I WAS A VICTIM OF identity theft. It wasn’t anything I did. Rather, it was what my former employer did.
During the pandemic, many employees were working remotely, including a member of the human resources department. She received an email from the CEO requesting that she send him the W-2s for all employees. So she did. Unfortunately, the email wasn’t from the CEO. It was sent from a shopping mall in Saudi Arabia.
As soon as she hit send,

As I approach retirement, I have utilized several free retirement calculators to help answer the question, “Can I retire?”.  The exciting thing is they all seem to be confirming it’s okay for me to punch out when the time is right.  Of course, like any model, these are only as good as the accuracy of the input and assumptions.
Below are the calculators I have used.  Do you have any comments in general about these tools or have you used something you found useful that’s not on my list?

Beautiful opinion piece, Jonathan  I tried to share as a gift article, but not sure if I figured out how to do.  Maybe someone else can?  Chris
 
 

The search for a bond substitute has been about as lunatic as Don Quixote’s quest for a fantasy world. Why a substitute for the Great Diversifier anyway? Because when interest rates move higher, bonds and stocks disintegrate in tandem. In the scourge of 2022, Vanguard’s total bond ETF lost 13%, not much better than the broad market’s -18%. Seeming more like de-worsification than diversification, the twin collapse spooked adherents of the venerable 60/40 portfolio.
But almost all of the vaunted replacements for bonds put forward by fixed-income detractors have come to naught.

WHEN I ASKED MY brother what to bring to my newly purchased winter home in Tucson, his response was succinct: “Money. Lots. And extra credit cards.”
The voice of experience, he bought a so-called park unit five years ago before home prices soared, up 47% since early 2020 . My expenses in buying my place—and making it into what I wanted—had me selling beaten-down shares in a total bond fund to refill my cash accounts.

Looking up at the ceiling recovering from major surgery has this 70+ boomer rethinking life. Everyone on here has an intense interest in personal finance. Most of us are boomers.  Our parents were the Greatest Generation who lived the Depression and fought the war then shared their stories of sacrifice. We’ve read the Wall Street Journal, especially when Jonathan was there, financial papers, magazines and websites galore. My guess is that our playbook is pretty much the same:  get an education,

I know what a mutual fund is. I can even engage in a semi-literate discussion involving things like alpha, beta, inverted yield curves, and etc. On the other hand, I’d be lost in an in-depth conversation with the likes of a Grossman, Clements, or certain other HD contributors. So how much knowledge does one actually need to manage their own investments without the need for paid help?

A lot of us claim to be frugal, including me at times, but I wonder, are we all on the same page defining frugal?
Frugality is typically defined as  a mindful approach to spending that prioritizes value, efficiency, and sustainability. It’s about making conscious choices that align with your financial goals and values.
That doesn’t sound like fun, seems like work.
Do we limit discretionary purchases in favor of necessities? Are we focused on finding the best deal or seeking low-cost alternatives?

ANY BABY BOOMER WHO grew up around New York City is probably familiar with the name Robert Moses. He was the city planner who wielded enormous power over the development of New York from the 1920s to the 1960s.
Having grown up on Long Island, I saw his work firsthand in two main highways, the Long Island Expressway and the Northern State Parkway. They were designed to appear park-like, with arched bridges, wide grass run-offs and trees alongside the entire route.

Despite what you might expect from the title, this is not an article about volunteer work. Rather, it’s a perspective on my current situation as a so-called paid employee. You see, tomorrow I turn 62. My Social Security benefits, which until now have been only a theoretical future payout, are now fully accessible to me with a few clicks of a mouse. Once I elect to take my Social Security benefit, my wife will be eligible to begin receiving hers as well.

I MAY BE WRONG, but I’m pretty sure Vanguard Group doesn’t have a secret plan to control the U.S. banking system. Not everyone is so confident, however.
There’s a federal regulation that no investor can buy more than 10% of the shares of a U.S. bank without regulatory approval if it’s seeking to “control” the bank. Thanks to the popularity of its index funds, Vanguard funds collectively owned 12.5% of State Street’s shares as of June 30.

My wife and I just had our wills and POAs redone. We changed our domicile form PA to NJ a few years ago, and it was recommended we have them updated. I was surprised how different some of the documents were from state to state. For example, NJ has an 11 day period before a will can be probated, starting form the date of death. PA does not have that. The Medical POA and Advanced Directive was very narrative driven;

Newly retired one here and working my way through safe withdrawal rates, the 4% rule etc. I subscibed to Monarch to monitor expenses. My question:  how many of you out there monitor every I and O on a spreadsheet (looking at you engineers) vs just seeing what’s left in the spending account each month, quarter, year etc?

Quinn’s “big scary number” got me thinking about my approach taken on the path towards retirement. I would say being aware was my best tool.
Oh I did my share of spreadsheets and extrapolations, and while I had a goal of reaching a seven figure net worth, it had nothing to do with achieving a big scary number. Being aware of my spending and saving is what got me over the top. For me retirement planning meant knowing what would be coming in versus what would be going out.

I never thought about becoming ultra rich. I just wanted enough money to feel financially secure and not have to think about stretching every dollar. I reached my goal, but found that the most important thing money can provide is personal freedom. However, earning or having a lot of money is not liberating to everyone.
it’s all too easy for us to fall into the trap of spending too little money. Once we have worked hard or smart for many years to create income,