Another day, another article about a scam perpetrated by fraudsters. This one from the New York Times that starts with a retired lawyer having problems with his iPad and connecting to Microsoft outlook and wanting to get technical assistance. He googled Microsoft’s number and wouldn’t you know it, the number google provided was that of a scammer. To read the rest of the story go to:
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/business/tech-support-scam-bank-fraud.html?unlocked_article_code=1.8E8.0Dgr.Bku6U1c1S2Yo&smid=url-share
 

During his final months, my husband Jonathan worked tirelessly to complete his last book, Money and Me.  The book is now available for pre-order and will be released in May 2026.
What’s so special about this book?  This book features Jonathan’s best and most personal HumbleDollar articles.  The articles are curated in such a way to teach everyone about personal finance through Jonathan’s own money journey.  And sadly, his terminal cancer diagnosis is part of this journey about which he candidly writes.

Is there such a thing as a perfect “normal” day? I don’t mean vacations and special occasions, just a normal day. I’m not sure if there is: but I can easily describe my days that come closest.
For me, any Wednesday is an ideal candidate. That’s when automatic payments from two separate annuities drop into my checking account—easily covering all my essential spending. Getting to this point took decades of consistent saving, long hours and some luck,

Occasionally I meet a customer who has a sophisticated technical requirement. Recently it was a visiting corporate IT specialist who pinpointed a laptop he liked because the solid state drive could be expanded. Before completing the purchase, I suggested he look at another high performing computer on display in which both the memory and solid state drive could be upgraded. After some deliberation and research, my recommendation made sense to him. 

There are instances when someone may need a computer that can be performance enhanced based on potential future needs.

We always told our four children they could attend college anywhere they were accepted. My pathetic college experience drove me to want much better for our children. Was it a prudent money decision, probably not. These days I am skeptical that college is even a good value. 
At the time our ten years of college spending started, there was no plan, no dedicated funds, no large pool of any assets, except our house. It was an interesting ten years with monthly college payment books for two or three at a time. 

Creating a will or trust is an important part of financial planning. Consider how the asset allocation of your retirement investments might change with age, perhaps being aggressive when you’re young and becoming more conservative as you get older. When you create your will as a young person with a growing family, your concerns are different from when you are older and evaluating your ability to retire.
For example, my first wife and I created wills that provided for each other if one of us died early,

A few weeks ago we had another strong winter storm. We lost a large, mature tree and being the frugal person I am, I saw the opportunity to convert it into a few years of logs for our wood burning stoves. Unfortunately my cheap electric chainsaw gave up the ghost during operations.
Yesterday I purchased myself a gas powered chainsaw from the online website of a large DIY business. While navigating through the purchase and hitting the click and collect button,

We recently watched a Netflix series, The Beast In Me. A looked down upon family member, was asked why he didn’t want in on the greedy wealth that his brother and nephew had. His answer, “I’ve got something that they don’t; enough”.
I think that sentiment holds a lot of wisdom for many of us as well.

Today, 12/09/2025, the IRS issued Notice 2026-5 titled “Expanded Availability of Health Savings Accounts under the One, Big, Beautiful)Bill Act (OBBBA)“. This notice should not be confused with the proposed bill that Bogdan wrote about in an earlier Humble Dollar article on 11/27/2025.
The 2026-5 notice provides guidance on changes relating to health savings accounts (HSAs) that were enacted and these changes generally expand the availability of HSAs .
Key points of the notice-
Made permanent a safe harbor for the absence of a deductible for telehealth and other remote care services in existing law.

Hi all. Just wanted to share a quick update on my contact information, as we’ve created a dedicated email for me:
bogdan@humbledollar.com
Any email sent to this inbox will be automatically forwarded to my personal email, so I’ll see it without any delays. Feel free to send me anything you have, especially:

Any disruptive or offensive behavior that needs immediate attention
Any suggestions (e.g. how HumbleDollar can be a better site for our community)
Your articles you’d like to get featured
Any general feedback or ideas for improvement

Thank you for all your contributions,

I heard on the news this morning about the record sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. The commentator then noted the sales were driven by the wealthy who saw their wealth grow as the result of the stock market and rising home prices.
I doubt the validity of those observations, but they make attractive news by reinforcing stereotypes.
First, it was not mostly the wealthy shopping, it was average Americans many of whom were willing to go into debt to “save money” on sales.

I used to think DRIP was something only plumbers worried about. Then I started investing.
Dividend ReInvestment Plans — DRIPs — are a favorite tool among long-term investors. “Always reinvest your dividends,” the logic goes. “Compounding is king.”
For a long time, I agreed completely — and I still do for people who are in the wealth-building stage of life.
But at some point, I stopped using DRIP entirely. Today, every dividend my portfolio generates goes into cash instead of back into the market.

Relative to my recent computer column, occasionally I will bundle a computer and printer for a customer.
 
There are two types of printers-Laser and Ink.
 
A laser unit utilizes toner instead of ink. They are generally larger in size and can generate several thousand prints before needing to replace a cartridge. A monochrome laser prints only black and white; a color laser contains black plus cyan, magenta and yellow cartridges. For someone doing high-volume printing, a laser makes sense.

I’ve been thinking about a retirement scenario lately, a thought experiment that says something about how I spend my morning drinking coffee in the sunroom…it probably suggests I should go for a run rather than thinking.
Picture this: You’re facing a savage 25% market drawdown that grinds on for a full decade. You’ve been sensible, maintained a proper cash and bond cushion to weather the inevitable storms, but after five years drinking latte’s and ignoring the situation,

Have any of you had to do guardianship for a relative with dementia?  I would be interested to hear anything you think we would need to know if this might become necessary for Spouse’s mom. Thanks, friends. Chris.