My Thanksgiving Wishes
May you share your table with the ones you love most.
May your hearts be as overflowing as your plates.
May warm conversation and laughter ring through your home.
May you hold space for the ones you’re missing and find solace in memories.
May you savor the perfect dessert.
May you feel peaceful, restful, and most of all … Grateful.

A new bill was introduced on 11/20 in Congress to amend some HSA rules. It still has to go through the Ways and Means, House and Senate.
I doubt it will get through this year, but it’s good to be aware of potential changes.
If enacted, all the changes would go effective after December 31, 2025, but it’s very unlikely.
In particular, there are 2 main proposals:
> Income limits
> 2 Year rule
Currently, there is no income limitation to contribute to an HSA.

And now… the rest of the story.
Good day. It is a very good day.
It was November, 1621. Ninety Wampanoag warriors and their chief, Massasoit, sat down with fifty-one Pilgrims for a three-day feast of deer, wild turkey, and corn the Indians had taught them to grow.
The history books call it “The First Thanksgiving.”
And it was… glorious.
Laughter, gun salutes, archery contests, and tables groaning with food.
What the paintings don’t show is that half the Pilgrims who had arrived the year before were already dead.

My retirement has been wonderful so far. Honestly, sometimes I have to stop and remind myself how lucky I am. Rachel and I have our health and enjoy each other’s company, which is not always true when a couple retires. However, there are four things that concern me as I reach my mid-70s.
Feeling lonely. I tried calling Mark, my old high school friend, a couple of weeks ago, and I haven’t heard from him. I tried again and got a message that his mailbox was full.

I’m very confused. I think this article is a good fit for HD, but I’m really not sure if anything I write is suitable anymore. Hopefully, I’m not offending anyone posting this piece to the forum.
 
I bumped into a guy I played with as a kid. He’s six foot six and built like a linebacker, but he looks old and worn out now—forty years in a hot tarmac crew hasn’t been kind. He asked me what I was doing these days.

Recently Connie and I got together with friends, two other couples who live in our 55+ community.
We are all among the most fortunate retirees. It costs a minimum of $26,000 a year just in taxes and HOA fees to live where we do. 
One of us has a pension, one fellow ran his own businesses, went bankrupt once, but started another business many years ago sold it last year. The other man worked for a large company but saved diligently to enable them to move into our community. 

Today, 11/24/2025, I logged into mysocialsecurity.gov account. On the Benefit Verification Letter tab I found my December 2025 benefit amount that will be paid in January 2026. There was currently no indication of my 2026 SS benefit on the main SSA splash page. The gross amount for 2026 was equal to my 2025 gross amount plus the announced 2.8%  COLA as rounded down to the whole dollar. My 2026 Medicare Part B premium deduction was the standard $202.90 per month as previously publicly announced.

Like everyone, I’m frequently asked at the checkout of drugstores and retail outlets if I have a credit card linked to the store and, if not, why don’t I quickly apply then and there to get a discount or cash bonus when my application is approved?  I was recently tempted by $50 offered at the local chain drugstore, but then I thought about the time and energy to unfreeze my credit score and declined the $50 offer (but I continued to think about it for a short while 😊).

Driving home from the airport yesterday morning after dropping off a friend, an amusing thought crossed my mind: what if I actually calculated my billable hours for the past week? Since retiring, I’ve noticed that friends and family have come to see me as their go-to problem solver whenever something needs doing. The assumption seems to be that old Mark just sits around doing nothing while everyone else is busy being productive.
Let me walk you through my week.

A more realistic title would be “when”, not “if”. It doesn’t take much, especially if you’re over 65: a broken bone, a joint replacement, failing eyesight, a stroke or heart attack, dementia. If you have a partner, and rely on the partner for transport, the same problems apply.
My mother, born in 1906, spent over 90 years living in England without ever learning to drive. There are a few cities in the US where that’s possible – New York,

We know the equity in a home can be important and is part of net worth. It can be used to purchase with cash when downsizing. It can be sold and the cash used for living expenses – tax-free income up to a point. It can be used as income via a reverse mortgage. It seems a growing number of seniors are using home equity to pay an entrance fee to a CCRC. Or it may be part of inheritance.

Now we’ve all had a little reminder over the last few weeks of what it feels like when Mr Market smacks us in the face with a loss, I think it’s an excellent time for everyone to assess how they truly feel about their losses. Are you indifferent? Maybe it’s made you slightly stressed, a bit edgy about the future? Or are you constantly checking your account and wishing you had done something before the losses piled up?

Dear HumbleDollar Community,
Last week there was a forum post penned by Dick Quinn on shopping carts.  This post was an inappropriate and unkind rant/lament that had no place on HumbleDollar.  We can all agree that this post should have been better moderated and that the comment thread which turned acrimonious should have been stopped. 
Going forward, I kindly ask commentors take a mindful pause before commenting to prevent further igniting an already incendiary post.  And I kindly ask those who pen forum posts to think carefully about the personal finance lessons or observations they are sharing. 

Recently, we needed a new dishwasher.
The appliance company crew went about removing the old unit, making adjustments in order to install the new unit, then installing the new unit.  They provided a quick explanation of the controls.
After the crew left, I realized there was only a single basket for the knives, forks, spoons, etc.
Realization:  I should have pulled out the multiple baskets in the old unit!  Those baskets  might have saved the need to find and buy some after market baskets.

FOR DECADES, RESEARCHERS have been looking at the link between money and happiness. The findings? In short, it’s a mixed bag.
To be sure, there are ways that money can boost happiness, and below are some ideas to consider. But there are also obstacles to contend with. We’ll look first at the obstacles before turning to the recommendations. 
The most significant challenge is the fact that—to a great extent—our happiness level is hard-wired into us.