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,

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?

FOR YEARS, THERE’S been growing concern about the top-heavy nature of the U.S. market. Today, just 10 stocks account for 35% of the S&P 500’s total value. And while the largest technology stocks—dubbed the Magnificent Seven—have done exceedingly well in recent years, their extreme outperformance is making people nervous.
Observers are comparing today’s market to past periods when certain groups of stocks appeared similarly flawless. Consider the late 1990s, when companies such as General Electric dominated the market.

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),

When investors talk about dollar-cost averaging, they often confuse two strategies—one widely used, the other more controversial.
Do you regularly add new savings to your investment portfolio? During our working years, many of us do that. When we get our paycheck, we slice off a few dollars and toss them into our employer’s 401(k) or 403(b). We might call this dollar-cost averaging (DCA), but it’s less a strategy we consciously adopt and more a function of how we get paid.

I’m getting ready to take my annual RMD (minus QCDs), which seems like a good time to take a look at re-balancing my portfolio. My stock percentage has crept up from 50% to 53%, and while I’ll take my RMD from my stock funds, I’m not going to spend it, so it will be going into Total International (VTIAX) and Total US (VTSAX) funds in taxable.
About 10% of my funds are in a CD ladder and a money market fund in taxable.

IS IT WORTH OWNING international stocks? There’s far from universal agreement. The traditional argument for investing outside the U.S. is straightforward: diversification—since domestic and international stocks don’t move in lockstep, and sometimes diverge significantly.
At the same time, however, international stocks have lagged behind their U.S. counterparts for so many years that it’s been trying the patience of even the most tenacious investors. Domestic stocks have outpaced international stocks in eight of the past 10 years.

When I moved from London to New York City in 1986, I didn’t have a job lined up. But after a panicked search, I landed a position at Forbes magazine—as a so-called reporter, the title given to lowly fact-checkers. Almost two years later, I escaped that drudgery when I was promoted to staff writer and assigned the mutual-funds beat.
At the time, the fund world was a cesspool of dubious practices and misinformation, which was bad for investors but good for curious journalists.

The Beatles got it right. If your life has been anything like mine, it’s been a “long, winding road.” It’s undoubtedly been an interesting journey, fraught with more health and relationship hardship than you had planned for. Chastened by the vicissitudes of life, you’re ready to head home and write the last chapter.
Retirement beckons and you’re smug. After all, you saved diligently, invested wisely and amassed a nest egg far in excess of what you had ever dreamed possible.

I inherited a considerable number of old 25 cent coins, pre-1965 vintage so they have much more value in silver content.  I don’t want to leave the coins to my kids to deal with but is now a good time to sell for cash, trade for gold or silver 1 oz. coins or bars.  Trying to decide if this current trend continues or if the next move is more downward.  Any suggestions???

Hello Everyone,
Although I’ve read a lot about the benefits of maintaining a varied portfolio to reduce risk, I’m not entirely sure how to balance my assets. I now have a combination of stocks, bonds, and cash because I’m relatively new to investing, but I’d like to improve my strategy.
While I’ve heard about a number of strategies, such as the 60/40 rule (60 percent equities and 40 percent bonds) and age-based allocation changes, I’m interested to know what has been most successful for other members of this group.

WHY IS IT THAT GREAT companies don’t always make great investments? This is a conundrum that’s long puzzled investors because it so clearly flies in the face of intuition.
Indeed, today’s market leaders—companies like Apple, Amazon and Microsoft—are impressive businesses, and their stocks have delivered equally impressive performance, so much so that they and their peers have been dubbed the “Magnificent Seven.” The others in this group are Google parent Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta,