Clements, facing death, doesn’t back away from personal finance advice

New York Times personal finance columnist Ron Lieber writes about former Wall Street Journal personal finance columnist Jonathan Clements, who has been diagnosed with cancer.

Lieber writes, “Those are the words of Jonathan Clements, 61, who wrote more than 1,000 personal finance columns for The Wall Street Journal between 1994 and 2015. Plan on living past 90 and save accordingly, he advised, when he wasn’t running marathons or riding bicycles.

“In May, he saw a doctor about some balance issues. Two days later, he received a devastating cancer diagnosis. Scans revealed a golf-ball-size tumor on his lung, and the disease has spread to his brain, his liver and elsewhere.

“Anything beyond 12 decent months would be a victory. ‘I’m definitely on the clock here,’ he said as we sat at his kitchen table this week.

“Asking Mr. Clements whether he wishes to take any of his advice back might seem like the height of callousness, but he doesn’t shy away from much. He has already turned his horrible luck into crisp prose, filled with bold-font takeaways on his website, humbledollar.com.”

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