Jamie Dimon says, “The American dream is disappearing—and half the public no longer believes in it”.

Soaring costs of housing, child care, education, and health care are making it harder than ever for the middle class to achieve their dream. Pew research study found that while 64% of upper-income Americans say the American dream still exists, 39% of lower-income Americans say the same – a gap of 25 percentage points. About two-thirds of adults ages 65 and older (68%) say the American dream is still achievable,

THOMAS JEFFERSON once said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty, and the philosopher Socrates opined that the unexamined life isn’t worth living.
Although they were talking about political freedom and personal philosophy, respectively, Jefferson and Socrates could well have been discussing personal finance. One of the best ways to engage in financial vigilance and self-examination is to keep a daily financial journal.
I’ve kept a personal journal since I was 14 years old,

Popcorn is a food item that in many cases, is marked up in price by an infinite amount. In many restaurants, pubs, etc., popcorn is available for free, yet, movie theaters sell a box for many dollars. Did you know that theaters make most of their money on food and drink, rather than the tickets? I feel that marking up prices to infinity, may be the reason.

2) I see many large pick up trucks, many with dual wheels,

The other day I listened to a discussion about undiagnosed adult autism on National Public Radio (NPR). Autism often went undiscovered in older generations, making life challenging for afflicted adults who knew there was something wrong, but no idea what it was or how to deal with it. There are millions living with this condition and likely someone in your life as well. There may have been one in mine.
A few years back my daughter told me that she thought it possible that her mom,

IT’S IMPORTANT TO BE familiar with what happens with Social Security benefits when someone dies. Otherwise, you may find yourself in a long, painstaking battle to get the payment to which your loved one was entitled. I found this out the hard way.
My father-in-law Bernard died in September 2015. My wife was his executor and the agent under his power of attorney (POA). But I’d earlier served as POA and executor for my mother,

I RECENTLY MENTIONED to my wife’s cousin that I’m taking required minimum distributions from my IRA. He won’t have to—because he doesn’t have an IRA. Instead, he keeps his car trunk full of cash.
He’s in the car business. He buys and fixes cars, all out of his mother’s two-car garage. He keeps cash to buy used cars at rock-bottom prices. People are willing to sell a car cheaper if they can get the cash immediately.

 What is your net worth? No, I’m not asking a personal financial question. 
Rather, the question is what is included in your net worth? The standard definition of net worth is a financial metric that represents the total value of a person’s assets minus their total liabilities. In simpler terms, it’s what you own minus what you owe.
I don’t think it’s that simple. I view it as two calculations, estate net worth and practical net worth.

As autumn is upon us, and I observe my nice neighbors toil for hours on end, they are raking, blowing, vacuuming, etc., the millions of once beautiful leaves, alas, they are no longer attractive, just an enormous annoyance for the majority. I submit, as a former leaf raker, the following.
When investing, simpler is generally the correct option for millions of people not named “Buffett”, to wit, a 3 or even 2 fund portfolio would outperform a vast majority of more complicated accounts,

As a psychotherapist well-traveled in the talking cure from both sides of the consultant’s couch, I am no stranger to anxiety. And as a former financial advisor, I am well-versed in how it affects financial choices and in particular the decision to select active or passive funds.
Let’s take your friend Dennis, whose attitude toward investing has been shaped by many different and often conflicting factors. Not a completely naïve investor, he listens to inspirational money-making podcasts and watches the market opening on CNBC while brushing his teeth.

THE NEIGHBORING TOWNS of Nogales, Arizona, and Nogales, Mexico, figure prominently in the work of Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson, who—together with a colleague—won this year’s Nobel Prize in economics.
In their book Why Nations Fail, Acemoglu and Robinson explain that these two border towns are identical in almost every way—from demographics to geography to climate. But they differ in one key respect: Nogales on the American side of the border is prosperous, while its southern neighbor is not.

I am niece and POA for my aunt who will turn 97 in November.  I am also her sole beneficiary.  She is in a nearby assisted living facility which costs around 7200 per month. Social security, two RMD’s,  an employer created annuity and bank interest provide income. Has Medicare, Plan G secondary and Well Care Part D. I purchase personal supplies for her;  write monthly checks to charities she wants to support. She had no children.

Hi, looking for thoughts on managed payout funds. I’ve been test driving one for a few years and it seems to be doing a good job so far. T Rowe Price retirement income fund 2020. I made an initial investment and have been receiving a monthly payment in the 4.5% range (based on the 1 year return) and the balance seems to be growing about 5% a year as well with no further contributions. The fee is a tad high (.53) but other than that it seems to perform well so far.

I just made my annual trip to the bank to cash matured US savings bonds I purchased through payroll deduction thirty years ago. 
In the olden days it was simple – fill out a form at work and when you accumulated the purchase price for the bond value you designated, you received a bond in the mail. Because of the way pay periods worked, I received 13 a year.
When I mentioned to the young teller I had accumulated the bonds through payroll deductions she didn’t understand,

If you sometimes misplace your keys or eyeglasses because you are distracted, it could be normal behavior. But if that starts happening a lot more frequently as you age, or with items that you never used to misplace, that may be a sign of MCI.—Mild Cognitive Impairment.
In addition, if you are finding the tax forms more challenging, or having trouble organizing your bills, when you always accomplished those tasks easily, that too, can be a red flag.

I MAY NOT BE THE best source of retirement advice. After all, I’ve called myself semi-retired for a decade and yet, faced with a grim medical diagnosis, I continue to work far too hard. Moreover, even if I opt to fully retire—which is doubtful—cancer will likely ensure my retirement will be all too brief.
On the other hand, I do run a website devoted to retirement issues, and that means I spend a lot of time reading and thinking about the topic.