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There is a long list of past HD writers, some fairly prolific in the past. Where are they?
Some of us are still telling our stories and taking our licks with a bit of risk without the comfort of Jonathan’s editing. A few welcome new faces have appeared – a couple also prolific, right Mark😉
If you were a writer in the past or entirely new to HD, including those from across the pond or oceans, I for one would like your perspectives on all matters money and retirement- even budgeting, spreadsheets and income replacement- he said with a modicum of jest.
As I read through your post, Mr. Quinn, and the subsequent responses, a few things really resonated with me and I decided to be brave and share them. I’ve been a follower of HD for less than two years and have really benefitted from the articles AND responses to them by each of you who are a part of this thread. And because of my short timer status, some of the topics you may feel have been talked about enough are freshly relevant to me. Some of that is the timing of my changing life experiences and cycles. So what may seem old to you is suddenly of great interest to me. In fact, I have clicked on your names to see what you have written about in the past and have wondered if you still felt the same way about the topic in today’s environment. So I ask all of you to please keep writing, even if you just go back to an earlier article with an update on your thoughts.
The second thing I wanted to share is that I realized that I have been feeling grief from Jonathan’s passing too even though I’m not a HD veteran like many of you. I found myself skipping several days of HD in a row when I used to check 1-2 times a day. It hit me that it made me sad to feel the absence of him. So now that I named my feelings, I’ve started to come back more regularly once again.
Lastly, I was wondering if it might be helpful to those who feel like they have writer’s block if a post was put up soliciting topics of interest from HD readers. I’ll go first. I’m currently updating our trusts, wills, and directives, so I’m personally interested in hearing about revocable vs. irrevocable trusts, allowing for second marriages with separate children, etc.
In summary, if you need to take a minute to regroup, fine. But please don’t stop writing.
I just wrote a piece and my computer died before I had a chance to save it. Maybe it was telling me something….
Turn on auto backup to the cloud lol
I’m a privacy fanatic. I back up to an external hard drive, not the cloud.
I’m considering getting an external hard drive. I have so many large video files that they’re almost maxing out my free cloud storage, and I’ll need to start paying for extra capacity soon.
I started writing in Humble Dollar in the early days of COVID. My first article in Humble Dollar was about my initial investments and the lucky choices and blunders I made before reading Jonathan’s Getting Going articles. I also wrote about things I learned from Jonathan’s articles, though out of modesty he edited out some of the accolades. Other articles involved lowing costs, simplifying, deciding when to retire, and issues I ran into as a VITA (Volunteer Income Tax Assistance) volunteer. I also talked about working on my father-in-law’s finances and his estate and later handling my ancient aunt’s finances and movement into assisted living.
Since my last article, in October of 2024, I have continued to handle my aunt’s finances and medical arrangements; she’ll be 99 in a couple of months. In addition, I took on handling the finances of my wife’s older sister, and I moved her investments from a well-known national brokerage firm to Vanguard, saving her thousands of dollars each year in fees. Perhaps I’ll write some more about that. I’m still doing VITA work, and of course there will be lots of changes to handle for 2025 and 2026 taxes (and in 2029 when various changes expire after the 2028 elections).
Brian, I would be interested if you wrote about handling the finances of your elderly family members. Especially if you have practical tips about how to keep the records, receipts, spreadsheets, etc My spouse will probably be keeping finances for their mom who has Alzheimer’s soon. So we could use some good advice about that. Thanks for considering. Chris
Keep us in the loop. I like to hear about the tax issues you may uncover and the challenges of handling others finances.
Thanks for the encouragemen to write. I made my first forum post awhile back and was thrilled that it got great responses. I have an idea for another and am composing my thoughts for it.
Can’t wait to read it. I promise no 🔻from me.
Several folks have commented regarding a form of writers block. I experience that, but it lasts a day or two. I write for my own blog as well as HD, so I am writing nearly every day.
I see ideas all around from a comment by someone, a post on social media, something I observe or experience or a discussion I may have. There is no escape.
So much of our lives are connected to money and planning and thinking about the future.
Today I am driving a few hundred miles to Gettysburg Pa. As I drive, my mind will be working and I will be observing. Usually an idea for Quinnscommentary.net or HD will pop up and when we reach the hotel I will whip out my iPad – and often hear “can’t you leave that thing alone for five minutes?”
Com’on folks the ideas are in there. Write about the last person who said they can’t save money or the family next door with a RV and boat in the driveway, but paint pealing off their house.
And, if you are a reader who never commented, give it a try. What’s the worst that can happen, maybe a few 🔻like me. They build character😎
I’m back from my trip and as expected the long drive resulted in an idea. Scanning SiriusXM I landed on a religious station hence the post on tithing. 🤔. So, take a long drive and you will be flooded with ideas.
While driving along the woods where Pickets Charge began at Gettysburg, I wondered- what were they thinking? But I was hard pressed to think of a money link. Just sadness
OK. You’ve given me a not so subtle push. I will finish an article I was working on with Jonathan, and submit. Stay tuned!
I’m kind of looking for closure (a topic I wrote a Jonathan-edited article about) with respect to my HumbleDollar writing. After I submitted my first article to Jonathan a few years back and received positive feedback, I enthusiastically compiled a spreadsheet with numerous future article ideas. There’s no longer a backlog in that spreadsheet as I’ve either written about all those topics or decided they actually weren’t worth writing about. I enjoyed sharing a lot of my personal stories with you…the ones for which I could make a financial connection. The momentum of my early writing activity could not be sustained indefinitely, and I no longer have Jonathan to poke me into rekindling my interest in writing for HD. Plus I figure people have tired of reading my stuff by now. The baton has (largely) been passed.
I remember an article a few years ago from one of the first HumbleDollar writers in which he stated he thought he was near the end of his writing, that he’d run out of ideas to write about. But after a short hiatus, he returned with regular submissions, and indeed, has been prolific with his thoughtful, popular writing.
Jonathan’s illness and death forced us to face a loss that we thought was far in the future. That’s especially true of his family, of course, and even for Jonathan himself. But he got busy with steps to ensure he did the best he could for his family, and for HumbleDollar as well. In doing so, he left the HD family with an opportunity–a place to continue to contribute our thoughts about money and life with like-minded folks.
Something drew each of us to HD, and a lot of us remain because we like what we found. A few of us decided to add to the conversation by penning an article. The site won’t be the same without Jonathan. But for now, it’s still a place full of wonderful readers ready to encourage and critique an honest effort by mostly amateur writers. Are there other sites that offer the same?
I think we should give ourselves a little time to heal and find our footing, again.
Ken, I will really miss you if you are gone. I have always felt your articles were so relatable to me, since Spouse and I are just regular people. I always look for anything new that you write. I hope when you have something to say, that you will write here. I have learned from you and have also been encouraged to comment more in the forum by you and some of the other writers. Chris
Ken, I wanted to let you know that I have always enjoyed your writing. I also kept a spreadsheet of ides, as well as published articles. I initially worried that anything I wrote was likely to have been covered previously in other publications, and likely by smarter and better writers. One thing i realized is that there are always new readers beginning their financial education journey. They may not be familiar with the topics covered here and in other media. That thought helps me get over (at least partially) my concern that I was writing redundant articles. I hope you are well, enjoying retirement, and that we hear from you in the future.
Rick, I’ve been reading some older articles and came across one you wrote in September 2022 about how a down market in the early retirement years can throw a monkey wrench into retirement income planning (I’m clearly paraphrasing). As a suggestion for an article, I think it would be very interesting to take the plan you laid out back then and update us on whether you had to make changes and how it all worked out.
Hope to hear more from you as well! Always a good read.
I remember an exchange with Jonathan, a few years ago, after he reached out asking me to write again about a topic I’d covered before for HD.
He said all journalism is about repeating what you’ve already written, in varied ways. In the Appendix of The Best of Jonathan Clements, you can find the 20 topics Jonathan’s writing most deeply explored over the years.
Most are wise and serious, all were complex or hard enough to bear examination from many angles. But some show his great sense of humor: “Never buy investments from somebody who phones collect from a Federal correctional institution.” Classic.
Grab it back and have at it again.
Jonathan reeled me in when he put out a request for new writers to come forward with their own story. What they did right, mistakes they made along the way. Everybody has a story to tell. Don’t be embarrassed. I bared my soul in my first article, and the old HDers were very accepting and encouraging.
Dick – to be honest – Jonathan’s diagnosis and subsequent passing has put me in an emotional writer’s block. If you recall, I write with a embedded sense of humor. It’s impossible right now for me to pen a piece, knowing that he will never edit it for clarity and general consumption. I’m sure this feeling will wane eventually, and I will return to HumbleDollar activity. But until then….
Jeff, thanks for your post. I’ve had similar feelings. I’m sure HD will never be the same without Jonathan in charge. I guess it’s left to us to do the best we can.
Once the Forum was the source of writing, everything changed. But it was very imaginative of Jonathan to do that.
I was upset to think there would no longer be HD. It’s gone quite well.
My only concern is that you can put some effort into writing, but without a flow of comments it can quickly disappear from view.
Still glad to see HD is still thriving.
Jonathan’s reply when I pointed this out was “comment on your own piece.” Doing that in a way which adds value can be tricky but it does keep a good piece worth more attention “above the fold”.
I tend to hold back a reply to a comment on an article for the same reason. If you wait a day or two before replying, the article bumps back into view.
Dick I’ve been wondering about that too!
I tend to find that most of my initial posts come from reacting to investing information I am reading. That can be an excellent stimulant for posting. There is a lot of financial writings, podcasts etc which HD readers consume which could stimulate a post.
I seem to have “writer’s block” — can’t really think of something to write about. I do enjoy reading what others write, and from time to time, replying. If anyone has suggestions for topics please send them my way and I will give it a try.
I miss how Jonathan would check in from time to time with past writers, offering ideas for a piece. How can we recreate that?
Thanks Dick. I find that sometimes posting comments gets a train of thought going. Currently turning over an idea, will post soon.
Good post RDQ. There are many more seats at the table. If you have never posted, your story will help or inspire someone. Give it a try.
What can I say—I have a condition, terminal posting syndrome (TPS). The publish button and I have no boundaries. I’m hoping it infects the readers and creates an uptick in new writing for us all to enjoy.
Why not? Personally I still blame the Blarney Stone. Maybe in your retirement you can be the guy holding people by their waistband.
I agree! We need the writers to step up and post interesting pieces. I check the site every day and we need people to step up and keep this site going. I admit I’m not a writer and I will give it a try over the next few days to come up with something interesting.