HUMANS HAVE ALWAYS celebrated the good times in their lives. These can be massive occasions, such as New Year’s Eve in New York City’s Times Square, or small and personal, such as birthdays. Celebrating is good. But what happens when it’s not?
Adults tend to celebrate with alcohol. For people like me, who lean toward shyness, alcohol can allow us to let loose. It feels good. We smile. People smile back. All is good.

In a previous article I wrote about food waste in America even as 7 million Americans are reported as food insecure. 
I occasionally feel food insecure, but not in the real sense. My experience comes from fugal relatives and friends. Have you ever had dinner with family or friends and been afraid to take a reasonable portion of the food? I can’t imagine what some hosts are thinking. 
I was at a holiday dinner and when the turkey being passed around got to me only a wing was left.

IN THE FINANCIAL world, some topics are serious, others not so much. Since it’s the holiday season, it seems appropriate to look back at some of the past year’s lighter moments.
No joke. In 2019, artist Maurizio Cattelan unveiled a collection he called Comedian. The item that received the most attention: a sculpture that consisted only of a banana duct-taped to a wall. The banana gained fame when it sold at a Miami auction for $120,000.

Time for resolutions:
•Logging off social media: No Facebook, no YouTube, no X—basically, no scrolling my life away.
•Call the doctor and finally trade in these knees for the deluxe model.
That’s it. Let’s not get crazy—baby steps!

Many of us have an idyllic vision of what retirement will be like—endless days of relaxation and recreation.  But the rules of retirement are being re-written. This will come as no surprise given the changes in our culture and nation’s economy during the past several years.  It may also be a little unsettling to some, as there was some comfort in the knowledge that, after decades of working, you could retire and enjoy your remaining years in peace and tranquility.

IT’S SEVEN MONTHS since I received my terminal diagnosis. Cancer is now the reality that looms over each day, and it’s been a rocky road, though the latest abdomen scan suggests I’ll be around for a while longer.
Where’s my head at? Here are four questions I’ve been asking myself—questions, I suspect, that might also be interesting to those who aren’t facing a terminal diagnosis.
1. Am I afraid of dying? No,

Some good news: Today, there’s no excuse not to get started as an investor.
That wasn’t true in 1986, when I arrived in New York from London at age 23. Back then, Fidelity Investments and T. Rowe Price demanded $2,500 to open a mutual-fund account, far more than I could afford. Meanwhile, Vanguard Group required $3,000, and typically still does.
What to do? I got my start by purchasing six individual stocks through the National Association of Investors Corp.

Consider this post on social media.
“Today we are paying our North Carolina real estates taxes, which are significant.  I don’t have a problem with paying my fair share.  This year, I DO have a problem that some of my tax dollars are being doled out to pay for private school vouchers for private schools!  And some of the people getting those vouchers have incomes over $100,000.”
I asked if they were missing part of the equation.

WE SUFFER LOSSES throughout our life. During our youth, we might leave old chums behind when our family starts fresh in a new town or when we go away to college. Later, a job loss or a divorce could leave us drained both financially and emotionally. But for most of us, our senior years are when loss hits hardest.
Our body is often the first casualty, especially the face we see in the mirror each morning.

DURING A PROJECT meeting at my old employer, a member of our team was constantly raising questions without offering any solutions. Afterwards, the team leader commented, “This guy always thinks his cup is half empty. Nothing will ever satisfy him.”
We’ve all known such people. Is there anything wrong with their attitude? It depends. My boss told me during my first week, “Never be satisfied with the status quo. Find ways to improve everything.

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal illustrates a problem I never considered.
Many retirees who paid off their mortgage as part of retirement planning are now finding that increases in property taxes and home property insurance are so significant those payments now exceed the former mortgage payment thus putting some retirees in a financial bind. 
It seems applying a standard inflation factor to future costs for those items may not be accurate. 

I SPENT MANY HOURS reading articles and books about retirement before I actually retired. I knew I’d retire eventually because of how often I found myself out of work. Studying retirement became one more thing I needed to do so I could be successful.
Under the category of retirement, grandparenting was a frequent subject. This is understandable since many retirees are or soon become grandparents.
My situation is different. My special-needs son will not get married or have kids.

Asking for a friend… Really. My friend has a VERY SIGNIFICANT capital loss carryforward and wondered whether this impacts the typical calculations that go into deciding if Roth conversions make sense. He expects his future tax rate will be lower and his heirs will have higher tax rates.
 
My friend uses his taxable account for investments in equities, hoping to earn capital gains that can be offset by his capital loss carryforward. He intends to invest the Roth money in interest and dividend bearing investments to balance out his portfolio.

Choosing and understanding health insurance can be a challenge. Much like retirement, it requires assumptions, understanding your risk tolerance and even budgeting.
There are several key factors. 
Deductibles before benefits are paid
Co-insurance and co-payments – your share of each charge
Out-of-pocket limits-the point annually where payments are at 100% by your insurance. 
If you have family coverage, there may be a family deductible limit of two people so each individual does not need to satisfy a deductible.

There aren’t many people left on my Christmas card list. it becomes shortened with each passing year, but for more than 50 years, we have received a card from someone I never met whose name is Ben Goldberg.
My husband retired 17 years ago and Ben is a man he worked with. Ben is not a Christian, but he sends a lovely card— no personal message, just signs his full name and that’s it. Somehow as strange as it might seem,