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Family

Pirates, Pieces of Eight, and the $ in Your Pocket

Mark Crothers  |  Nov 11, 2026

"Well that makes total sense to me. I might suggest you begin your research with Doug and the Business Cats. It’s most all you could ever hope for in simple-minded halfwitted dopey birdbrained childish social media cat posts that help comedian Drennon Davis earn an honest living. (I think Drennon is brilliant, which may say too much about my own state of mind). "
- Dan Smith
Read more »

Estate Plan

Protecting What We Built

ArticleDennis Friedman  |  Nov 7, 2026

SINCE RETIRING, WE’VE done a lot of traveling. One thing that continually stands out is just how crowded airports have become—even top-tier airline lounges are sometimes packed to capacity. Watching the endless stream of travelers, my wife often turns to me and asks, “Where do all these people get their money?” I suspect some of them, especially the older travelers, are “middle-class millionaires.” They didn’t build their wealth through massive salaries. Instead, they accumulated it gradually through home appreciation, retirement savings, disciplined investing, and decades of compound growth. That’s how my wife and I built our net worth. We grew our savings slowly over the course of our careers through patience and discipline. Now that we’ve reached a point where we feel we have enough, our focus has shifted from growing our wealth to protecting it. Here are three ways we are protecting our hard-earned savings while continuing to enjoy our retirement. Fortifying Our Liability Coverage Ever since a friend told me that his own son-in-law sued him after falling down his stairs, I’ve been concerned about our own liability exposure. I don’t consider us to live a lifestyle that would expose us to a particularly high risk of being sued. We don’t have a dog, swimming pool, rental property, or boat. Even though I consider our risk relatively low, I’ve become more conscious of how much we have to lose from an unexpected liability claim, such as a severe auto accident. I’m not an attorney or insurance professional, so I’m not suggesting that our approach is appropriate for everyone. But it did lead me to take a closer look at how our assets might be protected if we were ever sued and a judgment entered against us. In recent years, our modest California home has appreciated significantly alongside real estate values across the state. When I considered our home equity together with our taxable savings and other assets, we eventually concluded that our existing umbrella coverage was no longer sufficient for the amount of wealth we had accumulated. I also learned that California’s homestead exemption provides a certain amount of protection for equity in a primary residence, although the rules are more complicated than I had previously realized. The amount of protection depends on the circumstances and is subject to statutory limits and adjustments. For our home, I didn’t want to assume that all of our home equity would be protected from a judgment. Our IRAs also have statutory protection under California Code of Civil Procedure §704.115 based on what is deemed reasonably necessary for retirement support. Learning this gave me some comfort, but it also reinforced the fact that different types of assets can have different levels of protection. Our taxable brokerage account, however, does not have the same type of statutory protection. It remains exposed to potential legal claims. We ultimately purchased additional umbrella coverage through a specialty insurer. Securing that extra layer of protection provides us an invaluable peace of mind. Adopting a Moderately Conservative Asset Allocation  Now that we’re in our 70s, we feel we can afford to be less aggressive in the stock market. Our portfolio is currently allocated 45% to stocks, 45% to bonds, and 10% to cash.  This asset allocation gives us enough exposure to growth to help combat inflation while providing some protection against a severe bear market. Consider a difficult scenario in which the stock market falls 40% and the bond market declines 10%. Under those conditions, our portfolio would lose roughly 22.5%. Alternatively, if our 55% allocation to bonds and cash holds its value while stocks absorb the full 40% decline, we would still have 82% of our portfolio’s value intact. This allocation gives us a larger cushion against a severe stock-market downturn. It would allow us to rebalance into stocks after a major decline, rather than being forced to sell stocks when prices are depressed. More importantly, this asset allocation has so far allowed us to maintain a comfortable lifestyle without worrying about market swings. Hiring a Financial Advisor I don’t recommend a financial advisor for everyone. In fact, if we were younger, we probably wouldn’t have one. But at age 75, I have to concede that I’m not as sharp as I used to be, and I can get emotional at times. Those aren’t ideal qualities to have in a world where scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated. What I like about having a financial advisor manage our money is that I have to go through my advisor to access our funds. That extra layer of protection helps protect our portfolio from scams—and from ourselves. It gives us a chance to pause and think things through rather than make an emotional decision in the moment. At this stage of our lives, we’re paying for more than investment management. We’re paying for another layer of discipline and protection—and for the peace of mind that comes with knowing someone else is looking out for us. Focusing on Making It Last Now that we're retired and have accumulated enough to support the life we want, our priorities have changed. We don't need to squeeze every last dollar of growth from our portfolio. Instead, we're trying to make what we've built lasting—protecting it from lawsuits, market declines, scams, and, perhaps most importantly, our own mistakes.  Dennis Friedman retired from Boeing Satellite Systems after a 30-year career in manufacturing. Born in Ohio, Dennis is a California transplant with a bachelor’s degree in history and an MBA. A self-described “humble investor,” he likes reading historical novels and about personal finance. Follow Dennis on X @DMFrie and check out his earlier articles
Read more »

Investing

Does my bond strategy make sense?

R Quinn  |  Nov 11, 2026

"Thanks for your comments."
- R Quinn
Read more »

Taxes

Time to QCD

R Quinn  |  Oct 12, 2026

"The draft 2026 1040 from the IRS has row 12f added to accommodate below the line deduction for charitable deductions for non-itemizers."
- Harold Tynes
Read more »

From HumbleDollar Founder Jonathan Clements

Investing

Not Exactly True

THERE ARE FINANCIAL issues on which reasonable people can disagree. This article is not about those issues. Instead, it’s about issues where people disagree—because…
Read more »

Life Events

A Gift, Not A Given

Andrew Clements  |  Nov 11, 2026

"Mark, I love that your auntie’s gift helped create a place where her children and grandchildren now spend time when visiting Ireland. After all those summers she spent taking you places, there’s something lovely about welcoming her family in return. And I imagine the zoo story still brings a smile! Thank you for sharing those memories."
- Andrew Clements
Read more »

Houses

Full Asking Price

D.J.  |  Nov 5, 2026

"You may have paid full price for your home, but it sounds like you received more than full value. Well done."
- Edmund Marsh
Read more »

Investing

Is Direct Indexing Useful?

Paul Ward  |  Nov 8, 2026

"Yes. Just call Fidelity and tell them how much. They manage the withdrawal, so it doesn't create a taxable event. They sell winners and losers, I guess. I have also added money. It works just like an ETF or mutual fund. It works best if you leave it alone. I have never failed to get a capital loss on the annual 1099. Like I said, it works great for me, it's not for everyone."
- Howard Schwartz
Read more »

Taxes

Roth Conversions

ArticleAdam M. Grossman  |  Nov 7, 2026

AMONG THE MOST COMMON debates in personal finance is whether Roth conversions are a wise strategy. Especially as the end of the year approaches, it’s worth looking at both sides of this question. If you aren’t familiar with it, the idea behind a Roth conversion is that individuals can choose, at any time, and at any income level, to move money out of a pre-tax traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. There’s a catch, though: In the year that you complete a conversion, you must pay income tax on the amount that you convert. So, the bet you are making with a conversion is that your tax rate today will be lower than it will be in the future, when you otherwise would have taken those dollars out of your IRA. For example, if you could pay a tax of just 22% today to convert dollars from your pre-tax IRA to your Roth IRA, you would happily do that if you expected your tax rate down the road to be much higher—say, 32%.  This seems straightforward, but not everyone agrees. For starters, Roth conversions’ detractors point to the uncertainty inherent in the exercise. Predicting future tax rates is an imperfect science, and if rates end up going lower in the future, that could turn the benefit of a conversion upside down. You could end up paying a higher rate today than you would’ve in the future. Given the state of federal finances, it might seem unlikely to expect tax rates to go down, but no one can say that with certainty. Congress often changes the rules, and as recently as the late-1980s, the highest ordinary income tax rate was nine percentage points lower than it is today (28% vs. 37%). In addition, it can be difficult to predict our own future income with precision. Consider required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts. They’re a key component of most retirees’ income, but because they’re dependent on future investment returns, the best any of us can do is to estimate this figure. Roth conversions, in other words, involve uncertainty along multiple dimensions. This is a point even supporters acknowledge. That’s why, to help manage this uncertainty, I look at Roth conversion candidates as falling into one of three categories. The first category: When a taxpayer’s marginal tax rate is currently in one of the two lowest brackets, either 10% or 12%, I see it as an easy decision to complete a conversion. That’s because it’s hard to imagine that their future tax rate would be any lower. At worst, in that case, a Roth conversion in one of these two lowest brackets might just be a wash. The second category: When a taxpayer’s marginal rate is over 30%, I see that as an easy decision as well, but for the opposite reason. Roth conversions rarely make sense at that level because it’s hard to make the argument that a taxpayer in a very high bracket might end up in a bracket that’s even higher. To be sure, it can happen—and I’ll describe one clear case below—but it’s hard to have confidence in that expectation. For that reason, a conversion at a rate over 30% typically doesn’t make sense. The third category: If your marginal rate is in one of the middle brackets—either 22% or 24%—that’s when the conversion decision doesn’t have an easy “yes” or “no” answer, and it’s worth examining other factors. When would a conversion in this middle range make sense? If the composition of your assets is such that you have significant balances in pre-tax accounts and you haven’t yet hit RMD age (either age 73 or 75), that’s when you’d want to sharpen your pencil. If your RMD based on your current pre-tax balances would push your income into a much higher tax bracket, then it would be safe to assume that, with some additional investment growth, your tax bracket will almost certainly be higher down the road. That’s a clear case for a Roth conversion. Similarly, if you have other income sources, such as a pension, that are guaranteed, that too would make the conversion decision easier. What if the comparison between your current and projected future tax rates isn’t conclusive? Suppose, for example, your taxable ordinary income today is $210,000. For someone married and filing jointly, that would translate to the 22% marginal tax bracket. Even if your income rose sharply in future years with required minimum distributions, up to $300,000, for example, the tax impact would be modest. Income of $300,000 would translate to a marginal bracket of just 24%. So a Roth conversion might not seem like an urgent priority. In that case, there’s another factor that might be a tie-breaker. If one spouse passed away, the surviving spouse would be subject to the tax brackets for single taxpayers. Continuing with this same example, $300,000 of income would result in a substantially higher marginal bracket of 35%. If that were the case, then a conversion today at 22% might make good sense. The upshot: If you’re doing Roth conversion math, and the results look inconclusive, consider what might tip the scales. Another potential tie-breaking factor to consider, if the math isn’t conclusive, would be the estate tax. At the federal level, a tax of 40% applies to assets over $15 million, or $30 million for a married couple. For someone with a balance sheet at that level, Roth conversions can make a lot of sense because they have the result of reducing the size of an estate without reducing the after-tax value of the assets. Consider a simple example: If you complete a conversion of $200,000 that results in $40,000 in taxes, that $40,000 is no longer in your estate, and thus no longer subject to estate tax. This is the only case in which I see an argument for conversions at rates over 30%, because any tax below 40% would still be less costly than the future estate tax levy. Adam M. Grossman is the founder of Mayport, a fixed-fee wealth management firm. Sign up for Adam's Daily Ideas email, follow him on X @AdamMGrossman and check out his earlier articles.
Read more »

In Retirement

Should One Liquidate in Retirement?

Feisal Brahim  |  Nov 7, 2026

"Feisal, thank you for initiating the discussion with your article and sharing your wisdom. Comments and your responses to them are very helpful. All the best to you!"
- V Saraf
Read more »

Taxes

A Roth Haiku

eludom  |  Nov 8, 2026

"We saved all our lives The wine is already poured Heirs can do the math"
- Mark Gardner
Read more »

Investing

Financial literacy is not the problem nor the solution.

R Quinn  |  Nov 9, 2026

"In your mind, does “free stuff” include tax cuts to those that don’t need them and which the government can’t afford?"
- Nick Politakis
Read more »

Family

Pirates, Pieces of Eight, and the $ in Your Pocket

Mark Crothers  |  Nov 11, 2026

"Well that makes total sense to me. I might suggest you begin your research with Doug and the Business Cats. It’s most all you could ever hope for in simple-minded halfwitted dopey birdbrained childish social media cat posts that help comedian Drennon Davis earn an honest living. (I think Drennon is brilliant, which may say too much about my own state of mind). "
- Dan Smith
Read more »

Estate Plan

Protecting What We Built

ArticleDennis Friedman  |  Nov 7, 2026

SINCE RETIRING, WE’VE done a lot of traveling. One thing that continually stands out is just how crowded airports have become—even top-tier airline lounges are sometimes packed to capacity. Watching the endless stream of travelers, my wife often turns to me and asks, “Where do all these people get their money?” I suspect some of them, especially the older travelers, are “middle-class millionaires.” They didn’t build their wealth through massive salaries. Instead, they accumulated it gradually through home appreciation, retirement savings, disciplined investing, and decades of compound growth. That’s how my wife and I built our net worth. We grew our savings slowly over the course of our careers through patience and discipline. Now that we’ve reached a point where we feel we have enough, our focus has shifted from growing our wealth to protecting it. Here are three ways we are protecting our hard-earned savings while continuing to enjoy our retirement. Fortifying Our Liability Coverage Ever since a friend told me that his own son-in-law sued him after falling down his stairs, I’ve been concerned about our own liability exposure. I don’t consider us to live a lifestyle that would expose us to a particularly high risk of being sued. We don’t have a dog, swimming pool, rental property, or boat. Even though I consider our risk relatively low, I’ve become more conscious of how much we have to lose from an unexpected liability claim, such as a severe auto accident. I’m not an attorney or insurance professional, so I’m not suggesting that our approach is appropriate for everyone. But it did lead me to take a closer look at how our assets might be protected if we were ever sued and a judgment entered against us. In recent years, our modest California home has appreciated significantly alongside real estate values across the state. When I considered our home equity together with our taxable savings and other assets, we eventually concluded that our existing umbrella coverage was no longer sufficient for the amount of wealth we had accumulated. I also learned that California’s homestead exemption provides a certain amount of protection for equity in a primary residence, although the rules are more complicated than I had previously realized. The amount of protection depends on the circumstances and is subject to statutory limits and adjustments. For our home, I didn’t want to assume that all of our home equity would be protected from a judgment. Our IRAs also have statutory protection under California Code of Civil Procedure §704.115 based on what is deemed reasonably necessary for retirement support. Learning this gave me some comfort, but it also reinforced the fact that different types of assets can have different levels of protection. Our taxable brokerage account, however, does not have the same type of statutory protection. It remains exposed to potential legal claims. We ultimately purchased additional umbrella coverage through a specialty insurer. Securing that extra layer of protection provides us an invaluable peace of mind. Adopting a Moderately Conservative Asset Allocation  Now that we’re in our 70s, we feel we can afford to be less aggressive in the stock market. Our portfolio is currently allocated 45% to stocks, 45% to bonds, and 10% to cash.  This asset allocation gives us enough exposure to growth to help combat inflation while providing some protection against a severe bear market. Consider a difficult scenario in which the stock market falls 40% and the bond market declines 10%. Under those conditions, our portfolio would lose roughly 22.5%. Alternatively, if our 55% allocation to bonds and cash holds its value while stocks absorb the full 40% decline, we would still have 82% of our portfolio’s value intact. This allocation gives us a larger cushion against a severe stock-market downturn. It would allow us to rebalance into stocks after a major decline, rather than being forced to sell stocks when prices are depressed. More importantly, this asset allocation has so far allowed us to maintain a comfortable lifestyle without worrying about market swings. Hiring a Financial Advisor I don’t recommend a financial advisor for everyone. In fact, if we were younger, we probably wouldn’t have one. But at age 75, I have to concede that I’m not as sharp as I used to be, and I can get emotional at times. Those aren’t ideal qualities to have in a world where scammers are becoming increasingly sophisticated. What I like about having a financial advisor manage our money is that I have to go through my advisor to access our funds. That extra layer of protection helps protect our portfolio from scams—and from ourselves. It gives us a chance to pause and think things through rather than make an emotional decision in the moment. At this stage of our lives, we’re paying for more than investment management. We’re paying for another layer of discipline and protection—and for the peace of mind that comes with knowing someone else is looking out for us. Focusing on Making It Last Now that we're retired and have accumulated enough to support the life we want, our priorities have changed. We don't need to squeeze every last dollar of growth from our portfolio. Instead, we're trying to make what we've built lasting—protecting it from lawsuits, market declines, scams, and, perhaps most importantly, our own mistakes.  Dennis Friedman retired from Boeing Satellite Systems after a 30-year career in manufacturing. Born in Ohio, Dennis is a California transplant with a bachelor’s degree in history and an MBA. A self-described “humble investor,” he likes reading historical novels and about personal finance. Follow Dennis on X @DMFrie and check out his earlier articles
Read more »

Investing

Does my bond strategy make sense?

R Quinn  |  Nov 11, 2026

"Thanks for your comments."
- R Quinn
Read more »

Taxes

Time to QCD

R Quinn  |  Oct 12, 2026

"The draft 2026 1040 from the IRS has row 12f added to accommodate below the line deduction for charitable deductions for non-itemizers."
- Harold Tynes
Read more »

From HumbleDollar Founder Jonathan Clements

Investing

Not Exactly True

THERE ARE FINANCIAL issues on which reasonable people can disagree. This article is not about those issues. Instead, it’s about issues where people disagree—because…
Read more »

Life Events

A Gift, Not A Given

Andrew Clements  |  Nov 11, 2026

"Mark, I love that your auntie’s gift helped create a place where her children and grandchildren now spend time when visiting Ireland. After all those summers she spent taking you places, there’s something lovely about welcoming her family in return. And I imagine the zoo story still brings a smile! Thank you for sharing those memories."
- Andrew Clements
Read more »

Houses

Full Asking Price

D.J.  |  Nov 5, 2026

"You may have paid full price for your home, but it sounds like you received more than full value. Well done."
- Edmund Marsh
Read more »

Investing

Is Direct Indexing Useful?

Paul Ward  |  Nov 8, 2026

"Yes. Just call Fidelity and tell them how much. They manage the withdrawal, so it doesn't create a taxable event. They sell winners and losers, I guess. I have also added money. It works just like an ETF or mutual fund. It works best if you leave it alone. I have never failed to get a capital loss on the annual 1099. Like I said, it works great for me, it's not for everyone."
- Howard Schwartz
Read more »

Taxes

Roth Conversions

ArticleAdam M. Grossman  |  Nov 7, 2026

AMONG THE MOST COMMON debates in personal finance is whether Roth conversions are a wise strategy. Especially as the end of the year approaches, it’s worth looking at both sides of this question. If you aren’t familiar with it, the idea behind a Roth conversion is that individuals can choose, at any time, and at any income level, to move money out of a pre-tax traditional IRA into a Roth IRA. There’s a catch, though: In the year that you complete a conversion, you must pay income tax on the amount that you convert. So, the bet you are making with a conversion is that your tax rate today will be lower than it will be in the future, when you otherwise would have taken those dollars out of your IRA. For example, if you could pay a tax of just 22% today to convert dollars from your pre-tax IRA to your Roth IRA, you would happily do that if you expected your tax rate down the road to be much higher—say, 32%.  This seems straightforward, but not everyone agrees. For starters, Roth conversions’ detractors point to the uncertainty inherent in the exercise. Predicting future tax rates is an imperfect science, and if rates end up going lower in the future, that could turn the benefit of a conversion upside down. You could end up paying a higher rate today than you would’ve in the future. Given the state of federal finances, it might seem unlikely to expect tax rates to go down, but no one can say that with certainty. Congress often changes the rules, and as recently as the late-1980s, the highest ordinary income tax rate was nine percentage points lower than it is today (28% vs. 37%). In addition, it can be difficult to predict our own future income with precision. Consider required minimum distributions (RMDs) from retirement accounts. They’re a key component of most retirees’ income, but because they’re dependent on future investment returns, the best any of us can do is to estimate this figure. Roth conversions, in other words, involve uncertainty along multiple dimensions. This is a point even supporters acknowledge. That’s why, to help manage this uncertainty, I look at Roth conversion candidates as falling into one of three categories. The first category: When a taxpayer’s marginal tax rate is currently in one of the two lowest brackets, either 10% or 12%, I see it as an easy decision to complete a conversion. That’s because it’s hard to imagine that their future tax rate would be any lower. At worst, in that case, a Roth conversion in one of these two lowest brackets might just be a wash. The second category: When a taxpayer’s marginal rate is over 30%, I see that as an easy decision as well, but for the opposite reason. Roth conversions rarely make sense at that level because it’s hard to make the argument that a taxpayer in a very high bracket might end up in a bracket that’s even higher. To be sure, it can happen—and I’ll describe one clear case below—but it’s hard to have confidence in that expectation. For that reason, a conversion at a rate over 30% typically doesn’t make sense. The third category: If your marginal rate is in one of the middle brackets—either 22% or 24%—that’s when the conversion decision doesn’t have an easy “yes” or “no” answer, and it’s worth examining other factors. When would a conversion in this middle range make sense? If the composition of your assets is such that you have significant balances in pre-tax accounts and you haven’t yet hit RMD age (either age 73 or 75), that’s when you’d want to sharpen your pencil. If your RMD based on your current pre-tax balances would push your income into a much higher tax bracket, then it would be safe to assume that, with some additional investment growth, your tax bracket will almost certainly be higher down the road. That’s a clear case for a Roth conversion. Similarly, if you have other income sources, such as a pension, that are guaranteed, that too would make the conversion decision easier. What if the comparison between your current and projected future tax rates isn’t conclusive? Suppose, for example, your taxable ordinary income today is $210,000. For someone married and filing jointly, that would translate to the 22% marginal tax bracket. Even if your income rose sharply in future years with required minimum distributions, up to $300,000, for example, the tax impact would be modest. Income of $300,000 would translate to a marginal bracket of just 24%. So a Roth conversion might not seem like an urgent priority. In that case, there’s another factor that might be a tie-breaker. If one spouse passed away, the surviving spouse would be subject to the tax brackets for single taxpayers. Continuing with this same example, $300,000 of income would result in a substantially higher marginal bracket of 35%. If that were the case, then a conversion today at 22% might make good sense. The upshot: If you’re doing Roth conversion math, and the results look inconclusive, consider what might tip the scales. Another potential tie-breaking factor to consider, if the math isn’t conclusive, would be the estate tax. At the federal level, a tax of 40% applies to assets over $15 million, or $30 million for a married couple. For someone with a balance sheet at that level, Roth conversions can make a lot of sense because they have the result of reducing the size of an estate without reducing the after-tax value of the assets. Consider a simple example: If you complete a conversion of $200,000 that results in $40,000 in taxes, that $40,000 is no longer in your estate, and thus no longer subject to estate tax. This is the only case in which I see an argument for conversions at rates over 30%, because any tax below 40% would still be less costly than the future estate tax levy. Adam M. Grossman is the founder of Mayport, a fixed-fee wealth management firm. Sign up for Adam's Daily Ideas email, follow him on X @AdamMGrossman and check out his earlier articles.
Read more »

Free Newsletter

Get Educated

Manifesto

Nov 11, 2026

NO. 54: WE NEED to be great savers to amass enough for retirement. But we shouldn’t get so good at saving money that, once we’re financially successful, we can’t bring ourselves to spend.

act

Nov 11, 2026

CHECK YOUR financial advisor's credentials. What are all those initials after his or her name? Some designations, such as those for Chartered Financial Analyst and Certified Financial Planner, involve serious study, rigorous exams and continuing education. Others are all but meaningless. You can learn more from FINRA’s website.

Truths

Nov 10, 2026

NO. 122: IT’S HARD to make money on a house unless we stay put for at least five years, and preferably seven years or longer. Why? It costs so much to buy and especially sell real estate. Add up title insurance, mortgage-application fees, the commission when selling, local transfer taxes, legal fees and other expenses, and the roundtrip cost could total 10% of a home’s value.

think

Nov 9, 2026

DURATION. This is a measure of a bond or bond fund’s sensitivity to interest rate changes. A bond fund with a duration of five years would fall 5% in price if interest rates rose by one percentage point and climb 5% if rates declined by one percentage point. A rule of thumb: Avoid owning bonds whose duration is longer than your investment time horizon.

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Manifesto

Nov 11, 2026

NO. 54: WE NEED to be great savers to amass enough for retirement. But we shouldn’t get so good at saving money that, once we’re financially successful, we can’t bring ourselves to spend.

Spotlight: Advisors

Too Heavy a Load

Michael Perry   |  Oct 16, 2021

I’M A MORNINGSTAR subscriber. I find that the site provides investing and personal finance information that’s sensible and useful for the average person, and that it promotes good investing and planning behaviors. Still, I was taken aback by a recent article, which discussed four funds…
Read more »

Fishing for Feedback

Michael Flack   |  Apr 17, 2025

I met with a Vice President of Fisher Investments, a very large and very well-advertised fee-only investment advisory firm, to see if they would be a good fit to manage my portfolio. It turns out they weren't, and after they asked why, this was my…
Read more »

My Mistakes

Dana Rusinak   |  Feb 21, 2025

Thank you Jonathan for as always, for your willingness to tell your story, the good and the bad. I have one big mistake to get out there. About 10 years before my wife and I retired, I started getting interested in money. I educated myself…
Read more »

Third Time’s a Charm

Paul Puglia   |  Mar 9, 2023

I MADE A MAJOR change late in my career, leaving behind my job as a financial manager at a dying computer business. I knew I needed to change. If I didn’t, there was a good chance I’d soon be out of work. My new job,…
Read more »

Off the Hook

Michael Flack   |  Apr 2, 2022

ONLINE INVESTMENT advisor Personal Capital offered me a $25 Amazon gift card to open an account and then link it to one of my existing financial accounts worth more than $1,000. As a bonus, it also offered a complimentary financial checkup. I duly signed up…
Read more »

Your Results May Vary

Dan Smith   |  Jun 12, 2024

"SELL THE SIZZLE, BOYS." With those words from the sales manager at a big insurance company, the 2003 class of newly minted registered representatives were off to the races, extolling the virtues of the firm’s products to family, friends and anyone else who would listen.…
Read more »

Spotlight: Cutler

Am I Retired?

Ken Cutler   |  Aug 11, 2024

I retired from a 38-year engineering career with a large electric power generation company on September 5, 2023. On September 11, 2023, I began an encore career—part time, on-call—with a small engineering firm. In the winter, I worked very few hours. Some weeks I only logged a single hour. I felt like a retiree and started to self-identify as one.…
Read more »

Long Time Leaving

Ken Cutler   |  Oct 11, 2023

AFTER MY FIRST TWO years of studying electrical engineering at Virginia Tech, I got an internship at Frito-Lay working at its research headquarters in Irving, Texas, far from my New Jersey home. I was paid handsomely, treated well, had access to state-of-the-art computer equipment—and was miserable. Some of that stemmed from spending the summer away from friends and family. But…
Read more »

Longtime Worry

Ken Cutler   |  Dec 26, 2023

IS A STORM COMING? Long before I discovered HumbleDollar, I regularly read articles by Scott Burns. Now in his 80s, Burns was a popular financial columnist who wrote for the Boston Herald and later The Dallas Morning News. He’s a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology, so he’s comfortable presenting quantitative arguments. Burns is an advocate of low-cost…
Read more »

Everything She Needed

Ken Cutler   |  Nov 14, 2023

THE MOST FRUGAL person I’ve ever known was my Great Aunt Beatrice. To all the family, she was just Aunt Bea. Never married, she was the sister of my paternal grandfather, a man who passed away 14 years before I was born. She was a dignified lady, proper and pleasant, and not given to bursts of laughter. Still, I felt…
Read more »

Fit for Retirement

Ken Cutler   |  Mar 5, 2024

I HAD A REVELATION while shoveling snow earlier this year. When I was age 40 or so, digging out after a snowstorm was always an ordeal for me, even with the aid of a snowblower. I’d need to take frequent breaks and would be wiped out for the rest of the day. Multiple body aches would appear over the next…
Read more »

California Free

Ken Cutler   |  Oct 7, 2024

I’ve made the trip from Pennsylvania to California six times. The first time I went, I didn’t have to pay for my plane tickets. Each of the next five times, the entire trip was completely free. I was asked to be the best man in a college friend’s wedding a couple of years after we graduated. He lived near Los…
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HumbleDollar · https://humbledollar.com/ · printed Nov 11, 2026

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