HumbleDollar

I used AI as an editorial assistant to help organize and refine my thoughts; the underlying ideas and personal experiences remain my own. For years, I maintained what I thought was a pretty good retirement spreadsheet. Like many retirees, it tracked my investments, estimated Social Security, projected taxes and summarized spending. Every year I’d update the numbers, glance through a handful of reports and file it away until the next review. The spreadsheet faithfully answered every question I asked.

No doubt you have heard or read the posts and comments, perhaps by friends about the Social Security COLA. It’s not accurate, not fair, not enough, doesn’t keep up with our actual spending, use the CPI-E and all the rest. One thing it does for sure is add to the Trusts growing shortfall. Some people really need that annual boost, if for nothing else to help offset growing Medicare premiums.

I was out for a walk along the coast when I stumbled upon a surreal sight: two luxury coaches wedged tight in a remote parking lot, and forty or so people clustered together, singing to a field of cows. To say I was taken aback would be an understatement. I paused by a picnic bench to listen as they enthusiastically worked their way through a couple of tunes, until a voice called out that it was time to move on.

Adam M. Grossman INNOVATION IN THE world of retirement plans is decidedly slow moving. But as of July 4th, investors now have a new savings option known as a Trump account. In short, these are retirement accounts designed specifically for children. Trump accounts share some similarities with traditional individual retirement accounts (IRAs), but there are also key differences. If you have children, grandchildren, nieces or nephews, this new option may be worth exploring.

Andrew Clements WHEN READERS THINK of my younger brother Jonathan Clements, they often picture the longtime Wall Street Journal columnist or the founder of HumbleDollar. They remember the clear financial advice, the thoughtful essays and the quiet wisdom that helped millions make better decisions with their money. But every writer has a beginning.

Many American’s perception of the taxes they pay is seriously distorted. Many seem to believe that withholding from their pay is the taxes they actually pay or that taxes due at year end reflect higher taxes rather than likely under withholding. A major misunderstanding is that the tax bracket they are in represents their real tax rate. I know taxes are complicated, but not that complicated. I conducted a simple exercise.

Do a Roth conversion in November or December and you’ve made a smart move in a low-income year. You’ve also just bought yourself a tax problem. The IRS wants its money as you go, not in one lump next April. And for estimated payments, it grades you quarter by quarter. Say you convert $100,000 in December and the conversion generates a tax bill in the low $20,000s. Pay it all with a single January estimated payment and you might think you’re square. You’re not.

Despite my protestation, we went to a big box store today, COSTCO to be specific. I am not a fan of these stores. They don’t save people money, they encourage spending and for some people waste as well. It’s all hard to resist, but I try, yet sometimes fail. Today I bought a three foot bag of popcorn and a bag of dried apricots-I never bought those in my life). These stores encourage people to buy what they don’t need and in volume that may not be able to use.

While researching Jonathan’s early years, I came across this article he wrote as a teenager for Saga, the magazine at Bryanston School in England. Years later, Jonathan would say this was his “entrée to becoming a journalist.” Reading it today, I was struck by something unexpected. Although he was still a teenager, I could already hear the voice that millions of readers would later come to know. He wasn’t simply writing about a school pipe organ.

During the last couple of months I’ve saved around $1000, and I’m not very happy about it. It’s money I really didn’t want to save. I’d rather have blown it big time. My most earnest efforts and hopes to do so were thwarted by circumstances entirely beyond my control. During this timeframe I’ve had the misfortune of being hit by a string of low level, unrelated plumbing issues.