Getting Schooled
John Yeigh | Mar 27, 2019
STICKER SHOCK IS common when families begin the college search—with good reason. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), inflation-adjusted college costs have more than doubled over the past 30 years. Annual tuition, fees, room and board for fulltime undergraduate students at four-year colleges averaged $26,100 in 2015-16, the last year for which NCES data is available. That average drops to $22,400—if you include junior colleges. On the other hand, private colleges on their own averaged $43,100. So is all hope lost when paying for college? Absolutely not. NCES data also indicate that 83% of new college students receive some financial aid, up from 70% 15 years earlier. In other words, the vast majority of first-year college students receive financial help—more than 2 million students each year. You might presume this help is mainly in the form of student loans, which merely postpones paying for college. But in fact, scholarships and grants—money that doesn’t have to be repaid—constitute the bulk of financial aid. NCES data show that first-year college students receive an average $7,700 in grants and $3,200 in loans. The $10,900 in total support covers 48% of the $22,400 average annual cost. The biggest source of grants is—surprisingly—neither the federal nor state governments, but rather the colleges themselves. They provide about $4,600, or 60% of the grant total. Colleges effectively offer a significant discount off their published list price to almost half of new students. For example, many of my kids’ friends received in-state tuition equivalency when attending out-of-state universities. To be sure, these various averages may be a little misleading. The more expensive the college, the larger the amount of grant money that’s likely to be awarded—and this may somewhat skew the averages. Still, it all adds up to serious dollars. CollegeBoard.org…
Read more » Penniless at Last
John Yeigh | Jul 19, 2022
IN AN EARLIER ARTICLE, I noted that my savings journey began in 1960 with a couple of jars of pennies that I started collecting at age five. I was following family ancestor Ben Franklin’s maxim that “a penny saved is a penny earned.” One of my uncles also had an interest in coin collecting. He and I began to actively search through countless penny rolls to find pennies with dates that we didn’t have. We bought Whitman coin albums and organized our pennies by date from the earliest Lincoln head pennies from 1909 up through the 1960s. We expanded our collection to include sets of Buffalo and Jefferson nickels, Mercury and Roosevelt dimes, and Washington silver quarters, plus any older coin we happened upon. Occasionally, we found Indian head pennies, Liberty nickels, Barber dimes or Walking Liberty quarters still in circulation. These dimes and quarters contained 90% silver through 1964, so they had a recognized commodity value. Our coin-collecting hobby lasted for eight years. During those eight years, we amassed five nearly complete Lincoln penny sets, missing only the rare 1909 penny minted in San Francisco with the initials V.B.D. for its engraver. One of these pennies in fine condition can cost more than $1,000. We had jars of old duplicate pennies as well. We assembled a couple of complete sets of Jefferson nickels and Roosevelt dimes. Our most valuable collection was the three nearly complete sets of Mercury dimes, lacking only a rare 1916 10-cent piece minted in Denver. We accumulated plenty of duplicate year silver coins as well. My uncle passed away in 1968 due to complications from polio, and my interests shifted. That’s when my coin collection went into hibernation, stored in various basements untouched for 50 years. [xyz-ihs snippet="Mobile-Subscribe"] I have no interest in pursuing this hobby…
Read more » Other People’s Stuff
John Yeigh | Feb 21, 2019
WE’VE ALL GOT STUFF. Too much stuff. George Carlin was among the first to highlight our obsession with stuff in his 1980s standup comedy routines. I hadn’t thought much about Carlin or stuff for decades—until 2015, when I inherited my parents’ stuff. Not only did I inherit their stuff, I inherited some of their parents’ stuff and their grandparents’ stuff. Boxes, drawers and shelves full of unlabeled stuff. I wouldn’t call my parents hoarders. Everything was tidily put away. But basically, every nook and cranny of their house was stuffed with stuff. Each box required sorting and reviewing. There were antiques, pictures and items of sentimental value—keeper stuff. Quite a bit of older stuff had small economic value for others, but not for us. That was eBay or Craigslist stuff. What about the rest? That became donated or trash stuff. By contrast, settling my parent’s estate was relatively easy, because their financial records were well-organized. They kindly had advised me about the whereabouts of wills and life insurance policies. They’d also named beneficiaries and granted powers of attorney. But despite their solid financial organization, they never sorted out their possessions. They were Depression babies, and I suppose they just couldn’t bring themselves to discard excess stuff. My wife and I love our parents and appreciate everything they did for us. But in my parents’ case, it took us the better part of three years to deal with their stuff, lots of which was only relevant to them. End of story? Not quite. This inheritance journey caused my wife and I to reconsider our own stuff. While certainly not minimalists or Marie Kondo disciples, we’re now sensitive that anything we retain will become our kids’ burden. We have been on a parallel mission to jettison our excess. After all, who else is…
Read more » Live to 100
John Yeigh | Sep 26, 2023
MY WIFE AND I JUST finished watching the Netflix documentary Live to 100, which I highly recommend. The four-part series focuses on Dan Buettner’s study of pockets of people around the world who achieve amazing longevity, including many residents who live to age 100 and beyond. The seven longevity locations include Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Ikaria, Greece; Nicoya, Costa Rica; and Loma Linda, California. These locations of long-lived people have been labeled “blue zones” based on the seminal demographic work on Sardinia by Giovanni Mario Pes, Michel Poulain and others. Buettner identified nine characteristics shared by these blue zone residents. He further distilled that list down to four basic practices: Eat well. This consists largely of a plant-based diet consumed in moderation. A little bit of wine is common, but modern processed foods are not. Move naturally. Blue zone residents do plenty of daily walking, plus typically a moderate level of manual labor, and keep it up into old age. In effect, many of these folks don’t retire, but rather undertake light but meaningful work-based physical activity—such as gardening, farming, sewing, cooking, home maintenance—as part of their daily routine. They effectively use it, so they don’t lose it. Maintain a positive outlook. It seems a purpose-driven life delivers both happiness and longevity. Many blue zone residents build leisure activities into their daily lives, giving them a chance to periodically decompress. Most also lead a faith-based life. Connect with others. This includes their spouse, family members and their larger social network. Interestingly, these blue zone traits mirror the advice of many HumbleDollar contributors: eat healthily, exercise, stay connected for greater happiness, and develop a sense of purpose. How do Buettner’s findings help if you don’t come from a family with notable longevity and you don’t live in one of these…
Read more » The Retiree’s Dilemma
John Yeigh | Apr 22, 2024
I'VE FOUND RETIREMENT to be a conundrum. We finally have the time to pursue any activity we want in a leisurely manner—spend time with family and friends, exercise, sleep, travel, read, binge watch TV, knock items off our bucket list. On the other hand, I now hear the constant ticking of life’s clock. Tick tock, tick tock. For the decades before retiring, life for my wife and me was pedal-to-the-metal with work, children, commuting and chores, though we also found time for some leisure activities. We were on life’s proverbial treadmill and fully embraced the rat race. We were also often stressed, short on sleep and behind on chores. Yet we loved every minute of our fast-paced life. The best part: I was completely unaware of life’s ticking clock. In the seven years since retiring, my wife and I have traveled, hiked extensively, and been there whenever our children needed a helping hand. We’ve reconnected with old friends. I’ve ramped up my jogging and biking, and tried out new things like fishing, wake-surfing and the requisite pickleball. In addition, we now get more sleep and have more time for volunteer activities. My wife manages our VRBO endeavors, while I’ve written many articles and a book. On the surface, retirement seems so perfect: no commute, no work and the freedom to do the things we enjoy, while our adult children progress nicely. Busy is good. But during the down time, the ticking of that darn clock keeps sounding in my head. That relentless clock has driven us to contemplate the time-value tradeoff of life’s many activities, with our remaining time becoming ever more precious. Family, friends, exercise, outdoor activities and vacations get an automatic pass. Always more, please. Activities important to our future lives—chores, financial planning, health maintenance and the…
Read more » Getting Roasted
John Yeigh | Nov 27, 2024
"YOU WILL ROTH!" “But Dad, I’m only 10.” “Evan, it is never too early to start saving. Besides, this gives you 70-plus years of compounding.” “Yes, Dad, but didn’t you tell me last week that I need a job and earned income to contribute to a Roth?” “We can arrange to get you a paycheck. I’ll get a friend or neighbor to hire you. What would you like to do?” “I like to play soccer.” “Evan, I meant what kind of job are you interested in? You know, engineers have among the best long-term employment prospects.” “Dad, stop! Shouldn’t I be thinking about today’s soccer game?” “The game is still an hour’s drive away, so we have lots more time to talk about starting your Roth account.” “You already told my two teammates and me all about Roth accounts when you drove us to last week’s game. Remember, you held me in that headlock to make sure I was listening.” “Okay, enough about Roths. Have you opened your health savings account yet?” My 24-year-old son performed the above soliloquy at our family’s Thanksgiving dinner last year. The performance included animated theatrics to imitate me driving, lecturing seriously, and holding him in a headlock. The family was in hysterics. Evan continued his tirade about my supposed transgression of providing too much parental guidance on financial issues. “You will become an engineer,” he declared. As he started to run low on material, my 29-year-old daughter, Megan, joined the fray. “And remember, it’s not just about Roths, but also asset allocation. You should be 100% in stocks when you’re young,” she said, using a deeper voice to imitate me, while wagging her finger in a parental-like scolding manner. “But Dad, I thought you always advised to first set aside six months of emergency…
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