In late 1981, not long before my 19th birthday, I left Bryanston—my second and final English boarding school—for the last time. I didn’t graduate. Nobody did. At the time, graduation simply wasn’t a thing at English schools, and apparently it still isn’t.
Instead, I’d taken the Cambridge entrance exam, marking the end of my nine years at boarding school. With the exams over, it was time to pack my bags and head back to Washington, DC,

One of HD’s newer authors, Alina Fisch has a great article about Bucket Lists, but it was something in her bio that really caught my attention. Alina is a fee only financial advisor focused on helping single and divorced women.
My experience with the subject comes from my own divorce, as well as a handful of my income tax clients who found themselves in that situation.
These women were all good people and loving moms whose marriages ended for a variety of reasons.

As Jonathon and many others have advocated on this site, avoiding life style creep, and not climbing aboard  the hedonistic treadmill, keeping it simple, etc., are sure fire ways to have a really good chance of achieving financial success. Also, keeping the assets in the correct account types, diversifying and rebalancing are critical , as well as taking the long term view.
It appears to me that Warren Buffett has long been a tremendous example of following that advice.

Personally I have no problem with tipping servers and others for that matter. I just tipped two delivery men $20 each when they delivered a piece of furniture. I tip at Starbucks and usually when I see a tip jar on the counter. My point of view is these workers need the money more than I do and I can afford it. Maybe I’m helping a kid through college or just with family bills. They are working after all and I remember what it was like trying to earn money as a kid.

FOUR 20-SOMETHINGS named Ben, Duncan, Jonnie and Dave came up with a great idea for a reality show in 2010. It involved a purple bus named Penelope, a cross-country road trip and a list of 100 things to do before you die. For every item they crossed off their list, they’d help a stranger achieve something on his or her own list. 
Some of their to-dos were ambitious, with a low probability of success: host Saturday Night Live,

IN JANUARY, I surrendered to passionate irrationality, buying a park unit in Arizona that has become my second home.
Now I understand why, at least in the movie cliché, a man might buy house slippers for his long-suffering wife’s birthday, while giving flashy, expensive baubles to his girlfriend for no reason at all.
My single-wide “girlfriend” is tiny and fragile, the bloom off her youth. Things that improve her are easily obtained. A phone call to a friendly fellow at a store,

I have mentioned previously my joy helping our grandchildren like funding 529 plans.
Now our oldest grandchild is in college. A few days ago I texted him to let me know if he needed anything.
Today I received this text. “I was wondering if you can get me a cheese burger with just lettuce, cheese and pickles, fries and a lemonade from the  pizza house near my dorm and you can order online. I’ll pick it up.”
So I placed the order.

MY LIFE’S GOAL WAS to make money. I make no apologies for this. I’m not particularly gifted in this pursuit, but I did persevere.
I take satisfaction that I stuck to my goal despite all obstacles. There were many trips, falls, mistakes and failures along the way. I had to work hard and seek a new job each time my old employment ended. I set out to do something—and I did it.
That all changed when I retired.

Being my father’s son and of Scottish heritage, I consider myself to be extremely wary when it comes to falling prey to the grifters and scammers of the world. But this morning, I almost got taken.
I was scrolling through my Facebook feed to see what was going on when I came across a post from an acquaintance who I went to high school with announcing that her family was clearing out items from her father’s house.

A picture of a Shell Gas Station advertising gas for 33 cents per gallon in 1972 periodically appears on Facebook. It’s followed by a long list of people gushing about either how cheap it was then, or how expensive it is today. But using an online calculator, a dollar in 1972 is worth about $7.50 today, making the inflation adjusted price of that gas about $2.50 per gallon. Now comes the fact that I am only using a third of the gas today due to increased efficiency.

After making progress on estate planning, documenting financial records, and updating family history, it suddenly occurred to me that I should make a list of life lessons I have learned along my life journey.
 
Obviously, these life lessons are a lot more than strictly financial, but certainly they will contribute to overall success and a fulfilling life for the next generation.
 
I came up with these and put them in a document along with my financial records.

As we rapidly approach the end of the year our thoughts naturally turn to family, friends, holidays gatherings, gifts, traditional foods, decorations, and …. Year-end tax planning.
There are lots of articles that point out the X things you should do at year-end to simplify, optimize, and minimize your taxes. That’s not what this post is about.  In this post I want to highlight one of the best government-led programs I’m aware of – the IRS’ Voluntary Income Tax Assistance,

THE JUNE 16, 2021, edition of The Washington Post carried this headline: “Cristiano Ronaldo snubbed Coca-Cola. The company’s market value fell $4 billion.”
The incident in question had occurred a few days earlier, at a press conference in Budapest, where the soccer star was set to play in a high-profile championship game. Coca-Cola was a sponsor of the tournament, so when Ronaldo sat down at the microphone, he found two bottles of Coke positioned in front of him.

When I read posts on social media, the word “free” pops up all too frequently.
Free health care, free education, free flu shots, free birth control, freedom from taxes is popular too. Is this wishful thinking or a reflection of a serious lack of understanding about how things work?
I look for offers including free shipping, but what if I must spend $200 to receive it? Buy two get one free, but I only need one.

In January 2020 I invested inherited six figures cash in Vanguard’s Intermediate Term Bond ETF (BIV). The rational was that this money would not be tapped for more than 5 years (just did to replace a dying car with a new Toyota) so during the interim I would expect to gain significantly more return than investing in CDs.
The plan was going great and by 7/2021 I had earned over 13K in returns. Even in 12/2021 I had earned nearly 10K in gains.