 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/16/2024
FIRST: DAN SMITH on 11/16/2024 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 11/18/2024
Who’s Comments Do You Look Forward to Most?
30 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/14/2024
FIRST: Randy Dobkin on 11/14/2024 | RECENT: mytimetotravel on 11/15/2024
Two to Follow
6 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/14/2024
FIRST: R Quinn on 11/14/2024 | RECENT: Ken Shelley on 11/15/2024
T Rowe Frequent Trading Policy
11 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/11/2024
FIRST: 1PF on 11/11/2024 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 11/12/2024
Who is on Your Personal Investing Mount Rushmore, and Why?
11 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 11/8/2024
FIRST: luvtoride44afe9eb1e on 11/8/2024 | RECENT: Steven Duncan on 11/10/2024
IRAs in a Trust
3 replies
AUTHOR: David Lancaster on 8/29/2024
FIRST: William Perry on 8/29/2024 | RECENT: David Lancaster on 8/29/2024
Comments
If the drop of 100K is on a 10 million portfolio balance you shouldn’t blink. If the same dollar drop occurs on a 1 million portfolio balance and you can’t sleep you have too high an allocation to equities. Yesterday the Morningstar total market index dropped 1.5% and our portfolio dropped 0.5% and I didn’t bat an eye. This proves my 45/45/10 allocation is correct for my risk tolerance. Also where there is a significant drop in the markets like in April (I consider significant being near correction territory) I merely look at when my portfolio value was the same balance as the current. Usually it is less than a year’s progress lost (‘21-‘22 being an exception).
Post: Is the current stock market anything to be concerned about?
Link to comment from November 21, 2025
I was pleasantly surprised to find out that Medicare pays for eye examinations, excluding only the refraction procedure. I thought it did cover any part of a routine eye examination. My father who retired from working at a major hospital had his retirement insurance whittled away year after year.
Post: Health Insurance Double Take
Link to comment from November 21, 2025
Mark, As I have written before when we inherited money from my parents we did something similar. My parents passed within months of each other and as a result we inherited money in September. That Christmas we gave each of our two children a significant amount as a final Christmas present from my parents. One child used the money for a down payment on a house just as COVID hit and has seen his property value nearly double. The other child was able to pay off her school loans and thus increase her retirement contributions by that amount annually.
Post: Skipping a Generation
Link to comment from November 21, 2025
“According to Federal Reserve data, the top 10% control more wealth than the bottom 90%.” No matter your philosophy or political leanings, how can anyone think that the numbers above reflect a fair society. That fact is not just a reflection of hard work but a society that is tilted towards the rich. One other point: I can not fathom what the point is of having 10, 20 billion or more in assets? No matter who you are no one can spend all that money. I think it’s just for bragging rights.
Post: I think billionaires are under appreciated
Link to comment from November 18, 2025
When I was a practicing PT I was appalled that patients’ SSN were in their chart.
Post: Another week, another data breech notification letter…
Link to comment from November 17, 2025
I have experienced three data breaches including the Equifax one. I have repeatedly said that this will continue until congress passes a bill in which companies are severely punished financially. At this point companies that are breached just shrug their shoulders, offer free credit monitoring and then walk away. Data breaches will on decrease once companies face heavy fines, maybe base on a percentage of their capitalization.
Post: Another week, another data breech notification letter…
Link to comment from November 17, 2025
I used to tell my patients they should be thrilled that they had osteoarthritis (wear and tear arthritis). They would look at me kinda weird. Then I would explain that their type of arthritis was from years of activity. I would then say if the bones of colonial people were to be exhumed a large number would not show any arthritis as they did not live long enough to “rewarded” with it.
Post: Retirement Conversations with my Joints
Link to comment from November 16, 2025
Arm and a Leg has very interesting content. If people are not familiar it focuses on the ridiculous medical system we have and how to fight over billing in medicine.
Post: Patient uses AI to reduce hospital bill by 83%
Link to comment from November 12, 2025
I was wondering the other day while riding my stationary bike if there is some sort of free mapping site available that HD members could put a dot where they live without providing personal information to see where readers of HD reside. Might be helpful to see if there is a concentration which might make a meetup feasible. Preferably with international locations as well. I’m pretty sure that there is one from 🇮🇪, 🏴, and 🇦🇺.
Post: A Day In Philly
Link to comment from November 12, 2025
We discovered The Diplomat the day I read an article about the season three release. We took all of a week watching all three season. In the new format where content is spread all over the place we have struggled to find much great content. The Diplomat is the closest to the quality of This is Us which is our standard for great writing and acting, but still a ways off.
Post: Wealth: A Short List on How to Recognize It
Link to comment from November 12, 2025