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AUTHOR: DAN SMITH on 9/06/2025

I sold and delivered beer from a side-load truck for 30 years. A stack of beer weighed up to twice what I did. That was a physically brutal job, and although I hung up my hand-truck at age 50, I still pay a price for that career choice via osteoarthritis that won’t ever go away.

Next up was 20 years of preparing tax returns. Physically simple compared to my first occupation, though stressfully intense during the 3 month busy season.  Working morning, noon, and night 6 days a week, with some Sundays thrown in to keep caught up.

There must have been an easier way to get paid…. 

Duh Dan….. I could have been a personal finance writer, doing one stinkin’ article per week! How hard could that have been?

Then I became rather involved with HumbleDollar. How do guys like Clements and Grossman come up with interesting topics week after week? I struggle to think of something that I hope will be found worthwhile once a month. 

I’ve stooped so low as to submit an article about the circuitous route my vinyl record order took from the online retailer to my front door. 

The serious content on HD has enabled me to make some worthwhile tweaks to my investing, and helped me to streamline/simplify and organize for the benefit of my heirs. 

So I tip my hat to Jonathan, Adam, and all of the creative HD contributors that keep me coming back for more. 

As I used to end tax newsletters to my clients,

Many happy returns,

Dan

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R Quinn
10 hours ago

Nice post Dan. I always admired the skilled physical workers in my company.

Not only physically demanding, but dangerous jobs as well in many cases. We ended up giving a disability pension to nearly a third of those retiring meaning they got the full accrued pension at any age.

You wouldn’t find me working in a gas main underground or repairing high tension line after a hurricane. My most admired was the guy hanging out of a helicopter hovering over transmission lines working barehanded.

sometimes the unions let me know how lucky I was working in the “ivory tower” as they called corporate headquarters – and they were right.

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