More posts by Humble Dollar
ARE YOU IN YOUR 60sand worried about rising consumer prices? It’s worth understanding how inflation affects Social Security benefits—especially its…
A FEW WEEKS BACK, I discussed the notion of “the four horsemen of the investor apocalypse.” A concept proposed by Morningstar Managing Director Don Phillips,…
SOCIAL SECURITY’Scomplexity never fails to surprise. While many retirees have some sense for what factors determine the size of their…
DO YOU SEE THINGSclearly when it comes to money? Here’s a test to find out. Which of the following scenarios…
WANT A HAPPIER,more fulfilling retirement? You work your entire life to get there, and you want to make the most…
EVERY MARKET DECLINEis different, but all of them can feel unnerving, even for the most steadfast of investors. Spooked by…
IF YOU ASKED MEabout my financial life, I could regale you with stories about working the swing shift at the…
LOTS OF RESEARCHhas been done on the best way to generate retirement income. It’s one of the most popular topics…
COULD YOU SQUEEZEmore happiness from your dollars? Here are 10 questions to ponder: Which expenditures from the past year do…
I RECENTLY STUMBLEDon a way to save a significant sum on my home and auto insurance. While I knew that…
MONEY MAY SEEMimportant—and it is. But it isn’t nearly as important as we imagine. Want a little perspective on your…
THE DRUMBEATof “retirement crisis” is much too loud. While 54% of retirees believe there’s a national retirement crisis, just 4%describetheir…
I ONCE JOINEDa book club led by an amazingly smart guy. We were reading a challenging book by Nassim NicholasTaleb,…
WHEN FOLKS TALKabout their best financial decisions, they’ll often mention the investments they bought. But my list is quite different.…
MANY TIMES IN MYcareer, I’ve heard people say, “The stock market is just one big casino” or “Buying stocks is…
TWO MONTHS AGO,Ifessed upto my addiction to financial market news. Despite knowing better, I’ve followed the markets closely for years…
I RECENTLY LEFT MYjob without having another lined up. Upon quitting, I noticed an immediate mindset shift: I went from…
I’M PLAYING ECONOMISTtoday, looking ahead to third-quarter GDP, thefirst estimateof which was released Thursday. No, I won’t be offering a…
IT’S EMBARRASSINGto admit in a public forum that I failed at retirement. But I’m doing so—because I think people can…
A LOT OF INK HASbeen spilled over young people’s spending decisions and the impact on retirement savings. Whether it’s a…
ONE OF THE VERYbest financial decisions is available to almost every American worker. That’s the good news. The bad news:…
IMAGINE YOU PLANto retire next year. What can you do beforehand to gain the most later on? Here are some…
PERSONAL FINANCEpundits love to debate safe withdrawal rates—the amount a retiree can withdraw each year from a portfolio without depleting…
HOW LUCKY I WASto be the recipient of a dinner invitation to Ruth’s Chris. I love a sizzling ribeye, so…
VANGUARD GROUPrecently announcedsignificant price cuts for its fleet of target-date retirement funds. Currently, investors can own a Vanguard target fund…
“SHOULD YOU BUYan annuity from Social Security?” That’s the title of apaperreleased by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research (CRR)…
I’M NOT A RULEbreaker. In the nearly 40 years I’ve had a driver’s license, I’ve received just one traffic citation.…
WANT TO IMPROVEyour investment results? The deadly sins below are not only among the most serious financial transgressions, but also…
THE MUCH-DEBATED 4%rule—which Iwrote aboutback in July—is a popular way to think about portfolio withdrawals in retirement. But it isn’t…
TODAY’S STOCK MARKETreminds me of Charles Dickens’s famous line: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of…
