IN THE SUMMER of 1966, author John McPhee spent two weeks lying on a picnic table in his backyard. Why?
McPhee was suffering from writer’s block. As he described it, “I had assembled enough material to fill a silo, and now I had no idea what to do with it.”
Investors find themselves in a similar situation today. There’s no shortage of financial information around us. But that doesn’t make it easier to know what to do with it. 

WHERE YOU PUT your investments can make a huge difference for your after-tax wealth. 
As you know, we have 3 main investment accounts:

Taxable account. A traditional brokerage account where you are taxed every time you dividends or sell investments at a gain.
Tax deferred account. Traditional 401(k), 403(b), and traditional IRAs allow taxes to be deferred to the future. You pay taxes when your investments are withdrawn, and generally come with an immediate tax deduction.

I began contributing to an IRA in the 80s, buying certificates of deposit at the local bank. Pretty soon I began thinking about investments. I knew almost nothing about the stock market, still, I knew I needed to be in it. I remember watching the nightly news, where the anchors always reported what the DOW did that day, never a mention of that other thingy…. What was it called…. The S&P500? 
I started reading up on the stock market,

Taxes have been a regular topic on HD and why not, they are critical for both our personal finances and running our society. To say people have different views about taxes is a major understatement.
One of the current hot issues is property taxes. Movements are afoot to stop property taxes- at least for those “retired,” over age 65 or who have no mortgage.  The logic of any of that escapes me. 
However, the level of support among seniors seems quite high and to my way of thinking a bit selfish and shortsighted.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, one of the major holidays in the US calendar. I hope you had a wonderful day and the combined weight of your family dinner plates didn’t cause structural problems for your dining table. The story and origins of the holiday are well known. As you wake up this morning and into the dawn of the retail extravaganza that’s known as Black Friday and its contemporary, Cyber Monday, have you given any thoughts about their origin story?

My Thanksgiving Wishes
May you share your table with the ones you love most.
May your hearts be as overflowing as your plates.
May warm conversation and laughter ring through your home.
May you hold space for the ones you’re missing and find solace in memories.
May you savor the perfect dessert.
May you feel peaceful, restful, and most of all … Grateful.

A new bill was introduced on 11/20 in Congress to amend some HSA rules. It still has to go through the Ways and Means, House and Senate.
I doubt it will get through this year, but it’s good to be aware of potential changes.
If enacted, all the changes would go effective after December 31, 2025, but it’s very unlikely.
In particular, there are 2 main proposals:
> Income limits
> 2 Year rule
Currently, there is no income limitation to contribute to an HSA.

And now… the rest of the story.
Good day. It is a very good day.
It was November, 1621. Ninety Wampanoag warriors and their chief, Massasoit, sat down with fifty-one Pilgrims for a three-day feast of deer, wild turkey, and corn the Indians had taught them to grow.
The history books call it “The First Thanksgiving.”
And it was… glorious.
Laughter, gun salutes, archery contests, and tables groaning with food.
What the paintings don’t show is that half the Pilgrims who had arrived the year before were already dead.

My retirement has been wonderful so far. Honestly, sometimes I have to stop and remind myself how lucky I am. Rachel and I have our health and enjoy each other’s company, which is not always true when a couple retires. However, there are four things that concern me as I reach my mid-70s.
Feeling lonely. I tried calling Mark, my old high school friend, a couple of weeks ago, and I haven’t heard from him. I tried again and got a message that his mailbox was full.

I’m very confused. I think this article is a good fit for HD, but I’m really not sure if anything I write is suitable anymore. Hopefully, I’m not offending anyone posting this piece to the forum.
 
I bumped into a guy I played with as a kid. He’s six foot six and built like a linebacker, but he looks old and worn out now—forty years in a hot tarmac crew hasn’t been kind. He asked me what I was doing these days.

Recently Connie and I got together with friends, two other couples who live in our 55+ community.
We are all among the most fortunate retirees. It costs a minimum of $26,000 a year just in taxes and HOA fees to live where we do. 
One of us has a pension, one fellow ran his own businesses, went bankrupt once, but started another business many years ago sold it last year. The other man worked for a large company but saved diligently to enable them to move into our community. 

Today, 11/24/2025, I logged into mysocialsecurity.gov account. On the Benefit Verification Letter tab I found my December 2025 benefit amount that will be paid in January 2026. There was currently no indication of my 2026 SS benefit on the main SSA splash page. The gross amount for 2026 was equal to my 2025 gross amount plus the announced 2.8%  COLA as rounded down to the whole dollar. My 2026 Medicare Part B premium deduction was the standard $202.90 per month as previously publicly announced.

Like everyone, I’m frequently asked at the checkout of drugstores and retail outlets if I have a credit card linked to the store and, if not, why don’t I quickly apply then and there to get a discount or cash bonus when my application is approved?  I was recently tempted by $50 offered at the local chain drugstore, but then I thought about the time and energy to unfreeze my credit score and declined the $50 offer (but I continued to think about it for a short while 😊).

Driving home from the airport yesterday morning after dropping off a friend, an amusing thought crossed my mind: what if I actually calculated my billable hours for the past week? Since retiring, I’ve noticed that friends and family have come to see me as their go-to problem solver whenever something needs doing. The assumption seems to be that old Mark just sits around doing nothing while everyone else is busy being productive.
Let me walk you through my week.

A more realistic title would be “when”, not “if”. It doesn’t take much, especially if you’re over 65: a broken bone, a joint replacement, failing eyesight, a stroke or heart attack, dementia. If you have a partner, and rely on the partner for transport, the same problems apply.
My mother, born in 1906, spent over 90 years living in England without ever learning to drive. There are a few cities in the US where that’s possible – New York,