FOR MANY INVESTORS, talking about bonds is about as interesting as watching paint dry. They aren’t nearly as interesting as stocks. But if you have a portion of your portfolio allocated to bonds, or plan to, it’s a topic worth some discussion.
The bond market is actually much larger and much more diverse than the stock market. For most investors, though, there are just a few types of bonds to consider. We can examine each in turn:
Total Bond Market
Perhaps the most well known type of bond investment is a total-market fund.

THE IRS JUST released a new form called Schedule 1-A, which includes all the new tax bill deductions.
I wanted to quickly go through some of it, so that you are more aware of the new potential savings opportunities.
I’ve previously discussed some portions of the bill, but this is the first time we have a peek of the new lines.
All of these deductions are in addition to the standard deduction or itemized deduction.

Hello everyone,
I wanted to share a quick introduction in relation to Elaine’s update. As she mentioned, Jonathan has selected me to help moderate the forum.
Some of you may have seen my previous articles:
Breaking down the tax impacts of OBBBA
How the new tax car loan deduction works
Home improvements tax tips
A little about me: I graduated with an accounting degree and became a CPA in 2022. I live in Chicago with my wife.

Through our 56 years of marriage Connie only bought GE appliances and in recent years their Profile line. I have to admit all the washers, dryers, dishwashers, ovens and refrigerators have served us well.
These products are made in the US and the prices show it. Our new fridge was $4,149, the dishwasher $829 and the stove $3,289. Not with all the bells and whistles possible either. You can get a fridge with a Keurig coffee system in the door.

Dear Humble Dollar community,
My beloved husband, Jonathan, is currently in end-of-life hospice care.  While he shared with you that I would be administering the website, I am choosing to forgo this task with his blessing.   Going forward, the site will be administered by Bogdan Sheremeta, who has authored several recent forum posts and who has many more to come.
In the months ahead,  all subscribers will begin receiving  the Humble Dollar newsletter from the following email address: 

I’m not talking about Lite beer. The Olive Garden announced new additions to its menu. Smaller portions for lower prices. The article didn’t say how soon the roll out would happen, nor did it say which stores would get the new additions. 
This addresses my complaint that portions are too darned big at most restaurants. I don’t like dealing with doggy bags, and sadly, I am the kind of diner that always has room for those last few slices of pizza.

THE MOST FAMOUS expression at Vanguard is to ‘stay the course.’ It’s meant to suggest that investors should remain steadfast and not sell stocks in a downturn.
This has proven great advice over the decades, but I’ve not been staying the course lately. I’ve been selling stock funds and buying bond funds this summer. Yet I think my actions would have the blessings of Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, who made the phrase ‘stay the course’ famous.

A Family Correspondence. Letter from the Son…
Dear Mom and Dad,
When I stormed out of your house, I was furious. It just didn’t seem fair that you taxed me for my morning tea—especially when it wasn’t even that good. In hindsight, it was probably a blessing. I switched to coffee, which at least wakes me up before my workday rather than lulling me back to sleep.
Of course, it didn’t help that a few years later you burned down my house.

Have you ever regretted being frugal? I certainly did this morning. My 5:30 a.m. flight to Alicante in Spain was meant to be the start of a nice break meeting a friend flying in from London, but thanks to my decision to save forty bucks, it became an endurance test.
When I booked the flight, I decided against paying for a reserved seat, thinking I’d play the check-in lottery and get a decent spot for free.

The IRS released a draft Form 1040 and the new  Schedule 1-A for 2025. It shows calculations for the new some OBBBA deductions, including the No Tax on Tips, Overtime, Car Loan Interest, and the Enhanced Senior Deduction.

I ran my own business for nearly 30 years. It had a multimillion-dollar turnover with multiple income streams and complex timing around incoming and outgoing payments. Managing this intricate system required meticulous budgeting and continuous use of spreadsheets and accounting software—exactly what you’d expect from a well-run business.
I’m now retired, and in stark contrast to my business experience, on the domestic side of finances my wife Suzie and I don’t operate on a detailed budget per se.

The 4% rule (or is it 4.7% now?) is supposed to be a simple way to figure out how much you can safely withdraw each year, but I’m curious – do HD members really follow it?
While it’s a decent projection, I imagine there are plenty of circumstances where a fixed percentage needs updating – health expenses, market swings, helping family, inflation surprises, or even big life events like moving or starting a new chapter you hadn’t planned for.

This article popped up in my email this morning, and a lot of the advice reminded me of various HumbleDollar discussions: https://www.thewealthminded.com/lifestyle-and-money/10-frugal-habits-that-secretly-make-you-wealthier?lctg=64810442f2b7387f8e68c961
I didn’t actually resonate with most of them. I do #5 (automate savings) and #7 (cook at home), and I’m working on the “cancel subscriptions” (#8) thing. The rest of it, not so much.
OK, a couple of caveats. If we were in a financial spot where money was extremely tight and we had to watch every penny,

I’ve just got a hug from my daughter as she heads out our door to make her way home. I always have a sense of regret when a visit from one of our children ends. It’s always lovely to see them, but with my youngest child I admit to normally heaving a sigh of relief. Not very fatherly, but she truly vexes me.
Let me explain my difficulty. My daughter is 27 and, to my mind,

This morning the IRS in IR-2025-91 announced that the pending Secure 2.0 final regulations regarding catch-up contributions to qualified retirement plans will be published tomorrow, 9/16/2025, in the federal register.
My initial reading of a summary has two key takeaways for me.
A requirement that catch-up contributions that will require such catch-up contributions to be ROTH for certain taxpayers based their on earned income ($145K indexed) of the prior tax year.
The effective date of the new catch-up provision will now be for tax years after 12/31/2026,