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.

I am currently trying to convert as much of my wife’s traditional IRA to a Roth. I consider the 12% tax bracket the sweet spot as for every dollar after that the tax nearly doubles to 22%. Earlier this year I calculated what I think is the maximum income one can have for a couple 65+, married, filing jointly with no other complicating additional income, deductions, nor credits, and using the standard deduction. Some terminology may be incorrect.

I wrote this for my blog and will use it in the future, but I thought HD was a good place to get feedback.
First we eliminate all existing retirement vehicles – 401k, 403b, IRA, Roth , etc. all terminated, no longer permitted. 
They are replaced with one standard plan whether employer-based or not. One set of limits, rules and regulations. All contributions on an after-tax basis. All earnings tax-free upon withdrawal but not before age 55 or disability.

CRITICS OF INDEX FUNDS are pursuing a new line of attack. Passive investing, they argue, is distorting market prices and creating an unhealthy bubble.
To be sure, the market today is expensive. The price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of the S&P 500 stands at about 22. That’s substantially above its long-term average of about 16. Of more concern, that metric is approaching a level not seen since the market peak in 2000, just before stocks dropped 57%.

MY WIFE AND I have around $50,000 of emergency funds (~8 months of expenses). Considering that the job market is shaky, we feel comfortable holding this much cash.
Of course, it’s important to make the most out of your savings, so I want to share some options available to earn ~4% yield on your money.
Keep in mind that you should only use the following options for emergency savings and specific saving goals (e.g.

For many years I, and probably many of you, have been reading from the gospel that people, on average, will collect the same amount of money from Social Security without regard to the age that benefits begin. 
The thing is, we have been preaching that gospel for as far back as I can remember. Actuaries calculated this decades ago, and over the years, life expectancy have increased. An exception was during COVID, still, the mortality tables have us living about 3 years longer than 30 years ago.  

I was shredding very old paperwork a few weeks ago when I came across the brochure and policy documents for the very first retirement account I opened in the mid 1980s. It made me shudder looking at it and I was glad to shred the evidence of my past financial mistake.
I think I’ve been quite fortunate in life when it comes to making bad financial decisions. If I’m honest, I think it’s been a total of two missteps in the last forty years.

My wife and I received letters in the mail today from Conduent, and underneath this name Return to Kroll.
I was suspicious so Googled it. This is what I found:
In early 2025, Conduent experienced a cyberattack where hackers accessed their systems, stealing personal data (names, SSNs, medical info) of over 10 million people, impacting users of various state agencies and health insurers like BCBS.
This is the fourth such data breach affecting me in the past few years.

When it comes to Social Security we hear:
Congress stole the trust fund and never paid it back
I paid taxes and thus paid for my own benefits 
If we didn’t pay benefits to people not eligible, there would not be a problem.
Social Security is a scam, a Ponzi scheme. 
Why doesn’t the trust earn interest?
Health insurance misinformation is even worse:
I feel like health insurance should be free, like it is in other places.

On 12/02/2025 the IRS issued Notice 2025-68 which is a notice of intent to issue regulations with respect to section 530A Trump accounts that will become active no sooner than July 4, 2026, one year after the signing of the legislation  commonly referred to as OBBBA. Thus the IRS is in the very early stages of the writing of the tax rules as this 44 page notice is not proposed regulations or final regulations but largely a question and answer format of IRS preliminary thinking and intent to propose regulations providing guidance.

Jonathan used to chastise me for saying that I thought a good goal for retirement income was to replace 100% of base pay or salary- excluding overtime and any form of bonuses. 
I was making a suggestion, opinion, not suggesting a requirement because given most people don’t reach that goal, it is obviously not required even while desirable. 
However, that’s the way Connie and I live. In fact, between my pension and our combined social security,