Behavior

Over the years I have mentioned some of this before, but the perception of unfairness and complaining about what others have is getting worse in my view. Did I and others in my generation have everything easier because we were born in the 1940s?
True I wasn’t burdened with student loans, but on the other hand I never had the full college experience and most of my night school was paid by the GI Bill.  I was never burdened by credit card debt,

The Tension Worth Keeping
Andrew Clements wrote an excellent piece about growing up in Bangladesh and the idea of “enough.” I’d add this: some have earned great sums, yet decided—quite intentionally—what “enough” would be for them.
We sometimes talk as if there are two kinds of people: those who pursue wealth and those who give it away.
History suggests a third category—those who do both, and do both seriously.
There have always been men and women who earned great sums and gave great sums.

In 1966, our family moved from Richmond, England, to Maryland after my father accepted a position with the World Bank—an opportunity too good to turn down. His early work took him across Africa, but in 1972 he was assigned to Bangladesh for what was meant to be a two year posting. It became four. For three young boys and our four year old sister, it proved to be an experience that stayed with us for life.

BEFORE WE GET into it, a brief word. We lost Jonathan last year, and those of us who followed his work felt it more than we perhaps expected.  He had a saying that I always liked – that there are really only twenty stories in personal finance, and the financial industry spends most of its time telling them on repeat in slightly different hats. He was right, of course. He usually was.
It struck me that a fitting tribute might be to take his core principles and do something with them,

WHEN PAUL EHRLICH’S obituary appeared a few weeks ago, it came and went without much notice. But during his lifetime, he was enormously influential.
By training, Ehrlich was a biologist, but he was most well known for his 1968 book, The Population Bomb. It opened with this dire prediction: “The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death.”
In his writings and speeches over the years,

The up/down vote system on HD seems to generate a surprising amount of heat for something that’s essentially just two triangles. But I’m less interested in the usual back-and-forth from the vocal few, wouldn’t it be cool to know what the silent majority actually thinks?
So here’s a little experiment in wonderful irony: use the arrows to vote about the arrows. No comment needed, no essay required.
⬆️ if you’re pro-arrows. ⬇️ if you’d happily see the back of them.

I find it sad that several  of the women who were long time writers and commentators on HD have not been heard from recently.
I miss their commentary and challenging points of view. Just because you don’t agree or don’t like questions is no reason to leave us. I hope.
We need to be taken to task sometimes. To be challenged.
So, if you are still reading HD, come back to us and comment. If you read HD,

My recent Friday Thoughts article on Linkedin.
The past few weeks have deepened an anxiety that already weighs heavily on so many of us. War. Rising prices. Relentless layoffs. Job applications met with silence.
In my post-retirement life of volunteering and coaching, here is what I am seeing and hearing every day:

Low-income families struggling to pay rent, put food on the table, and simply feel safe.
Middle-income families — employed, but gripped by fear about their jobs,

It’s not your typical prescription, it’s not even the creation of a biotech company. My favorite med is a product of those crazy Generation Xers. No, not medicinal gummies, I’m talking about the chill pill, as in, “take a chill pill”, “chill out”, “chill dude” and etc. The chill pill helps control my blood pressure, and probably contributes to good health in other ways as well. 
I’m not perfect, but I try. Earlier today,

My wife Suzie and I took the grandkids into Belfast on the train recently to watch the St Patrick’s Day parade and join in the craic; we all had a great time. I even had a pint of Guinness 0.0 to comply with my abstinence for Lent. When the barkeep handed my pint over, he uttered the phrase “Go n-éirí an t-ádh leat,” and I responded in kind.
That old Irish phrase roughly translates into English as “may luck rise with you.”

AS A PHYSICAL therapist, I’ve spent a large slice of each work day teaching and encouraging patients as they exercise their way to better health. Along with other elements of treatment, each patient pays for a custom exercise program tailored for their specific problem.
These are folks looking for a way past the debilitating effects of injury or disease. Even so, many of them find it hard to follow my plea to “do your exercises”.

On January 1, 2004, a friend of mine was 46 years old. His IRA balance stood at $3,055.
He admitted he’d been late to the retirement game. “Beyond scared” might be more accurate. Reality had caught up with him. He felt behind and wasn’t sure it was even worth trying.
It would have been easy to ignore the problem. To assume it was hopeless.
Instead, he began contributing to his company’s IRA. He stayed invested. He let time and compounding do their quiet work.

We would all like to be happy, right? And there is no shortage of advice on the internet about how to get there, often by buying someone’s book or online course. The trouble is, does any of that advice actually work? Is there anything behind the claims?
After selling our business last year, I had a “void” that I imagine many experience in their early phase of retirement. I was keen to work again, and sent out lots of applications.

Is anyone else seeing their comment on a post being marked
“Awaiting for approval”  what’s going on?
 
 

I check our investments daily, often more if the market is jumping around.  Why do I do that? There is no good reason. I don’t trade, I don’t even use the funds. 
If I am honest, I check the accounts only to keep proving to myself that I have been successful meeting my own financial goals. It’s just between me and me. 
Is there anything wrong with being proud of what you have accomplished when you started at the bottom with zero in hand?