I’ve been in a bit of a financial funk these last three months, and I’ve finally managed to overcome my heart and listen to my head. I’m really surprised how difficult I’ve found it, especially with my business and financial background. I mean, truly difficult.
It all started when I was setting up a 10-year fixed-term annuity before retirement. I had initially decided on a purchase amount and, to fund it, liquidated some of my developed world index tracker.

A few weeks ago I wrote about relocating upon retirement and concluded it isn’t for us. 
This summer we are getting to test that conclusion. We are spending the entire summer at our place on Cape Cod, which means several months away from our routines, church, friends, golfing buddies and mostly family. I suppose if we moved here we would become accustomed to many things, but not being six hours away from family, let alone a three hour plane ride,

I have heard and seen many commercials for YRefy.
Is anyone familiar with the company or invested in it?
Our investments are all in stock index funds but we do have extra monies that I’d be willing to invest in something with a higher return than it money market accounts

We often read those poignant articles about never truly knowing when we’re experiencing something for the very last time—that final hug, or the last time we carry our child. A bit sad, I tend to skip them. But I’ve been thinking from the opposite viewpoint: those “OMG, thank goodness I don’t have to do that again!” moments.
As a recent retiree, I can easily recall a few such glorious moments. Early starts, for instance, never bothered me much at the time,

We’ve all been told that index funds are the smart investor’s secret weapon. Low fees. Broad diversification. Market-matching returns. What’s not to love? But here’s the thing: not every fund labeled as an index fund behaves like one.
In fact, sometimes an “index fund” is not truly an index fund at all. Let’s unpack what that means—and why it matters for your money.
The Original Promise of Index Funds
When Jack Bogle launched the first index fund for ordinary investors in 1976,

Looking for a Retirment Planning tool that supports modeling of different income sources, forecasts Medical Expenses and LTC costs, Expected Returns in Monte Carlo. I’ve read reviews about a few – Maxifi, Boldin, Wealthtrace.  Has anyone tried those tools or know of others?

Almost half of working-age adults are not paying into a private or workplace pension, the government revealed this week. This headline caught my attention while browsing the BBC News website the other day, and it really made me think!
This is an awful lot of people imperiling their future lives, and with the UK’s pension auto-enrollment system, now in its tenth year of operation, seeming to be pretty successful, it would suggest people are actively going out of their way to opt out of the system.

After just being hit with an almost 30% premium increase from Mutual of Omaha (MOO), I’m shopping around for a new Medicare Supplement carrier.
I actually like MOO for their generally good customer service, user friendly website, and fast claims processing. Twice in past years, I’ve been able to stay with MOO but avoid a price hike by switching to one of their sister companies, which I wrote about here.
It seems that option is no longer available,

STOCK MARKET Investing requires a near superhuman ability to withstand pain. That’s the conclusion of a recent report by investment researcher Michael Mauboussin.
Mauboussin surveyed all stocks trading on U.S. exchanges over a 40-year period, between 1985 and 2024. He found that the median stock experienced a decline of 85% at one point or another. Worse yet, more than half of these stocks never fully recouped their losses. The median stock recovered to just 90% of its prior high-water mark.

The best financial advice I know is “live on less than you earn and save the difference.” But what if there’s no daylight between what you earn and what you spend?
Many of us confront this problem because of four scary expenses: housing, healthcare, student loans and child care. Take housing alone. By my calculations, it would take a six-figure income to buy a $435,300 home, which is the median cost of a U.S. home today according to the National Association of Realtors.* The median U.S.

Yesterday evening, I decided to test out my brand-new, shiny bike. Around half an hour later, I was standing bemused, looking down the 20% gradient hill path I’d just cycled up. I was just a bit out of breath, and if you know anything about cycling and gradients, you must be thinking I’m talking rubbish. That steep slope should literally be a wall of unendurable pain, and on my normal bike, I wouldn’t even have attempted to go near it.

Most of us like to be in control. I certainly do. But what about controlling how our heirs use the money we bequeath?
That’s a question I’ve had to face. I’m hoping both of my 30-something children will use my bequest to bolster their long-term financial future, adding the money to their portfolio and perhaps using a portion to buy new homes.
Both have good financial habits, and the money they’ll receive could—if used sensibly—mean they’ll be far wealthier in their 60s than I am.

Has anyone used iShares Target Date iBond ETFs to build their bond ladder? If so, I’d love to know your experience as I start to consider my own ladder.
Here is how iShares describes this product: “iBonds exchange-traded funds (“ETFs”) are an innovative suite of bond funds that hold a diversified portfolio of bonds with similar maturity dates. Each ETF provides regular interest payments and distributes a final payout in its stated maturity year, similar to traditional bond laddering strategies.

The National Association of Realtors forecasts that by 2035, close to 70% of homeowners might have gains exceeding $250,000 and 38% of them will have more than $500,000.
Per AI
I just read an article in which it was reported that in comments to the press on Tuesday the President suggested he is considering eliminating capital gains taxes on the sale of homes.
The article reviews the rules to claim this benefit which is definitely in the near(er) future for Humble Dollar readers
If you have lived in it as your primary residence for at least 24 months (consecutively or not) in the previous five years before you sell it,

An article yesterday by David Lancaster detailing his bond fund investments going pear-shaped during the 2022/23 bond market crash got me thinking about what I have actually learned from this costly experience that took many of us by surprise.
Like David, I perceived bond funds as a “safe” or “stable” investment, assuming they behaved like individual bonds held to maturity. The recent downturn, however, exposed my lack of understanding. When rates rose rapidly, the market value of the bonds within the funds dropped.