From what I read, many if not the great majority, of HD readers are the exception to much of this dilemma.
The responsibility for retirement income has steadily shifted to individuals and away from employers (unless you work for government), but far too few workers have accepted that responsibility. Longterm thinking does not seem a widespread skill. I find this information a bit depressing. How do we change the situation? 
Frankly I don’t know, but if we don’t make changes- if individuals don’t make changes in their financial behavior and if we don’t do better for those with inadequate means to fend for themselves,

I find it rather annoying to waste my time. Unfortunately, it seems I have to tag that handle onto my threshold rebalancing strategy over the last ten year period. A quick recap: I follow a once and done rebalance strategy anytime my equity holdings drift 15% from their normal allocation. The idea is to capture upside during a rebound.
After a recent post about my experience doing a rebalance during the April ’25 “liberation day” tariff announcement,

Do you have any personal experience with Medicaid Asset Protection Trusts (MAPTs)?
To those unfamiliar, MAPTs are irrevocable trusts designed to preserve family’s assets while maximizing an applicant’s chances of qualifying for Medicaid.
Would love to hear your thoughts on this!

I’m turning 65 and will apply for Medicare next month when my 6-month enrollment window opens. I plan to choose a Medigap plan but am unsure how to select a carrier. I’ve reviewed Humble Dollar threads, done web research, and consulted Claude, but I’d value your personal experiences and wisdom.
One wrinkle: Our permanent address is in Texas, but we own homes in two states and may relocate in about five years. Should I choose a carrier highly rated in both states,

I have been a long time reader of Humble Dollar and the excellent forum posts. I have been contributing a “Friday Thoughts” articles on my Linkedin page for several years. Today I want to post one of these articles for our youngsters on the importance of networking. Please let me know how much you like this and other topics you would like to hear about career and leadership.
Every year on my birthday, I receive a call from someone I met at work over 20 years ago — and in all these years,

A question for discussion. Is an eighteen year old an adult? Do you expect an 18 year old to pay their bills, to be on their own for college?
Several years ago on HD someone wrote in a comment that when their child reach age 18, they were done. They expected them out of the house and they were on their own.  Another wrote that when their youngest child graduated high school, the were relocating south and leaving the child behind. 

LAST WEEK THE government released its monthly employment figures for February. The results weren’t great. Payrolls declined, and unemployment ticked up. These numbers square with other downbeat data, including a recent uptick in bankruptcy filings.
Another worry: Oil prices have been rising, a result of the conflict in the Middle East. That’s a concern because it could lead to a reacceleration of inflation. It could also dampen consumer spending because higher gas prices act like a tax on consumers,

AS A PHYSICAL therapist, I’ve spent a large slice of each work day teaching and encouraging patients as they exercise their way to better health. Along with other elements of treatment, each patient pays for a custom exercise program tailored for their specific problem.
These are folks looking for a way past the debilitating effects of injury or disease. Even so, many of them find it hard to follow my plea to “do your exercises”.

My hat’s off to the couples that got hitched right out of school and stayed that way, happily. That was not my reality. Young love, often ignited by intense physical attraction, often doesn’t ask the hard questions, or require clear answers even if the right questions are asked. And while achieving the age of 73 doesn’t make me an expert, I think everyone is entitled to my opinion, so here goes😉.
That intense physical energy is going to change over time,

A question for discussion. Is an eighteen year old an adult? Do you expect an 18 year old to pay their bills, to be on their own for college?
Several years ago on HD someone wrote in a comment that when their child reach age 18, they were done. They expected them out of the house and they were on their own.  Another wrote that when their youngest child graduated high school, the were relocating south and leaving the child behind. 

I drink the odd can of Coke Zero — sugar free, caffeine free. Unfortunately the caffeine free version is rarely on offer, but on those odd occasions when I discover it at a good discount I buy multiple cases. I enjoy a good bargain.
My instinct for a bargain extends to my retirement portfolio. I scratch that itch by having a policy statement around rebalancing during market volatility. Normally I only rebalance once a year, but my policy statement has a clause to enact a threshold rebalance if the equity portion of my portfolio drops more than 15% — a once and done strategy.

“What, me worry?” — Alfred E. Neuman
What should worry me more—inflation or market declines? Both reduce the value of our savings, but they behave very differently. Inflation tends to work slowly and quietly. Market declines, by contrast, often happen quickly and visibly.
Consider several bear markets—defined as declines of 20% or more in the S&P 500.

Bear Market
Market Decline
Time to Bottom
Time to Recover

1973–74 Oil Crisis
-48%
21 months
~7 years

1987 Crash
-34%
3 months
~2 years

2000–02 Dot-com Bust
-49%
30 months
~7 years

2008 Financial Crisis
-57%
17 months
~4 years

2020 COVID Crash
-34%
1 month
~5 months

2022 Inflation Bear Market
-25%
9 months
~2 years

Market declines are dramatic.

A recent forum post on keeping gold bars as financial crisis insurance got me thinking about alternative stores of value. I’ll admit there’s an element of tongue-in-cheek to what follows — but I also think it might prove rather more useful than stuffing a gold bar in each pocket and heading out to barter for your Sunday lunch. It would certainly be kinder to the structural integrity of said pockets.
I have to point out my perspective on this comes from an unusual place.

TL:DR – I explain my approach to financial disaster protection including holding physical cash and gold
I’ve had a long career in Software development, and as a result I understand how fragile software systems can be.  As more of our financial infrastructure comes to rely on software as its underpinnings, the more likely it is that we will experience an outage that will last some period of time.
This naturally brings up the question:  how do I protect myself if such an outage occurs? 

I was feeling sorry for myself recently. Connie’s health issues prevent us from traveling, even going to our Cape house for the time being. I said to myself, time really is running out. 
We seem to be surrounded by illness. Two of our neighbors now in Florida have been taken seriously ill and can’t get home. My brother in law fell on ice and broke his wrist and arm. Connie, my cousin and a close friend are all undergoing cancer treatments.