The information below seems to show that those who are invested in international markets will benefit from the devaluation of the dollar as they have this year. The reason is as the value of international currencies increase relative to the US dollar investments in international holdings increase in value even without future earnings from their sales.
https://www.morningstar.com/markets/will-dollar-keep-falling?utm_source=eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningDigest&utm_content=None_68062&utm_id=35352
In the first half of 2025, the US dollar saw its steepest decline in over five decades. The DXY index—which tracks the dollar against major trading partners—fell about 11% from January to June.

https://www.morningstar.com/stocks/stock-buybacks-are-booming-2025-thats-bad-news-dividend-investors?utm_source=eloqua&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=MorningDigest&utm_content=None_68062&utm_id=35352
The link above from Morningstar discusses dividends vs stock buybacks and how they affect investors.

Most frauds are based on a false premise about the world. Fraudsters tell a story about this false premise to extract value from their victims. The story driving two recent fraud cases claimed that you can have high investment returns with little or no risk. Mike Hallam was promised annual returns ranging from 12% to as much as 49% that were “safer than government bonds.” Richard Whitacre was promised “guaranteed” annual returns of 10.5%, 15% and up.

I can never decide if I’m tight, frugal or a spendthrift. I seem to have developed characteristics of all the spending groups. In a nutshell I’m a bit of a consumer paradox. Take the other week.
My wife Suzie and I were out shopping for a pair of trainers for my grandson. I happened to spot a t-shirt that caught my eye, and the best part was the price: it was discounted by a whopping 70%.

This will be difficult to make come across as intended, but here goes.
What is the point of being financially secure, of having adequate assets and income and not having a comparable standard of living?
No, it doesn’t mean buying a Vacheron Constantin watch for $195,000, but it also doesn’t mean driving a ten year old junker. 
We can claim to enjoy living modestly, “comfortably”, but is it true? Wouldn’t we rather live a bit, just a little bit,

Most people use a version of the 4% SWR in retirement. I think it’s the wrong approach for most, although it offers a tempting idea: an extremely high probability of not running out of money and genuine income stability. These reasons are its biggest Achilles heel—it causes the median retiree to pass with a large amount of unspent wealth. Many studies suggest two-thirds to four-fifths of retirees end with a portfolio equal to or larger than their starting balance.

This is from my blog, but I thought interesting. You may recognize the doctors name from recent posts.
The idea of health insurance is generally said to have begun in the 1940s, but consider this.
Early in his career (around 1815) in an attempt to build his practice in Philadelphia, Dr. Philip Physick offered the first healthcare insurance package in the country. He advertised that he could take care of an entire family for a year for $20.

My home has a mature garden and spacious rooms. It borders a regional park and is within walking distance of the small town I live in. There’s a large hospital with a primary care facility nearby. As for curb appeal? Nothing fancy. But that lack of curb appeal let me pay 15% below the market rate for the area. Works for me.
My car is parked in a driveway with space for maybe 4 cars. It’s an 8-year-old SUV with 80,000 miles on the clock,

Great article and tribute about Jonathan in the New York Times. This is a link to it that hopefully you can read without a subscription.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/23/business/jonathan-clements-wsj-personal-finance.html?unlocked_article_code=1.rk8.3FoY.S-b5ghKuzDQY&smid=url-share

Predictions  are the trend to enroll in Medicare Advantage plans will slow and MA plans will be forced to trim benefits. A recent article on MarketWatch provides more analysis.  
Many seniors still like MA plans for their extra benefits and generally lower premium costs, but they don’t like limited networks, required referrals, deductibles and co-pays in some cases. 
But that is not the problem. 
According to the (10/4/25) article, “The market (for insurers) remains lucrative as the government pays 22% more per Medicare Advantage enrollee,

This is a knee jerk post. I just heard an ad for Schwab where they said they will sharpen your trading skills to learn how to trade brilliantly.
What immediately popped into my mind was I am not, nor do I want to be, a brilliant trader. I want to be a brilliant investor (hardly the case but I’m trying).
What about you? Do you aspire to be a brilliant trader or a brilliant investor? For I think they are totally different creatures.

Every now and then I read an article and think “Wow, I wish had written than”. I’m sure I’m not alone.
Recently I came across this article from Safal Niveshak, which is part tribue to Jonathan Clements, and part ode to simplictiy.
Money Is Simple. Why Do We Make It Complicated?

My favourite passage:
“A simple equity fund, a fixed-income option, and plain insurance are enough for most of us. But the industry thrives on multiplying choice because that’s how assets are gathered.

Times have changed. Six months ago, ten minutes of sitting still felt impossible, I got restless very easily. Since retiring, I can happily sit in the sunroom for an hour simply watching the clouds float by. I actually find it very therapeutic. It reminds me of my ten-year-old self, drifting off watching clouds from the classroom window instead of doing my work.
I keep coming back to this topic. Having time that’s truly mine has changed something fundamental in me.

Jonathan Clements liked to joke that he was born at 6:00am and on January 2nd, “thus establishing a lifetime habit of starting early.” But he truly did get a fast start and seemed to waste no time.
Jonathan—who passed away this week—discovered his love of writing early on. He described his English boarding school as a “brutal” environment: “cold dormitories, disgusting food, endless bullying.” But that was also where he began to write, earning a spot on the staff of the school magazine.

I’ve heard it many times, it’s all over social media. I earned my Social Security benefits, I paid for them.
We certainly paid taxes (actually under a separate law) to fund Social Security and all its benefits beyond retirement income, but we did not pay for OUR benefits. 
According to SSA actuaries and Congressional Budget Office studies:

A typical medium-wage worker retiring at full retirement age (66–67) usually recoups their own payroll contributions within about 3–5 years of collecting benefits.