Bob Wilmes

Comments:

• Jonathon, Thank you for such a brilliant website and your other writings. I think you are the spiritual successor for the late Alan Abelson at Barron’s. It is so rare to find untainted financial content with much grace and wisdom. Best wishes and happiness to you. Regards, Bob Wilmes

  Post: The Other Enough

  Link to comment from March 11, 2023

• I recently unretired after I finished a master of science degree in cybersecurity, and started writing security code for a manufacturing company. I’m able to work remote and I’m still on Medicare and will eventually be able to get social security while working at age 70. My actual social security amount goes up since I am still paying into social security. I can still play golf on the weekends and take time for a foreign cruise in the summer. Someday I will retire again, but I hope to start another masters degree in the fall of next year.

  Post: Better Than Golf

  Link to comment from December 24, 2022

• I read that only 3% of those eligible for social security wait until age 70 to receive it. It’s a fairly rare occurrence that someone has the health and financial fortitude to wait for age 70.

  Post: The Magic Number

  Link to comment from August 27, 2022

• Hmm … my Big Mac which I bought on July 26 in a midwestern state was $5.49. I don’t think our US inflation risks are over.

  Post: Rough Over There

  Link to comment from July 26, 2022

• My pet peeve is Cable TV and Internet service. Every year my cable provider keeps inflating the bundle of TV shows that my wife and mother-in-law watch. I routinely find that I have to take my itemized bill to the cable provider’s office and force them to do a line by line audit with me which routinely drops my bill by 5 or 10 percent. I am waiting for the cellphone carriers to provide 5G home networks so I can get off the cable TV provider merry go round.

  Post: What everyday purchase do you consider most overpriced?

  Link to comment from July 26, 2022

• There is a great book on how Warren Buffett worked with a man named Joe Rosenfield, a lawyer and businessman from Des Moines, Iowa helped to build the endowment of tiny Grinnell College in Iowa to a $3 billion dollar trust. I highly recommend the book. https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0998652857/

  Post: Buffett’s Pension

  Link to comment from July 22, 2022

• If it’s any consolation, VTI just paid another quarterly dividend of $.749 a share on June 28. At least using dividend reinvestment, you can pick up some more shares at a better price.

  Post: Take a Bow

  Link to comment from July 10, 2022

• For many years I always wore business attire like Brooks Brothers shirts and ties, Hickey Freeman suits and the best shoes I could afford. Sadly most of the companies that sold better mens apparel have closed or are hugely diminished. I learned that dressing a little better than expected always got me better outcomes. Today there is a whole genre of books like J.D. Vance’s Hillbilly Elegy that document the struggles of America’s middle class. There are still wonderful opportunities in the US for people willing to succeed, but for many the low hanging fruit are harder than ever to reach.

  Post: Man Overboard

  Link to comment from July 9, 2022

• You can actually use ebay keyword alerts for items such as expensive brand shoes in x-large sizes in new condition to save time. That way you don’t even have to spend time searching. ebay will send you an email with the link to the merchandise being offered. I’ve also found that many times you can offer less than the asking price and many times the ebay sellers will accept your offer.

  Post: Fashion Statement

  Link to comment from June 30, 2022

• It helps to have a long term perspective at times like these. I remember a Jason Zweig Wall St Journal article about a company most people have never heard of - Balchem stock symbol BCPC. https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/the-best-stock-over-the-last-30-years-youve-never-heard-of-it-1454091554 As the article points out, there are literally handfuls of companies out there right now that may be the Balchem of 2040. Although most of our funds may remain committed to the Vanguard Total Stock Market index, it helps to hear about the Balchem’s of the world and buy some for your grandkids.

  Post: Time for a Pep Talk

  Link to comment from June 27, 2022