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Life Events

A Gift, Not A Given

Andrew Clements  |  Nov 11, 2026

"I agree with you, Andrew. The generosity shown by so many here, without bragging, just modestly relating the facts, is so encouraging and is inspired daily by your brother’s modesty and humility when he started HD."
- Linda Grady
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 »

Family

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

Mark Crothers  |  Nov 11, 2026

"I remember when some stock price quotes were listed in eighths. Such as: "5 and three eighths", or $5.375, aka 5 and 3 bits. Fun article, Mark."
- Jack Hannam
Read more »

Investing

Does my bond strategy make sense?

R Quinn  |  Nov 11, 2026

Be the first to comment.
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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

Saving

The Repair I Didn’t Need

Andrew Clements  |  Nov 4, 2026

"I can imagine your reaction to that $600 quote when you’d just replaced the plugs yourself for $36. Knowing your car’s service history certainly paid off there. You make a good point about checking the owner’s manual. I’d also ask the shop to show me what prompted the recommendation, especially if the work was done recently. In my case, getting a second opinion before saying yes saved us from replacing parts that were still fine. Thanks for sharing your experience."
- Andrew Clements
Read more »

Life Events

A Gift, Not A Given

Andrew Clements  |  Nov 11, 2026

"I agree with you, Andrew. The generosity shown by so many here, without bragging, just modestly relating the facts, is so encouraging and is inspired daily by your brother’s modesty and humility when he started HD."
- Linda Grady
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 »

Family

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

Mark Crothers  |  Nov 11, 2026

"I remember when some stock price quotes were listed in eighths. Such as: "5 and three eighths", or $5.375, aka 5 and 3 bits. Fun article, Mark."
- Jack Hannam
Read more »

Investing

Does my bond strategy make sense?

R Quinn  |  Nov 11, 2026

Be the first to comment.
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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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: Careers

A spooky and alarming thing relating to the two AI articles posted

Mark Crothers   |  Jul 11, 2025

This has nothing to do with finance, but I thought it was highly fascinating and that you would find it interesting. Thinking about AI and LLMs after authoring one of the articles and reading the other, I copied four of my Humble Dollar posts into…
Read more »

Something fishy about financial security

R Quinn   |  Nov 14, 2025

Have I got a job for you. As a boy I was into tropical fish. I had several tanks, I raised fish and tried to sell them - anything to make money.  At one point I had eight large tanks of fish.  At 13 I…
Read more »

One Piece Of Paper

Andrew Clements   |  Aug 5, 2026

Looking back, it's remarkable how much of my life depended on one government issued card. My twin brother Nick and I had no way of knowing that becoming permanent residents of the United States would eventually lead us to careers we never expected, a business…
Read more »

The Wages of Success

normr60189   |  Aug 25, 2025

I worked and earned income from 1963 to 2022. I always saved a portion of my earnings. Some was “parked” in real estate, some in the stock market, some in bonds and some in a traditional savings account. Every dollar I saved represented many hours…
Read more »

What I Retired To

Andrew Clements   |  Jul 29, 2026

When my twin brother Nick and I sold our landscape business at the end of 2012, at the age of 52, we agreed to stay on for another three years. Looking back, that may have been one of the best retirement decisions I never consciously…
Read more »

Six Months In! (from Dana/DrLefty)

DrLefty   |  Jan 1, 2026

Happy New Year, HumbleDollar folks! Today, besides being the first day of 2026, is also the six-month anniversary of my retirement. How's it going so far? I thought I'd follow up on a couple of posts from last year--this one was a year ago today…
Read more »

Spotlight: Powell

Winning the Debt Game

David Powell   |  Apr 20, 2025

Our earliest days as independent fledgling adults, working our first job, living in our own place, are hard to forget. I still recall my first apartments in surprising detail. As I now watch my daughter live through her own such experiences, these memories are flooding back. Mine are mostly happy, as I lived and worked through the first part of…
Read more »

Unhealthy Inflation Expectations?

David Powell   |  Sep 22, 2025

The rule of 72 is a convenient mental math tool to quickly estimate the future value of today's investments, extrapolated some years forward. It's quite handy, as Jonathan noted in the Math section of HumbleDollar's Guide. Expecting a 7.2% return from your stock funds? Your holdings should double in value over 10 years (72 divided by 7.2). Of course, the…
Read more »

Beefing Up Security

David Powell   |  Mar 21, 2019

MANY OF US HAVE little more than a weak, reused password standing between our financial assets and a remote attacker—one armed with powerful tools and a database of passwords from security breaches. This is a losing battle. It’s the most likely way for weak computer security to put our finances at risk. Think this can’t happen to you? I’ll bet…
Read more »

Crossing the Stream

David Powell   |  Feb 15, 2021

IT BEGAN AS A TRICKLE. Now, it’s a flood—and my family’s been swept up in it. For the past decade, we’ve streamed on-demand movies and Netflix shows, but we also continued to pay far too much for live TV using either cable or satellite services. No longer. As Jannette Collins noted in a recent article, there are now numerous internet…
Read more »

Cloudy with Scattered Bubbles

David Powell   |  Oct 1, 2025

Each year in Seattle, our exquisite summer weather exits stage left in September, pursued by a bear worthy of Shakespeare: pervasive gloomy clouds and steady rain persist until next July. More rain accumulates in other cities, but we have more gray, cloudy days (usually 226/year). Those many days of non-stop summer sunshine lead even the most careful to grow forgetful,…
Read more »

Get Me a Margarita

David Powell   |  Jul 12, 2019

I HAVE LONG ADMIRED my good friend Nick for his generosity with friends—but also for his inspiring ability to pinch a penny. The man can pinch so hard he makes Lincoln cry, so I knew the world was changing fast when he installed a Ring video doorbell. Really? Pinch me. A decade ago, new technologies inspired fantasies of living…
Read more »
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