Homeowners Insurance Up 33%

 I just received a notice from State Farm that they will be increasing my home insurance by 33% starting July 1, 2026. That adds $48.81 to my monthly premium. Back in 2023 the monthly premium was $104. The new rate for this year is a 90% increase in just 4 years. The home has not had any major renovations since it was purchased in 2011. The county estimates the value for tax purposes at $356,400. Zillow has $397,900 as the estimated market value.

It now costs $512 per month or $6144 per year for insurance and property tax. This year I will get an 80% state refund on my property tax. That will bring the annual cost down to $3083. Unfortunately, the only way to reduce the insurance premium is to find an insurance company with lower rates. Every time they raise my rates, I revisit the idea of getting quotes from other insurance providers. This year the rate increase is way beyond the rate of inflation. I suspect State Farm has been paying out more claims than usual and has decided to increase rates to compensate. Inflation is only a small part of the calculation.

I'm getting tired of State Farm's advertising campaigns anyway. They spent a lot of money on their Batman/Bateman ads. Their main ad character is a black guy. I don't feel like they want me (a white guy) as a customer anymore. Here is a list of 10 well known home/auto insurance companies:

State Farm - The largest share (12.9%) of business in America.

Liberty Mutual - One of the largest property and casualty writers in the world.

Geico (Berkshire) - One of the largest auto insurance providers in the US.

Farmers Insurance - The business dates back to 1928, when it was set up to insure farmers.

Progressive Group - Reputation for pricing innovation and digital tools.

USAA Group - Low auto insurance premiums for qualifying military families.

Allstate Insurance - Recognized for its long‑running "You're in Good Hands" slogan.

Travelers Group - Ranks among the top five companies by market share in US.

American Family - AmFam has a long history in farm and rural markets.

The Hartford (AARP) - Discounted rates exclusively for AARP members.

Of these companies I would only consider getting quotes from Liberty Mutual, Farmers, and USAA. The others just don't have ad campaigns that appeal to me. But what about the Geico gecko and Flo the Progressive lady? They are just a little too comical for me when it comes to insurance. I will report back if I find a better rate. Not sure if that is possible. Something tells me that none of them can be trusted to keep premiums at a reasonable rate for very long.

Instant Pot Air Fryer Vortex Plus 4

The main benefit of an air fryer is that it uses less oil to fry food. But I was reluctant to get one because I didn't want another seldom used appliance taking up room on the kitchen counter. I was initially looking for an 1800 watt 6-quart size. But then I came across the Instant Pot Vortex Plus 1600 watt 4-quart model. With only two people in our home, the smaller size would be ideal and give us a chance to see how they work. I found a lightly used one on ShopGoodwill.com and paid $37.87 with tax and shipping.

It has all of the features of the 6-quart model, but with a smaller basket and 200 watts less power. The maximum temperature is 400 degrees, which is the recommended temperature to air fry most foods. The lower wattage also means that it uses less electricity. So far, we have been using it to cook packaged foods like French fries, tater tots, and chicken patties. I bought some parchment paper inserts on Amazon to make cleanup easier and a spray bottle of olive oil. It allows us to make quick healthier meals. 

The 4-quart size is just right for two people. The only negative is that it will make your house smell like whatever you are cooking. That's because unlike other cooking methods, hot air exhaust comes out of the back of the machine. That part may be a problem if you cook fish, which we haven't tried yet. With that in mind, an air fryer may not be a good choice if you live in an apartment building. Your neighbors will know what you are cooking. The other thing is that the machine beeps when it is time to turn your food over. When doing this, you have to be careful, because the metal basket gets pretty hot.

The Instant Pot Air Fryer also broils, roasts, dehydrates, bakes, and reheats leftovers. That should come in handy for reheating pizza, which gets soft when reheating in a microwave.  I like how the stainless-steel trim matches the other appliances in our kitchen. It also doesn't take up too much counter space. This model is simple to operate, even my girlfriend eventually figured it. In her first attempt, she put a paper liner in without any food while it was pre-heating. The air flow pushed the liner into the heating element. Luckily, I was there to catch it in time. Right now, a new one costs $129.99 on Amazon, but they have been as low as $79.99. There are lots of similar models on the used market as well.

True Crime Syndrome

 My girlfriend is obsessed with the Nancy Guthrie kidnapping. Maybe it's because she is from Texas, which is near Arizona. Her obsession has gotten so bad that she sent her theory about the crime to one of the crime tip email addresses. Then, the other day I caught her talking on the phone with someone at a crime tip line. I could sense the poor guy trying to shorten the call by saying "... and this theory is based on your opinions?" Which she replied "...it's from pictures I found on the Internet and what I know about how people dress for work. I think the guy worked at a bank that was inside a Walmart."

Every true crime YouTuber with a theory is uploading videos. But I can't watch them with her in the room because she starts talking over the video saying their theory is wrong and getting mad because I am watching it and not paying attention to her theory. You have to remember that this is someone who has seen UFO's and ghosts, believes in spirits, and thinks she is psychic. Some people get addicted to the feeling of accomplishment when they make a prediction that turns out to be correct. But her psychic abilities and nothing more that intuition, which we all have to some degree. 

This kidnapping thing has got her spending a lot of time trying to theorize what happened. Unfortunately, she's trying to solve a problem without all of the information. Authorities are holding back information from the public. Just recently, they told us that one of the still photos released weeks ago, was from a different day. Then you have the local sheriff who is getting flack by trying to run things his way. My prediction was that they would catch the guy within of week of releasing the door cam videos. But that failed to transpire. Whatever the outcome, it probably won't match any of our theories. Meanwhile, my girlfriend could be spending her time on more constructive pursuits. 

Best Uses For AI

 I first had a chance to use AI when Microsoft added Copilot to Windows 10. Let's just say I was not impressed. I ended up removing it from the task bar because it often had problems connecting and giving me a command prompt. When I was able to enter a question, the answer looked like something I could have gotten with a basic web search. My next encounter with AI was when Google added "AI Mode" to their search engine in August 2025. They added a button to the right of the search box that allows you to access their Gemini AI agent. When you do a normal search, you get an AI summary above the typical search results. The AI summary often has the answer I'm looking for, so I don't need to look at any of the web links that show up below. At the bottom of the summary, there is a "Dive deeper in AI Mode" link, which gives you a more detailed response.

You may have noticed that companies are upgrading their customer support chat-bots and calling them AI assistants. One example is Xfinity (Comcast) which has "Xfinity Assistant". I was having trouble looking up my monthly Internet usage and decided to give it a try. I typed: "What is my monthly data usage?". Within a few seconds it showed me a 3-month trend, the current data usage, and the number of days left in my billing cycle. That was just what I was looking for. AI is perfect for customer help, although it may be even more difficult to talk to real person, because most of them have lost their jobs. Phone support is also being replaced by realistic sounding AI that can converse like a human. This might be a welcome change from having to deal with someone with a foreign accent at an overseas call center.

Other uses for AI are starting to appear. Music, movies, and social media are seeing a lot of AI activity. Some good and some bad. I think the fear is that it is progressing too quickly and there are no guard rails in place to protect people from those who abuse the technology. At this stage, you can generally tell when something is AI generated, but it gets harder every day. The movie industry has been using computer generated effects for years now. The difference is that someone with bad intentions can use AI to make a realistic image or video that used to require expensive equipment. AI can also be trained to have a bias. One example I saw was a Youtuber who asked several AI agents if Trump should be impeached or get a third term as president. Two chose to impeach, two refused to make a choice, and my favorite was the AI agent on Trump's Truth Social network, which said that he should be given a 3rd term.

It remains to be seen what jobs will be affected by AI. It will be years before we know the full impact. It clearly has the potential to disrupt some sectors of the economy sooner than others. It will first show its utility as a tool that we can use to improve our accuracy and efficiency. But we are a long way from seeing it replace our innovation and creativity. With so many companies working on AI agents, there needs to be standards and ratings in place so that we can measure response bias and IQ level. We should also be able to dynamically adjust the personality of an AI agent. Google has been prompting me to try the new updated Alexa that they just launched. "Alexa+" uses generative AI to provide more conversational and proactive assistance. I heard the new voice and didn't care for it. We only use Alexa to set timers, play songs, or answer questions. I don't want to have a conversation with a device that is designed to get more of my personal preferences. They know too much about me already.

Retirement Income Review 2025

3 Year Chart

In 2025 my investment portfolio increased by 8.65% and generated $3445 in monthly dividend income. During the year I was able to avoid taking any distributions from my retirement account. This means that I only used dividends from my taxable spending account. The income from that account was $1052 per month or $12,624 per year. I withdrew $11,860 to pay my credit card balance and mortgage. My total expenses for the year came to $15,509. The bulk of the $3649 shortfall was covered by my state property tax refund. For reference, the 2025 US poverty level for a one-person household was $15,650. 

There is a lot of debate about how much you need to retire. Americans now think you need about $1.5 million to retire. But only 3.2% of retirees have $1 million in their retirement accounts. Only about 2.5% of all Americans actually have $1 million or more saved in their retirement accounts. I am still a bit short of that goal, mainly because I've been withdrawing money for living expenses for the last 5 years. But I will say that my annual dividend and investment gains now exceed my pre-retirement salary. In the chart above it looks like I am doing well, despite my taxable income being at the poverty level.

The more money you have the more complicated your finances become. I have 26 different holdings, 4 checking accounts, 3 different financial institutions, a brokerage account, a spending account, and a retirement account. Plus being trustee for a small family trust. Surprisingly, I use all of the various accounts on a regular basis. Managing my investments has become my part-time job. I usually only make small adjustments from time to time. I spend more time following financial news, so that I am aware of investment opportunities and pitfalls. The one thing that has proven true is that time in the market beats timing the market. My portfolio balance will sometimes fluctuate by thousands of dollars per day. But even when the market is down, I know that those dividends will keep flowing in.

In 2026, I expect we will see interest rates drop further. This should stimulate growth in the economy by lowering the cost of borrowing money. We will probably see investors slowly moving away from AI and back into the manufacturing and housing sectors. Global conflicts will continue to affect commodity prices but should be good for the defense and cyber security sectors. Hopefully, the shock from Trump's tariff price increases will normalize and we will be able to see inflation become more predictable. The national debt also looms as a threat to our financial future. One thing is certain; American's will be spending more on healthcare and have less disposable income in the year ahead.