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Recently, I have been fascinated with maximizing credit card rewards, but of course, it’s a balance between complexity (i.e. mental overload) vs cost/benefits.
Here’s my current stack:
Chase Freedom Flex – I was able to get the 10% cash back grocery bonus for 1 year. Since my wife and I live downtown, we shop majority of groceries at Trader Joe’s. The 10% grocery reward is certainly nice, but it’s expiring in a few months. We were planning to open another one of these,
About 5% of the population accounts for nearly half of total health spending, and many of these are older adults with multiple conditions.
Do seniors (65+) pay as much as perceived for health care?
Seniors pay a lot for health care, but it is not that simple. Many, perhaps most, seniors pay no more, even less, out of pocket, than many younger families.
The bulk of spending by seniors is premiums, not the actual cost of care.
THE OBBBA CREATED A NEW tax deduction for “qualified passenger vehicle loan interest” effective 2025 through 2028.
It comes with a lot of rules and nuances, so I wanted to cover this topic a bit more in depth in case you are planning to acquire a vehicle soon.
So, what is “qualified passenger vehicle loan interest”?
It means any interest that was paid during the taxable year (e.g 2025) on a loan started after Dec.
NEW RESEARCH CAN help with an age-old question: When constructing a portfolio, how much risk is too much? Especially today, with the market again near all-time highs, this is an important issue.
On the one hand, we could dismiss this concern by noting that all-time highs aren’t as uncommon as they might seem. According to one analysis, the U.S. stock market has been within 5% of an all-time high on 44% of trading days since the 1950s.
I live in a paid off house in Kansas City Missouri and I have 2 paid off rental properties here also. I eventually would like to move to Delaware. My idea is that I either do a 1031 exchange selling one of the rentals and buying a more expensive rental property in Delaware by about $200,000 more and then some day in the future, maybe in 4 years, move to Delaware and have that property become my primary residence.
I realize I am on the outside looking in, out of sync, ignoring “expert” advice and rehashing the subject, but I can’t help it. I need help here.
I simply cannot understand why anyone living off their investments would use those investments to live on in favor of delaying social security until age 70.
It seems to me that unless there is a gigantic pool of money they’ll never need, they are taking an unnecessary risk using more of their investments sooner rather than later.
Bill Bengen, the godfather / creator of the 4% safe withdrawal rate (SWR), or rule, has just published a new book available on Amazon: A Richer Retirement: Supercharging the 4% Rule to Spend More and Enjoy More.
I have not read the book, however, he has done a number of interviews on YouTube. The gist is that with a more diversified portfolio, as compared to that used to generate the original 4% rule,
THE OBBBA WAS SIGNED on July 4, 2025. There are a lot of different changes in various areas, including student loans, Medicaid, SNAP, etc
My goal is to focus on reviewing the Title VII – Finance, specifically focusing on Subtitle A – Tax.
There are many changes and my goal is to focus on the most important provisions impacting individuals and small business owners.
Let’s get into it:
Section 70101. Extension of the tax rates.
IN THE ANCIENT WORLD, before the invention of the printing press, the most common way to retain information was to build what’s known as a memory palace. The idea was to link words to images, because images are easier to remember.
I’ve found that this strategy works well in personal finance, and earlier this year I described some of the images that I rely on most. Below are several more.
1. Back in 2011,
We’ve all been told that index funds are the smart investor’s secret weapon. Low fees. Broad diversification. Market-matching returns. What’s not to love? But here’s the thing: not every fund labeled as an index fund behaves like one.
In fact, sometimes an “index fund” is not truly an index fund at all. Let’s unpack what that means—and why it matters for your money.
The Original Promise of Index Funds
When Jack Bogle launched the first index fund for ordinary investors in 1976,
The National Association of Realtors forecasts that by 2035, close to 70% of homeowners might have gains exceeding $250,000 and 38% of them will have more than $500,000.
Per AI
I just read an article in which it was reported that in comments to the press on Tuesday the President suggested he is considering eliminating capital gains taxes on the sale of homes.
The article reviews the rules to claim this benefit which is definitely in the near(er) future for Humble Dollar readers
If you have lived in it as your primary residence for at least 24 months (consecutively or not) in the previous five years before you sell it,
Generating a reliable source of income is one of the most important, and often challenging, parts of a successful retirement. Those of us fortunate enough to have a decent defined benefit pension have a leg up on this. Combine this with an inflation protected social security benefit, and some savings, and a retiree has a chance at a modest, yet comfortable retirement. I’ve seen this firsthand. My in-laws were a truck driver and a part-time registered nurse.
After nearly a four decade career, I sometimes wonder how I survived many early retirement offers and frequent company downsizing initiatives. One reason may be that I picked up a lot of career advice from colleagues and bosses along the way. I listened to some, but not all. Here are some:
– My first boss on the first day told me, “Be nice to people on the way up. You need their help on the way down.”
-Always ask “why”?
I thank everyone in advance for any assistance and advice you can provide regarding my Roth conversion scenario. I am currently 56 with a potential retirement age of 58 (approx. 2 yrs). My wife is younger and will continue working for another 8 years following my retirement. I plan on deferring Social Security as long as possible, age 70. I have $850,000 in a regular IRA and an additional $600,000 in a company sponsored 401K. My wife and I file jointly and are currently in the 24% tax bracket ($206,700- $394,600).
The recently enacted One Big Beautiful Bill Act included a number of tax provisions of interest to HumbleDollar readers. Given the emphasis on retirement planning on HumbleDollar, the new bonus Deduction for Seniors has potential to provide a significant tax savings for seniors.
This has been discussed in previous posts over the last few weeks, but the details are worth a quick review. Taxpayers who reach 65 by the last day of the tax year, starting in 2025,
