If there were red down arrows on Facebook I would have received so many in the last week, their system would have crashed. I have taken on the seniors who failed to plan for their retirement and now blame the system for their situation along with those who think they should not pay property taxes for schools or any taxes at all once they reach age 65 – because they paid their dues plus those
Many say without a mortgage you should not pay property taxes,

Firstly, full credit to Kristine Hayes for this idea. I wish I could say that I thought of it on my own.
Kristine wrote about her buying and selling of houses that didn’t fit the accepted “rules of thumb” for personal finance. I was reflecting on my own financial path thus far, and ways in which we have strayed from the recommended path. Two in particular stick out.
All in equities
My wife and I were lucky to have good jobs straight out of university.

I’ve read  lots of articles about asset allocation, and how and when to rebalance a portfolio. One facet I that haven’t seen discussed often is how do couples execute their asset allocation and rebalancing when they both have similar accounts. My wife and I each have Vanguard accounts with Traditional IRAs, Roth IRAs, a joint brokerage account, and online joint banking accounts.
We treat all our accounts as one.  Our asset allocation has evolved over our working years,

I’m quite engaged with the Humble Dollar community and occasionally post articles on the forum. I’m also a keen reader of personal finance articles and books. Being a former business owner with a nearly 40-year-old degree in business and finance, I’m very interested in commentary and the goings-on in the business and finance world. But here’s the strange thing: I’m not massively engaged with my own retirement portfolio. I hardly ever think of it and rarely check its performance.

It is essential to support public education. Although four generations of my family are or have attended Catholic schools, I’m happy to pay my share. However, things are getting complicated in Ohio, where a progressive system topped off at 7.5% in 2004, has been reduced to 3.15% this year, and becomes a flat tax of 2.75% in 2026.
Filers of schedules C, E, F and K get a free pass on their first $250,000 of earnings.

I received a HumbleDollar friend request on Facebook this morning. I did not find this unusual because I sometimes share HD posts I feel may be helpful to people. Of course I accepted the friend request. 
I just received a private message from HD. The sender was offering free consultations for financial services. Jonathan’s picture was at the top of the message, as well as at the bottom, which leads you to believe that he is the author.

In an Oct. 27 Morningstar article “The Case for a ‘Good Enough’ Portfolio,” Christine Benz asks the question, “Are you an optimizer or a satisficer?” [satisfice = satisfy+suffice] Do you continually search for ways to improve your portfolio, or are you happy with good enough? Reasons exist for each; no criticism implied for either.
I’ve been a happy satisficer for decades. I’ve made a few tweaks, mostly to adjust to changing life circumstances.
What about you?

I’m heading back to my vacation home today for a short break, maybe ten days or so. My grandkids and family will follow in a few days, and we’ll all be together for Halloween.
Over the last few years, my holiday neighbourhood and the local community have built something special: a two-day Halloween festival that’s snowballed into quite the event. There’s a fancy dress parade, a ghoulish disco party, and a spectacular fireworks display launched from the harbour by professional pyrotechnicians.

It took me a few years in the work force to realize I was doing it wrong. For example, annual vacations should be a time to restore and rejuvenate. I began well enough, with vacations spent in the local library, learning photography, honing dark room skills, etc. This was stimulated by a lack of funds among other things.
I was the eldest son, and my father’s idea of enjoyment was fishing at the Chain of Lakes.

Some people see taxes as unnecessary, even illegal and don’t think they should pay. Many people don’t make the connection between taxes and all the programs and services they provide in a society.
I had someone tell me the 16th amendment of 1913 was temporary and thus income taxes are illegal.
There are those who are convinced eliminating fraud and waste will lower taxes – good luck. Interestingly, fraud is committed by our fellow citizens-Medicare is a good example,

Back in 2022 and 2023, I wrote about finding that my then 95-year-old aunt had designated me her financial and medical power of attorney, executor of her estate, and trustee for her living trust, though she had not informed me of this.  My brother and I moved her into a nice assisted living facility near where she had been living, and later I sold the town home where she had lived for 42 years, as well as some property in Florida that my aunt co-owned with me,

My ten-year-old grandson and I have developed what I like to think of as a moderately foolish competition: we put on our socks and shoes while balancing on one leg like a pair of demented flamingos. It makes us laugh, which is really the point, and so far I can hold my own, even with my eyes closed, which I mention not to boast but because it seems like the sort of detail that might become relevant later when I’m lying in a heap on the bedroom floor.

I am attempting to gift a Wall Street Journal article. I hope it works, but if not, all you really need is the headline: “The Average Cost of a Family Health Insurance Plan Is Now $27,000”. Think about that. Then consider that US health care is generally considered to be twice as expensive as health care in other, comparable, countries for worse results. Think what corporations, never mind employees, could do with an additional $6,750/year per person.

One of the sites I check periodically is MIT AgeLab – they published something last week about their new Longevity Preparedness Index (in partnership with John Hancock and published here this week).
They identify “eight domains of life”: Care, Community, Daily Activities, Finance, Health, Home, Life transitions, Social connection. Finance is certainly the main topic here but discussions have touched on several of the other domains.
The 16 page “Insights” wasn’t particularly new to me,

I received an email from my previous employer a few weeks ago. I’ll paraphrase: “Ooops. When we processed your last paycheck in June, we failed to deduct your elected contributions to your 403B and 457 accounts.”
Now, I knew this because my final paycheck was quite a bit larger than I’d expected, but I thought I’d just misunderstood how the dates worked. (I separated from my employer on June 28, retired on July 1, and my final paycheck,