Tributes to Jonathan Clements
HUMBLEDOLLAR FOUNDER and longtime Wall Street Journal columnist Jonathan Clements passed away earlier this week. He was 62.
I reached out to several of Jonathan's close friends and colleagues to ask for their remembrances. Taken together, they paint a picture of someone who was as beloved by his peers as he was by his readers.
As Jason Zweig put it, “I have just lost a friend, and so have you.”
Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar and author of How to Retire
Since his untimely passing, almost everyone who has mentioned Jonathan Clements has spoken of his wit, his kindness, his desire to leave the world better than he found it. It’s all true. Helping others gave Jonathan so much joy and purpose that he did it right up until the end of his life, even sharing his thoughts on his cancer diagnosis and the dying process.
What I’ve seen less about is Jonathan’s fearlessness, his willingness to speak truth to power. Those qualities permeate his work, especially the collected Wall Street Journal columns in the book The Best of Jonathan Clements: Classic Columns on Money and Life.
Jonathan railed against brokerage firms and asset managers peddling the investment du jour, even though many of them doubtless were Wall Street Journal advertisers. Rather cheekily, as someone on the Journal’s payroll, he also criticized the financial media for parroting Wall Street jargon and pinning deep meaning on daily market gyrations.
Perhaps most significantly, Jonathan was an early and ardent supporter of investing in broad-market index funds rather than individual stocks or actively managed funds.
Index investing has been thoroughly mainstreamed over the past few decades, but it certainly wasn’t the default in the early 1990s, when Jonathan began urging investors to stop trying to beat the market and opt for inexpensive index funds instead. Like Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, he was ahead of the curve in realizing that bypassing expensive active strategies is the best way for investors to receive their fair share of the market’s gains. Broadcasting that message certainly wasn’t in Wall Street’s interest, but it helped scores of investors get closer to their goals. Along with his kindness and deep body of work, that impact will be an enduring part of his legacy.
William J. Bernstein, author of The Four Pillars of Investing
Not many financial journalists reached a wider audience than Jonathan. Fewer still had his influence. None were as well loved.
The reason why was obvious to all who knew him: His capacity for friendship, for starters. His ability to find humor in almost everything, including his own impending death. His sense of what matters on this earth. And, most importantly of all, his infectious and ever-present smile.
Jonathan was beyond generous with his time. Early in our friendship, he took my wife and me on a tour of the Journal. I still remember the room full of bored copy editors staring glumly at spread out newsprint, and to this day I treasure a sketch he had made of me in the Journal’s famous pointillist style. For fourteen solid years, he lived under a weekly deadline gun; I’m sure he had better things to do with his time than to spend an hour showing people around the office.
There was, however, one class of people who didn’t love Jonathan: Wall Street “pros” whom he helped millions of investors—to their great good fortune—to avoid.
Finally, in the last year of his life he taught the rest of us just how to laugh in the face of death. Like all physicians, I’ve watched too many people meet their ends; I’ve never seen anyone do this as gracefully, and with as remarkable a sensitivity to the discomfort of others, as Jonathan did.
Rest in peace, old friend. You did well in this world.
James Dahle, founder of The White Coat Investor
Jonathan was obviously a talented personal finance writer, but his most important attribute was not his ability to decipher the financial literature and point out the truth about the financial services industry.
Jonathan was particularly exceptional at recognizing and teaching what really matters in life. For Jonathan, money always remained in its proper place, as a tool to enable us to build better relationships and make a difference in the world. During the short period of time between his diagnosis and his death, he showed all of us, in the words of Tim McGraw, how to “live like we were dying.”
We're all on death row down here, whether we choose to recognize it or not, but that shouldn't stop us from wringing every last bit of happiness possible out of life while leaving the world a better place for those left behind. May we all be as good as Jonathan at “leaving it all on the field” and having no regrets when the eventual end comes.
RIP Jonathan, I miss you already.
Rick Ferri, host of the Bogleheads on Investing podcast.
“Hey! This is Jonathan Clements from the Wall Street Journal. Is this Rick Ferri?”
That was the first time I heard Jonathan’s distinctively English accent. It was 2001. He called to interview me for an article on low-fee investment advice. I didn’t believe it was him, but he convinced me otherwise, and I am forever grateful for the mention he gave me in a Getting Going article that month. Interest was so great from people reading the article that my phone rang off the hook for the next year. It put my fledgling asset management company on the map.
Jonathan and I stayed in touch over the years. When he left the WSJ for Citigroup, I boldly questioned his leap to the dark side, which didn’t make him happy. Jonathan thought they were going to do great things at myFi, a personal finance startup within the conglomerate. After a year or so, he started to realize that creating something beautiful inside a Wall Street bureaucracy was not going to be. But then he did create something beautiful. Jonathan started HumbleDollar in 2016, and it was a huge success.
I had lunch with him about five years ago and asked why he started HumbleDollar as a not-for-profit rather than a commercial site. He said he wasn’t doing it for the money, he was doing it “because I want to continue being part of the conversation.” I will never forget Jonathan’s answer, and I hope you all join me in ensuring that he stays part of the conversation.
Rest in peace, Jonathan. You made a difference.
Peter Mallouk, president and CEO of Creative Planning
I grew up reading Jonathan Clements. He was one of the few in the financial world who spoke plain English, told it straight, and gave advice that stood the test of time. Along with John Bogle, his writing shaped how I think about money — and life. Both men were straight shooters who believed in long-term, buy-and-hold investing, and in focusing on what really matters: your quality of life.
Years ago, I called Jonathan out of the blue and asked if he’d consider doing a podcast with me. To my surprise, he said yes. He came to Kansas City, and that’s when I first met him in person — and first realized he even had an accent. From that day, we became fast friends. He was also the one who came up with the name of our show, Down the Middle.
Over the years, we recorded many episodes together. Jonathan once told me it was one of his favorite things he’d done in his career, because it let him reach so many people with a consistent, simple, wise message. My favorite episode came just last month, when we talked about the keys to happiness. Another was our “Signal or Noise” episode, where Charlie Bilello and I dedicated the whole show to Jonathan’s wisdom. He was on top of his game then, but afterward, he admitted he didn’t expect to do too many more.
Jonathan left a real imprint. Few people truly change the way we think about money and life. He did. I’ll miss him.
Mike Piper, author of the Oblivious Investor blog
Jonathan's writing has been a source of both learning and enjoyment for me for many years. As a financial writer myself, I've always seen Jonathan’s work as the example to strive for: clear and direct, soundly based on the facts, and most importantly, motivated by kindness and caring for the reader.
In 2018 I finally got to meet Jonathan in person at the White Coat Investor Conference in Park City, Utah. He was, unsurprisingly, as kind in person as he is in his writing. What really struck me though was that in person you could see the same twinkle in his eye that somehow came through in his written words—the punchline at the end of the article, that he couldn't wait to share with you.
It has been a privilege to work on the Jonathan Clements Getting Going on Savings Initiative in his honor and now in his memory.
Allan S. Roth, founder of Wealth Logic and author of How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street
I was lucky enough to call Jonathan Clements my friend. Those who knew Jonathan knew how easy it was to both admire him and simply enjoy being around him. Jonathan had a gift for making the complicated seem simple - not just in money but in life.
Most people first knew him through his writing—whether in The Wall Street Journal, his books, or later with HumbleDollar. He had a rare talent for cutting through the noise, for reminding us that money wasn’t about getting rich but about building a good life. He gave people something far more valuable than stock tips; he gave them a path to peace of mind.
For me, Jonathan was much more than a wise financial journalist. He was funny, wry, and endlessly curious. He loved a good debate, and a good laugh. He could take serious subjects and deliver them with a twinkle in his eye. And he was generous—with his time, his advice, and his friendship. He always made you feel like you mattered, no matter how busy he was.
Jonathan also lived what he taught. He didn’t chase after more for the sake of more. He valued experiences over things, integrity over appearances, and people over possessions. He showed us that simplicity wasn’t just smart finance—it was a way of living well.
I’ll miss his counsel, his humor, and his friendship. Yet I take comfort in knowing that his words will live on, guiding people for generations. Jonathan helped countless readers, and he helped his friends as well by showing us what truly matters.
Rest easy, my friend. You made the world a clearer, kinder, and better place. Many of us will work to assure your legacy lives on and continues to help people.
Adam M. Grossman is the founder of Mayport, a fixed-fee wealth management firm. Sign up for Adam's Daily Ideas email, follow him on X @AdamMGrossman and check out his earlier articles.
I reached out to several of Jonathan's close friends and colleagues to ask for their remembrances. Taken together, they paint a picture of someone who was as beloved by his peers as he was by his readers.
As Jason Zweig put it, “I have just lost a friend, and so have you.”
Christine Benz, director of personal finance and retirement planning for Morningstar and author of How to Retire
Since his untimely passing, almost everyone who has mentioned Jonathan Clements has spoken of his wit, his kindness, his desire to leave the world better than he found it. It’s all true. Helping others gave Jonathan so much joy and purpose that he did it right up until the end of his life, even sharing his thoughts on his cancer diagnosis and the dying process.
What I’ve seen less about is Jonathan’s fearlessness, his willingness to speak truth to power. Those qualities permeate his work, especially the collected Wall Street Journal columns in the book The Best of Jonathan Clements: Classic Columns on Money and Life.
Jonathan railed against brokerage firms and asset managers peddling the investment du jour, even though many of them doubtless were Wall Street Journal advertisers. Rather cheekily, as someone on the Journal’s payroll, he also criticized the financial media for parroting Wall Street jargon and pinning deep meaning on daily market gyrations.
Perhaps most significantly, Jonathan was an early and ardent supporter of investing in broad-market index funds rather than individual stocks or actively managed funds.
Index investing has been thoroughly mainstreamed over the past few decades, but it certainly wasn’t the default in the early 1990s, when Jonathan began urging investors to stop trying to beat the market and opt for inexpensive index funds instead. Like Vanguard founder Jack Bogle, he was ahead of the curve in realizing that bypassing expensive active strategies is the best way for investors to receive their fair share of the market’s gains. Broadcasting that message certainly wasn’t in Wall Street’s interest, but it helped scores of investors get closer to their goals. Along with his kindness and deep body of work, that impact will be an enduring part of his legacy.
William J. Bernstein, author of The Four Pillars of Investing
Not many financial journalists reached a wider audience than Jonathan. Fewer still had his influence. None were as well loved.
The reason why was obvious to all who knew him: His capacity for friendship, for starters. His ability to find humor in almost everything, including his own impending death. His sense of what matters on this earth. And, most importantly of all, his infectious and ever-present smile.
Jonathan was beyond generous with his time. Early in our friendship, he took my wife and me on a tour of the Journal. I still remember the room full of bored copy editors staring glumly at spread out newsprint, and to this day I treasure a sketch he had made of me in the Journal’s famous pointillist style. For fourteen solid years, he lived under a weekly deadline gun; I’m sure he had better things to do with his time than to spend an hour showing people around the office.
There was, however, one class of people who didn’t love Jonathan: Wall Street “pros” whom he helped millions of investors—to their great good fortune—to avoid.
Finally, in the last year of his life he taught the rest of us just how to laugh in the face of death. Like all physicians, I’ve watched too many people meet their ends; I’ve never seen anyone do this as gracefully, and with as remarkable a sensitivity to the discomfort of others, as Jonathan did.
Rest in peace, old friend. You did well in this world.
James Dahle, founder of The White Coat Investor
Jonathan was obviously a talented personal finance writer, but his most important attribute was not his ability to decipher the financial literature and point out the truth about the financial services industry.
Jonathan was particularly exceptional at recognizing and teaching what really matters in life. For Jonathan, money always remained in its proper place, as a tool to enable us to build better relationships and make a difference in the world. During the short period of time between his diagnosis and his death, he showed all of us, in the words of Tim McGraw, how to “live like we were dying.”
We're all on death row down here, whether we choose to recognize it or not, but that shouldn't stop us from wringing every last bit of happiness possible out of life while leaving the world a better place for those left behind. May we all be as good as Jonathan at “leaving it all on the field” and having no regrets when the eventual end comes.
RIP Jonathan, I miss you already.
Rick Ferri, host of the Bogleheads on Investing podcast.
“Hey! This is Jonathan Clements from the Wall Street Journal. Is this Rick Ferri?”
That was the first time I heard Jonathan’s distinctively English accent. It was 2001. He called to interview me for an article on low-fee investment advice. I didn’t believe it was him, but he convinced me otherwise, and I am forever grateful for the mention he gave me in a Getting Going article that month. Interest was so great from people reading the article that my phone rang off the hook for the next year. It put my fledgling asset management company on the map.
Jonathan and I stayed in touch over the years. When he left the WSJ for Citigroup, I boldly questioned his leap to the dark side, which didn’t make him happy. Jonathan thought they were going to do great things at myFi, a personal finance startup within the conglomerate. After a year or so, he started to realize that creating something beautiful inside a Wall Street bureaucracy was not going to be. But then he did create something beautiful. Jonathan started HumbleDollar in 2016, and it was a huge success.
I had lunch with him about five years ago and asked why he started HumbleDollar as a not-for-profit rather than a commercial site. He said he wasn’t doing it for the money, he was doing it “because I want to continue being part of the conversation.” I will never forget Jonathan’s answer, and I hope you all join me in ensuring that he stays part of the conversation.
Rest in peace, Jonathan. You made a difference.
Peter Mallouk, president and CEO of Creative Planning
I grew up reading Jonathan Clements. He was one of the few in the financial world who spoke plain English, told it straight, and gave advice that stood the test of time. Along with John Bogle, his writing shaped how I think about money — and life. Both men were straight shooters who believed in long-term, buy-and-hold investing, and in focusing on what really matters: your quality of life.
Years ago, I called Jonathan out of the blue and asked if he’d consider doing a podcast with me. To my surprise, he said yes. He came to Kansas City, and that’s when I first met him in person — and first realized he even had an accent. From that day, we became fast friends. He was also the one who came up with the name of our show, Down the Middle.
Over the years, we recorded many episodes together. Jonathan once told me it was one of his favorite things he’d done in his career, because it let him reach so many people with a consistent, simple, wise message. My favorite episode came just last month, when we talked about the keys to happiness. Another was our “Signal or Noise” episode, where Charlie Bilello and I dedicated the whole show to Jonathan’s wisdom. He was on top of his game then, but afterward, he admitted he didn’t expect to do too many more.
Jonathan left a real imprint. Few people truly change the way we think about money and life. He did. I’ll miss him.
Mike Piper, author of the Oblivious Investor blog
Jonathan's writing has been a source of both learning and enjoyment for me for many years. As a financial writer myself, I've always seen Jonathan’s work as the example to strive for: clear and direct, soundly based on the facts, and most importantly, motivated by kindness and caring for the reader.
In 2018 I finally got to meet Jonathan in person at the White Coat Investor Conference in Park City, Utah. He was, unsurprisingly, as kind in person as he is in his writing. What really struck me though was that in person you could see the same twinkle in his eye that somehow came through in his written words—the punchline at the end of the article, that he couldn't wait to share with you.
It has been a privilege to work on the Jonathan Clements Getting Going on Savings Initiative in his honor and now in his memory.
Allan S. Roth, founder of Wealth Logic and author of How a Second Grader Beats Wall Street
I was lucky enough to call Jonathan Clements my friend. Those who knew Jonathan knew how easy it was to both admire him and simply enjoy being around him. Jonathan had a gift for making the complicated seem simple - not just in money but in life.
Most people first knew him through his writing—whether in The Wall Street Journal, his books, or later with HumbleDollar. He had a rare talent for cutting through the noise, for reminding us that money wasn’t about getting rich but about building a good life. He gave people something far more valuable than stock tips; he gave them a path to peace of mind.
For me, Jonathan was much more than a wise financial journalist. He was funny, wry, and endlessly curious. He loved a good debate, and a good laugh. He could take serious subjects and deliver them with a twinkle in his eye. And he was generous—with his time, his advice, and his friendship. He always made you feel like you mattered, no matter how busy he was.
Jonathan also lived what he taught. He didn’t chase after more for the sake of more. He valued experiences over things, integrity over appearances, and people over possessions. He showed us that simplicity wasn’t just smart finance—it was a way of living well.
I’ll miss his counsel, his humor, and his friendship. Yet I take comfort in knowing that his words will live on, guiding people for generations. Jonathan helped countless readers, and he helped his friends as well by showing us what truly matters.
Rest easy, my friend. You made the world a clearer, kinder, and better place. Many of us will work to assure your legacy lives on and continues to help people.
Adam M. Grossman is the founder of Mayport, a fixed-fee wealth management firm. Sign up for Adam's Daily Ideas email, follow him on X @AdamMGrossman and check out his earlier articles.The post Tributes to Jonathan Clements appeared first on HumbleDollar.
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