I was reminded recently of how far stock trading has come when I inherited a small stack of old stock certificates from my great-uncle Billy. They were dated between 1927 and 1931, right through the turbulent years of the Great Depression. One was for a railroad, issued by Citibank itself. And yes—I checked—they’re now completely worthless. But holding those fragile pieces of paper in my hands brought history to life. Back then, making a trade was slow,

I don’t have much choice as a baby boomer. My generation has been predicted to usher in the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in the next decade. In the meantime, we carry the honor and burden of taking care of our frail, elderly parents. People call us “the sandwich generation” – and I’d like to think we’ve made the best sandwich ever.
My parents came from a deeply patriarchal culture in which the parents dictated nearly every aspect of their children’s lives –

I heard Christine Benz talk about this initiative (details at https://boglecenter.net/gettinggoing/) in which young adults (particularly from low income backgrounds) are given $1000 for a Roth IRA.
I started to donate, and then the ‘mind chatter’ started- is this the best way to help? how will they track whether this approach actually helps young people to become better savers and investors?, etc. ( I’m sure I’m not the only person here with many voices in our heads chiming in on financial decisions.) I donated to the Initiative and hope it will prove useful and life-changing in many ways.

I say it does, but that does not stop it from being attacked. The words Ponzi Scheme are being thrown about. The fact it is underfunded is being used as a argument that it doesn’t work. Some in government are calling for it to be replaced with private accounts.  I read one official say there is plenty of money to pay all the benefits to those now collecting, but we can’t continue. Well, that’s not true on either point.

I have invested in the Fidelity Floating Rate High Income Fund (FFRHX) for many years. Morningstar classifies it as a bank loan fund. The expense ratio is 0.73% and it is yielding 7.78%. It loans money to BB and B rated companies and adjusts the interest charges every few months so duration is minimal. Is there any significant difference between a fund like this and private credit?

I was in a large discount retailer yesterday with my grandson, picking up some school supplies for his return to school after the summer break. Bearing in mind it’s late August, around 20% of the store was roped off while staff were busy unboxing and displaying Christmas merchandise. Unbelievable!
I overheard a few people asking staff when the display would be open for business, and you could sense a general excitement within the store about this new buying opportunity.

I recently read that something in the secure 2.0 act allows taxes paid on annuity
income from a qualified, annuitized annuity will count toward a rmd from
a separate ira account. Is this accurate?

Suzie and I recently spent a few days in London, while there we grabbed the opportunity to visit a few great museums. We thoroughly enjoyed hours wandering the halls and displays of the Natural History Museum and the equally impressive Science Museum. Though I suspect it should have been obvious, I’ve only just discovered that both these world class institutions are funded by public tax receipts. In my mind, that’s a wonderful illustration of the tangible benefits of paying income tax.

I realize I am on the outside looking in, out of sync, ignoring “expert” advice and rehashing the subject, but I can’t help it. I need help here.
I simply cannot understand why anyone living off their investments would use those investments to live on in favor of delaying social security until age 70. 
It seems to me that unless there is a gigantic pool of money they’ll never need, they are taking an unnecessary risk using more of their investments sooner rather than later.

When we ask a question of ChatGPT or Gemini or any other AI LLMs we may wonder about the source of the information contained in the answers.  I recently read an article about this.  LLMs rely on user-generated content and as we know, not all of these web based sources are accurate and so, neither will the answers be.
“According to an analysis by Semrush, LLMs like ChatGPT reference Reddit and Wikipedia the most for facts.  

I went on a little shopping spree last week for some new tunes, ordering some records from a reputable online music store. Like a little kid who just ordered PlayStation 5 from Amazon, I’ve been anxiously tracking my order on the fine United States Post Office website.
I cannot make the following story up. 
On 8/11 I placed my order.
On 8/12 the retailer delivered my records to the USPS origin facility in Louisville KY. 
So far so good.

Suzie and I are visiting family and enjoying the Victorian grandeur of the coastal towns of southern England, in particular near Brighton where my brother-in-law recently purchased his first home. He’s been expressing nervousness about the new experience of having a mortgage. While chatting during the evening I’ve tried to soothe his mind with a version of this, I admit, slightly left-field argument. It seemed to help him and I thought I’d share my thoughts.
When my wife Suzie retired in June last year,

I thought it would be fun to use AI to help me understand why many of us seem to believe that the best place to fulfill our desire to live “independently” is by aging-in-place in our homes.
To see the questions and answers, click on either link below. They are both the same. The words in purple are the prompts or questions.
Scroll to read the AI response. Sign up for POE only if you want to ask questions directly.

Readers’ responses to an earlier post on volunteering to teach a module on investing in index funds and ETFs to high school students electing to take a new personal finance course were very helpful (and brutally honest!), Consistent with those suggestions, the “text” will be Bogle’s deceptively simple, The Little Book of Common Sense Investing. Evans and Malkiel’s The Index Fund Solution: A Step-By-Step Investor’s Guide is the workbook. What follows will probably be the first overnight reading assignment aimed at defusing some of the reservations teenagers night have about investing in the market.

On occasion I have claimed to be frugal. But after a bit of research, I’m not sure that is always true. For sure we have avoided debt except a mortgage. Our last car loan was thirty years ago and we never had credit card debt, but beyond that my claim of frugality slips a bit. I think we may just be prudent.
When I read a comment about being frugal as part of living in retirement,