Slow on the Draw
Edmund Marsh | May 9, 2026
RETIREMENT IS LIFE’S most expensive purchase. During our working years, we deprive our present selves of immediate pleasure by refusing to spend money for nicer cars, a bigger house or a vacation to boast about. Instead, we squirrel away those saved dollars with an eye toward keeping the future us fed, clothed and living indoors. At age 64, after decades of choosing to save and invest a large chunk of each paycheck, rather than spend it, I’ve bought a choice: Fully retire to fully embrace life after work, or carry on in a career that still adds purpose to my life. I’ve chosen to stay, but I’ve whittled down my work hours too far to handle all of my family’s spending needs. Thus, I’m faced with reaching into savings for the first time. More about that later. But first, where is our money, and why? Taking advantage. The bulk of our retirement savings is invested in tax-advantaged accounts. Until we reached our mid-30s, neither my wife nor I had invested a dime in the stock market. Since that time, however, we’ve stuffed dollars from every paycheck into our workplace savings accounts. Initially, these contributions went into traditional accounts, but we switched to the Roth option when it became available. We also topped-off Roth IRAs every year, and stashed a smaller amount in a taxable brokerage account. A little less than half of our total investments reside in future-tax-free Roth accounts. Most of the balance is tax-deferred, traditional money, which is subject to ordinary income tax rates the year it’s withdrawn. The distinction between how these two types of accounts are taxed influences where we position assets between those accounts. Accordingly, we’ve looked at two scenarios that may raise our future tax rates: One begins in a little more than a decade,…
Read more » A Lifetime of Loss
Edmund Marsh | Dec 26, 2024
WE SUFFER LOSSES throughout our life. During our youth, we might leave old chums behind when our family starts fresh in a new town or when we go away to college. Later, a job loss or a divorce could leave us drained both financially and emotionally. But for most of us, our senior years are when loss hits hardest. Our body is often the first casualty, especially the face we see in the mirror each morning. At some point, the dents and dings of time take their toll on that image. My own visage is covered with sun-damaged skin and topped by silver hair. I’ve grown used to the view, but occasionally I’m startled by the realization I look old. Achy joints and stiff muscles add another dimension to the picture. My complaints are minor, usually no more than a nuisance, but probably portend more serious problems down the road. Vision and hearing deficits have already arrived. The ophthalmologist is keeping an eye on my cataracts, and my wife says I’m overdue for hearing aids. Meanwhile, gravity is beginning to win—again. We all start life held fast to the earth, staying put where we’re placed. As our strength grows, most of us commence to roll, then progress to sitting and crawling, until we eventually lift ourselves to our feet and begin to walk. We may stay in motion for decades, never thinking of life without mobility. Young bodies generally do our bidding. They run all day until we drop into bed with exhaustion, then jump up at dawn to begin the race again. But one day, our strength begins to fade, or we’re laid low by injury or disease. As a physical therapist, the core of my practice is helping folks either remain in motion or get moving again. Whether…
Read more » Holiday Habits
Edmund Marsh | Nov 24, 2024
What creates a family tradition? Why is a certain vacation spot more special than another with the same basic attributes? Why must the family Christmas celebration repeat the annual ritual to seem authentic? Chances are, these events evoke memories of happy times, perhaps shared with loved ones who are long-gone. Traditions often become fixed in our minds as children, when we’re still learning how things ought to be done. We’re entering the season of traditions. In the physical therapy clinic during this time, I routinely ask patients about their own cherished customs. Food is a favorite topic, particularly foods that must make it to the table at the family feast. I especially appreciate responses from patients I know are just a generation or two removed from an immigrant ancestor. I’ll often find someone in the family still preparing grandmother’s signature dish–or wishing they had the recipe. It’s a tangible memory that fills their heart, as well as their stomach. This week, many of us are anticipating some special food as we gather for Thanksgiving dinner. Will we be disappointed? It may depend on who does the cooking. My wife seemed satisfied with her forage among the food offered at her first Thanksgiving with my family–until she had a chance to speak to me alone. “Where are the mashed potatoes?” It seems for her, the meal is incomplete without them. But mashed potatoes were not part of our tradition. Not that we truly had a rigid tradition regarding food. Then, as now, I’ll tuck into whatever is served. I welcome new foods. But given my druthers, a short list of simple fare must also be present. The first is an oven-baked turkey. I won’t turn down your fried or smoked fowl, and I’ll even eat your ham without complaint, but I…
Read more » How Nosey Are You?
Edmund Marsh | Jun 30, 2024
Last week, my family hosted my wife's niece and family from California. The parents in this family are both in their 40s. Prior to their visit, we resolved to ask them what plans they had made for their retirement. On their first evening with us, we were encouraged to learn they each had a pension, and were also saving additional money for retirement through their employer-sponsored plans. That was as far as the financial conversation got, except that they commented they "needed to think more about retirement." I didn't have a chance to follow-up on the comment, but my wife found out the young couple knew they needed to learn more about personal finance and take action to put some plans in place. They just hadn't yet pulled the trigger. Yesterday, I sent them an email complimenting them on making a start and offered a few suggestions on moving forward. I added a few HumbleDollar links, including the Two-Minute Checkup. I told them my wife and I are nosey about the finances of the people we care about, but to honest, I'm pretty curious about nearly everyone's plans for retirement, and ready to offer suggestions if they are as lost as I was a few decades ago. I look for opportunities to bring up the topic. What about you? Do you poke your nose into other people's money life?
Read more » Looking to Leap
Edmund Marsh | Oct 26, 2023
I'M THINKING ABOUT retirement—again. But this time, it isn’t my retirement, but rather my wife’s. I earn our family’s primary paycheck, so I’m usually the focus of our discussions when we sit down to scrutinize the numbers and comb through the calendar, looking for a date when we should each hang up our physical therapist’s goniometer. Even though I earn the bigger income, my wife has diligently worked just as long as I have, albeit in a changing capacity. In our 30s, we each began second careers as physical therapists at more or less the same time. I talked her into a blind date the week I started my first physical therapy job. She graduated PT school a couple of months later, and began work shortly thereafter. For five of the first seven years of our marriage, we spent most of our work days side-by-side in the same outpatient clinic. After our daughter was born, my wife’s hours on the job dwindled, while her responsibilities at home increased. On weekdays, she now applies her experience as a former high school biology teacher to instructing our daughter at home. On top of that, she acts as caregiver to family members, including round-the-clock on-call assistance for any needs that arise. And then, of course, there’s the usual tasks involved in keeping up a home. I help, but the brunt of the burden falls on my wife. Despite her hectic schedule, my wife continues to make a small but significant contribution at our workplace. She gives a few hours each month, plus some holidays, at our acute care hospital. Every few months, I ask if she’s ready to retire from her work away from home. My question brings a thoughtful expression, then the same reply of “not yet.” Our ongoing conversation about our…
Read more » Keeping Calm
Edmund Marsh | Aug 15, 2025
Planning often costs nothing but time. Even then, the hours we devote to it can buy us buckets of happiness. Some plans may go no further. No matter. There’s no harm done. We’ve spent no money and taken no risk. A personal financial plan, on the other hand, can be costly–whether it’s implemented or not. For instance, if we don’t do what we know we ought, actions like making a Roth conversion or moving money out of a high-fee mutual fund, we could find our finances treading water. Or, if we follow a poorly-conceived plan, we might even go under. My wife and I hope to sidestep both pitfalls as we put the money plan for our senior years into motion. But I’m finding I can’t avoid facing the emotional cost of changing the habits and thinking I’ve developed over years of nurturing our retirement savings. Dripping in. I recently cut back on my work hours as I phase into retirement. Along with my work schedule, however, my paycheck also got pruned. That means less salary for all purchases, including new shares of stock. Even so, my wife and I have no logical reason to feel pinched for money. Currently, my part-time pay covers the usual expenses for my family’s frugal lifestyle. There’s even enough left over for low-key leisure pursuits, like the limited travel that keeps us close to our elderly mothers. My employer also pays the bulk of my health insurance premium. And I have an array of other benefits, including a generous allowance for paid time off. Meanwhile, our finances are underpinned by investment accounts at all-time highs. We can’t take credit for their growth. Our heaviest lift was plunking part of each paycheck into index funds during decades of a mostly soaring stock market. Those steady…
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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
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. 
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