It was not a wise thing to do—and it’s not an example I’d want my kids or grandkids to follow. But I’ll tell you a tale anyway. It’s a story of loss and comeback, of fear… and, truthfully, more fear. I guess confession is good for the soul.
Quite a few years ago, I noticed something simple: the price of gasoline was falling. From that observation, I made a leap. I began buying oil companies and energy ETFs.

The up/down vote system on HD seems to generate a surprising amount of heat for something that’s essentially just two triangles. But I’m less interested in the usual back-and-forth from the vocal few, wouldn’t it be cool to know what the silent majority actually thinks?
So here’s a little experiment in wonderful irony: use the arrows to vote about the arrows. No comment needed, no essay required.
⬆️ if you’re pro-arrows. ⬇️ if you’d happily see the back of them.

While many retirees know that waiting until age 70 can maximize their own retirement check, applying that same logic to Spousal Benefits is a costly mistake. If you are eligible for a spousal claim, waiting too long could mean losing three years of benefits for no gain.

Why Age 70 doesn’t work                                                                                                              A worker’s personal retirement benefit increases by roughly 8% per year for every year they delay filing past their Full Retirement Age (FRA)> However spousal benefits stop increasing once you hit your own FRA.

As best as I can tell, I’ve transitioned into the early stage of my life’s fourth quarter. Certainly, I could be at the tail end of my third quarter and, not to be presumptuous, there’s a chance that I’m closer to the end of the fourth quarter without realizing it.
At this stage, there’s no new financial wisdom for me to share with HumbleDollar readers. The Forum and Article archives are filled with much better advice than I could give.

Prices are not coming down, inflation is rising, mortgage rates are rising, the stock market is near bear territory.
Given all the planning and various strategies that have been discussed on HD, do those retired have any concerns about weathering this storm?
How about those within a few years of retirement? Anything happening that may change your plans.

I noticed in the financial section of my local paper another story about a private credit fund restricting withdrawals. This time it’s an outfit called Apollo Global Management. Apparently investors tried to redeem around 12% of the fund’s capital base within a short period of time, and the fund responded by doubling down on its 5% quarterly cap. The result? Investors can’t access their own money.
This is the third story along the same lines I’ve read about recently,

I have written that for the past few years I have been diligently performing Roth conversions spreading my conversions out on a monthly basis to sort of dollar cost average. In my reading I have learned that when the markets are down it is advantageous to do conversions as when the price goes down you can convert more shares per dollar. With the recent downturns I have been taking advantage of this phenomenon. However I think I may have found an error in my thinking.

I find it sad that several  of the women who were long time writers and commentators on HD have not been heard from recently.
I miss their commentary and challenging points of view. Just because you don’t agree or don’t like questions is no reason to leave us. I hope.
We need to be taken to task sometimes. To be challenged.
So, if you are still reading HD, come back to us and comment. If you read HD,

One of the big mistakes retirees make with healthcare coverage is focusing on premiums. The real risk is out of pocket costs, especially if catastrophic medical events happen. 
For example, Medicare Advantage may look great with low, even no premiums and perhaps extra benefits like dental. But MA typically has out of pocket costs, up to $9,250 (sometimes less) per year. That expense can occur year after year.
MA plans generally use deductibles and copays of some type while the lower OOP costs may also mean limited choice of health care providers.

My recent Friday Thoughts article on Linkedin.
The past few weeks have deepened an anxiety that already weighs heavily on so many of us. War. Rising prices. Relentless layoffs. Job applications met with silence.
In my post-retirement life of volunteering and coaching, here is what I am seeing and hearing every day:

Low-income families struggling to pay rent, put food on the table, and simply feel safe.
Middle-income families — employed, but gripped by fear about their jobs,

HAVE YOU GIVEN any thought to what’s about to happen to your S&P 500 tracker?
Three enormous IPOs are expected later this year: SpaceX, OpenAI, and Anthropic. Based on their most recent private transactions, SpaceX appears to be valued at around $1.25 trillion, OpenAI at roughly $800 billion, and Anthropic at approximately $380 billion. Combined, we could be looking at close to $3 trillion in private market value that wants to go public. To put that in perspective,

IN AN INTERVIEW a little while back, the technology investor Peter Thiel drew an uncomfortable comparison. Today’s frenzy around artificial intelligence, he said, parallels the tech stock bubble of the 1990s. To illustrate his point, Thiel pointed to Amazon.
By any measure, it’s been an extraordinary success. But, Thiel points out, it hasn’t been a straight line. At one point early on, Amazon shares lost more than 90% of their value.
“My suspicion is that that’s roughly where we are in AI.

The first line of defence against a portfolio in freefall is, of course, the chill pill (pioneered by Dan Smith). Unfortunately, clinical trials have shown that effectiveness drops by approximately 80% during periods of elevated market volatility, rising to 100% during a full correction. Researchers described it as “a notable flaw in the product.”
With pharmaceuticals neutralised, you will need to work through the following antidotes in order of increasing strength.
Antidote One: The Micro-Shrug (Usage Case: early denial,

It’s not your typical prescription, it’s not even the creation of a biotech company. My favorite med is a product of those crazy Generation Xers. No, not medicinal gummies, I’m talking about the chill pill, as in, “take a chill pill”, “chill out”, “chill dude” and etc. The chill pill helps control my blood pressure, and probably contributes to good health in other ways as well. 
I’m not perfect, but I try. Earlier today,

My wife Suzie and I took the grandkids into Belfast on the train recently to watch the St Patrick’s Day parade and join in the craic; we all had a great time. I even had a pint of Guinness 0.0 to comply with my abstinence for Lent. When the barkeep handed my pint over, he uttered the phrase “Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat,” and I responded in kind.
That old Irish phrase roughly translates into English as “may luck rise with you.”