It is always very humbling to read such notes - the self-written post passing away letters. There have been others in hacker news, and they always make me think about life, about what matters to me the most and of course, what matters to others.
What struck me most about this one is that it spoke much more about the professional life then about the personal one. I would imagine that if I were to ever write one (which I won’t, cause I’ll live forever) it will be more on the side of outside work experiences.
Life is a beautiful gift, and it’s worth remembering that every day. Do what you love, do a lot of it, be kind to others, hug your cherished people, laugh, enjoy, smile…breathe.
I love you all, and hope you’re enjoying every moment of this incredible journey through the Universe on this floating space rock.
Old family photos do that for me too — make me think of both the brevity of life and the beauty it is just to have lived. To see the arc of those who have gone before you should be a sobering thought, but I also find a kind of comfort in a humbleness of knowing I too am just like them as they once were like I am now.
(In fact, something similar was a common headstone epitaph that a relative of mine who died over 100 years ago has on his own headstone.)
The reason may be that the intended audience was the readers of his professional blog. He propoably prepared a more personal one for close friends and family.
My parents died just as I was entering adulthood many years ago. They were both kind/accidental iconoclasts with lives that were unusual to the tune of 1 in a billion, or really, discretely unique, like all people perhaps. They bridged eras, continents, cultural inertias, familial blendings.
I lost so much... everything really, when they died. I have so many questions I forgot to ask, so many things I forgot to write down.
People are important. Even people who go unnoticed can have weird and niche insights.
I think of ImageNet. People are far more important and their lives and insights far less uniform. We miss much by letting all these people go without hearing them, without trying to understand them.
> Jonathan Clements founded HumbleDollar at year-end 2016. Earlier in his career, he spent almost 20 years at The Wall Street Journal, where he was the newspaper's personal finance columnist, and six years at Citigroup, where he was director of financial education for the bank's U.S. wealth management arm. He was also the author of a fistful of personal finance books, including My Money Journey and How to Think About Money.
I learned a lot about investing and index funds from his Getting Going column. A shame that he didn't get to retire on all of his frugally invested money. He was 62.
There is definitely a balance. My wife and I traveling some now while we have health and energy rather than wait until retirement. The future is so murky.
Nobody gets out of here alive, but that's a great goodbye note. I especially liked one of the articles linked to by the one posted here: https://humbledollar.com/2024/06/the-c-word/
This feels like a very risky choice that a technical error or other interruption announces your death prematurely.
I would probably just ensure at least one or two trusted people have the access to post it on your behalf and know it is very important to you that it gets done.
Yeah, you could lose control of some account and that would be pretty awkward if your Goodbye Farewell just plopped out when you went in to extend it another week but found out you’re sitting on a support ticket.
Or worse; I dunno get hit by a bus and be in the hospital, or perhaps arrested? Friends and family don’t know what happened to you and then your death announcement blares.
I think only people expecting their death to be likely in the next year should want to employ this however, and that probably changes things.
It is always very humbling to read such notes - the self-written post passing away letters. There have been others in hacker news, and they always make me think about life, about what matters to me the most and of course, what matters to others.
What struck me most about this one is that it spoke much more about the professional life then about the personal one. I would imagine that if I were to ever write one (which I won’t, cause I’ll live forever) it will be more on the side of outside work experiences.
Life is a beautiful gift, and it’s worth remembering that every day. Do what you love, do a lot of it, be kind to others, hug your cherished people, laugh, enjoy, smile…breathe.
I love you all, and hope you’re enjoying every moment of this incredible journey through the Universe on this floating space rock.
Old family photos do that for me too — make me think of both the brevity of life and the beauty it is just to have lived. To see the arc of those who have gone before you should be a sobering thought, but I also find a kind of comfort in a humbleness of knowing I too am just like them as they once were like I am now.
(In fact, something similar was a common headstone epitaph that a relative of mine who died over 100 years ago has on his own headstone.)
I wrote a bit about it here: https://engineersneedart.com/blog/camera/camera.html
For me, what I do is fairly closely linked with who I am. It's no longer unhealthy, but it used to be.
A lot of my legacy will be completely unheralded, and that's as it should be.
I do appreciate (but can't really say I "like") these posts.
Much better than the old "GBCW" (GoodBye Cruel World) posts that people used to post, when they rage-quit forums.
Im a generally happy, fulfilled person but if I get one more chance to blast the HN crowd on my way out Im gonna take it
The reason may be that the intended audience was the readers of his professional blog. He propoably prepared a more personal one for close friends and family.
I often think of Speaker for the Dead.
My parents died just as I was entering adulthood many years ago. They were both kind/accidental iconoclasts with lives that were unusual to the tune of 1 in a billion, or really, discretely unique, like all people perhaps. They bridged eras, continents, cultural inertias, familial blendings.
I lost so much... everything really, when they died. I have so many questions I forgot to ask, so many things I forgot to write down.
People are important. Even people who go unnoticed can have weird and niche insights.
I think of ImageNet. People are far more important and their lives and insights far less uniform. We miss much by letting all these people go without hearing them, without trying to understand them.
Al you can do it record what you recall about your parents — and record things about yourself for future generations.
Some additional context about the author:
> Jonathan Clements founded HumbleDollar at year-end 2016. Earlier in his career, he spent almost 20 years at The Wall Street Journal, where he was the newspaper's personal finance columnist, and six years at Citigroup, where he was director of financial education for the bank's U.S. wealth management arm. He was also the author of a fistful of personal finance books, including My Money Journey and How to Think About Money.
* https://humbledollar.com/about/jonathan-clements/
* A Money Guru Bet Big on a Very Long Life. Then He Got Cancer. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/07/13/your-money/jonathan-cleme...
* https://www.reddit.com/r/financialindependence/comments/1npe...
* Tributes to Jonathan Clements https://humbledollar.com/2025/09/tributes-to-jonathan-clemen...
* Best of Jonathan’s HumbleDollar Posts https://humbledollar.com/2025/09/best-of-jonathans-humbledol...
* Choosing Happiness https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=32804468 (3 years ago, 101 comments)
I learned a lot about investing and index funds from his Getting Going column. A shame that he didn't get to retire on all of his frugally invested money. He was 62.
The thought of this kind of thing makes me think I should just go buy that Aston Martin tomorrow.
There is definitely a balance. My wife and I traveling some now while we have health and energy rather than wait until retirement. The future is so murky.
Only do that if you want to live to 100, and be destitute.
Nobody gets out of here alive, but that's a great goodbye note. I especially liked one of the articles linked to by the one posted here: https://humbledollar.com/2024/06/the-c-word/
3 marriages. wow. interesting.
How would one employ a dead man's switch to post a blog entry like this?
Are there any services you would recommend?
Just a scheduled post that you postpone while you're alive.
No, the proper way to do it is to include the curl request to be run as part of your last will and testament.
This feels like a very risky choice that a technical error or other interruption announces your death prematurely.
I would probably just ensure at least one or two trusted people have the access to post it on your behalf and know it is very important to you that it gets done.
Yeah, you could lose control of some account and that would be pretty awkward if your Goodbye Farewell just plopped out when you went in to extend it another week but found out you’re sitting on a support ticket.
Or worse; I dunno get hit by a bus and be in the hospital, or perhaps arrested? Friends and family don’t know what happened to you and then your death announcement blares.
I think only people expecting their death to be likely in the next year should want to employ this however, and that probably changes things.
RIP
Viveu jovem e morreu livre