BONDS MAY NOT BE the most interesting investment, but they generate their fair share of debate. Especially after 2022’s rout, when total-bond market funds dropped 13%, many investors wonder how best to proceed. An open question: Does it make more sense to buy individual bonds or opt for bond funds?
To answer this question, let’s start with a simple example. Suppose you’d invested in Vanguard Group’s total-bond market fund (symbol: BND) on Jan. 1,

RETIREMENT BRINGS with it a host of questions. The No. 1 question: Do we have enough for a financially comfortable retirement?
It’s an issue that’s no longer relevant to me, but it’s certainly relevant to my wife Elaine and to almost all HumbleDollar readers. But that fundamental question is just the beginning.
There’s a host of other retirement questions we ought to ask ourselves—about whether we have the right investment mix, how we’ll spend our time,

I RECENTLY READ AN article by Anna D. Banks, an executive coach and human behavior consultant, who talks about the importance of cultivating friendships in retirement. She discusses embracing new activities, volunteering, reconnecting with old friends, using technology, attending social events, and being open-minded about forming friendships with people from other backgrounds.
All this got me thinking about HumbleDollar.
The Breakfast Club is a coming-of-age movie from 1985—a movie,

WHEN MY SON STARTED graduate school seven years ago, we enticed him to save money by living at home. The catch: He’d need a set of wheels. Lori and I offered to help, provided he was open to a used vehicle. He agreed, and off we went to the nearest Honda dealership.
We were greeted in the parking lot by an enthusiastic salesperson. He invited us inside to chat, and promptly asked us what monthly car payment we were seeking.

I HATED SCHOOL. There, I said it. From reading the bios of other HumbleDollar contributors, it appears most, if not all, enjoyed their academic experience. Many have gone on to acquire advanced degrees. I, too, went on to acquire post-college education, but only when my employer paid.
But the best education I received wasn’t found in the classroom, but in day-to-day life. It came from observing what others did or didn’t do.

AMONG THE FINANCIAL topics grabbing investors’ attention, inflation for many years was near the bottom of the list. In fact, between 2010 and 2019, inflation averaged just 1.8% a year, and the Federal Reserve was looking to lift that rate. Throughout 2019, the Fed lowered its benchmark interest rate multiple times, citing inflation that was running below its preferred level of 2%.

But just a few years later, in the midst of the pandemic, all that changed.

WHO HAS TIME TO die? I never realized death would be so busy.
I thought I had my financial affairs in good order. But in the two months since my cancer diagnosis, I’ve made countless financial tweaks, mostly with a view to making things easier after my death for my wife Elaine and my two children.
Here are just some of the steps I’ve taken:

I took my two checking accounts—my personal account and the business account for HumbleDollar—and made Elaine the joint account holder with rights of survivorship.

I’M NOT PARTICULARLY well traveled. I’ll turn age 65 at the end of this year and I’ve never been to a Caribbean island. I’ve never been to Hawaii or Bermuda. Heck, I’ve never even been on a cruise.

I’ve never been to Canada or Alaska. I’ve been to a couple of the U.S. National Parks, but have yet to visit the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone and Yosemite. 

I’ve been to Europe quite a few times,

WHEN I REACHED AGE 70, I felt a sense of accomplishment, a bit of weird pride. At 75, I had a similar feeling. But when I turned 80 last year, things felt different. It was like I was an overachiever. Suddenly, the future wasn’t as long.

For many years, I’d searched for a high school friend who’d been my navigator at sports car rallies, but with no luck. Then, recently, I stumbled across his obituary.

IN RICH DAD POOR DAD, author Robert Kiyosaki touts the virtues of owning real estate as a way to reach financial independence. He explains the difference between how his father handled money and invested in his education, versus his friend’s dad, who gained his wealth by investing in businesses.
There’s controversy over whether this is a true tale or just a literary device to explain how to invest in real estate.

SUPPOSE YOU WANTED to construct as simple an investment portfolio as possible. What would it look like?
Many argue that, for stock market exposure, you could go with a single fund, one that tracks the S&P 500 index. The S&P index offers broad diversification and tax efficiency, plus it includes the largest and most successful companies, making it a popular choice. But it’s not perfect.
The S&P 500, like many market indexes, holds stocks in proportion to their size,

I BEGAN INVESTING in the stock market in 2007. Within a year, I’d lost 60%. My response was like that of almost any human: I stopped investing.
That’s what happens to most people who start investing at the height of a bubble. They invest in something when everybody else does. And when everything comes crashing down, the pain of loss is so bad they swear they’ll never invest again. 
While I missed out on huge returns in the years that followed the financial crisis,

GETTING OLD CAN, after a while, get really old. Here are 30 ways I’m reminded that I’m no longer a spring chicken.

Life insurance salespeople burst into laughter when I inquire about a policy.
My house is so warm I can cook without using the oven.
As I walk past the neighborhood funeral parlor, the undertaker’s eyes light up.
Decades ago, all my doctors were stern, serious men. Now, my primary care physician is a woman with a great sense of humor—who was born after I retired.

EXPERTS OFTEN ARGUE that tax-avoidance strategies shouldn’t drive our financial plans, especially as Congress is forever fiddling with the tax rules. And yet many of us end up making decisions based on federal tax policy, which is loaded with incentives designed to change behavior and advance social goals.
That’s certainly true for my wife and me. Despite the tax code’s many provisions—and its 75,000 pages of complexity—four big-picture tax considerations have largely shaped how our financial lives have turned out,

MY FAVORITE ROCK group is the Beach Boys. I particularly like their song Wouldn’t It Be Nice. It’s about young love, and how life would be so wonderful if only they were married and lived together.
I believe that phrase “wouldn’t it be nice” has been voiced by most of us at one time or another. The notion: If things were different, all would be good.
Unfortunately, few people display the persistence needed to turn their dreams into reality.