Good morning:
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​UPDATE: The next live Q&A will be Monday, October 5th at 7 PM. You can subscribe to the YouTube channel where the show is broadcast here.

​Your Book Recommendations​

3 Things

1. Can the new Bill Bengen Portfolio Increase My Withdrawal Rate to 4.7%? – SWR Series Part 65 (Early Retirement Now)
2. A Brutal Bond Market (A Wealth of Common Sense)
3. What Makes Warren Buffett One of a Kind (Jason Zweig)

ICYMI

• Shall We Repeal the Laws of Economics – Part III (Oaktree Capital)
• Many Medicare Part D Stand-Alone Drug Plan Enrollees Will See Modest Premium Increases for 2027, But Others Could Pay Much More If They Don’t Switch Plans (KFF)
• Tremors are rippling across the U.S. Treasury market (Tipswatch)
• Who Is Really Rich in America? (Hint: Main Street Millionaires) (Of Dollars And Data)
• How the Once-Per-Year Rollover Rule Works and How to Avoid It (The Slott Report)
• I Deliberately Bet Like a Problem Gambler. DraftKings Made Me a VIP. (ProPublica)
• Aging and Death in America: ‘I Basically Want to Burn It All Down and Restart’ (Morningstar)
• You Are No Longer Invited to Dinner (Derek Thompson)
• “Wind Phones” Let People Say Things to Lost Loved Ones (Washingtonian)
• Strengths & Weaknesses of Advisor Fee–Only Models from the Client Perspective (Advisor Perspectives)
• Meta’s Muse AI assistant has a zero-day that can turn it into a Mac backdoor (Malwarebytes)
• 10 Books Amy Arnott Recommends to Help You Understand Money and Markets (Morningstar)

My Videos & Articles

• Don't Follow the 4% Rule in Retirement. Here's Why (YouTube)
• Savings, CDs, T-Bills or Money Market Funds? Where Cash Earns the Most Now (YouTube)
• Bonds Haven't Been This Attractive in a Decade (YouTube)
• A Viewer's Target-Date Bucket Plan: 7 Questions I'd Ask (YouTube)
• Your Retirement Plan's 10% Failure Rate Isn't What You Think (FQF) (YouTube)

What I'm Reading, Listening To, Watching, and Thinking About

• I started reading Blessed, A History of the American Prosperity Gospel by Kate Bowler. It's an excellent history of the belief that God rewards faith with material wealth.
• Next up is The Greatest Show on Earth, by Richard Dawkins. I've read very little about evolution and would welcome any recommendations.
• My wife and I started watching Seal Team (Netflix). We are in season 2 and enjoying it.

Tools I'm Using From Partners

• Monarch Money: Get 50% off the First Year of Monarch Money Core Plan--Discount Code: ROB50​
• ​Empower: One of the best investment and net worth trackers, and a solid retirement planner, all free.
• ​Boldin: I use this tool for our retirement planning.
• ​Kubera: My choice to track investments and net worth. They offer a 14-day free trial.
• ProjectionLab is also a great financial planning tool and is offering a 10% Discount Code RBERGER-10.

Resources From Partners

• Get free Medicare guidance from Chapter (410) 220-5494
• For a limited time, try the AI-powered budgeting app Origin for just $1 the first year.
• You can see a list of all of my Youtube videos here.
• You can see a list of the budgeting, investing and retirement planning tools I use here.
• You can view past issues of the newsletter here.
• ​DIYRetirement Subreddit​

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Best,
​
Rob Berger
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P.S. Feel free to hit reply and send me a message. I read every email.