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;

WHICH FINANCIAL dangers should we focus on? The possibilities seem pretty much endless. In fact, five years ago, I decided to make a list—and ended up offering readers 50 shades of risk.
Yet our notion of risk used to be far more circumscribed.
In the late 1980s, when I started writing about personal finance, insurance was considered important, but it wasn’t much discussed. Instead, the only risk that seemed to merit serious analysis was investment risk,

If I save on an after-tax basis in a 401k, (plan permitting) the earnings, upon distribution, are taxed as ordinary income and subject to RMDs. However, withdrawing my after-tax contributions only count toward the RMD until they are exhausted. If I save after-tax in a Roth account, the earnings are tax-free with no required withdrawals.
There are earnings limits on contributing to a Roth, but no income or account balance limits on Roth conversions. 
Roth distributions are excluded from MAGI and thus substantial income may not count toward IRMAA premiums,

Lately I’ve been thinking about the Fidelity ZERO series of funds. These are broad stock index funds, which is good, and they have zero fees, which is better. The downside, if it even is one, is that they track Fidelity proprietary indexes rather than industry standard ones. Fidelity also has outstanding standard index funds that track the industry standard broad indexes for low fees. My question to myself, and to anyone who cares to opine: is the difference worth any fee at all when I can pay zero?

The Employee Benefit Research Institute,  surveyed 3,600 retirees in 2024. The survey found younger retirees were much more reliant on Social Security than older ones. The oldest retirees, ages 74 and 75, reported that 52% of their income came from Social Security. The youngest, ages 62 and 63, said they drew 67% of their income from the retirement trust fund.
What is that telling us? Older retirees are more likely to have a pension. Younger retirees are not accumulating sufficient retirement assets?

TED BENNA IS OFTEN called the “father of the 401(k).” In 1980, he implemented the first 401(k) plan based on his somewhat bold interpretation of the Revenue Act of 1978. He certainly couldn’t have envisioned the $11.4 trillion in “defined contribution” 401(k) and 403(b) accounts that we have today.
Individual retirement accounts also took off in the early 1980s, and traditional IRAs now hold an additional $11.3 trillion. Combined, that’s an impressive $23 trillion in tax-deferred retirement assets.

In honor of my late father’s birthday today, I’ve decided to post an article I wrote many months ago but never released to Jonathan for publication. 
MY FATHER’S FINANCES has some parallels to my own. Like me, he saved his end of year paystubs. Using an inflation calculator, I was able to compare his earnings to mine. He was an accountant who rose to the highest level of his company, while I was an engineer who topped off at senior staff level,

We have been discussing the value of a 60/40 investment portfolio in HD as a way to balance risk/reward over the long term.
A report I read today suggests an all-equity portfolio, with a focus on international stocks, could be the key to maximizing retirement wealth compared to  60/40 allocation or target-date funds. It says an all equities portfolio is the far better way to build the largest nest egg possible for retirement; to generate a larger paycheck in retirement;

How much should we rely on studies, surveys, academically-generated tools and guides? I’m not sure, but they are used by policy makers so I guess we should pay attention. 
However, that doesn’t mean they are meaningful in personal retirement planning- that is unless you are average or typical. I’m guessing HD readers know that, but just I case. 
Consider the Elder Index from the University of Massachusetts. According to their website:
“The Elder Index can be a powerful tool for state and local advocates and aging service providers to educate policymakers,

An exercise I find useful — certainly more useful than trying to predict the future — is to ask myself, what are the main risks to my portfolio? Sometimes we have more riding on one potential outcome, or at risk from another, than we realize.
The list of major risks is long, but higher-than-expected inflation and interest rates are pretty high up. Other than underweighting the mega-cap tech stocks for fear they will fall back to earth,

WHO OWNS TIME? WE speak of “my time” and “your time” as if it were a possession we hold in our hands. But we can’t stash it away for future use, nor can we trade or transfer our allotment to another person. Is it truly ours? For the moment, let’s say that it is.
Appraising time. How much do we value our time? Some days, we treat it as a precious commodity. On those days,

It’s that time of year – time to gather your records and prepare your 2024 tax return.  Many HD contributers are involved the IRS’ Voluntary income Tax Assistance (VITA) program,  helping to prepare free tax returns for qualifying individuals. This is an excellent program for lower income tax payers. The linked website has a tool for finding a local site. If you have family, friends, or neighbors who might benefit from this excellent program, please think about letting them know.

I read this article by Morningstar’s Christine Benz:
https://www.morningstar.com/retirement/youre-worried-about-long-term-care-expenses-lets-do-something-about-it
The article made me think that I don’t believe this topic that has been thoroughly vetted by HD participants. If you don’t have a long term care (LTC) policy how are you attacking the problem?
I must admit we have no specific plan to cover LTC expenses. I decided long ago that LTC premiums were not a good value. With the large increases in premiums over the years I think that was the right decision for us.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY introduced the world to the convertible hard top in 1957 with a car called the Skyliner. It was a marvel of engineering.
To retract, the Skyliner hard top first tilted up and away from the front windshield. Then the top folded in half overhead. The trunk lid opened wide. The folded hard top swung into the trunk, which then closed. All by flipping a single dashboard switch. You can see it in operation in this commercial featuring Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz.

Hi HumbleDollar Community,
First of thanks to Jonathan and all of you for creating such a fantastic source of wisdom and practical advice. I am 53 and a novice investor (started very late ) with no residential property and semi-stable job. I have 2 young kids (got married late..) and plan to work till 64.
With the crazy housing market and bidding wars, I have been sitting on sidelines and getting priced out every year. I finally have come across a property in my town which I don’t want to leave (great schools) which I can afford.