The thought came into my mind the other morning when drinking coffee in the sunroom. Over the years have you ever prevaricated or had doubts about spending money on specific things, then with the gift of hindsight realised it was a great use of your hard earned cash?
The sunroom in question very nearly didn’t happen. My wife Suzie and I had closed on an old two bedroom house. We could see past the surface state and knew the plot had massive potential for refurbishment and expansion into a great home.

I’m a bit of a history buff (nerd), and lately I’ve been reading “The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History,” a very good read if you have any interest in ancient Rome. I came across an interesting fact I was unaware of.
We have a lot to thank the 19th-century German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck for. He created the first state pension in 1889. But you might be surprised to learn that nearly two thousand years earlier,

I’m an optimist. And proudly so. Perhaps too optimistic, but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.
Having this mindset and reflecting on how I engage with money, and the world more broadly, got me thinking of two things.
Firstly, it takes a lot of work to remain an optimist in the modern media landscape. The default position of financial media is that bad news is either here or right around the corner. If the market is down,

Jonathan’s memorial service will be held at Saint Peter’s Episcopal Church, Philadelphia on Saturday November 8th beginning at 11am EST.   The event will be live streamed using Facebook.  Here is the link to the event:
https://facebook.com/events/s/jonathan-clements-memorial-ser/1159281123061275/?
My thanks to all for your condolences and best wishes. Jonathan’s reach was far and wide.  Nick.

Editor’s note: Jonathan Clements (1963–2025), HumbleDollar’s founder and a former Wall Street Journal personal-finance columnist, died on Sept. 21, 2025. This piece honors his plain-English approach to money and giving.
Jonathan Clements taught us that money is a means to a life that’s human, hopeful, and helpful. One of the best ways to live it out is to give with intention and make an impact. In that spirit—and in this season of thanks—here are 10 ways to support the charitable causes you love without writing a check.

Here in the UK, there’s an ongoing, large-scale auto loan scandal involving discretionary commission arrangements—where car dealers secretly earned higher commissions by steering customers into more expensive loans. A recent court ruling has ordered loan providers to potentially compensate millions of people who took out car finance over the last 18 years. The news has barely hit the headlines, but the vultures are already circling.
So far, I’ve had unsolicited emails from three different claims handling businesses.

Why oh why is it so hard for people to put shopping carts where they belong after use or at least not put them where they don’t belong?
Three times in the last week I have pulled into a handicap parking space only to see a cart left right in the middle of the space – a handicap space‼️   Of course, in addition, numerous carts are left in regular spaces, alongside cars and in some cases at the end of a parking lot nowhere near the store they came from. 

Jerry’s post reminded me of something I’ve been wondering about. We both hit 65 this year and started Medicare. We pay a hefty IRMAA up charge because it’s based on our 2023 income, when we were both working.
I retired in July. Though I’m drawing pension income, my gross income has obviously dropped. However, between my pensions, my husband’s pension, and his current salary, I’m guessing that filing for a change in status reconsideration wouldn’t adjust the big picture.

My sister called and asked if she should get a financial advisor.
Her question made me pause, because I’ve wondered the same thing myself.

How “right” do you have to be when you invest?
How much better does an advisor need to be to make up for their fee?
Is it more important to pick the right investments or to be tax-efficient?
And if I’ve managed to stay the course through market storms, do I even need an advisor at all?

My wife passed away in June. Our 2024 MFJ tax return was in the first IRMAA premium tier. The 2024 tax return will be the basis for my SS Part B fee including the IRMAA premium. My wife’s only income was SS and my projected 2026 MAGI will be reduced because of this. However, the main reason we were in the IRMAA Premium tier was that I did a $106k Roth conversion from my TIRA. How will this be dealt with now that I will be a single tax payer in 2026?

Three fat peas with a few fine slices of beetroot and two strategically placed dabs of flavoured foam. “Interesting” was my one-word comment. I’m a reluctant guest at a high-end Michelin-starred restaurant. By the fifth course I’m wishing for some real food—I think my metabolism is burning through the calories quicker than I’m consuming them. The restaurant is called OX and I’d happily wrap my chops around an ox steak if one happened to wander past.

We hear a lot these days about the minimum wage, that it is not a living wage and hasn’t been increased since 2009. Both are true. But there is more to it than that. 
I am not trying to make a case for or against raising the minimum wage. However, there are consequences that proponents seem to ignore or gloss over.
I do think the answer to long-term financial security is not found in raising the minimum wage rate,

I braved the cold and windy weather last night for a walk, heading back to my vacation home. I was magically drawn into the local hotel by the thought of a crackling turf fire and a nice pint of Guinness to warm my wind-chilled bones. It was an excellent choice. I got to listen in on a conversation a group of twenty-somethings were having at the cubby beside mine.
I enjoy eavesdropping but normally don’t get the chance.

I’m not a doom monger, in fact, I’m pretty much a techno-optimist. That said, it seems to me the internet isn’t as stable as it used to be. I keep hearing reports of data centers going down and chunks of the web having issues, which knocks out various consumer-facing applications. Some outages are trivial, social media going dark for a few hours, but others are more serious, like payment system failures.
In my day-to-day life, I simply don’t use cash.

Here is a link to a Substack article by Mark Miller a leading expert on Medicare, and my go to source. He writes an excellent synopsis of changes this year:
https://open.substack.com/pub/retirementrevised/p/your-guide-to-medicare-fall-enrollment?r=17lsan&utm_medium=ios