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Health

Brain Power

ArticleJeffrey K. Actor  |  Oct 31, 2026

I KEEP PHYSICALLY active and exercise on a semi-regular basis. Maybe not as much as my wife suggests, but enough that I feel the burn during a workout, and experience those pesky muscle group aches the next day. However, there is one muscle that I should probably exercise more, and with greater fervor, especially now that I am retired. That muscle is the brain. In my humble opinion, the brain should be considered a critical retirement asset. I am keenly aware of my diminished mental acuity as I enter my third trimester of life. My ability to sort, store, and retrieve information has weakened. Furthermore, at two years into retirement, I find that I no longer push my brain muscles for hours at a time as I did during my working years. When I do push, my focus is shorter; my thoughts are not quite as deep. Where I used to swim deep with the fishes, I now wade shallow with the minnows. I joke with friends and colleagues that, as a former scientist-researcher-educator, my brain was my most critical piece of “capital equipment”. In reality, regardless of occupation or social status, the brain serves everyone as his or her most important asset for career placement, advancement, and success. There is irony in carefully protecting a financial retirement portfolio while paying considerably less attention to the biological asset responsible for managing it.  Many of us pour over our spreadsheets to ensure existing monetary assets will support our retirement years. I suggest that just like any other valuable asset, the brain requires continued monitoring. I am certainly guilty of giving my fiscal portfolio more attention than I do preserving the cognitive asset required to maintain it.  During my working years, brain “maintenance” was automatic; daily doses of research investigations, teaching and writing, kept this capital equipment asset exquisitely tuned. Now that I am retired, I find that much of the built-in capital expenditure for maintaining the brain is gone. I have this extraordinarily valuable piece of equipment lying around the house (upstairs) with no scheduled maintenance program.  Recognition that I require increased brain maintenance may be the first step. Perhaps all I need is simply a continued re-investment; a minor amount of intellectual capital deposited every day might do the trick to keep my most important muscle asset from depreciating. I thought to start by fortifying existing neurons. My twins bought me a subscription to Spotify, a music service that has eerily learned my likes and dislikes all too well. Figuring to rekindle teenage memories of the ‘70s, I created playlists that included the earliest albums I owned. Curiously, I am able to recall all the words from favorite songs written by The Beatles, Elton John, and The Kinks. Unfortunately these exercises can backfire. Let’s just say that once Bee Gees tunes, or associated images of John Travolta dancing in tight bell bottoms, get into your head, no amount of cognitive therapy can force them out.  On the flip side, some neurons simply left no forwarding address. Try as I may, I am unable to remember anything I learned in physics or calculus from that same decade. Those capital assets left no receipts; the intellectual ledger entries have been simply wiped clean from the grey matter processing center.  The creation of new neural pathways remains a challenge. I try to stay mentally engaged. While my time spent reading is probably similar to when working, the breadth of subjects has expanded. Less pure science, and more science fiction. What I really need is a way to consistently exercise and strengthen my brain’s problem-solving circuitry. I’ve tried jigsaw puzzles, however, my color deficiency leads to more frustration than completed projects. Apps are fun, but become less engaging once the logical paths to successful completion have been mastered. I tried to learn a new language, but the slow progress made me depressed. There is an oft-cited figure that it takes 10,000 deliberate and focused hours to achieve mastery in any particular field. At a realistic pace of 2 hours a day, for 6 days a week, mastery in any new field chosen would take roughly 16 years. That’s a significant time-related investment, and that investment comes with an opportunity cost. Time spent mastering one pursuit is time unavailable for another. At my current stage of life, time may actually be the capital asset in the shortest supply. I began new hobbies, such as woodworking and hydroponic gardening.  Each brings the challenge of new cognitive skills. Yet I don’t engage in those activities every day. Furthermore, it seems unrealistic that these activities will hold my interest intently for the time required to master these subjects.  Indeed, the only constant activity I’ve kept since retiring is that of napping. So, I guess I am on track to be a nap master in another decade or two. I could speed the process by taking longer naps, but on the surface that seems to defeat the overall goal of strengthening mental muscle growth and cognitive conditioning.  For now, I am beginning to realize that the overall goal may not truly be mastery of new skills at all. Rather I should focus on continued cognitive maintenance and investment. A little intellectual capital deposited every day may not make me an expert in anything new, but perhaps it will keep my most important capital biological asset from depreciating too quickly. Jeffrey K. Actor, PhD, was a professor at a major medical school in Houston for more than 25 years, serving as an academic researcher with interests in how immune responses function to fight pathogenic diseases. Jeff’s retirement goals are to write short science fiction stories, volunteer in the community and spend time in his garden. Check out his earlier articles.
Read more »

Retirement

Why can’t Americans put more effort into understanding Social Security?

R Quinn  |  Oct 29, 2026

"I got an email from SS yesterday, as did many of you probably. -------------------------------------- from: information@update.ssa.gov ,  Fri, Oct 30 at 6:02 PM Best Performance Ever in SSA’s 91-Year History “Under President Donald J. Trump, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is transforming into a model of excellence, one that meets and exceeds customer expectations … " goes on to outline many improvements to service Frank J. Bisignano Commissioner Social Security Administration ------------------------------------------ I appreciate learning about the new services or improvements. I do not appreciate Frank Bisignano injecting politics into SS. He is a friggin administrator. Let politicians twist the truth to help themselves if they want; let SS give us the facts. Just the facts, ma'am."
- Will
Read more »

Investing

Private Funds

ArticleAdam M. Grossman  |  Oct 31, 2026

IT'S THAT TIME of year again, when college endowments report their results for the recently completed fiscal year. This year’s numbers were unusual and carry lessons for individual investors. For fiscal year 2026, which ended June 30th, some schools reported extraordinary returns. The University of North Carolina’s endowment reported a gain of nearly 38%. Washington University notched a return of more than 37%. And Stanford University’s endowment gained almost 32%. Those are strong numbers, but it was a year of haves and have-nots. The median return was a much more modest 16.1%, according to consulting firm Cambridge Associates. And some schools trailed badly. MIT’s endowment, which has historically been near the top of the leaderboard, returned just 10.3%. Why the disparity? The explanation, in short: SpaceX. Some schools—but not all—had invested in the company years before its public offering. Some had purchased shares directly, while others had exposure through venture capital funds. So when SpaceX held its IPO earlier this year at a valuation of nearly $2 trillion, these schools experienced windfalls. That explains the outstanding results at UNC, WashU and Stanford, and it explains why the median school, which had little or no exposure to SpaceX, put up much less dramatic results. What should we conclude from this? On the one hand, this seems to validate stock pickers’ argument that the right picks can make all the difference. It also seems to support those lobbying for a rule change to allow private funds into workplace 401(k)s. Advocates of this move talk about democratizing access to investments, and the impact of SpaceX certainly aligns with that argument. Despite some endowments’ success with this strategy, though, my recommendation is unchanged: For virtually all investors, I would still opt for the simplicity of index funds and would steer clear of private funds, including hedge funds, private equity and venture capital. When it comes to private funds, there are four fundamental challenges which are well understood. For starters, they’re expensive. The traditional private fund structure involves a management fee which is typically between 1% and 2%. On top of that, the manager collects a performance fee—usually 20% of the profits each year. Funds like the Robinhood Ventures Fund (ticker: RVI) offer access to a basket of private companies through a publicly-traded vehicle, and they’re similarly expensive. This fund charges more than 3%. In contrast, funds tracking the S&P 500 charge as little as 0.03%. So cost is one key factor. Private funds can also be tax-inefficient. Because they’re actively managed, the level of trading inside these funds can be significant. That leaves investors’ tax bills exposed to the whims of fund managers. A recent roundup by research firm Morningstar illustrates how investors in actively-managed mutual funds can face unpleasant tax surprises. Though the mechanism is different, the same risk applies to investors in private funds. Private funds also carry fundamentally more risk, because they aren’t required to undergo the same level of scrutiny as publicly-traded funds. That provides more room for malfeasance. And finally, private funds are generally illiquid, limiting withdrawals to periodic windows throughout the year. These restrictions have been problematic even for large university endowments, forcing them to sell investments at below-market prices. For individual investors, this sort of illiquidity could be an even larger problem. In my view, an asset that can’t be sold on demand has limited practical value, however attractive it may appear on paper. Those are some of the more commonly cited challenges with private funds. But this year’s endowment returns highlight another issue: The performance of private funds is highly variable, and that’s because the landscape of investments outside of public markets is so idiosyncratic. At the University of North Carolina, for example, half of the endowment’s returns last year came solely from its SpaceX stake. That was fortunate. But unfortunately, there’s no reliable formula to repeat that kind of success. It’s for that reason, I think, that endowment returns, on average, have been middling. According to data from the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), the average college endowment has gained 10.0% per year over the past three fiscal years. In contrast, an investor in a simple publicly-traded stock-bond fund like the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund, would have earned 12.5% per year over that same time period. To be sure, endowments have delivered better returns than publicly-traded alternatives in other time periods. Over the past five years, for example, endowments in the NACUBO database have beaten that Vanguard fund by about one percentage point per year. The issue, though, is that there’s no pattern to these returns. If private funds start the year encumbered by high fees, tax-inefficiency and illiquidity, then they need to deliver returns that are that much better just to stay even. And there’s no guarantee that this will be the case. It’s for these reasons that I continue to recommend the simplest of investments for portfolios of all sizes. 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 »

Investing

Do I really need International funds in my portfolio? I say no.

Bruce Roberts  |  Oct 26, 2026

"My modest (5-10%) international holdings are the only part of my stock portfolio in which I am reinvesting dividends. I like that international exposure hedges against dollar declines and provides some diversification. As for expenses, they are trivial: 0.035% for FSPXS in my taxable account and 0% for FZLIX in my IRA. As for tax hassles, they too are trivial with tax preparation software."
- Jo Bo
Read more »

From HumbleDollar Founder Jonathan Clements

Careers

Late Shift

LIKE A SLOW-MOTION train wreck, we’ve spent recent decades inching toward a world where we have too few workers and too many retirees dependent…
Read more »

Behavior

Monopoly

D.J.  |  Oct 27, 2026

"Like your dad, I played Monopoly all summer long for several years with a neighbor boy, and I probably could still name all the properties. For a while, I could name the purchase prices, too. We were playing trivia on a recent cruise, and one of the questions was “What is the most expensive property on the Monopoly board—in both the U.S. and U.K. versions?” We got the U.S. answer right away (Boardwalk), but missed on the U.K. answer (Mayfair—we were close: We thought of Mayfair but said Kensington.)"
- DrLefty
Read more »

Insurance

To Claim or Not to Claim, That Is the Question

Mark Crothers  |  Oct 28, 2026

"I’ve never heard of a home watch service, but what a great idea, especially in an area with a lot of vacation homes. We just got back from a three-week trip and turned the thermostat off before we left. The weather changed dramatically during that period, and the house was a brisk 59 degrees when we arrived home. In California, I don’t think we really have to worry about freezing like you do, but I probably should think more than I do about our trips and our house. There was a lot less to think about when we lived in the condo. (Stop mail, turn down thermostat, lock, leave.)"
- DrLefty
Read more »

Markets

Executives have stopped talking about recession. They talk about affordability instead.

Daniel Oliveira  |  Oct 30, 2026

"Belgian chocolate my man. I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about palm oil with them. As a bonus only one is enough to satiate the craving."
- David Lancaster
Read more »

Investing

Would copying Congress have beaten an index fund?

Daniel Oliveira  |  Oct 28, 2026

"Simple solution to prevent even a "sniff" of impropriety: Anyone entering Congress or key Executive Branch positions need to move all assets (this includes spousal assets) to Index funds before taking office and for an appropriate "blackout period" after leaving office. Any evidence of insider information being provided to other friends and extended family should have the same implications as private sector executives are subject to. Officials in other government positions who have major executive control over government contracts should not be able to trade in stocks of companies in the sector(s) they are decision makers overseeing policy and or contract awards for. Anyone who can't abide by this or feels these ethical guardrails "costs" them too much money to serve need not apply. As it sits in prevailing practice and has for decades there is an odd ethical "odor" emanating from Congressional and Executive Branch offices in this area that is "sniff" worthy but could easily be largely avoided."
- Dunn Werking
Read more »

Markets

Doubling the Bear Market Low

Mark Crothers  |  Oct 22, 2026

"What I find particularly interesting about this discussion is how portfolio growth can change the nature of the risk we're taking, even when we haven't made a single investment decision. A portfolio that has doubled since the 2022 lows may look very different today, not only in terms of asset allocation but also in terms of what that capital now represents in someone's life. I don't think rebalancing should necessarily be automatic simply because an allocation has drifted from its original target. But I also wouldn't dismiss the increased risk just because much of the growth came from investment gains. Perhaps the more useful question is whether the portfolio still serves the same purpose it did four years ago. If those gains have brought someone significantly closer to financial independence, protecting part of that progress might make sense. For someone with a longer horizon and secure income, the answer could be quite different. The interesting part is that the same portfolio allocation can be perfectly reasonable for one investor and uncomfortable for another, depending on what the money is ultimately meant to accomplish."
- Massimiliano Scioscia
Read more »

Family

The Advantage We Bring

Andrew Clements  |  Oct 28, 2026

"Dan, those conversations can stay with us long after a vacation ends. I appreciate your distinction between getting a glimpse of someone’s life and knowing what it’s like to live it. Your point about people struggling at home is well taken, too. Gratitude and generosity shouldn’t depend on which country we’re visiting. Your reflection on your tax practice also resonates. We can be proud of what we’ve built while recognizing that others may have faced obstacles we never had to consider. That awareness is something I want to carry with me, both in the Philippines and here at home."
- Andrew Clements
Read more »

In Retirement

The pension conundrum and a solution

R Quinn  |  Oct 26, 2026

"Your fellow taxpayers say “you’re welcome.” 😁"
- R Quinn
Read more »

Health

Brain Power

ArticleJeffrey K. Actor  |  Oct 31, 2026

I KEEP PHYSICALLY active and exercise on a semi-regular basis. Maybe not as much as my wife suggests, but enough that I feel the burn during a workout, and experience those pesky muscle group aches the next day. However, there is one muscle that I should probably exercise more, and with greater fervor, especially now that I am retired. That muscle is the brain. In my humble opinion, the brain should be considered a critical retirement asset. I am keenly aware of my diminished mental acuity as I enter my third trimester of life. My ability to sort, store, and retrieve information has weakened. Furthermore, at two years into retirement, I find that I no longer push my brain muscles for hours at a time as I did during my working years. When I do push, my focus is shorter; my thoughts are not quite as deep. Where I used to swim deep with the fishes, I now wade shallow with the minnows. I joke with friends and colleagues that, as a former scientist-researcher-educator, my brain was my most critical piece of “capital equipment”. In reality, regardless of occupation or social status, the brain serves everyone as his or her most important asset for career placement, advancement, and success. There is irony in carefully protecting a financial retirement portfolio while paying considerably less attention to the biological asset responsible for managing it.  Many of us pour over our spreadsheets to ensure existing monetary assets will support our retirement years. I suggest that just like any other valuable asset, the brain requires continued monitoring. I am certainly guilty of giving my fiscal portfolio more attention than I do preserving the cognitive asset required to maintain it.  During my working years, brain “maintenance” was automatic; daily doses of research investigations, teaching and writing, kept this capital equipment asset exquisitely tuned. Now that I am retired, I find that much of the built-in capital expenditure for maintaining the brain is gone. I have this extraordinarily valuable piece of equipment lying around the house (upstairs) with no scheduled maintenance program.  Recognition that I require increased brain maintenance may be the first step. Perhaps all I need is simply a continued re-investment; a minor amount of intellectual capital deposited every day might do the trick to keep my most important muscle asset from depreciating. I thought to start by fortifying existing neurons. My twins bought me a subscription to Spotify, a music service that has eerily learned my likes and dislikes all too well. Figuring to rekindle teenage memories of the ‘70s, I created playlists that included the earliest albums I owned. Curiously, I am able to recall all the words from favorite songs written by The Beatles, Elton John, and The Kinks. Unfortunately these exercises can backfire. Let’s just say that once Bee Gees tunes, or associated images of John Travolta dancing in tight bell bottoms, get into your head, no amount of cognitive therapy can force them out.  On the flip side, some neurons simply left no forwarding address. Try as I may, I am unable to remember anything I learned in physics or calculus from that same decade. Those capital assets left no receipts; the intellectual ledger entries have been simply wiped clean from the grey matter processing center.  The creation of new neural pathways remains a challenge. I try to stay mentally engaged. While my time spent reading is probably similar to when working, the breadth of subjects has expanded. Less pure science, and more science fiction. What I really need is a way to consistently exercise and strengthen my brain’s problem-solving circuitry. I’ve tried jigsaw puzzles, however, my color deficiency leads to more frustration than completed projects. Apps are fun, but become less engaging once the logical paths to successful completion have been mastered. I tried to learn a new language, but the slow progress made me depressed. There is an oft-cited figure that it takes 10,000 deliberate and focused hours to achieve mastery in any particular field. At a realistic pace of 2 hours a day, for 6 days a week, mastery in any new field chosen would take roughly 16 years. That’s a significant time-related investment, and that investment comes with an opportunity cost. Time spent mastering one pursuit is time unavailable for another. At my current stage of life, time may actually be the capital asset in the shortest supply. I began new hobbies, such as woodworking and hydroponic gardening.  Each brings the challenge of new cognitive skills. Yet I don’t engage in those activities every day. Furthermore, it seems unrealistic that these activities will hold my interest intently for the time required to master these subjects.  Indeed, the only constant activity I’ve kept since retiring is that of napping. So, I guess I am on track to be a nap master in another decade or two. I could speed the process by taking longer naps, but on the surface that seems to defeat the overall goal of strengthening mental muscle growth and cognitive conditioning.  For now, I am beginning to realize that the overall goal may not truly be mastery of new skills at all. Rather I should focus on continued cognitive maintenance and investment. A little intellectual capital deposited every day may not make me an expert in anything new, but perhaps it will keep my most important capital biological asset from depreciating too quickly. Jeffrey K. Actor, PhD, was a professor at a major medical school in Houston for more than 25 years, serving as an academic researcher with interests in how immune responses function to fight pathogenic diseases. Jeff’s retirement goals are to write short science fiction stories, volunteer in the community and spend time in his garden. Check out his earlier articles.
Read more »

Retirement

Why can’t Americans put more effort into understanding Social Security?

R Quinn  |  Oct 29, 2026

"I got an email from SS yesterday, as did many of you probably. -------------------------------------- from: information@update.ssa.gov ,  Fri, Oct 30 at 6:02 PM Best Performance Ever in SSA’s 91-Year History “Under President Donald J. Trump, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is transforming into a model of excellence, one that meets and exceeds customer expectations … " goes on to outline many improvements to service Frank J. Bisignano Commissioner Social Security Administration ------------------------------------------ I appreciate learning about the new services or improvements. I do not appreciate Frank Bisignano injecting politics into SS. He is a friggin administrator. Let politicians twist the truth to help themselves if they want; let SS give us the facts. Just the facts, ma'am."
- Will
Read more »

Investing

Private Funds

ArticleAdam M. Grossman  |  Oct 31, 2026

IT'S THAT TIME of year again, when college endowments report their results for the recently completed fiscal year. This year’s numbers were unusual and carry lessons for individual investors. For fiscal year 2026, which ended June 30th, some schools reported extraordinary returns. The University of North Carolina’s endowment reported a gain of nearly 38%. Washington University notched a return of more than 37%. And Stanford University’s endowment gained almost 32%. Those are strong numbers, but it was a year of haves and have-nots. The median return was a much more modest 16.1%, according to consulting firm Cambridge Associates. And some schools trailed badly. MIT’s endowment, which has historically been near the top of the leaderboard, returned just 10.3%. Why the disparity? The explanation, in short: SpaceX. Some schools—but not all—had invested in the company years before its public offering. Some had purchased shares directly, while others had exposure through venture capital funds. So when SpaceX held its IPO earlier this year at a valuation of nearly $2 trillion, these schools experienced windfalls. That explains the outstanding results at UNC, WashU and Stanford, and it explains why the median school, which had little or no exposure to SpaceX, put up much less dramatic results. What should we conclude from this? On the one hand, this seems to validate stock pickers’ argument that the right picks can make all the difference. It also seems to support those lobbying for a rule change to allow private funds into workplace 401(k)s. Advocates of this move talk about democratizing access to investments, and the impact of SpaceX certainly aligns with that argument. Despite some endowments’ success with this strategy, though, my recommendation is unchanged: For virtually all investors, I would still opt for the simplicity of index funds and would steer clear of private funds, including hedge funds, private equity and venture capital. When it comes to private funds, there are four fundamental challenges which are well understood. For starters, they’re expensive. The traditional private fund structure involves a management fee which is typically between 1% and 2%. On top of that, the manager collects a performance fee—usually 20% of the profits each year. Funds like the Robinhood Ventures Fund (ticker: RVI) offer access to a basket of private companies through a publicly-traded vehicle, and they’re similarly expensive. This fund charges more than 3%. In contrast, funds tracking the S&P 500 charge as little as 0.03%. So cost is one key factor. Private funds can also be tax-inefficient. Because they’re actively managed, the level of trading inside these funds can be significant. That leaves investors’ tax bills exposed to the whims of fund managers. A recent roundup by research firm Morningstar illustrates how investors in actively-managed mutual funds can face unpleasant tax surprises. Though the mechanism is different, the same risk applies to investors in private funds. Private funds also carry fundamentally more risk, because they aren’t required to undergo the same level of scrutiny as publicly-traded funds. That provides more room for malfeasance. And finally, private funds are generally illiquid, limiting withdrawals to periodic windows throughout the year. These restrictions have been problematic even for large university endowments, forcing them to sell investments at below-market prices. For individual investors, this sort of illiquidity could be an even larger problem. In my view, an asset that can’t be sold on demand has limited practical value, however attractive it may appear on paper. Those are some of the more commonly cited challenges with private funds. But this year’s endowment returns highlight another issue: The performance of private funds is highly variable, and that’s because the landscape of investments outside of public markets is so idiosyncratic. At the University of North Carolina, for example, half of the endowment’s returns last year came solely from its SpaceX stake. That was fortunate. But unfortunately, there’s no reliable formula to repeat that kind of success. It’s for that reason, I think, that endowment returns, on average, have been middling. According to data from the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO), the average college endowment has gained 10.0% per year over the past three fiscal years. In contrast, an investor in a simple publicly-traded stock-bond fund like the Vanguard Balanced Index Fund, would have earned 12.5% per year over that same time period. To be sure, endowments have delivered better returns than publicly-traded alternatives in other time periods. Over the past five years, for example, endowments in the NACUBO database have beaten that Vanguard fund by about one percentage point per year. The issue, though, is that there’s no pattern to these returns. If private funds start the year encumbered by high fees, tax-inefficiency and illiquidity, then they need to deliver returns that are that much better just to stay even. And there’s no guarantee that this will be the case. It’s for these reasons that I continue to recommend the simplest of investments for portfolios of all sizes. 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 »

Investing

Do I really need International funds in my portfolio? I say no.

Bruce Roberts  |  Oct 26, 2026

"My modest (5-10%) international holdings are the only part of my stock portfolio in which I am reinvesting dividends. I like that international exposure hedges against dollar declines and provides some diversification. As for expenses, they are trivial: 0.035% for FSPXS in my taxable account and 0% for FZLIX in my IRA. As for tax hassles, they too are trivial with tax preparation software."
- Jo Bo
Read more »

From HumbleDollar Founder Jonathan Clements

Careers

Late Shift

LIKE A SLOW-MOTION train wreck, we’ve spent recent decades inching toward a world where we have too few workers and too many retirees dependent…
Read more »

Behavior

Monopoly

D.J.  |  Oct 27, 2026

"Like your dad, I played Monopoly all summer long for several years with a neighbor boy, and I probably could still name all the properties. For a while, I could name the purchase prices, too. We were playing trivia on a recent cruise, and one of the questions was “What is the most expensive property on the Monopoly board—in both the U.S. and U.K. versions?” We got the U.S. answer right away (Boardwalk), but missed on the U.K. answer (Mayfair—we were close: We thought of Mayfair but said Kensington.)"
- DrLefty
Read more »

Insurance

To Claim or Not to Claim, That Is the Question

Mark Crothers  |  Oct 28, 2026

"I’ve never heard of a home watch service, but what a great idea, especially in an area with a lot of vacation homes. We just got back from a three-week trip and turned the thermostat off before we left. The weather changed dramatically during that period, and the house was a brisk 59 degrees when we arrived home. In California, I don’t think we really have to worry about freezing like you do, but I probably should think more than I do about our trips and our house. There was a lot less to think about when we lived in the condo. (Stop mail, turn down thermostat, lock, leave.)"
- DrLefty
Read more »

Markets

Executives have stopped talking about recession. They talk about affordability instead.

Daniel Oliveira  |  Oct 30, 2026

"Belgian chocolate my man. I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about palm oil with them. As a bonus only one is enough to satiate the craving."
- David Lancaster
Read more »

Investing

Would copying Congress have beaten an index fund?

Daniel Oliveira  |  Oct 28, 2026

"Simple solution to prevent even a "sniff" of impropriety: Anyone entering Congress or key Executive Branch positions need to move all assets (this includes spousal assets) to Index funds before taking office and for an appropriate "blackout period" after leaving office. Any evidence of insider information being provided to other friends and extended family should have the same implications as private sector executives are subject to. Officials in other government positions who have major executive control over government contracts should not be able to trade in stocks of companies in the sector(s) they are decision makers overseeing policy and or contract awards for. Anyone who can't abide by this or feels these ethical guardrails "costs" them too much money to serve need not apply. As it sits in prevailing practice and has for decades there is an odd ethical "odor" emanating from Congressional and Executive Branch offices in this area that is "sniff" worthy but could easily be largely avoided."
- Dunn Werking
Read more »

Free Newsletter

Get Educated

Manifesto

Oct 30, 2026

NO. 78: OUR THREE most precious resources are health, wealth and time. Handle all three with the care they deserve, and we’ll greatly improve the odds of a rich and meaningful life.

act

Oct 31, 2026

FIND A CHARITY that's well run. There's a host of sites that can help you identify top-notch charities, including Charity Navigator, CharityWatch, GiveWell and GuideStar. The most efficient charities spend less than 10% of the donations they receive on administration and fundraising, so more ends up with the folks they're aiming to help.

humans

Oct 30, 2026

NO. 47: WE LIKE to follow the crowd, including mimicking the investment choices of those around us. Such copycat investing can help inflate stock market bubbles, as folks ignore valuations and pile into popular stocks. That’s obviously risky, but it doesn’t seem risky to the investors involved, who take comfort from the enthusiasm of others.

Truths

Oct 30, 2026

NO. 123: WE’RE VIEWED as less creditworthy than, say, the U.S. government or major corporations. That means that, when we borrow money, we typically pay a higher interest rate. Result: Instead of earning interest by buying corporate or government bonds, often we’re better off reducing the interest we pay to others—by paying down our debts.

Money Guide

Start Here
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Portfolio
Retire
Invest
Saving diligently

Manifesto

Oct 30, 2026

NO. 78: OUR THREE most precious resources are health, wealth and time. Handle all three with the care they deserve, and we’ll greatly improve the odds of a rich and meaningful life.

Spotlight: Behavior

What Remains: Money and Me

Andrew Clements   |  Jun 10, 2026

“Family. Readers. Words.” At Jonathan’s memorial service, one of the songs he selected was the Bee Gees’ Words. At the time, I simply thought it was a beautiful melody, a favorite of ours from the Bangladesh days. Only later did I realize how perfectly it…
Read more »

The Vision, the Babe , Einstein and the Q

Michael Flack   |  Apr 25, 2026

“JOIN US” “PASSIVE INCOME SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR RETIREMENT” The tri-fold color high-gloss mailer went on to say, of course, that “SEATING IS LIMITED. REGISTER TO ATTEND!” Registration required entering a code at WWW.YOURSVP.COM, which makes it clear that not only has financial advisory services become…
Read more »

Enough complaining already. Live your life and stop worrying about “they” “ them” or things

R Quinn   |  Apr 24, 2026

Over the years I have mentioned some of this before, but the perception of unfairness and complaining about what others have is getting worse in my view. Did I and others in my generation have everything easier because we were born in the 1940s? True…
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Peter Cancro from age 14 to 69 covered in oil and vinegar

R Quinn   |  May 31, 2026

Do you know Peter Cancro? Peter is 69 years old and someone to be admired, someone who started out very ordinary and in one transaction became a new US billionaire, around $4.9 billion netted from selling his business.  I greatly admire such people, I wish…
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This would be a great posting on a web site with the name “HaughtyDollar.”

R Quinn   |  Aug 28, 2026

The title is a comment in response to my post on credit card use, including: “I think it can be summarized, in most cases, as poor financial planning and irresponsible behavior.”  Which I stand by 100%.  As a reminder, Haughty describes an attitude of blatant…
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Locking it in

greg_j_tomamichel   |  Sep 5, 2026

Unlike many of the HD community, I still pack my lunch each weekday and head off to work. There's a range of reasons for this, but most importantly it keeps my wife sane! During my 9 to 5, people will buy ride-on mowers somewhere in…
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Spotlight: Kesler

True Wealth

Joe Kesler   |  Sep 28, 2020

YOU NO DOUBT remember Peter Lynch, the celebrated manager of Fidelity Magellan Fund. He quit Magellan’s helm when he was just 46 years old. His comment at the time: “You remind yourself that nobody on his deathbed ever said, ‘I wish I'd spent more time at the office’.” Nothing brings more clarity to money’s limitations than consideration of our mortality. A few…
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Go Away

Joe Kesler   |  Jul 15, 2021

ONCE IT LOOKED SAFE to travel again, I didn’t waste any time. I jumped on a plane and spent three weeks in the Carolinas. It was a great vacation. Staying in an Airbnb on Hilton Head Island gave me a much-needed chance to recharge while enjoying the beach. Renting a place on Lake Norman, the largest man-made lake in North…
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Silver Lining

Joe Kesler   |  Jan 8, 2021

“IT WAS THE MOST stressful time of my career, but also the most rewarding.” I heard that comment, as well as variations on it, from many bankers over the past few months as they talked about PPP, or Paycheck Protection Program, the federal loan program launched to help ease the financial distress caused by the pandemic. PPP has been criticized…
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Prepare for Pain

Joe Kesler   |  Nov 19, 2020

WHEN I THINK ABOUT investment advisors selling high-fee products, it brings to mind the story of two politicians who were shouting at each other. One of them stands up and screams, “You’re lying!” The other one answers, “Yes, I am, but hear me out!” In my 40 years of investing, I’ve bought into some questionable sales pitches. You’ve heard them:…
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A Better Retirement

Joe Kesler   |  Jun 7, 2021

RETIREMENT CAN BE the best time of our life—but only if we manage it right. I recently passed a milestone: the three-year anniversary of the day I left my 40-year banking career. What have I learned over the past three years? I’ve found that a good retirement has three key elements: sound finances, wellness, and intentionality about managing time. 1.…
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Life as a Loan Shark

Joe Kesler   |  Aug 18, 2020

THE SPEAKER WAS passionate. “You bankers need to understand our culture is not like your culture. In our community, we don’t expect bills to be paid on time. If you’re really interested in serving our community, you need to adjust your expectations and not be asking us to change our culture in order to qualify for your loans.” Wow, did…
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