I’m breaking up with my bank, my credit cards, and my mutual fund company.
My reasons were influenced by three things.

Many years back Roy and Pauline came to me for tax prep. Though not wealthy, they had about two dozen disparate investments in everything from amusement parks to oil wells. My first thought was that if Roy died first, Pauline was going to have a difficult time dealing with this veritable spaghetti bowl of K1s.

We need words of wisdom dealing with the stock markets.

FIFTY YEARS AGO, when the first index funds were getting started, critics wasted no time attacking the idea. They called it “un-American” and a “sure path to mediocrity.”
But over time, indexing has grown to the point where it now accounts for more than half of all U.S. mutual fund assets. Last year, research firm Morningstar declared that “index funds have officially won.” But this victory seems to have only increased the level of criticism.

This is not intended to be a political post. Indeed, I could easily have written these words four years ago, when Republicans were fretting over Joe Biden’s election.
Political partisans often freak out when their favored party loses at the ballot box, prompting them to take rash financial actions. But with Donald Trump set to return to the Oval Office on Monday, I’d advise sitting on your hands. The fact is, presidents are not omnipotent—and can face swift punishment if their actions unnerve the population.

I just read an interesting article by Christine Benz of Morningstar. Each year at this time she takes a look at major financial firms projections for future market returns.
Although I don’t pay any attention to year end individuals’ market prognostications this article did catch my eye. She found that these financial firms have reduced their return expectations for US stocks. Every firm in her survey is expecting higher returns from non-US stocks than domestic over the next 10 years,

I’m wondering if there’s data on how much dividends for total market or S&P500 go up or down on average during bull vs bear market. As a retiree, I rely on my dividends and interest for my living expenses. It seems somewhat arbitrary to just hold 5-7 years of total living expenses (minus SS/pension) when in fact, dividends would like still happen even in a market downturn?

EARLY LAST WEEK, The Wall Street Journal ran an article with the headline “Why This Frothy Market Has Me Scared.” The author cited a number of indicators that have him worried, including a survey of investor optimism that’s at a 35-year high. Investors, the Journal said, are feeling “euphoric,” and that’s often a bad sign.
So, as we head into year-end, it’s worth taking stock of where things stand. The stock market has returned nearly 25% so far this year.

IMAGINE TAKING DOLLAR bills and inserting them into a shredder. This is how you might think about a concept that economists call “deadweight loss.” As its name suggests, a deadweight loss occurs when there’s an irrevocable loss of economic output.
Deadweight losses can occur under a variety of circumstances. Among them: when tariffs are imposed. It’s for that reason that the incoming administration’s tariff plan has raised concerns. But how worried should we be?

In late November, I wrote an article that encouraged readers to stick with foreign stocks. I suspected the article would receive a mixed reaction. I wasn’t disappointed.
Meanwhile, there’s a move afoot to put out a compilation of my old Wall Street Journal columns, which will likely appear after my death. The book’s royalties will be used to fund what I hope will be a unique financial-literacy effort geared toward young adults from less-affluent families.

I was just reading an article on net worth on Boldin (previously New Retirement), and it got me wondering how often this is performed, and why, by my fellow HumbleDollar readers.
As for me, as I have written before, I calculate this number quarterly because we’re living off of our retirement assets until, most likely, we turn 70 in 3-4 years. If our retirement assets sink to an admittedly somewhat random level, we would claim my wife’s (the lower income’s) benefit to stretch our savings.

On 11/12/2024 John Rekenthaler’s last regularly scheduled column for Morningstar was published.  The column shares his thoughts about his career, the future and a self described tale of triumph in moving from full time writing in the financial arena to the retirement of his choosing which may include some writing as he plans to continue to submit articles to Morningstar when a topic interests him.
I have enjoyed his regular columns, I look forward to any future ones he graces us with and will miss his writing when those future articles eventually ends.

IN THE EARLY 1980s, I was a bachelor in Brooklyn. Unskilled at cooking, I didn’t eat at home unless my food came out of a cereal box or snack bag. For regular meals, I depended on a small neighborhood diner.
It was open for breakfast, lunch and dinner seven days a week. On weekends, it was my main source of food. Like so many diners I’ve visited since, it offered complete meals—soup, main course and dessert—for one price.

Mine are:
1) John Bogle- founder of Vanguard
When I was beginning my investing journey I discovered this icon. His sage advice such as costs matter, and most investors can’t beat the market so just use index funds led me to financial independence and a comfortable retirement. Also there is most likely no individual who has saved individual investors more money saving because of his push to lower  investment fees.
2) Christine Benz- Personal investment author at Morningstar
When I read her articles on bucket portfolios,

 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.

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.,