Remember, starting in 2025 the annual out of pocket cost for prescription drugs is capped at $2,000. Roughly 10 percent 0f those of us on Medicare will benefit … luckily.
But it’s good to know there is a limit.
My suggestion, build that $2,000 into your planning, just in case. Plan to set up your own Rx fund or if already retired start one now. I just like funds designated for a single purpose.

This is the time of year when financial writers dish out advice for the year ahead. But who wants another to-do list? Here are five things I won’t be doing in 2025:
Flying economy on international flights. Our 2024 trip to Ireland finally broke me. Sitting upright on an overnight transatlantic flight is just too much for my ailing body. I can manage economy on a daytime flight, but now find it pure misery when flying overnight.

WE’VE BEEN TAKING stock of our nomadic life. We’re quite happy living as we are. But we’re also conscious that things could change at any time for multiple reasons, and we’re ready to shift gears if needed.
We aren’t exactly “living the dream”—because being nomadic was never our dream. We hadn’t even thought about it until a few months before we started our travels. We officially uprooted ourselves—meaning we sold our Houston home—after we’d been away from the place for most of the first year of my retirement.

I’m wondering if there’s data on how much dividends for total market or S&P500 go up or down on average during bull vs bear market. As a retiree, I rely on my dividends and interest for my living expenses. It seems somewhat arbitrary to just hold 5-7 years of total living expenses (minus SS/pension) when in fact, dividends would like still happen even in a market downturn?

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.