BEFORE 2022, OUR investments were held by multiple financial firms, more by chance than choice. Fidelity Investments was the 401(k) recordkeeper. My two individual stocks were held by separate transfer agents. My brokerage account was with Alight Financial. My two annuities and a small IRA were with RiverSource. It was a mess.

Each had different processes, websites with different functionality, and customer service that ranged from nonexistent to annoying. In one case, I couldn’t take a required minimum distribution online.

AS AN ENGINEER and a believer in keeping things running, I haven’t owned many automobiles during my lifetime. Instead, my focus has been on extending each one’s longevity.
Among the maintenance and repairs I’ve undertaken: oil changes, spark plug and wire replacements, carburetor cleaning and adjustment, belt and hose replacements, distributor and timing settings, brake replacements (disk and drum), master and slave brake cylinder repairs, clutch adjustment, alternator repair, radiator repair, heater core repair,

OVER THE PAST SEVEN years, HumbleDollar has become my professional life’s passion. Cancer means I have maybe another year in me—and then it’ll be up to you. My hope: The site will have a life beyond me.
On the site’s homepage, just below the latest articles, you’ll find a new feature dubbed Forum. Will HumbleDollar have a lively future, rather than fading into a dusty collection of old articles? That all depends on whether readers and writers embrace the Forum,

IN AN EARLIER ARTICLE, I detailed how Charter Communications wasn’t so much my internet provider as my extortionist. I thought I’d dealt with it all in an equitable manner. But then, exactly two years after our relationship began, Spectrum abruptly increased the price it charged for internet access by 67%, from $29.99 a month to $49.99. I guess we didn’t have a relationship so much as a contract.
While I didn’t take too kindly to that,

I VIVIDLY REMEMBER my father explaining how small sums of money could grow exponentially. Using the example of a penny that doubled every day for a month, he showed how it could grow to more than $10 million. Indeed, as Albert Einstein didn’t say, “The most powerful force in the universe is compound interest.”
Many authors tout the benefits of saving beginning at a young age. Radio personality Dave Ramsey and his daughter Rachel Cruze,

AS WE GET OLDER, some of us have less patience and complain more. Maybe it’s because we’re frustrated. Many everyday activities become more difficult to perform as we age. As a 73-year-old, I probably have a shorter fuse when dealing with life’s daily hassles.
My friend Bill might also fall into the cranky category. He was complaining about how terrible customer service has become since the pandemic. “Prices keep rising, but we keep getting less in return,” he ranted.

I WAS INSPIRED BY Rick Connor and other HumbleDollar contributors to sign up for the AARP’s volunteer-run Tax-Aide program. After completing 48 hours of training at a local college and passing the required tests, I volunteered two days a week at two different senior centers. I completed my first tax season in April.

Two clients, with whom I spent extra time, stood out. The first was a widow in her late 60s whose husband had always handled their finances.

WHAT WAS MY DAD thinking when he asked me to help him and my mom with their finances? Did he expect me to give him money? Maybe.
Up until that moment, my dad handled the family finances. Both he and Mom were retired, though my mom still worked occasionally as an adjunct professor. My mom assumed things were okay, though I had my suspicions.
One day, I saw a credit card bill that showed a large outstanding balance,

MY TAX RETURN IS too complicated by far, and yours probably is, too. I lose hours looking up figures online, then toggling over to TurboTax to enter them in different boxes. It doesn’t help that I tend to pile, rather than file, important financial papers.
I take the job in stages because it’s so boring. I’ve also learned not to file early because late-arriving mail can upset my math. It happened again this year,

SPENDING ISN’T something I like to do. It doesn’t bring me lasting joy. I prefer just to buy what I need.
For many folks, spending involves borrowing. If spending is your thing, incurring interest charges on credit card debt and car loans probably isn’t a big deal. But to me, borrowing to buy something means I’m overspending. If I can’t afford to pay cash, I shouldn’t buy it.
Borrowing has been the downfall of many.

RETURNING TO NEW YORK for the summer was out of the question. It was spring of my freshman year, and I wasn’t about to acquiesce to my parents’ wishes, not after the whirlwind of college life that included an introduction to pot and dating non-Jewish girls from small Midwestern towns. I didn’t give much thought to what I’d actually do. Maybe meeting girls taking summer school in The Grill or driving all the way to Miami and party,

“SELL THE SIZZLE, BOYS.” With those words from the sales manager at a big insurance company, the 2003 class of newly minted registered representatives were off to the races, extolling the virtues of the firm’s products to family, friends and anyone else who would listen.
I still vividly remember that moment. Yes, I was there.
To become registered reps, the 2003 class had to pass the necessary exams to get a Series 6 securities license and a license to sell life and health insurance.

MY WIFE AND I HAVE divided household duties over our 36 years of marriage. I’m responsible for the upkeep of anything mechanical. Lori has the last word on almost everything else. In essence, my wife presides over functions that make the household a “home,” while I take credit and blame for keeping the nuts and bolts operational.
I also hold primary responsibility for trafficking the family’s money. I pay bills, ensure accounts are reconciled,

THE ONLY DREAM I HAD for my son was that he’d get a job. To most parents, this probably seems like small thinking. Why wasn’t I dreaming of him walking across the stage after earning his medical degree, or walking down the aisle with his new bride, or the joy of him holding his first child? Because that would not be his reality.
It took me a while to accept this. Based on my life,

YOU’VE HEARD OF asset allocation. But how good are you at asset location?

On that one, I’d have to give myself a failing grade, but I hope to pass the test someday. I’ve realized I could save myself hundreds of dollars a year in taxes by relocating much of my safe money to tax-advantaged accounts, while being more aggressive with stocks in my taxable account. Those moves would leave me with the same overall stock allocation,