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A good friend says his dad used to tell him when he screwed up that “at least he can serve as a bad example.” In that spirit, someone told me almost four years ago that he had impulsively moved about $250,000 of his retirement account from stock mutual funds to cash because he feared the stock market was about to plummet. Any guesses what happened next? That’s right – the market jumped to new heights. This person then decided to re-enter the market by re-purchasing his stock mutual funds that were now worth much more than when he’d sold. I calculated that his sell-low, buy-high strategy cost him roughly $35,000.

Enjoy this month’s edition that features a note about tax forms from TD Ameritrade plus a review of significant changes to retirement plans made by Congress.

I remember my freshman year of college when some buddies and I faced the first exam of our post-secondary experience. Despite being a mid-semester test in a rather inconsequential class, we decided it would be prudent – and fun – to “pull an all-nighter” studying. Well, we were partially right, it was fun - although our friends who simply studied a couple of hours and then got a regular night’s sleep did much better than we did. Ironically, until recently, it actually DID pay off to prepare your credit history by cramming right before you needed your score. Not anymore.

The comedian Stephen Colbert once said in testimony before the House Judiciary Committee, "I'm not a fan of the government doing anything. But I've got to ask, why isn't the government doing anything? ... Like most members of Congress, I haven't read the bill." Colbert was referring to an entirely different issue but Congress actually did something and, as usual, one’s opinion on whether it is good or bad depends on one’s individual circumstances. Here are the highlights of the SECURE Act (even though I haven’t read the bill either):

Our ability to recall past events in detail is uneven at best. Chances are your spouse or your sibling remembers something that happened, or didn’t happen, 20-30 years ago much differently than you do. My brother, for instance, can recall 15-20 vicious things I did to him when we were teenagers while all I remember is the love and praise I showered on him. We all tend to base our expectations of the future, however, on our memories of the past. And, if our memories of the past are less than accurate, what does that say about our ability to predict the future?

A Special Announcement:

If you’re like me and like to give books as gifts or just want a list of book recommendations for yourself, below are the books I read this year along with a brief review. While I enjoyed every book on this list, those I highly recommend are highlighted in bold. And, you’ll note, not a single one on finance or investing – these books are for my down time. Merry Christmas!

Have you ever lay in bed dreaming what you would do with a sudden financial windfall? Would you buy a new house or travel around the world or buy a ridiculously expensive car? Would you quit your job? Or would you create a plan to segment your newfound wealth into buckets in a reasoned, thoughtful way? Maybe 1/3 to your future, 1/3 to charity and 1/3 to the blow it out, crazy, can’t remember where that came from fun bucket?

Recently I came across separate articles of two different athletes who earned a lot of money in a short time but approached their new financial standing in completely different ways. Here are their stories:

Enjoy this month’s edition that features an announcement by TD Ameritrade, a reminder of year-end distributions and 2020 contribution limits.

Charles Schwab to Acquire TD Ameritrade

As I penned this blog on the back of a barf bag while stuck on a Southwest plane waiting to have it’s malfunctioning electro-optical peanut butter sensor repaired, it seemed an appropriate time to remind myself of a few of the many, many things I’m grateful for.