FREE NEWSLETTER

Managed Payout Funds

malba2321457f4006  |  Oct 26, 2024

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.

Read More

I thought I was being patriotic. Now I’m bonded to a bureaucracy

R Quinn  |  Oct 26, 2024

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,

Read More

It’s Better to Know

Marjorie Kondrack  |  Oct 26, 2024

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.

Read More

Before You Quit

Jonathan Clements  |  Oct 26, 2024

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.

Read More

Dazed and Confused.

Michael l Berard  |  Oct 25, 2024

I have just read in the WSJ and Barron’s that a majority of active bond funds are outperforming passive index funds. I do not understand. I thought that ,thanks to HumbleDollar,that a vast majority of active funds do not beat the indexes, for reasons we are all aware of.
Please, is this an apples to apples comparison? If it isn’ t, would it be that a respected paper is omitting crucial information? Jonathon told me a few weeks ago that itis probably because of lower credit quality,etc.,

Read More

Eyeing the End

Jonathan Clements  |  Oct 25, 2024

Five months ago, I was loath to take any sort of medication. Today, I have a pillbox.
In fact, the way things are going, I fear I’ll soon be declared a superfund site by the Environmental Protection Agency. A seemingly endless stream of chemicals pours into my body, most notably during my every-three-week chemo and immunotherapy sessions. What about the rest of the time? Depending on the day, I might down three or four pills in the morning and one or two in the afternoon.

Read More

Prefer the Original

Richard Quinn  |  Oct 24, 2024

MEDICARE GETS A LOT of criticism these days. Some view it as socialized medicine. Others fret over the hospital trust fund, which covers Medicare Part A and is expected to run out of money by 2036.
Meanwhile, some policymakers want to cut back on traditional Medicare and promote privatization through Medicare Advantage plans, otherwise known as Part C. That reflects the philosophy that health care costs, access and quality will be improved if we obtain health care as we do other goods,

Read More

Growth Investing or Dividend Investing in Retirement?

L H  |  Oct 23, 2024

As we enter retirement I’ve been wondering if we should change our investing choices.
Our situation is that we will have enough income from two SS accounts and three pensions to cover our expenses. None of which have cola’s attached.
Do the majority of you HD readers in retirement invest in dividend paying stocks/ETFs//funds for additional income? Or do you stay invested in the overall stock market to accumulate more and then sell it to proceed income when needed?

Read More

Quinn’s $14,000,000

R Quinn  |  Oct 23, 2024

When I was a boy I had an uncle who researched the Quinn family history. He told a family legend about a ancestor who emigrated to Australia from Ireland – more like transported for stealing Trevelyan’s corn. 
In any case, he supposedly became extremely rich even displaying a five carat diamond ring. Ever since I heard this story I have had a recurring dream that I receive a letter from a law firm in Australia saying it has been searching for me for decades as I am the last relative of this fellow –

Read More

Updating by Addition

Jeff Bond  |  Oct 23, 2024

MY WIFE AND I purchased a 1942 bungalow when we got married in 2013. It met many of our criteria: price, location, spacious backyard, access to greenways and more. But the place also had drawbacks—including the one described below. 
The entryway to the house included a climb up seven steps to a stoop. The stoop was small, large enough for only one person to stand while opening the storm door. The only protection from the weather was an old canvas awning.

Read More

Coming Home

steve abramowitz  |  Oct 23, 2024

There’s a world where I can go
And tell my troubles to
In my room, in my room
The Beach Boys, 1963
Alberta and I just returned from what for me was a restorative and emotionally powerful two-week trip to New York. No, not because she got to see seven movies at the International Film Festival in the Hamptons or four shows in the city. But she took pictures of me standing in front of five of the commercial buildings my family owned some fifty years ago.

Read More

Health Is Wealth

David Gartland  |  Oct 22, 2024

A FEW YEARS AGO, I came across an announcement for a blueberry festival in Hammonton, New Jersey. My wife is always up for doing something different, so we made our way there one summer day.
It turned out to be a great way to spend the day and learn the history of New Jersey’s blueberry industry. The industry was founded by a woman looking to expand the crops on her family’s farm around the turn of the 20th century.

Read More

Let’s do the math on Social Security- my simplistic math not guaranteed and possibly flawed, but with a good end result for us – I hope. RDQ

R Quinn  |  Oct 21, 2024

I make no recommendations, no suggestions, no nothing, but ask what people conclude for themselves. Does the following make any sense under any scenario?
I used the SSA Quick Calculator and the SSA life expectancy table
Worker with Social Security average earnings of $75,000 
Starting worker only benefits at age 70: $2578 per month 
Starting worker only benefits at age 66: $1923 per month
Monthly additional benefit starting at age 70: $665
Accumulated benefits not claimed from age 66 to 70: $91,824 
Estimated value of age 66 monthly benefit if invested monthly to age 70 at 7% per year: $108,751.03
Estimated monthly income from accumulated assets using 4% rule: $362.50
Life expectancy at age 70: Male 13.69 years.

Read More

Advertisements, Commercials, etc.

Michael l Berard  |  Oct 21, 2024

As I keep getting older, I strive mightily to at least slow down the process, alas,  all of my heroic efforts are in vain, those darn birthdays just keep on coming, like clockwork, and I have finally thrown in the towel and accept it.
However, as I age, I find myself getting increasingly annoyed at things that just waste so much time. Specifically, ads of any type, and at the top of the list are  pop up ads,

Read More

Retirement Pets

Ken Cutler  |  Oct 21, 2024

I have a decision to make over the next year or two. Money is certainly involved, but it’s not primarily a financial decision.
Currently, our daughter is living with us while she saves up money to buy her own townhouse or condo. She’s a huge lover of cats (understatement of the year). A few years ago, I noticed the jet-black feral cat that hung out across the street at our neighbors’ home was carrying a kitten around by the neck.

Read More
SHARE