spend

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with John Goldstein, a 75-year-old retiree in Newark, New Jersey. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.Like the vast majority of retired people in our country, I live on a fixed income.I live with my partner, who is also retired…

My grandmother is a pianist. As often happens, the pendulum swung the other way with my mom, who neither had an interest in taking piano lessons nor in making her kids do so. I vowed to throw the pendulum back the other way with my kids, enrolling them in piano…

As my daughters and I canvassed the neighborhood trick-or-treating, my 8-year-old dressed as a devil and her 5-year-old sister as a superhero, my frustration was growing. My youngest was refusing to say “thank you” as neighbors dropped handfuls of candy into her bucket, and I felt embarrassed.”Say ‘thank you,’ or…