“I CAN’T GET DIVORCED.”
“But Randy, I thought you guys were moving toward one.”
“I mean, I can’t afford to. I just went to see my accountant and a lawyer.”
“And?”
“Remember, California is a community property state. Even though I made almost all our money, Sarah’s entitled to half of it. I know she was dedicated to raising Harris all those years, but wow, Steve, I’m cooked.”
“But you were such a sought-after internist.

LET ME PLAY THE contrarian. A dominant narrative today is that—compared to earlier generations—younger workers are both economically disadvantaged and less inclined to do anything about it.
Such notions have been bandied about for at least 2,000 years. Horace wrote that “the beardless youth… does not foresee what is useful, squandering his money.” For a more modern take, check out these comments from HumbleDollar contributors and readers lamenting the financial plight of today’s younger generation:

Company “loyalty to employees in large measure no longer exists.”
“Young people are forced to contend with the twin challenges of relatively low salaries and high student loan burdens.”
Baby boomers are “fortunate in a way that’s nearly impossible for Americans today.”
“Many workers are strapped today,

YOU COULD CALL ME a 529 superfan. The college savings plans helped me put my two kids through college. Their state and federal tax advantages cut the exorbitant cost of college just enough so we didn’t have to borrow for our two kids’ education.
Which makes it surprising that I knew the man who created the 529 plan—but I didn’t realize he’d fathered them.
I covered Senator Bob Graham of Florida as a newspaper reporter in Washington in the 1990s,

MOM AND DAD WERE products of the Great Depression. I feel like it affected every single day of their lives. Despite their difficult upbringing, they made good financial decisions that allowed them to live comfortably. Part of it was because Dad worked for the same company for almost 42 years. His pension paid him more than I earned in my first job as an engineer.
When Mom died in August 2004, she was almost 84.

JANE IS A SINGLE woman in her 80s, sharp and friendly. She’s a former state employee with a solid retirement income. Unfortunately, she’s suffered some health issues in the past few years that have forced her to make serious changes.
I became aware of her issues when she came into the local AARP TaxAide site where I volunteer. She was the last client of the day, and the other scheduled client had rescheduled, so she got our full attention.

MICK JAGGER IS AMONG the most successful entertainers of our time. But despite his wealth, Jagger tells his eight children that they’ll need to make their own way. Similarly, Shaquille O’Neal tells his children that they can earn some of his millions, but it won’t necessarily be given to them. Actor Jeff Goldblum puts it more bluntly: “Row your own boat,” he’s said. Other public figures have echoed a similar theme.
Why do these wealthy folks take such a seemingly uncharitable view?

WHAT WILL BE YOUR legacy? This is something I’ve given a lot of thought to—right down to the funeral instructions.
Something I’ve learned through hard experience: One of the greatest gifts we can give to our families is a well-organized and well-communicated estate plan. They’ll appreciate it when the time comes.
Too many of us wait until an emergency to try to get our affairs in order. A severe illness or death is stressful enough.

I’M A SUCKER FOR those “10 best” lists. But are they accurate?
What if you had the best job in a poorly rated company? Would that be better than the worst job in a well-rated company? What if you move to a bad neighborhood in a well-rated city? Would that be better than an excellent neighborhood in a poorly rated community?
You get my point. Even among the worst, you can find some real gems.

I’M TYPICALLY FRUGAL and financially cautious. But this past January, I became reckless. No, it wasn’t love, at least not the ordinary kind. Rather, I saw a photograph and made an offer of $48,000 on a “park unit” located 1,000 miles from home.
Park unit, I learned, is a technical term for a variant of what I’d call a mobile home. My first task was to look up the term, so I’d know what I was offering to buy.

DURING A RECENT VISIT to retired friends in Florida, I learned about YouTube TV, a streaming service from Google with more than 85 channels. I decided to try it when my wife and I returned home. I initially kept my TV trial private. I wasn’t ready to introduce the idea to my wife, who doesn’t like change and would rather just stick with cable TV.
I thought YouTube TV worked well. I still had to sort a few things out,

EVER SINCE I RETIRED, mornings are the best part of my day. I always go for a long, quiet walk before sunrise. The only person I usually see is Mark, walking his dog. It’s a great way to start my day. By the time I get home, my wife is up and we have breakfast together.
Last week, I had coffee with Eric, Rob and Craig. We met at a Starbucks in the neighborhood where I used to live.

IN MY EARLY 50s, when retirement began looking like a viable option, I started thinking seriously about what my life might look like after I stopped working as an engineer at a nearby nuclear power plant. Earlier in my career, I’d imagined living off my pension and not working at all. But by my 50s, I wasn’t so sure. I felt retirement could be a time to explore other work opportunities.
My favorite hardware store is less than a mile from my house.

I’M NOT THE SMARTEST guy. That used to bother me when I was in school. The smart guys were making their teachers happy. They were named to the National Honor Society. They went to the best colleges. They seemed to have it all.
As I got older, and began to make more and more decisions on my own, I had to come up with a method that would allow me to make good decisions,

I HAVE ONLY A VAGUE idea of how much I spend. I figured it was time to find out.
I’ve never budgeted because I’ve never seen the need. From my early 20s until three-plus years ago, I kept an iron grip on my wallet, spending with the utmost care and saving great heaps of money. Over those 35 years of fierce frugality, I don’t feel like I deprived myself, but I do feel like I thought about money far too much—and tracking my spending would only have made that worse.

I’M SLOWLY LEARNING not to let frugality prevent me from doing the things I love.
One of my favorite pastimes is cooking outdoors during the heat of the summer. Nothing pairs better with steelhead trout than a homegrown, freshly picked Hungarian hot wax pepper, softened by the grill’s intense heat. The aroma of the pepper’s lightly scorched skin, complete with grill marks, is enough to make any mouth water. Simply pick the largest, throw it directly on the burner and wait patiently for the magic to occur.