I don’t know if there’s an academic term for one aspect of my personality. I honestly struggle to articulate what it is. The best I can do is describe it as a total lack of emotional investment in the political and economic situation in the world around me, an absence of the ability to deeply care about the personalities and themes of the great political and financial stage. It puzzles me that people feel so passionately about these events and figures.

Right now, the bulk of my US stock holdings are in my Rollover IRA, split unequally between VFIAX (Vanguard 500 Index Fund Admiral Shares) and VEXAX (Vanguard Extended Market Index Fund Admiral Shares). The split has become more unequal than I originally intended. I am taking the whole of my RMD from the 500 fund (and investing it in other funds in taxable), but I’ll still need to move money to VEXAX to rebalance. I am wondering whether it wouldn’t be better (it would obviously be simpler) to combine both funds into VTSAX (Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Admiral Shares).

Here is how we use Social Security benefits voluntary withholding to pay all of our estimated Federal tax obligation. This eliminates the need for quarterly filings and payments and is as painless as when taxes were withheld from our employee paychecks.  And since most of our income as well as expenses are on a monthly cycle (including a monthly RMD withdrawal moved to our brokerage account) the monthly automatic tax payment keeps everything in balance and on budget.

There is a long list of past HD writers, some fairly prolific in the past. Where are they?
Some of us are still telling  our stories and taking our licks with a bit of risk without the comfort of Jonathan’s editing. A few welcome new faces have appeared – a couple also prolific, right Mark😉
If you were a writer in the past or entirely new to HD, including those from across the pond or oceans,

My wife passed away in June. Our 2024 MFJ tax return was in the first IRMAA premium tier.  Our 2024 MAGI was $256K which included a $106K Roth conversion. The 2024 tax return will be the basis for my SS Part B fee including the IRMAA premium. That would put me in the 4th IRMAA premium tier for single filing. I expect SSA will initially show me in the 4th premium level. At that point, I can file an IRMAA appeal using FORM SSA-44 to request that they use my 2026 income estimate instead which will save me a lot of money.

Last month, the IRS issued final regulations related to several provisions of the SECURE 2.0 Act relating to employer sponsored retirement plan catch-up contributions. Some plans allow additional, or catch-up, contributions for employees 50 and over. For 2025, the regular limit is $23,500. The catch-up limit for those aged 50 and over is $7,500.  Starting in 2025, there is a higher “super catch-up” limit of $11,250 or those turning age 60, 61, 62, or 63 during the year.

The normal thinking would have us believing that a bubble is a dangerous situation for our retirement accounts. What if I told you that I believe a market bubble makes your portfolio more resilient? Would you believe me?
Everyone fears bubbles. You should harvest them.
Don’t worry, I haven’t lost the plot, let me be clear: I’m being deliberately provocative to make a point about something some investors neglect when things are going splendidly well, disciplined rebalancing.

Tomorrow morning I’ll be up early and take my grandson to school. I enjoy our chats on the journey. Back home, it will be a quick breakfast and then off to meet some older friends for a few hours of pickleball and a bit of craic. I should be back to base by early afternoon for a catch-up with my wife Suzie while we plan what to buy for dinner that evening. My daughter and granddaughter will be joining us for the meal…

The day I thought would never happen finally did on September 30, 2025. For the last 43 years, my salary would appear in my bank account, which would then show a pleasing uptick, providing assurance that all was well with the world. But on September 30, 2025? Nothing! The balance showed, if anything, a small fall. Retirement had finally arrived.
I actually retired on August 25, 2025, but I did receive my final salary at the end of that month.

Did you know that the income tax amendment enacted 1913 was temporary or that income taxes are theft? Income taxes are voluntary because they are illegal. How about there is no need for property taxes even though they have funded local education since the 1840s? 
Oh, Social Security is a scam. If you die early all you get is $250 and the government takes the rest of your money. If “they” hadn’t stolen the Social Security funds,

Have you been getting that familiar tingling sensation lately? The one that says “you’ve seen this all before.” Watching AI stocks soar, then keep on going, I can’t help but think back to the year 2000. I genuinely knew a guy back then who quit his job to day-trade dot-com stocks from his house. He now works in insurance. There’s a lesson in there somewhere I guess.
Comparisons to the dot-com bust are rife. I may be a slightly thick Irish guy,

The proposition of an article I recently read was “this is the dumbest stock market in history.” Why is it dumb? In part because of an increasingly popular approach to investing—one that most in the HumbleDollar community, including myself, subscribe to.  According to the article, passive index investing is “the very definition of dumb money, because indexers buy stocks without any regard to valuation.” Here are some other points that caught my attention in the article,

Wade Pfau has an interesting article on RetirementResearch.com about the non-financial aspects of retirement and the various stages. 
In it he states, “Mid-retirement often reveals the cracks beneath the surface. Six months to a year in, many retirees face the “most dangerous day,” when the novelty wears off and the emptiness of unscheduled time sets in. Without purpose or structure, days can feel repetitive. This is when boredom or unease can set in, sometimes leading to unhealthy patterns.”
Since this never happened to me,

I am 65. I plan to execute ROTH conversions over the next 10 years before I hit  RMDs. Obviously, handling the taxes at the conversion is front and center, pay with cash on hand or take out from the conversion. I understand there is an option to ROTH convert into Fixed Indexed Annuities, where the bonus (15-18%) may cover the entire tax burden. The one I have looked at is a 5-year contract, then you can take the money and put it back into the market.

BARRY RITHOLTZ’S NEW BOOK, How Not to Invest, offers investors a cautionary tale—many of them, in fact.
Ritholtz has been in and around the investment industry for more than 30 years—as a trader, a journalist and, most recently, as cofounder of a wealth management firm. 
In short, he is no stranger to Wall Street. His conclusion? It can be a minefield.
Bad actors like Charles Ponzi and Bernie Madoff are well known.