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Markets

Doubling the Bear Market Low

"Mark, I like you're unfazed staying at 80:20 throughout a long bull market. You seem to feel plenty secure with this after considering other sources of income outside this portfolio. Charles Ellis wrote a good article five years back about many over-allocating to bonds because they didn't consider their "total portfolio." https://humbledollar.com/2021/10/my-total-portfolio/ In any case, I agree that the real mistake is not enjoying the ride and hopping off early."
- Brent Wilson
Read more »

Investing

Securities Lending Fully Paid Program

"Security lending is definitely a viable option for some extra income and I looked carefully at it. That said similar to what was mentioned below; for reasons of simplicity I have passed on this option. In lieu of security lending, I sell covered calls on select equities in my Roth account. I also use covered calls to liquidate equity shares deliberately when I am rebalancing or eliminating positions. Covered calls are not initially that simple either but because I have used them for years, it is easy at this point to keep using them for some added tax free "juice" in the Roth."
- Dunn Werking
Read more »

Investing

Free Lunch?

"I've taken the approach of only enrolling in this program in my Roth accounts. This way, taxes are irrelevant. I'm also not concerned about getting payments in lieu of dividends in the event a security is on loan when a dividend is paid."
- Howard Rohleder
Read more »

From HumbleDollar Founder Jonathan Clements

Markets

Ignore Valuations?

Make no mistake: Stocks are expensive, with the companies in the S&P 500-index currently at 28 times trailing 12-month reported earnings, offering a dividend…
Read more »

Family

Just A Mile Away

"Thank you Dan for those kind words. Your reminder of our parents when they were young and full of life really resonates. It’s easy for the worries of today to take up so much room, but there’s a lifetime of memories beyond them. I’m grateful to be nearby and to still have time with Mum."
- Andrew Clements
Read more »

Markets

Mid-term bounce?

"These kinds of historical data can drive you crazy. November has been the best month for S&P index funds. September has been the worst. So, how do you turn this into action? Buy everything on October 31 and sell on August 31? Better yet, short the index on August 31 and go 2X or 3X on October 31? Writing this gave me a headache."
- Howard Schwartz
Read more »

Taxes

Tax Planning Challenge

"This sounds like a great learning opportunity!"
- Dave Melick
Read more »

Insurance

Life Insurance

EARLIER THIS YEAR, Pacific Life Insurance Company agreed to settle a class action lawsuit brought by policyholders. At issue were marketing materials that its customers argued were misleading. While Pacific Life admitted no wrongdoing, it agreed to a settlement of $58 million. This wasn’t an isolated case. Insurers that sell permanent life insurance policies, including whole life and universal life, are often on the receiving end of lawsuits because of the way that they promote their products. In another recent case, the late race car driver Kyle Busch sued his insurance agent, arguing that he’d sold him coverage costing millions that was billed as a “tax-free retirement plan.” These cases highlight the fundamental issue with permanent life insurance: Unlike term life policies, whole life and universal life policies combine two somewhat separate features in a way that often leads to confusion. On the one hand, they provide life insurance. That part is straightforward. But they also include an investment account—referred to as “cash value”—that sits alongside the insurance. These lawsuits and other criticism of permanent life insurance products stem mostly from the way the investment component is advertised. Because no one can predict how any investment will perform in the future, life insurance salespeople provide prospective customers with illustrations of how the investments might perform over time. The problem, though, is that these are merely projections, and disappointment can result if the reality of the cash value’s growth falls short of those illustrations. It’s for that reason that I don’t recommend permanent life insurance. Instead, my recommendation is to opt for simple term coverage, which provides insurance without the complication of an investment component. If you’re shopping for term coverage, though, there are still some questions to consider, including the following: Should everyone have life insurance? If you aren’t married and have no dependents, then I’d argue you do not need life insurance. Some salespeople will make the case that you should purchase coverage when you’re young, before you have a family, because you’ll receive a better rate, but I’d be wary of that argument. If the insurer is offering you a better price on a product you don’t need, that doesn’t somehow make it a better deal. Another group that typically has no need for life insurance: folks who are financially independent. If you’re retired and living off of your savings, or have assets sufficient that you could retire, then in that case, you likely don’t need life insurance. One exception to the above might be for business owners, where life insurance can help facilitate buy-sell agreements between partners, but that is a narrow use case. How much coverage should you purchase? I suggest the following formula. If you own a home and have a mortgage, I would start with the mortgage balance. While it isn’t necessary to pay off the mortgage when a spouse or parent dies, I’ve found that it can make life much easier for survivors if they aren’t burdened by a mortgage. If you have children, I would total up the estimated cost of all of their future tuition. Depending on their ages, this can be a difficult exercise because college costs vary so widely and because tuition has historically increased faster than inflation. In addition, some children might earn scholarships, while others might attend pricey schools and go on to graduate school. Recognizing these unknowns, I suggest making your best guess, perhaps going with the midpoint of the highest and lowest potential numbers. The next step would be to build an endowment of sorts to fund annual living expenses for your family. For this element, you could approach it the same way you’d think about building a portfolio for retirement. Suppose, for example, you’d like your family to have $100,000 per year. Assuming a 4% or 5% portfolio withdrawal rate, that would translate to a portfolio of $2 to $2.5 million. For the endowment portion, keep in mind that you can subtract your existing savings. If you already have $1 million saved, that would reduce the coverage you’d need by $1 million. The final element in deciding how much coverage to purchase: Be sure to round up. As we’ve seen in recent years, inflation can stretch budgets. And your family’s needs might simply change over time. How long a term should you choose? In working through this formula, you’ll likely notice a wrinkle, which is that some needs are temporary while others will be longer term. Tuition, for example, will have a defined timeframe. The endowment for living expenses, on the other hand, would need to provide for your spouse’s needs indefinitely. Fortunately, term life insurance is flexible, and there are two ways you can cover differing time periods. The first strategy would be to purchase two policies. The first would provide funds for tuition and would be timed to expire when your youngest child is age 22 and likely out of school. The second policy, to meet ongoing expenses, would be timed to expire around the time you expect to reach financial independence—around age 60, for example. An alternative approach would be to purchase a single larger policy. Because it can be difficult to predict both your family’s needs and the growth of your savings over time, the single policy approach can, counterintuitively, provide greater flexibility than committing to two separate policies. That’s because many term policies allow the coverage level to be dialed down at the owner’s request. If you’re married, should each spouse carry their own coverage? In this case, the approach I suggest is to insure each spouse in relation to the income he or she brings in. Even if your family could survive on one income, a reality is that when one spouse dies, the other may not be able to work as much. That’s frequently the case when there are children at home. So I recommend that both spouses carry life insurance until it’s clear you’ve reached financial independence. What if you have group coverage through your employer? On the one hand, this is a nice benefit, but since you might change jobs in the future, I wouldn’t factor in the benefits of any employer-provided coverage. A final point: While life insurance is important, don’t overlook disability coverage, which can be just as important. 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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College

A Million Words to a Million Dollars?

"It amuses me when I’m with friends and they split up to grab to-go coffees from different vendors, then debate which is best while sipping through a lid. I could understand it if they took the lids off so they could actually taste the damn coffee! It’s like debating the merits of fine food with a blocked nose. Pointless."
- Mark Crothers
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Spending

Is an 18% Service Charge a TIP?

"And always tip for takeout. Someone is making that food for you. ❤️"
- Klammysue
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Life Events

Choosing a CCRC (Life PlanCommunity)

"I practice geriatrics in CT for three decades and watched several “ assisted living” facilities come and go. The biggest issues are financial, or long term viability of the organization. Many of the for profit ones go bankrupt as they start with low fees, care needs increase and so do the fees. Non Profit or church affiliated places are usually a better bet. I would look at staff longevity ( a good employer retains employees and usually runs things well), physical plant ( avoid places that put a lot of money into walnut paneling etc), resident retention ( ask people you meet at the place how long they have lived there). None of them are reliably excellent"
- Concerned
Read more »

Markets

Doubling the Bear Market Low

"Mark, I like you're unfazed staying at 80:20 throughout a long bull market. You seem to feel plenty secure with this after considering other sources of income outside this portfolio. Charles Ellis wrote a good article five years back about many over-allocating to bonds because they didn't consider their "total portfolio." https://humbledollar.com/2021/10/my-total-portfolio/ In any case, I agree that the real mistake is not enjoying the ride and hopping off early."
- Brent Wilson
Read more »

Investing

Securities Lending Fully Paid Program

"Security lending is definitely a viable option for some extra income and I looked carefully at it. That said similar to what was mentioned below; for reasons of simplicity I have passed on this option. In lieu of security lending, I sell covered calls on select equities in my Roth account. I also use covered calls to liquidate equity shares deliberately when I am rebalancing or eliminating positions. Covered calls are not initially that simple either but because I have used them for years, it is easy at this point to keep using them for some added tax free "juice" in the Roth."
- Dunn Werking
Read more »

Investing

Free Lunch?

"I've taken the approach of only enrolling in this program in my Roth accounts. This way, taxes are irrelevant. I'm also not concerned about getting payments in lieu of dividends in the event a security is on loan when a dividend is paid."
- Howard Rohleder
Read more »

From HumbleDollar Founder Jonathan Clements

Markets

Ignore Valuations?

Make no mistake: Stocks are expensive, with the companies in the S&P 500-index currently at 28 times trailing 12-month reported earnings, offering a dividend…
Read more »

Family

Just A Mile Away

"Thank you Dan for those kind words. Your reminder of our parents when they were young and full of life really resonates. It’s easy for the worries of today to take up so much room, but there’s a lifetime of memories beyond them. I’m grateful to be nearby and to still have time with Mum."
- Andrew Clements
Read more »

Markets

Mid-term bounce?

"These kinds of historical data can drive you crazy. November has been the best month for S&P index funds. September has been the worst. So, how do you turn this into action? Buy everything on October 31 and sell on August 31? Better yet, short the index on August 31 and go 2X or 3X on October 31? Writing this gave me a headache."
- Howard Schwartz
Read more »

Taxes

Tax Planning Challenge

"This sounds like a great learning opportunity!"
- Dave Melick
Read more »

Insurance

Life Insurance

EARLIER THIS YEAR, Pacific Life Insurance Company agreed to settle a class action lawsuit brought by policyholders. At issue were marketing materials that its customers argued were misleading. While Pacific Life admitted no wrongdoing, it agreed to a settlement of $58 million. This wasn’t an isolated case. Insurers that sell permanent life insurance policies, including whole life and universal life, are often on the receiving end of lawsuits because of the way that they promote their products. In another recent case, the late race car driver Kyle Busch sued his insurance agent, arguing that he’d sold him coverage costing millions that was billed as a “tax-free retirement plan.” These cases highlight the fundamental issue with permanent life insurance: Unlike term life policies, whole life and universal life policies combine two somewhat separate features in a way that often leads to confusion. On the one hand, they provide life insurance. That part is straightforward. But they also include an investment account—referred to as “cash value”—that sits alongside the insurance. These lawsuits and other criticism of permanent life insurance products stem mostly from the way the investment component is advertised. Because no one can predict how any investment will perform in the future, life insurance salespeople provide prospective customers with illustrations of how the investments might perform over time. The problem, though, is that these are merely projections, and disappointment can result if the reality of the cash value’s growth falls short of those illustrations. It’s for that reason that I don’t recommend permanent life insurance. Instead, my recommendation is to opt for simple term coverage, which provides insurance without the complication of an investment component. If you’re shopping for term coverage, though, there are still some questions to consider, including the following: Should everyone have life insurance? If you aren’t married and have no dependents, then I’d argue you do not need life insurance. Some salespeople will make the case that you should purchase coverage when you’re young, before you have a family, because you’ll receive a better rate, but I’d be wary of that argument. If the insurer is offering you a better price on a product you don’t need, that doesn’t somehow make it a better deal. Another group that typically has no need for life insurance: folks who are financially independent. If you’re retired and living off of your savings, or have assets sufficient that you could retire, then in that case, you likely don’t need life insurance. One exception to the above might be for business owners, where life insurance can help facilitate buy-sell agreements between partners, but that is a narrow use case. How much coverage should you purchase? I suggest the following formula. If you own a home and have a mortgage, I would start with the mortgage balance. While it isn’t necessary to pay off the mortgage when a spouse or parent dies, I’ve found that it can make life much easier for survivors if they aren’t burdened by a mortgage. If you have children, I would total up the estimated cost of all of their future tuition. Depending on their ages, this can be a difficult exercise because college costs vary so widely and because tuition has historically increased faster than inflation. In addition, some children might earn scholarships, while others might attend pricey schools and go on to graduate school. Recognizing these unknowns, I suggest making your best guess, perhaps going with the midpoint of the highest and lowest potential numbers. The next step would be to build an endowment of sorts to fund annual living expenses for your family. For this element, you could approach it the same way you’d think about building a portfolio for retirement. Suppose, for example, you’d like your family to have $100,000 per year. Assuming a 4% or 5% portfolio withdrawal rate, that would translate to a portfolio of $2 to $2.5 million. For the endowment portion, keep in mind that you can subtract your existing savings. If you already have $1 million saved, that would reduce the coverage you’d need by $1 million. The final element in deciding how much coverage to purchase: Be sure to round up. As we’ve seen in recent years, inflation can stretch budgets. And your family’s needs might simply change over time. How long a term should you choose? In working through this formula, you’ll likely notice a wrinkle, which is that some needs are temporary while others will be longer term. Tuition, for example, will have a defined timeframe. The endowment for living expenses, on the other hand, would need to provide for your spouse’s needs indefinitely. Fortunately, term life insurance is flexible, and there are two ways you can cover differing time periods. The first strategy would be to purchase two policies. The first would provide funds for tuition and would be timed to expire when your youngest child is age 22 and likely out of school. The second policy, to meet ongoing expenses, would be timed to expire around the time you expect to reach financial independence—around age 60, for example. An alternative approach would be to purchase a single larger policy. Because it can be difficult to predict both your family’s needs and the growth of your savings over time, the single policy approach can, counterintuitively, provide greater flexibility than committing to two separate policies. That’s because many term policies allow the coverage level to be dialed down at the owner’s request. If you’re married, should each spouse carry their own coverage? In this case, the approach I suggest is to insure each spouse in relation to the income he or she brings in. Even if your family could survive on one income, a reality is that when one spouse dies, the other may not be able to work as much. That’s frequently the case when there are children at home. So I recommend that both spouses carry life insurance until it’s clear you’ve reached financial independence. What if you have group coverage through your employer? On the one hand, this is a nice benefit, but since you might change jobs in the future, I wouldn’t factor in the benefits of any employer-provided coverage. A final point: While life insurance is important, don’t overlook disability coverage, which can be just as important. 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

NO. 1: THE GOAL isn’t to beat the market, prove we’re clever or grow absurdly rich. Rather, the goal is to have enough to lead the life we want. We should favor the path most likely to get us there.

Truths

NO. 1: EVERYTHING’S a tradeoff—and we should consider what we aren't getting. If we buy one item, we have to skimp on something else. If we spend money today, we can’t save it for tomorrow’s goals. If we buy a big house or send the kids to private colleges, we’ll have less for retirement. If we purchase one investment, we can’t invest the money elsewhere.

humans

NO. 63: WE LIKE paying low prices, but that can come at a high cost. Minimizing trading costs and fund expenses can be a smart investment strategy. But favoring the cheaper option doesn’t always turn out well. How many times have we regretted buying something just because it’s on sale? How often have we hurt ourselves by skimping on home or auto repairs?

think

WINNER’S CURSE. If you’re in a bidding war for a house and come out on top, you may suffer the winner’s curse: In beating out other possibly more prudent and knowledgeable bidders, there’s a risk you overpaid. The winner’s curse can also afflict other buyers, such as corporations that win takeover battles or the highest bidders at an art auction.

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Manifesto

NO. 1: THE GOAL isn’t to beat the market, prove we’re clever or grow absurdly rich. Rather, the goal is to have enough to lead the life we want. We should favor the path most likely to get us there.

Spotlight: Spending

Little luxuries

Our eldest daughter just recently moved out to begin her adventures as a young adult. My wife and I are suddenly discovering how quiet a house can be, and how much free time seems comes with "empty nesting". Given my fidgety nature, I've started looking…
Read more »

Loose Change

Here's something that might surprise you. Until I retired, I don't think I'd used an automated teller machine for at least twenty years. If I needed to use a credit or debit card, I usually had to spend a significant amount of time locating the…
Read more »

You Heel!

In response to a recent rant of mine that “The Rent is too Damn High” a commenter responded that “Many customers have no idea what makes up [contractor] prices.” I had to respect this guy, as not too many civilians side with the contractor. After…
Read more »

Subconscious Frugality

Within a ten-minute walk of my vacation home there's a lovely nine-hole golf course, its main lateral hazard being the river made famous as the source of water for Bushmills Irish whiskey. I haven't lost a ball to the River Bush since I retired. That…
Read more »

Retirement Toys

I recently had a hair-raising experience in a contraption called a Mini Moke. The best way I can describe it: imagine a compact car and a golf cart had a baby, slapped a rollbar on it, and threw a canvas roof over the whole thing.…
Read more »

$40 Trillion of Debt

SOME MILESTONES are auspicious. Others are not. This week, the Treasury announced that the federal government’s debt had topped $40 trillion for the first time. Government debt is nothing new, but the problem is now of more concern, for two reasons. First, the scale has…
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Spotlight: Rodriguez

You Are Missed

IN FALL 2021, I WROTE about my father-in-law’s impending death due to cancer. He died a few months after publication. I had the honor of writing his obituary. Like my wife and her family, I have found myself wanting to call him many times since he died. I was born in the early 1980s. That means that, until very recently,…
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Ever heard Down the Middle?

I'm betting that a large number of fellow HumbleDollarians have never heard of a podcast called Down the Middle (Down the Middle Archives | Creative Planning).  It is a pod hosted by our fearless founder Jonathan Clements and co-hosted by Peter Mallouk of Creative Planning. You can find it on Apple or anywhere podcasts are found. It's released only once…
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On the House

THIS IS THE STORY of how I thought I’d successfully timed the market—but didn’t. I started investing in 2007, when the stock market peaked, which wasn’t great. But then came 2009 to 2019. Stocks enjoyed the longest and one of the strongest bull markets in history, averaging some 15% a year. Thanks to that great bull market, my wife and…
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Is now the time to go long in bonds?

This may sound crazy to most readers here, but as a 45 year-old, until 2022 I had never lived in, let along invested in, a rising interest rate environment. This is, of course, owing to the enduring bond bull market from 1981-2022 (RIP).  Obviously, we all know rates rose in 2022 and have held steady for a bit.  They are…
Read more »

How and when did you find out about HumbleDollar?

I thought it might be fun to see if everyone can remember how and/or when they found out about HumbleDollar? I, myself, am not 100% sure.  Maybe through the boglehead.org forums (which I've since abandoned)?  I can't recall, but I'm pretty sure that since 2018 or '19 I've been a daily follower.
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Did you retire in or around year 2000? If so, how’s it going?

I see this new Forum as akin to the Bogleheads forum.  I have some problems with that site, and I (obviously) like this one better.  But one very interesting post I saw related to retirees from 2000. The idea is that, theoretically, 2000 was just about the "worst time" someone could retire because it was shortly before the 9/11/2001 drop…
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HumbleDollar · https://humbledollar.com/ · printed Oct 23, 2026

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