I GRADUATED FROM the University of Central Florida in 2001 with a degree in information management systems. Thanks to academic scholarships, working part-time and family support, I graduated debt-free and, indeed, had some $15,000 in savings. Amid the economic turmoil of the dot-com bust and subsequent recession, I was fortunate to land a fulltime job at Fiserv, a banking software company.
That’s where I met my wife. We were engaged six months later and married in 2002.

LIKE MANY WHO THINK about where they’d like to retire, we’ve always had a vague list of wants: comfortable climate, walkability, good health care, access to cultural events and outdoor activities, friendly tax regime, reasonable cost of living, that sort of thing.
I wrote previously about feeling stuck for many years in a place where we didn’t want to stay, but also not really having one place where we felt drawn to settle, whether for a few years or permanently.

I’D JUST ARRIVED IN the charming, car-free village of Murren in the Swiss Alps, and was trying to find my B&B on the helpful signpost near the station. Stepping back for a better view, I tripped over the curb, with my backpack pulling me further off-balance. I went down with my left wrist under my hip.

Two wonderful British couples rushed to my assistance. One pair took my backpack to my B&B and the other escorted me back down the mountain to a doctor’s office.

SEVERAL MONTHS AGO, I received a phone call that left me shaken and bewildered. The voice on the other end claimed to be from the Social Security Administration. The caller informed me that my Social Security number had been compromised in a significant security breach. My heart raced as I contemplated the potential consequences, even as the urgency in the caller’s voice gave me little time to think.
The caller asked for my personal information,

MY MOTHER WAS AN elementary school teacher, with a large break in her work history to raise three daughters. My father spent three years in the Navy before enjoying a successful career as a business executive in sales. Because of my father’s job, we moved a lot when I was growing up. My parents bought and sold eight homes during their working years.
They eventually settled in Connecticut and retired in their early 60s.

MY WIFE CALLS HER 99-year-old mother every morning. One morning, her mother asked, “Are you making big things happen?” After Rachel reminds her mother that she’s retired, her mother asked, “How do you make money?”
Although I chuckled when I heard the conversation, those two questions are probably on most folks’ minds as they prepare for retirement. First, how are they going to generate enough income to fund their retirement? Second, how are they going to stay busy doing meaningful activities?

DON’T LOOK NOW, but value is beating growth—just not here in the U.S.

From May 31 through Sept. 29, iShares MSCI EAFE Value ETF (symbol: EFV), which invests in developed foreign markets, is up 5.6%, while iShares MSCI EAFE Growth ETF (EFG) is down 6.5%. That brings the year-to-date performance of the two funds to 9.6% for the iShares value fund and 4% for the iShares growth fund. Meanwhile, the style-neutral iShares MSCI EAFE ETF (EFA) is up 6.9% in 2023.

IT WAS JULY 2003. My wife and I were in our early 50s. We had jobs we liked and we lived comfortably. Our two children were about to go to college, and we had a plan for covering the cost. We had renewed our marriage vows on our 25th anniversary. We had no debt.
But I began thinking.
What would our financial situation be if we retired and our only income was Social Security? That was entirely possible.

AS THE SAYING GOES, a picture is worth a thousand words. Over the years, I’ve found certain images and illustrations to be immensely helpful in discussing investment concepts. These are the ones I’ve relied on the most:
Only in Australia. A key challenge for investors—if not the key challenge—is that none of us has a crystal ball. It’s impossible to know what markets will do next month or next year.

ACCORDING TO THE consensus of HumbleDollar’s thoughtful and learned readers and contributors, I’m making a mistake by actively managing my investments instead of passively investing in index funds. In an earlier piece, I touched briefly on my reasons for doing so. It’s simple. I do it because I like to do it.
After the past few months, when my investments have definitely lagged the averages, I’ve decided to revisit my decision. What I write here is in no way intended to influence anyone else’s decision.

AS WE GET OLDER, the financial hits often grow far larger, for two reasons. First, we’re typically wealthier, which means the potential dollar losses are bigger. Second, as we age, there’s greater risk of hefty health-care costs, notably long-term-care expenses.
Almost everybody endures at least a few big financial hits during their lifetime. Perhaps you lose your job, and it then takes many months to find work. Maybe your parents need nursing-home care and you end up footing part of the tab.

MY WIFE AND I ARE super-savers. For us, that means we save as much as permitted each year in the retirement plans available to us. Once we’ve done that, we invest in our regular taxable accounts, where there’s no limit on the amount we can contribute.
We’re under age 50. That meant that, in 2022, the maximum contribution was $6,000 each to our IRAs and $20,500 each to our 401(k)s. Because the contribution limits increase with inflation,

TWO YEARS AGO, at age 59½, I thought I was on the verge of taking a major step toward retirement. At the time, my usual zest for my work as a physical therapist was waning. Though I don’t think the quality of my patient care suffered, I found it took more effort to maintain the energy needed to complete a day at the clinic, and concentrating on work became tougher.
In addition to the tension building on the inside,

HOW’S YOUR FRIENDSHIP account balance looking? I spent my life watching my bank account, and taking great pleasure as it grew and grew. I never cared much for what I could buy with the money, but I loved the feeling of security it offered.
Friendships, meanwhile, took a back seat. That was pretty much normal for my family, and maybe it’s more normal for most folks than we like to admit. We have a tight little circle that includes family,

IF YOU’RE IN THE market for a home and a mortgage, this is a tough time, with shrinking inventory, lofty home prices and interest rates that feel overwhelming. I know all about this—because I’m a mortgage broker.
For many, today’s housing and mortgage market mean putting their homebuying dreams on hold. What if you go ahead, despite 30-year fixed-rate mortgages above 7%? I advocate controlling what you can. One of the variables that you can influence—and which can help save a tremendous amount of money—is your credit score.