Our oldest grandchild is off to college this September. Needless to say he is a bit anxious. I gave him some simple advice I learned many years ago in basic training. “Anticipate, be aware and plan ahead.” 
In basic training they do their best to break you down, to keep you on edge and then they build you up. The fear of what’s happening next is worse than the reality.
I remember the live fire training when they told us the machine gun was three feet above the highest point on the range.

GETTING OLD CAN, after a while, get really old. Here are 30 ways I’m reminded that I’m no longer a spring chicken.

Life insurance salespeople burst into laughter when I inquire about a policy.
My house is so warm I can cook without using the oven.
As I walk past the neighborhood funeral parlor, the undertaker’s eyes light up.
Decades ago, all my doctors were stern, serious men. Now, my primary care physician is a woman with a great sense of humor—who was born after I retired.

ONE OF THE biggest health risks seniors face recently happened to me. I tripped in a parking lot and fell. It was a pretty serious fall. I hurt my left shoulder, left wrist, right elbow and right knee. There was a lot of scraping on the asphalt and lots of blood. To add insult to injury, the left side of my head hit the right taillight of a Subaru, smashing the lens and running a nice pair of sunglasses.

A wonderful book by Nick Murray, an advisor to advisors. Most important themes are controlling ones behavior and the stock market has a permanent trend and that’s up
Well worth the money

Anticipating that I would soon be starting the decumulation phase, I recently set up a five year CD ladder, using brokerage CDs bought through Vanguard. Yesterday I ran Vanguard’s Portfolio Watch. Aside from finding that my stock percentage had gone from 50% to 54%, and my international stock percentage from 20% to 10%, I found that Vanguard counted my CDs as bonds, not as “short term reserves”. Can anyone explain that?
Also, since I need to do some rebalancing,

As John Yeigh points out in his article this morning, https://humbledollar.com/2024/07/driven-by-taxes/ taxes dive a lot (too much?) of our behavior.
What do people do for mid-year tax planning?   I’m currently doing a version of the |”spend from taxable to keep income low to qualify for ACA credits but fretting about whether I should be doing Roth conversions and/or geting out of positions in highly appreciated individual stocks that comprise too much of my portfolio” dance.   I’ve got a spreadsheet going,

EXPERTS OFTEN ARGUE that tax-avoidance strategies shouldn’t drive our financial plans, especially as Congress is forever fiddling with the tax rules. And yet many of us end up making decisions based on federal tax policy, which is loaded with incentives designed to change behavior and advance social goals.
That’s certainly true for my wife and me. Despite the tax code’s many provisions—and its 75,000 pages of complexity—four big-picture tax considerations have largely shaped how our financial lives have turned out,

Exactly who are them and they?
It seems these two folks, them and they, are responsible for most of our problems, especially financial problems, a least that’s the way some – many – people see things.
A women on Treads this morning was complaining she had to pay a Medicare premium bill – before starting Social Security – within 12 days.  According to her the Medicare system is a joke. Her plan to get even was going to the doctor just to make them have to pay for that bill.

MY FAVORITE ROCK group is the Beach Boys. I particularly like their song Wouldn’t It Be Nice. It’s about young love, and how life would be so wonderful if only they were married and lived together.
I believe that phrase “wouldn’t it be nice” has been voiced by most of us at one time or another. The notion: If things were different, all would be good.
Unfortunately, few people display the persistence needed to turn their dreams into reality.

Years ago I bought some Gold Eagles. Now with gold trading at near historic highs, I figure it may be a good time to sell. If you have sold your gold, I’d be very interested to hear your thoughts on the process, especially in regards to maximizing the sales price.

Note: I’m still cleaning out my old ‘never submitted’ article file. Here’s #4. And yes, my OCD compels me to keep track of the numbers.  
FRUGALITY IS WORN like a badge of honor among many of us in the HumbleDollar tribe. I am happy to include myself in that club. Even if we no longer have a pressing need to be so frugal, we get a kick out of it. I’ve written several articles on the theme.

This past week, Costco announced that it would raise its base membership fee from $60 to $65 effective September 1. Executive members will see their fees increase from $120 to $130. Prior to this announcement, fees had not changed since 2017.
In order to justify the cost of the membership, members need to extract value from Costco in excess of the fee they pay. What are your tips for making the most of your membership? Or what do you avoid that’s better to purchase somewhere else?

A NEW TYPE OF MUTUAL fund has captured investors’ attention. Known as buffer funds, they’re so appealing that one industry analyst has referred to them as “candy.” Why? As The Wall Street Journal describes them, buffer funds offer investors “the chance to chase stock returns while also protecting against a potential market slide”—a seemingly ideal combination, especially for those in or near retirement.
But funds like this are complicated—they rely on options strategies.

Like many of you I have read Jonathan writings  from WSJ to Humble Dollar . I have been content to just enjoy reading without comment. After Jonathan health news and his  hopes Humble Dollar will continue I decided to get off the sidelines and have started to add my 2 cents worth (which is only worth about half a cent these days) on some of the posts. This is my first post. What first got you interested in investing?

Yesterday I read a recent blog post on a retirement planning site. The headline read “ Can You Live Happily in Retirement With Just 66% of Your Work Income? (Yes! Most Do)“
As you can image, that caught my eye. I went to the source of the survey at T Rowe Price. Here is what the survey said in part. 
“Living on less: Nearly three years into retirement, retirees report living on 66% of their pre-retirement income on average.