I TURN AGE 62 IN January—which means I could claim Social Security retirement benefits and perhaps collect at least a few monthly checks before I succumb to cancer.
But is that the smartest strategy? One of my top priorities is ensuring Elaine is financially comfortable after I’m gone, so I want to make sure she gets as much from Social Security as possible.
We got married in late May, a few days after I was told I had lung cancer that had metastasized to my brain and elsewhere.

Even flying by the seat of one’s pants can work. As Nike says, Just do It!
I claim no expertise in investing, and rightly so. I read and listen about the basics like diversification, bonds vs stock and such, but not much more. 
To me the most important thing is to save and invest and keep doing it which I have done since I was eighteen – 63 years.  Probably more expertise would have meant larger fund balances,

I hate the debate over when to claim Social Security—because it seems to be dominated by folks who fall into one of three camps.
First, there are those who have already claimed benefits, and who insist that their choice—whatever it was—is the right one and that others should follow their fine example. Second, there are those who think keeling over early is retirement’s biggest risk, so claiming at age 62 is the only way to go.

This may be a stretch for the forum but I’m going to throw it out there and hope it helps someone.
When my first wife told me that I held my breath while sleeping I didn’t think much about it. Then Chris (new wife) told me that I stop breathing and probably have apnea, and should do a sleep study.
So I did. And I hated it. Dozens of wires attached all over my body. The worst of them on my head,

WHO’S YOUR FINANCIAL hero? This should be someone whose qualities and character lend themselves to emulation in your own financial life.
Let’s set some ground rules here for picking a financial hero. First, your hero probably shouldn’t be the usual suspect: Warren Buffett. While Buffett is certainly a very successful investor, the investment game that he’s playing is very different from the one most of the rest of us are.
The same goes for folks like Elon Musk,

Jonathan asked what advice I give my children related to their retirement.
Our children are ages 54, 53, 50 and 49.
I don’t give our children advice about retirement planning or money and I don’t expect to ever be in a position to do so. But even if I was, giving any advice requires detailed knowledge of all the related facts which I don’t have.  I will do my best to answer a question if asked. 

I WAS FORTUNATE to find enough time during my working years to pursue various hobbies and other personal interests. My part-time work arrangement allowed me to have four-day weekends. I’d hoped that, after retirement, I would have even more time to take on personal projects.
But surprisingly, I found myself with less free time. Not only was I failing to start new projects, such as writing software for the website of the nonprofit I cofounded,

Jonathan was interviewed by Christine Benz on The Long View podcast produced by Morningstar which can be found anywhere podcast are found or here:
Jonathan Clements: ‘Life Is Full of Small Pleasures’ | Morningstar

MOTIVATIONAL SPEAKER Jim Rohn said, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” His contention: We should carefully pick the folks who surround us because, over time, we’ll become more like them.
Recent research offers some support for this idea. For instance, if we have a close friend who becomes obese, one study found we’re 57% more likely to become obese as well. If that’s so, we might also want to cozy up to skinny friends who count exercise as fun recreation.

My wife is retired and I will be retiring at the end of the year.  With pensions and SS we will have all of our expenses covered.         We have 300k in IRA accounts.  (50% Roth,50% Traditional) .  I don’t like the idea of buying an annuity so I am considering investing in Dividend stocks for additional income and reinvesting the income until the time would possibly come in the future that we might choose to use the income.

The year was 1988 and I was sitting across the table from my employer and his attorney, I was not a happy camper when they proposed to freeze the defined benefit (DB) pension. Instead, they would divert their contribution into a new 401k plan. I had been a pension trustee representing the union’s interest and had some awareness of some funding issues looming. Most employers are desperate to freeze those DB plans in order to escape the financial liability that can plague their bottom line.

I talked about my first paying job, at the local public library, in Learned From Less. I discussed experiences from my second job in Not Long Remembered. My third job, as a temporary factory worker, also made a big impression on me.
During the second part of the summer after my college freshman year, I signed up with a temporary employment agency. They would call me most weekday mornings to offer work assignments at pay slightly above minimum wage.

I posted the following as a comment on another forum topic, but I think maybe it merits a stand-alone conversation. In my time as a tax preparer I witnessed at least a dozen instances where large refunds were held up either by the IRS or the state.
I have mentioned this cautionary warning before regarding over withholding. A client had about $8k withheld from a $10k distribution. Her situation changed one year and she was due an $8k tax refund.

BENJAMIN GRAHAM was Warren Buffett’s teacher and mentor. He also ran an investment fund that specialized in uncovering demonstrably undervalued stocks.
One day in 1926, Graham was at his desk, reading through a government report on railroads, when he noticed a potentially important footnote. It referenced assets held by a number of oil pipeline companies. But there wasn’t a lot of detail, so Graham boarded a train to Washington and found his way to the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC),

There are alternatives to the 4% rule that are not complicated. Here are three ways to calculate your first-year spending rate. All the calculations show the percentage of your investment assets so you can compare them against each other and the 4% rule.
The first one is from the Society of Actuaries:
Retirement age / 20 / 100
At 65 the calculation would be 65 / 20 / 100 = 3.25% and if you retire at 75,