DrLefty

Comments

• They freeze well, too, so you can just pull out a few at a time.

  Post: Frittering away Frugality 

  Link to comment from July 8, 2026

• I had set up the HELOC a few months before I retired and hadn’t touched it. It was great to have it available when the opportunity to buy our new home suddenly arose.

  Post: Thinking of a possible reason to tap Roth earlier then planned

  Link to comment from July 8, 2026

• This is awesome. He already has a nice “voice,” with good use of sarcasm and irony, and his talent for clever titles started young. I’ve never been good at titles myself, and when I wrote articles for HD, his title suggestions for my pieces were always better than mine. Somewhere in a box I have some short stories I wrote for my creative writing classes in college, but I hope no one ever lets them see the light of day! My first “creative achievement” was winning a schoolwide contest when I was in the fourth grade. I remember that the first sentence was “I lay in agony on the creek bank,” (there’s a grabber, huh?), but not much else about the story. I do remember the giant Hershey bar I won as a prize, though! Thanks for sharing that, Andrew, and I look forward to the Saturday piece!

  Post: Every Writer Has a Beginning: Jonathan’s First Essay

  Link to comment from July 8, 2026

• I would probably take a loan for a short time to bridge the gap between your purchase of the new place and your sale. In fact, we just did this—we had a HELOC set up on our previous place, which we maxed out for the new purchase and then, when our old place sold, the HELOC was paid off. It depends on the timing, but I think the total cost in interest was under $400 for us. I’d be wary of giving up the tax-free advantages of the money in the Roth. You can’t just “put it back” when you sell your current home. But it also depends on your financial big picture and how you might use those Roth funds in the future.

  Post: Thinking of a possible reason to tap Roth earlier then planned

  Link to comment from July 8, 2026

• I know this will sound unAmerican, but I have never set foot in a Costco, though I occasionally have had an Instacart shopper bring me specific items. Now that we’re empty nesters, I’m not likely to buy in that kind of bulk, but I agree that one has to be disciplined to benefit from shopping there. A food blogger I follow mentioned that they have a great deal on Boursin cheese right now, which is a great ingredient in my garlic mashed potatoes. I also like their individual portions of mashed avocado, which are good for managing calories and reducing waste. I think I need to log into Instacart now. Thanks, Dick!

  Post: Frittering away Frugality 

  Link to comment from July 8, 2026

• When I finished reading it, I had equal parts gratitude for what he gave us and equal parts sadness for what we’ve lost.

  Post: Reminded of Jonathan’s Grace

  Link to comment from July 5, 2026

• Same 💯

  Post: Retirement, One Year On

  Link to comment from July 4, 2026

• This is a great point. Not everyone gets to craft their “ideal” retirement because of family caregiving needs or even their own health issues. It’s a good reminder to be grateful for the good times. I hope your move and your “new retired life in a new location” brings you opportunities and joy that you maybe can’t even imagine right now.

  Post: Retirement, One Year On

  Link to comment from July 4, 2026

• Or even my own “responsible firstborn” guilty conscience!

  Post: Haunted Head

  Link to comment from July 4, 2026

• As others have said, it depends what you call “productive.” In my first year of retirement, I’ve earned little money (a bit of royalty money from books, plus I’ve got a settlement coming from Anthropic because they used my books without permission for AI), so in that sense, not very productive. But I’ve also completed a new co-authored book manuscript, had three journal articles accepted, written a weekly baseball column, produced nearly 30 Bible studies for our church’s small groups ministry, and taken hundreds of Peloton classes. Oh, and bought and sold homes. Earning money, though? Nope. I wouldn’t say I’m “haunted” by the need to be productive. I’m just wired to be. As I said to Ed, I’d be unhappy if I had nothing to do, but I don’t want to have too much to do, either. Finding that balance is my current challenge.

  Post: Haunted Head

  Link to comment from July 4, 2026