When I’m turning a tricky problem over in my mind, my normal port of call is my wife Suzie…she’s much more sensible than me. But I have an issue I can’t ask her thoughts on. The reason is simple — it’s a secret that she knows nothing about. So I thought I’d canvass opinions from the Humble Dollar community.
Right now I’m thinking of offering four separate loans to extended family members, and the backstory is straightforward.

I was reading a 3/6/2026 article on Advisor Perspectives about the most-read articles of February 2026. That article had noted that Allan Roth’s article titled ” Money, Investing & Happiness” as the blog’s most-read article of last month.
In that article Mr. Roth wrote “Johnathan Clements did more research on the subject of money and happiness than anyone I’m aware of. He asserted that we should use our money to purchase experiences,

The title sounds like a contradiction. How can something be wrong and right simultaneously? Step back and look at the famous utterance from the Sage of Omaha, and it makes complete sense — to me, anyway.
Some background. In his 2013 shareholder letter, Warren Buffett laid out a simple inheritance plan for his wife: put 10% of the cash in short-term government bonds and 90% in a very low-cost S&P 500 index fund. On the surface,

A witty, honest and poignant short film:
Retirement Plan
With a lesson:
“Time is the one asset you can’t compound; spend it while the market is still open.”
 

Should You Use a ‘Safe’ Withdrawal Rate?

A very interesting blog post from this morning, on the White Coat Investor site.
Upshot:  its REALLY hard to deplete all of your assets if you spend 4% or more……many things need to go wrong
As an aside: the chart showing the “famous” spending smile from David Blanchett is likely incorrect, in a good way – new data shows that the rise in spending at the right side of the curve,

IF YOU OWN a home or are planning to buy one, there are a few things you need to know from the tax standpoint that could save you money:
1. Mortgage Interest
If you have a mortgage, you can typically deduct the interest you pay on the loan up to $750,000 ($1,000,000 if taken before December 16, 2017) but only if you itemize your deductions (schedule A)
You can also deduct points you paid if you itemize.

I’VE RECENTLY MADE the most significant change to my own portfolio in thirty five years. For the first time I’ve moved away from pure market-cap investing, tilting meaningfully toward Europe and Southeast Asia and bringing my US technology concentration down to around fifteen percent.
I’m retired. I don’t need to chase the outperformance that concentration might deliver, and I don’t need the potential volatility that comes with it. This is a personal position rather than any kind of recommendation;

A POPULAR JOKE about retirement is that it can be hard work. That’s because financial planning is like a jigsaw puzzle, and retirement often means rearranging the pieces.
In the past, I’ve discussed two key pieces of that puzzle: how to determine a sustainable portfolio withdrawal rate and how to decide on an effective asset allocation. But there’s one more piece of the puzzle to contend with: taxes. Especially if you’re planning to retire on the earlier side,

For all my mentions of my prior life as a beer truck driver, and the monthly meetings of the ElderBeerMen (retired beer truck drivers), you might think I have a drinking problem. In reality I average about eight drinks per month. And usually, that involves having two at one sitting, so most days, I’m a teetotaler, but I do enjoy my transgressions. Many who imbibe can’t control the habit; the alcohol owns them. Many pastimes are the same way.

Return with me now to the year 1990. George H. W. Bush was President. The Buffalo Bills had a heartbreaking loss to the NY Giants in the Super Bowl. The Cold War ended with the dissolution of the Soviet Union. The Gulf War started when Iraq invaded Kuwait.
In the investment world, Peter Lynch, the long-time mutual fund manager of Fidelity’s Magellan Fund, retired to be replaced by Morris Smith. In my chapter of Jonanthan Clement’s book My Money Journey,

New research presented by Kiplinger shows significant variations in typical withdrawal rates. As you may suspect, some of that is based on age, marital status, the existence of a steady income stream and when the RMD kicks in. 
Among the interesting observations: “The “Lifetime income” effect: Retirees are willing to spend roughly 80% of their “lifetime income,” which includes Social Security, pensions, and annuities. But they are only willing to spend about half of what they could safely afford to from their investment assets,

Spring arrived bang on cue at the start of March, and the weather gods actually delivered some proper early sunshine. I seized the moment, dug out the power washer, and set about bringing the yard back to life. Forty-five minutes in, my trusty 20-year-old yellow Kärcher started making alarming noises and belching smoke. That was that.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Things don’t stop breaking just because you’ve retired. The last week has been a particular case in point.

According to a May 2025 Gallup survey, only 61% of Americans age 65 and older own stocks in any way, including IRAs, 401ks, etc. I found that a bit shocking and a little sad. I’m pretty certain HD readers and writers are not among the 39%. 
If that is an accurate percentage, no wonder many retirees are in poor financial shape, no wonder social media is full of videos with seniors claiming they need and deserve higher social security benefits and higher COLA adjustments.

Donating to charity used to be simple. Not anymore. I am reaching out for opinions on the most efficient way to donate in 2026. I have identified several ways to donate but can’t decide on the best approach.
The most direct way is to write a check which would be deductible; $2,000 for a married couple or $1,000 for a single taxpayer who takes the standard deduction. Itemizers can deduct up to 35% of AGI (I think).

One of the stranger paradoxes in finance is volatility — the degree to which an asset’s price swings up or down over time. Most investors hear the word and flinch. But once you understand what volatility actually is, and what it makes possible, you might start to see it very differently.
Think about it this way. A savings account is about as predictable as it gets, your money sits there, safe and stable, and grows at a modest rate.