I read an article recently and was shocked to learn that a small percentage of college students feel they deserve a B just for showing up for class. A survey seems to support this. In addition, many feel that effort, even without results, should be rewarded with good grades.
I once had an employee who had grand ideas about her own ability and ideas. One of her ideas involved controlling health care costs with wellness programs.

I’VE SPENT MUCH OF MY life trying to better understand the world, especially the financial world. But I wonder whether I should have spent more of that time trying to better understand myself.
Why do some financial situations scare us, while others leave us unperturbed? Why do we spend time and money in ways we later regret? Why do we find our bad habits so difficult to change? Why do we admire some folks,

The following is from one of the newsletters I used to send to my clients each year. It is not meant to be comprehensive but it may help the organized challenged people (OCP) among us.
Most of you are probably sick of reading this paragraph because I include it every year. If you are one of my organized peeps you can just skip this one.
Two things to do here. First is to look at the left side of last year’s tax folder (that’s where I attached all of their source documents) to get an idea of what you may need this year.

After inspecting the Hokusai exhibit at the Nelson-Atkins Museum (excellent btw), my good friend and I retired to a nearby dive bar called Chez Charlie. For anonymity’s sake, let’s just call him “Chuck.”
It was there over a can of Hamm beer, Chuck and I discussed the finer points of Japanese asceticism (where do you keep all your stuff?), the Chiefs’ prospects for a three-peat (good, but hopeful that the playoff bye week will be very restorative) and that Chuck was unsure what to do with a recent inheritance.

As Jonathan and others have pointed out, I apparently think differently about retirement, investing, money and yes, budgets and spreadsheets. Based on some past articles on HD, I also think differently about children’s college, and spending priorities, even travel, but at this age it is what it is.
Rick Connor’s analogy between satellites and retirement planning amazed me. I doubt I could compare with the Wright brothers, perhaps not even a hot air balloon – remind me to tell the story about us riding in a balloon and crashing in the Arizona dessert. 

HumbleDollar’s eighth year is in the books—but it certainly wasn’t the year I expected.
In the weeks after my late May cancer diagnosis, I scaled back the newsletter from twice-weekly to weekly, while reducing the number of articles from a dozen each week to five or six. Meanwhile, I launched the Forum, so folks could post articles directly to the site, without any editing by me. In addition, I eliminated the site’s donation feature.

LIKE OTHER FOLLOWERS of HumbleDollar, I look forward to Jonathan’s Saturday articles. I have to admit that my interest has been heightened by his cancer diagnosis. Not many folks would have the courage to write about what’s going through their mind when they’re fighting for their life. We don’t often get this kind of insight into someone’s life.
Jonathan has probably received a lot of advice about treatment plans and the doctors he should see.

It’s January 1, and my retirement countdown app says “5 months and 29 days”! Now that it’s 2025, it really seems close.
I have a bunch of financial tasks of my winter quarter sabbatical/pre-retirement list and have already taken care of the first two:

Increase (double) contributions to my tax-deferred accounts (403B/457). With over-50 catch-up contributions, in 2025, I can contribute $31,000 max to each account, or $62,000 total. Since I’ll only be working for six of the 12 months,

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.