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"? Look for ways to improve processes and products to increase profitability and productivity. -Never stop learning. Be excited about taking on new roles. - When you are given a job, do the best you can even though you don't like it, You are going to be judged by how well you do in your current job before they promote you to another job you like. - If opportunity doesn't knock on your door, put in more doors. - Develop a strong network inside and outside the company. - Never say "No" to your boss and his immediate boss. - Be nice to everyone. You never know who is going to be your boss next year. - Find out who your boss likes and hates. Never praise the one he hates in front of him. What is the best career advice you ever got? Or the advice you will give to any one working today? While many HumbleDollar readers are retired or nearing retirement, there are many more who are still working. They will all benefit from your advice.

I WAS WORRIED ABOUT what we’d be giving up when, a few years ago, we moved to a 55-plus community in Atlanta. We downsized from a large home to a small apartment, plus all our neighbors were considerably older. It was obvious we had to adjust and start enjoying our unfamiliar environment or we’d end up miserable. My wife and I made a conscious decision to slow down, and make every effort to get to know other residents and their life stories. Within several weeks, we felt more comfortable living there. One conversation during the first week transformed my thinking about retiree life. The man was much older, struggled with mobility and was constantly in pain. But he was always cheerful and would say “hello” whenever he saw me. One morning, I ran into him in the corridor. I greeted him with, "Good morning. Have a great day.” His reply, said with a smile: “Any day above ground is a great day.” This simple statement had a profound impact on how I thought about life’s day-to-day struggles. A day could be bad for many reasons: a dead car battery, a traffic jam, a parking ticket, a client canceling a contract, office politics and more. But the important thing is, I’m still above ground, living and breathing, which isn’t always a given for a senior. I’m thankful for this fact, and it makes all other problems seem small, trivial and not worth worrying about. We’re told to “count your blessings,” which helps us keep things in perspective when they don’t go well. This gratitude—especially the gratitude that we’re still above ground—can allow us to get some distance from life’s day-to-day hassles. Such thoughts can also help with investing. Legendary investor Warren Buffett has said that it's wise for investors “to be fearful when others are greedy and to be greedy only when others are fearful.” Investment opportunities often arise when others are fearful and share prices are beaten down. I think of the price I pay for a beaten-down stock as the “ground.” When the stock moves above the price I paid, I’m happy it’s “above ground.” If I buy a stock at $100 and it goes to $150, I’m certainly happy. What if it then drops to $125? I tend to be unhappy, and may be tempted to sell. But I try to avoid this temptation by telling myself I’m still “above ground” and I need to stay the course. It’s a way for me to get some distance from the stock market’s daily price gyrations.

DURING A GATHERING of retired friends, the topic of wills came up. Many had completed their wills and had their finances in order, while others were working on updating their wills. But there were several who hadn’t even started thinking about it. One of them said, “As a retiree, I’m just starting to enjoy my freedom and have some fun. It’s too stressful to think about death. I’ll get to it someday.” As you might imagine, prioritizing tasks in retirement is a challenge. During your working years, your boss kept you on your toes. In retirement, there’s no such pressure, unless it comes from you or your family. Things can be put off for days, weeks or even longer. Life has a way of forcing us to make quick decisions. I saw a friend get a life-changing medical diagnosis. He was given 18 months to live, leaving him scrambling to get his finances in order. I’d hate to be faced with that sort of stress. How do we get ourselves to take action on important matters once we’re retired? Here’s a thought experiment that helped me: Imagine you’re in your doctor's office and you’re told you have only five months or, alternatively, five years to live. What would you do? Five months to live: You must focus on the things most important to you. In all likelihood, organizing financial records, updating wills and spending time with loved ones would take priority. Five years to live: You might have time to do something meaningful. But again, you need to focus on your priorities with a sense of urgency. This exercise, I found, brings life into sharp focus. It helped me clarify the most important things to do—and I’m now focusing on those things.

DECADES AGO, WHEN I was trying to save consistently for retirement, I found that my impulse purchases were standing in my way. Like many, I wanted feel-good stuff or the latest gadget, and I was willing to spend money to get it. Once, I saw an expensive jacket in a store and badly wanted it. I was about to buy it when reality struck. I said to myself, “Let me think it over for a day. If I really need it, I’ll buy it tomorrow.” Guess what? The next day, I didn’t think about it. I had other things to worry about, and I saved some serious money. This was a revelation. I could avoid impulse buying simply by postponing the decision. Thereafter, this became my mantra when making any big purchase—wait a day before buying. On further thought, it became clear to me that I was confusing wants and needs. If the expensive jacket was a real need, I would have gone back to the store the next day and bought it. But the truth is, it was a want, and I could live without it. Now, the question I ask myself before buying anything big is, “Is this a want or a need?” For decades, this simple question has helped me save money by avoiding impulse purchases. I preached it to my sons as they were growing up, but I was never sure whether they’d put it into practice. Proof came a few years ago. One of my sons told me he was going to buy a fancy electronic gadget on Black Friday because the deal was too good to pass up. After a week, when I asked him about it, he said, “Dad, I followed your mantra. I waited 24 hours before clicking the buy button and the deal didn’t look all that good, so I didn’t buy it.” I was happy to know my simple strategy worked for him, too. Impulse buying is one reason that six out of 10 American families report living paycheck to paycheck. Even among Americans earning more than $100,000 a year, four out of 10 say they live this way, according to a survey by LendingClub. It’s not easy to resist the siren song of purchases. Products are promoted to make you want to buy them, whether you need them or not. Social media makes the situation worse. When your friends show off their new purchases online, you also want to buy them. Impulse buying can extend to stock trading. We’ve seen momentum stocks take off as everyone piles in. Getting in on the action seems attractive. A recent example is the meme stock craze. FOMO, or fear of missing out, is an immensely powerful emotion. Rushing to buy a stock based on an analyst's recommendation is another pitfall. I’ve made that mistake on multiple occasions, and I’ve lost money every time. These days, I take a more disciplined approach. First, I’m wary of buying individual stocks, instead focusing on exchange-traded funds. Even if a stock looks extremely attractive and its price is spiking, I’ll take time to do research before buying. By that time, often the crowd’s impulse buying has waned and the stock has dropped to a more reasonable price. My advice: If you’re about to make a significant purchase, don’t be in a hurry. Make sure it’s something you truly need—and not an impulse purchase. Sundar Mohan Rao retired recently after a four-decade career as a research and development engineer. He lives in Tampa in a 55-plus community. Mohan's interests include investing, digital painting, reading, writing and gardening. His previous article was More Than Money. [xyz-ihs snippet="Donate"]

I want to share the sad news that Mr. T. V. Narayanan passed away in India, two days ago, of a brief illness. He is survived by his wife, son, daughter-in-law, and 3 grandchildren. We will miss him dearly. Here is an article he wrote for HD: https://humbledollar.com/2023/07/come-a-long-way/ He says in this article that he must have read just about every column that Jonathan Clements wrote as a personal finance columnist for the Journal and learned much from them. He has read every investment book he could find, including those by Jonathan, Burton Malkiel, John Bogle, Charles Ellis, William Bernstein, Larry Swedroe, Jeremy Siegel and many others. This financial knowledge helped him very well. He advised many on investments. He was one of the most humble persons, I have ever met. He introduced me to Humble Dollar, for which I am very grateful.   Our thoughts and prayers are with his family. May his soul rest in peace.   Sundar Mohan Rao

The obvious answer is that it depends on your financial situation, age, net worth and risk tolerance. I am trying to decide on the right amount of cash I should hold. I found this through internet search on this topic: "According to the U.S. Trust Survey of Affluent Americans, investors with over $3 million in investable assets typically hold around 15% of their portfolios in cash and cash equivalents. However, the amount of cash an investor holds can vary depending on their age and net worth:   The Silent Generation Investors in this age group (ages 77 and up) tend to hold around 23% of their portfolio in cash.This is because they prioritize capital preservation and stability.   Millennials Younger high-net-worth Millennials tend to hold around 11% of their portfolio in cash. This is because they have a greater appetite for risk and growth. Here is a link that provides more details: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/guess-percentage-wealth-rich-keep-170015736.html   What has been your strategy to decide on what % cash to hold in your investment portfolio?