A Few Useful Finds for Life After Work — Issue #4

Hi from Stefan,

Welcome to the fourth issue of this biweekly newsletter.

Nothing in this newsletter is sponsored or written for compensation.

Money, Investing & Happiness

Allan Roth’s latest column at Advisor Perspectives reflects on his own failed experience, reviews research on money and happiness, and offers a thoughtful hypothesis on investing and happiness.

Social Security Timing Redux

In the last newsletter I shared recent articles arguing for waiting until 70 vs. claiming earlier. The decision might be more nuanced.
In an earlier piece, “Why It Rarely Pays For Both Spouses To Delay Social Security Benefit”, Michael Kitces explained:

the ideal strategy for most couples is for the higher-earning spouse to delay as long as possible (which benefits them as long as either remain alive) but to start the lower-earning spouse’s benefits as early as possible, as delaying both is only beneficial in the less likely scenario that both of them remain alive into their 90s and beyond!

A historical biography to help us understand the present

Robert Caro’s four-volume series The Years of Lyndon Johnson is a brilliantly written page-turner about one of America’s most consequential and complicated Presidents (and Senators).

Whatever your feelings about LBJ and his policies, many of today’s most passionate public fights — from immigration to voting laws to foreign interventions — are debates about his legacy. The four volumes take us from his hardscrabble boyhood in the Texas Hill Country through his first months in office after JFK’s assassination. Caro, now 90, is still working on the fifth and final volume. May he live long and continue to prosper.

Methodology details

In response to thoughtful questions from both advisors and individual users, I’ve published a white paper explaining the mechanics behind the income calculations and the tax assumptions in depth, including a detailed worked example for interpreting the outputs.

Read the Methodology White Paper

Warmly,
Stefan Sharkansky, PhD
Founder of The Best Third