So probably all of you with big wallets have discovered this years ago, but I just tripped over the NIIT for the very first time.  Like all good engineers with an interest in personal finance, I have spreadsheets of my spreadsheets.  I have been working the last few years to do some ‘bracket bumping’ with my Roth conversions and I thought this year I had it totally dialed in.  Like down to the dollar.  I put all of my numbers into freetaxusa.com and zipped right along…

Most personal finance advice is beautifully simple: save more.
Early in life, that advice is almost always right. But like most good rules, it has limits.
There comes a point in a saver’s life when retirement growth is driven far more by compounding than by new contributions. Past that point, continuing to save aggressively still increases your balance—but it may no longer be the best use of every additional dollar.
Recognizing when that shift has occurred can create flexibility without recklessly undermining your future.

Sharing an article from the NYT on 2025 Tax Changes.  A good overview, a few items have a bit more nuisance that the headline, e.g. “No Tax on Tips.”  Feels like the SALT changes will be the biggest opportunity for most filers.  I’m hopeful the charitable donations for those who don’t itemize ($1k single and $2k joint filers) will be helpful for the nonprofit world.
https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/06/business/2025-taxes-return-refund-income.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K1A.iHXT.kv9jMyWndiZh&smid=url-share
Happy Tax Filing!
 

Just a reminder, all those little charitable contributions that we make in 2026, outside of Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCD), are deductible as an above the line tax deduction. The maximum deduction is $1000 single, $2000 married filing joint, and you need to save your receipts. 
Just to be clear, this isn’t for our 2025 tax returns. This is for tax year 2026.

Home affordability has been the talk of the town for a while and it inspired me to get a feel for the forest in a domain largely cluttered with political opinion instead of scientific method. My objective was to distill the relevant data as much as possible, but no more than that.
The first thing that came to mind was inflation-adjusted home prices. Robert Shiller’s CPI adjusted methods are my favorite and offer the largest view of the forest.

Hi HD community.  I am a longtime reader and first time writer so please be kind with your feedback.  The topic on my mind today is helping my adult children financially.  I have read previous articles on the topic, but do not recall any addressing this specific angle.  I am interested to hear your thoughts on helping adult children who, by virtue of their financial discipline and decision-making, are in very different financial situations.  Simply put,

Humble Dollar is a hangout for a lot of people who’ve managed to navigate their way to a comfortable retirement. I’m sure we have younger readers who come to the site for financial education. I thought a short article illustrating the importance of the emergency fund concept would be of interest to that demographic.
For many people trying to build their financial foundation, a basic tenet is establishing an emergency fund. In the hustle and bustle of everyday life,

Having a choice is a wonderful thing. Something that I suspect many of us take for granted. Which vocation to pursue. Which meal to order at a restaurant. Which car to buy. To even have the luxury of a choice means we are in a very fortunate position, relative to so many in the world.
And with every choice, we actually make two decisions – what we accept, and what we reject. I was pondering this whilst reading an old article by Mr.

With online savings accounts still paying pretty good interest rates and with Fidelity’s money market SPAXX paying good rates as well, why bother with bonds?

I WAS THINKING ABOUT Jonathan the other day on my morning walk, which happens more often than you might think. It’s hard not to think about him when you have HumbleDollar coasters in your living room and a HumbleDollar shopping bag in your car that you use for groceries. My wife confiscated the HumbleDollar cup I had been using for my morning tea, and it now has a new home in our bathroom holding her toothbrush and toothpaste.

WHAT’S THE BEST way to manage your investments?
A new book titled Your Perfect Portfolio helps answer this question. I spoke this week with the author, Cullen Roche.
Adam Grossman: The title is Your Perfect Portfolio with an emphasis on your. 
Cullen Roche: I was very intentional about saying “your perfect portfolio” because everyone’s different, everyone’s unique. So I wrote this book with the intent of studying lots of different strategies and styles.

I used to think that if people just knew the basics of personal finance, they would take action to better their lives.  Over the years, I’ve changed my stance.  I can now see that only people who come naturally to taking an interest will ever even seek the information.  This tracks with the ancient saying, “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear?”
Why is that so true?  In a way it’s a slight of hand. 

Last summer, I wrote about a frustrating dynamic in our household: I manage my portfolio with low-cost index funds, while my wife Suzie pays nearly 2% annually to a wealth manager. Several comments asked for an update on my campaign to win her over to a lower-cost approach that would benefit our combined future wealth.
My initial efforts got Suzie to open a Vanguard account, which we funded with cash in a money market fund. This let her get comfortable with the platform.

My wife was laid off the other day. After thirty years at one company. For the first time in her working life, forty years, she was told her services were no longer needed.
Even though we’re financially fine, and now that she may join me in retirement, I’m unsettled. I think it’s because we have both crossed the retirement line. We’re no longer actively working to make money. We’re now 100% earning money passively. We’re relying on all the acorns that we’ve saved,

A sensible recommendation is to invest 20% to 50% in foreign markets. That seems reasonable on the surface. But, which of the 3 sources of funds is best to invest in foreign markets? Broadly speaking, there are 3 big sources of funds: Tax-Free (Roth), Qualified (401k, IRA), or taxable brokerages.
My preliminary conclusion: Investing Tax-free and qualified funds in foreign markets would incur double-taxation. Taxable brokerage funds seem best.
USA has tax-treaty agreements with about 70 countries that avoid double-taxation.