DrLefty

Comments

• I filled out the online forms a while back and this week got emails that my refunds had been paid to Venmo. The emails had a link to click to claim the money. I know better than to click that kind of link in an email, but when I went to my Venmo account, there’s nothing there. I think it’s probably legit, but I’m still not clicking on that link.

  Post: State Farm Dividend

  Link to comment from September 6, 2026

• Yep, I had to move all of our insurance this year because we bought a new house and State Farm won’t write new homeowners’ policies in California. We’d been with SF since 1989 and with this agent in Davis since 1991. They seemed shocked when I moved the cars, too, but I pointed out that if I wanted an umbrella policy, which I absolutely do, I had to have all the policies together. It was a bummer because that office has been great, but I told them if they ever start writing new policies again, maybe we’ll be back.

  Post: State Farm Dividend

  Link to comment from September 6, 2026

• I’ve done both sides of this. We spent nearly 21 years in a “medium” home—not the worst, not the best. Over time, we considered “moving up,” but long story short, we never did, and ended up clearing over a half-million dollars when we finally sold it. That profit helped us buy our “downsizing” condo, and then we flipped that into the home we live in now. On the other hand, with our recent purchase, we’ve taken on a larger housing expense than we’ve ever had…in our 60s. But as I wrote in my little mini-series on our move this spring, we had our reasons. I do not regret hanging in there with our “medium” house. I didn’t hate it, but it had its limitations. Staying there helped us a lot financially.

  Post: Jonathan’s Parting Thoughts: No. 7

  Link to comment from September 5, 2026

• Happy birthday, Ken! I’m just about a year behind you—will turn 67 next August 1. I already have “file for Social Security” on my calendar next year. Player 2 is going to wait for 70.

  Post: Reaching Two-thirds of a Century!

  Link to comment from August 24, 2026

• I understand and applaud the notion of pre-setting a vacation budget and then not sweating it while in progress, but I’m in Hawaii right now. We’re now in a timeshare condo, so we can buy stuff from the store because we have a kitchen, but for the first two nights, we stayed at an upscale hotel (free night certificates from a credit card!). We went to the hotel store to buy a little something to sip on whilst playing cards before dinner, and holy cow. For one moderately nice bottle of California wine, they wanted $180! Needless to say, we did NOT buy it. When we moved to the condo, we went to the grocery store to stock up, and I found a bottle of California Chardonnay I like for $18. Now, we’re talking. So yes, I do have my limits!

  Post: The Intentional Spendthrift

  Link to comment from August 24, 2026

• Thanks, Bill! A couple of months ago, I made an electronic file of documents from the sale of our home, which include the 1099-S, a California form (593), and the closing statements from our sale in May and our purchase in 2019. I had a feeling that my April 2027 self would thank me for this. I'm glad to know about Schedule D, too. I've always gotten confused about the royalty stuff and Schedule E vs Schedule C--I have to remind myself every year how it works, having done it wrong once or twice. The mortgage interest stuff sounds complicated. Hopefully the software can walk me through it!

  Post: If Retirement  is Getting Close

  Link to comment from August 19, 2026

• I’m a DIYer and have used H&R Block software for many years. I hadn’t realized that I’m already pretty prepared for this because I typically get multiple 1099s for book royalties and sometimes for speaker fees. My husband has been getting a pension for 10 years. So we have W2s, 1099-Rs, and 1009-MISC (the royalties/fees), along with various interest statements. All that said, this is one of our most complicated tax years ever: I retired in the middle of last year, so this is my first year without paychecks but with pension checks (and fewer deductions). My husband is going to half-time on October 1, so his income will drop year-over-year. We bought a house and sold one—no capital gains tax will be due on that, but we will have to account for it. We’ve had two different mortgage payments, and they overlapped for a couple of months. Oh, and we’re going to take money out of an IRA to help pay for our upcoming renovations. I’ve plotted this all out using the H&R Block planning tab and know about what our safe harbor number is, but it will be interesting to see if this is finally the year that I throw in the towel and get someone to do it for me.

  Post: If Retirement  is Getting Close

  Link to comment from August 19, 2026

• What a lovely tribute to Tory. I hope family and friends who knew her will find it comforting as you confront that painful anniversary. I resonate both with your reflections on grief (not being linear or disappearing) and with your insistence on remembering the person and not just their addiction. I remember when my father died of a heart attack in 2000 at age 61. I would be shocked by the sudden waves of grief crashing over me, like when I heard Christmas carols in the grocery store the day after Thanksgiving. My dad sang in the church choir and loved Christmas music. There I was in the frozen food section, just losing it. Around the same time, the movie "Meet the Parents" came out, and the Robert DeNiro character reminded me of what a hard time my dad gave my boyfriends when I brought them home. For the first time since we lost him, the memories made me smile and laugh. I still love that movie just for that reason. My dad also struggled with depression and anxiety and drank to excess. Sometimes when he'd had too much to drink, he'd call me late at night. I had two young children and a demanding career, and the lost sleep from these calls was costly, but I learned some things about him in those calls that I wouldn't have known otherwise. Anyway, peace and blessings to you and yours as you remember and celebrate dear Tory. Thanks for writing this beautiful piece.

  Post: My Sister – A Reflection One Year Later

  Link to comment from August 12, 2026

• Jerry, we have a Bible study (church-sponsored) that meets in our home. There are 13 of us, six couples and a single. The oldest couple turned 70 last year. The youngest member will turn 60 next March. All of us have adult children. We started meeting in 2020, and in the 6+ years we've been together, six members have lost a parent, three couples have become first-time grandparents, and another couple and the single have added new grandchildren. All of us except one couple had COVID, several of us multiple times. There have been two cancer diagnoses, one heart attack, and myriad other health issues around the group. Plenty of worries/events with our kids--car accidents/injuries (that was our daughter, twice), prison time/mental illness, unemployment, estrangement--oh, and three weddings, too. Part of this is the natural consequence of the stage of life we're all in together, but it certainly makes it all a bit easier to take when you have friends who will pray for you, bring you meals when you're sick or lost a loved one, provide gifts for a new grandbaby, and so on.

  Post: Looking Back On My Hard Luck Days

  Link to comment from August 10, 2026

• I think there are studies showing that petting a dog or cat actually can lower blood pressure! And, of course, the obvious benefit of needing to exercise a dog.

  Post: What is the right percentage?

  Link to comment from August 10, 2026