MANY FINANCIAL IDEAS are tough to embrace. But perhaps the toughest can be summed up in one simple word: enough.
Will we ever feel like we have enough and that we’ve accomplished enough? Accepting that we have enough and done enough might seem like worthy goals, a serene acceptance that’s possible for those at peace with themselves and the world around them. Indeed, for many, “retirement” and “enough” seem to be pretty much synonymous,

Yesterday we drove by Mar-a-Lago.  The flag was flying, but nobody was home. I had been there before. Actually, several years ago I had dinner there. The owner wasn’t home then either. 
The houses in the neighborhood made me think. How poor am I? Wealth is quite relative for sure. I doubt I could afford the gardening bill let alone the property taxes on those homes.
Never fear, if you can’t afford one of the homes listed for $22,000,000,

Early in my career, I was critical of those who failed to save, tut-tutting over their short-sightedness and lack of discipline. Today, I’m more willing to cut the world’s spendthrifts a little slack.
Why? Over the past four decades, I’ve often been asked for financial advice not just by readers, but also by those I’ve known well. Some of the advice was followed, some wasn’t. But in every case, there was no change in the person’s basic spending and savings habits.

I’M A HOUSEHOLD of one—in theory. True, one adult child lives rent-free in our family home in California. Her first full-time job’s wages are too low for her to afford an apartment in our expensive urban area.
I’m also paying college expenses for another daughter living on campus 80 miles away. She’s working part-time and will graduate this coming spring semester. With a STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) degree, I hope she’ll find gainful full-time employment soon after.

I get frustrated sometimes. Okay pretty often, even oftener these days. 
The root cause of much of my frustration is reading the nonsense posted on social media and readily passed along as 100% fact and apparently driving a great deal of public opinion. Today’s political climate is making things much worse.
Social Security is a favorite target. 
What people claim, for example – Congress stole the trust money, actuaries didn’t consider some people die before collecting,

I’VE BEEN THINKING a lot about my mortality. I’m sure it has to do with Jonathan’s battle with cancer, along with losing some close friends over the past few years. Maybe that’s one reason I’ve been thinking about contacting some long-lost friends.
Roger was a college friend who I’ve considered getting in touch with. I believe I’ve found his current address, and I was going to reach out to him by sending him a Neil Young album with my phone number attached.

In late 2021 and early 2022, I sold our core bond holdings in our taxable account and invested the proceeds in I-Bonds as part of a strategy to build an income bridge to allow me to defer taking my SS.  This provided the stability of a known inflation-adjusted income stream that had yielded an average of 6.6% per year until we began redemptions this past year.   Given what occurred with bond funds in 2022 (and almost double-digit I-Bond interest for a brief time),

Let’s say you have $50, $100, $200 and $500. 
I’m quite certain from time to time the average American would find spending those amounts affordable – on say a manicure, a round of golf, a tattoo, a couples night on the town or even attending a sporting event. For many people this would be true even if they charged the expense. 
It’s quite natural we receive pleasure from spending money, depending on what it is spent on.

IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD, there are signs saying “we buy junk houses” and “we buy ugly houses.” These businesses target undesirable homes—those that have fallen on hard times and can’t be easily sold.
Maybe the homeowners couldn’t afford the upkeep or got tired of caring for the place. Whatever the reason, the result is houses that look sad and have lost market value. Contrarian buyers see the houses not for what they are, but for what they could be.

I have been a sports fan for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid I memorized all sorts of statistics about professional athletes. Baseball is my favorite sport so I could easily recite batting averages, home runs, and earned run averages. 
I was a kid in Atlanta when the Braves came to town in 1966. I would listen to baseball games on my transistor radio and keep my own score book. Of course,

Seniors may be susceptible to participating in grey area fraud – my term.
Many seniors routinely have their toenails trimmed under Medicare. It’s a covered expense but only under certain medical conditions like a diabetes complication, but it’s convenient, less costly than a pedicure and many podiatrists are willing to oblige. 
Physical therapy is unlimited under Medicare as long as it is necessary for existing conditions and there is progress treating a condition. But hey it feels good.

In my analysis it will be less expensive for him to stay on employer sponsored coverage than going on Medicare. My understanding is that he could sign up for Part A but if he does he cannot contribute to his HSA.
Anyone have any insight on this, in general?

FIFTY YEARS AGO, when the first index funds were getting started, critics wasted no time attacking the idea. They called it “un-American” and a “sure path to mediocrity.”
But over time, indexing has grown to the point where it now accounts for more than half of all U.S. mutual fund assets. Last year, research firm Morningstar declared that “index funds have officially won.” But this victory seems to have only increased the level of criticism.

Several years ago I found a web site that listed fiduciary money managers nationwide and would list ones in your area and if they had been any complaints or they had been in trouble. I think this was a non profit website maybe run by the organisation who licenses them. I am not talking about a website like smart asset that these businesses pay to be listed and then you get bombarded by continuous e-mails afterwards.

My wife and I are 58 and 66, respectively. She’ll be retiring soon, but expects to launch herself in a new job for at least several years. I expect to continue working until just after turning 70. I’m in my dream job as the president of my local community bank. We are in our forever home enjoying single floor living. We’re both healthy and travel for a short and long vacation annually. Our four  kids are launched in their careers and doing well;