FINANCIaL
FIELd NOTES
Why People Were Happier in the 1950s
In the 1950s, new home builds were roughly 1/3 the size of current new home builds, and when families left those homes for vacation, they camped more often than they stayed in hotels. The real GDP per person was ¼ of what is it today, which means the US produces 4x as much as we did in the 50s even after adjusting for inflation. This has resulted in countless luxuries that we consider necessities today. People in the 1950s could hardly imagine a color TV, but I’m frustrated when there is a one-second lag on the live football game I’m streaming from a smartphone.
A 2017 report found that peak happiness in the UK and other developed economies was the year 1957. Why then were the 1950s a happier time if they had so much less?
Why I’m Holding Onto My I-Bonds
In January 2022 and January 2023, I purchased I-bonds to serve as a replacement for part of our family’s cash savings. Back in 2022 when I-bond rates were over 7%, I wrote about how if you had cash that you could afford to tie up for a year, I-bonds were a good option. Rates then peaked in the middle of 2022 at nearly 10% before starting to come back down. Last year around this time, I wrote about how I still thought I-bonds offered a reasonable rate over alternatives.
During 2023, inflation came down and I-bond rates that are linked to inflation continued to go down. Currently, rates are sitting at 5.27%. I’ve had a few clients ask if they should go ahead and cash out their bonds from the past few years now that rates have gone down…
Three Fascinating Books I Read This Year
As the year ends, I wanted to take a moment to thank you all for your continued support! If you have a friend or family member that you think might benefit from these posts, they can subscribe here or on the home page of my blog's website, Financial Field Notes.
Here are three books that I enjoyed this past year…
The Most Searched Financial Terms of 2023
2023 was a year that brought us no shortage of interesting news, from bank failures to spiking mortgage rates to yet another debt ceiling showdown. As we approach the end of the year, let's review five of the most searched financial topics of the year…
Planning for Irregular Expenses in Retirement
Most pre-retirees I meet with for the first time have a fairly good estimate of the regular monthly expenses. However, the area that is hard to predict and plan for is the unexpected costs. One exercise that I like to do that brings clarity to this is to review actual expenses for the past few years. We often find that irregular expenses are the culprits – helping a daughter with her car, an HVAC replacement, or a dental procedure.
It can be tempting to assume that these expenses will mostly vanish in retirement, but they don’t. These one-off financial obligations can put a significant dent in your retirement savings if you're not well-prepared. While there can be a lot of surprise expenses, I found that they typically fall into four key areas…
Steps to Protect Your Late Spouse From Identity Theft
Losing a spouse is a deeply emotional and challenging experience, and dealing with the aftermath can be overwhelming. Amid the grieving process and the myriad administrative tasks that follow, it's crucial not to overlook the potential risk of identity theft.
Sadly, scammers target deceased individuals because there is often no one tracking their finances. In doing so, they target their surviving spouses, who are left cleaning up the mess…