Something in the news recently caught my notice and has me wondering. I want to emphasize that I’m not trying to be political, and I would be disappointed if any comments were. As you may know, I’m not even from your country; I’m Irish and live in the UK. So the nuance is beyond me. All that aside, do you think the recent dismissal of the head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics should cause me any concern about the future accuracy of US economic data sources?

IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, before the invention of the printing press, the most common way to retain information was to build what’s known as a memory palace. The idea was to link words to images, because images are easier to remember.
I’ve found that this strategy works well in personal finance, and earlier this year I described some of the images that I rely on most. Below are several more.
1. Back in 2011,

Nearing the end of our recent catch-up with our financial adviser, the general discussion turned to how we ended up where we are now.  At 59 and 51 respectively, my wife Cindy and I are in a fortunate financial position. We never set out with aims of early retirement, or a target number that we wanted to reach. And despite that, we ended up in good shape.
It got me thinking about what we did right,

I’m three months retired today, my goodness the time has flown by!
When I managed my own business I always collated business figures into a quarterly report for better performance monitoring and to help give me a feel for how things were going. I guess the urge to do so is still ingrained within me, and I thought I’d do a similar but more holistic exercise with a first quarter retirement report for the quarter ending 07/31/25.

A July 31, 2025, article in The New York Times triggered this post. The headline reads: Saving for College Once Felt Essential. Some Parents Are Rethinking Their Plans.
The article is primarily about 529 plans, but also about saving or attending college at all. One comment caught my eye as it questioned the value of college because it didn’t guarantee a good job. I wasn’t aware college ever guaranteed a job or anything else for that matter. 

Chris tripped and fell a few Sundays back. Her radius and ulna bones broke and the elbow was beyond repair. We were on a little day trip, to visit the Cleveland Aquarium. 
Come the next day, the anticipated 2-3 hour surgery stretched to 7 hours. Afterwards, the surgeon, allegedly among the finest in the country for this particular procedure, reported good results. However, coming out of the long anesthesia, Chris had difficulty communicating, so was quickly rushed down the hall for an MRI.

I’m not the same person I was when I retired at 59. Back then, I was frugal to a fault, afraid to spend money, even on myself. Now I treat myself more often, take better care of my health, and I like to think I’ve grown more patient. But the biggest change is this: I cry more easily.
I didn’t use to understand that kind of emotion. When I was about 11, I was watching television with Uncle Lou.

I’m a first time poster and long time reader (including WSJ Getting Going) and saw an article today with behavioral finance observations.  It may be of interest to some.
The names of equity-income funds imply that they are aimed at investors who desire to withdraw their higher dividends as cash flow for spending. On the other hand, equity funds are aimed at investors who seek to reinvest their lower dividends for capital appreciation. However, more than 74% of equity-income investors reinvest their dividends—a reinvestment rate similar to that of investors in equity funds.

Over the several years I have been writing and commenting on HD it has been made clear that the HD community includes many sophisticated investors and planners. People who use budgets, track expenses, do their best to investigate and then make financial decisions based on information they develop. They use various type of software programs and, of course, their own spreadsheets. They analyze risk and investment expenses. They like details. They think about the future. And,

Suzie and I have a strange little anomaly in our mainly index tracker portfolios. This came to mind when I got a reminder to vote in the AGM of one of them. Our little anomaly is owning real shares in two separate businesses. We can’t seem to let go of them although I always think of breaking up. One is in the UK banking sector and the other is an asset management business. The banking shares have posted an impressive 53% capital gain on a rolling year basis with a 2.3% dividend and the investment company has had a more average 6% gain but an excellent near 8% dividend yield.

If you thought my posts on family estrangement and supporting adult children were doozies, wait until you dig into this one.
My musings on all three of these topics are specifically related to how complicated the interaction between family dynamics (especially if it’s a “difficult” family) and our finances can be. This one focuses on how caring for parents as they age can raise challenging questions.
Like many of you, I’m at the stage of life where I view these questions both as a daughter and as a parent.

Two  roads diverged in a wood,
and I took the one less traveled by
And that has made all the difference
–Robert Frost
The Road Not Taken, 1915
I have volunteered to teach a module on stock fund investing for students taking a new elective course at a small private high school in Sacramento. Here is a fleshed out outline of what I’m thinking about presenting. I want to educate “my kids” about the factors that ushered in the advent of the index fund and ETF and how to distinguish between the virtues and vices of their investment options.

I’ve been in a bit of a financial funk these last three months, and I’ve finally managed to overcome my heart and listen to my head. I’m really surprised how difficult I’ve found it, especially with my business and financial background. I mean, truly difficult.
It all started when I was setting up a 10-year fixed-term annuity before retirement. I had initially decided on a purchase amount and, to fund it, liquidated some of my developed world index tracker.

A few weeks ago I wrote about relocating upon retirement and concluded it isn’t for us. 
This summer we are getting to test that conclusion. We are spending the entire summer at our place on Cape Cod, which means several months away from our routines, church, friends, golfing buddies and mostly family. I suppose if we moved here we would become accustomed to many things, but not being six hours away from family, let alone a three hour plane ride,

I have heard and seen many commercials for YRefy.
Is anyone familiar with the company or invested in it?
Our investments are all in stock index funds but we do have extra monies that I’d be willing to invest in something with a higher return than it money market accounts