November 29, 2008
You wouldn’t know it to look out my window, but winter is fast approaching, as is the end of the calendar year. (As opposed to the fiscal year.)
A few things to consider before December 31st:
- FSA allocations: I know my deadline for using and claiming the money is March 31st, 2009, but not if that was a universal change. Be sure to check your deadlines and balance. Have you used it up? Are you on track to, or do you have a ways to go? I still have a surprising $250 left in my account and am fresh out of painkillers so I’ll be picking up some Tylenol. Not $200 worth, but a couple large bottles should do it. A big part of the allocation was meant for my massage therapy, so it’s time to schedule a couple appointments there.
- Charitable donations: If you haven’t already made your planned contributions, didn’t plan any and are able to give a little, please remember to do so! Charities have quite a difficult time
- Tax related receipts/records: I hope that everyone’s got a sorting and tracking system they’re happy with because even I, with my new found love of Google Docs, find entering receipts a little onerous and tend to forget to do it routinely. Gather up ye receipts and organize them now so Q1 2009 doesn’t thoroughly stink!
Anything else?
Oh, also, check out Budgets are Sexy for a few more end of the year tax tips!
November 6, 2008
The weather has finally turned (what I consider) cold, hovering in the 60 degree range all week…. and I’ve been bundled up in scarf, sweater, and trenchcoat every day. I’m sure that people on the train think I’m utterly dramatic as they relax sans sweaters or coats, but I get really cold quite easily. [And the CPW has to be about $1, now! 🙂 ] The nights are even nippier and I’m thankful for my super thick Asian blankets rolled at the foot of my bed all year for the sudden change in climate. All this weather talk means is that, instinctively, I’m bracing for Christmas, and for once, I don’t have the first clue what gifts to get for anyone. Heck, Thanksgiving is practically upon us, and I haven’t even written out a gift list!
For those who need a slew of generic gifts, Plonkee’s got a great list posted, and I loved Grey’s Cake in a Mug. Generally, though, I dislike giving gifts that aren’t personalized in some way, and I don’t mean in that in the engraved-with-initials sense. As practicality-minded as I am, I much prefer to give things that the person would love and use, but not purchase for themselves. Obviously, this is much easier to do when the recipient is on a budget, and doesn’t buy everything they want. 😛
Off the top of my head, I’ll need to get a gift for:
BF
Best friends, two (we usually do a group exchange within our crowd)
Cousin
I’ve already got comics for the one friend I always exchange with, and I’m not really inclined to do anything for my coworkers. Well, maybe I’ll make them cake in mugs. My immediate family doesn’t exchange gifts, so I’m free to get gifts for anyone in the extended family if I wish.
Have you begun your lists of what to get and for whom yet?
November 5, 2008
Reading the New York Times about the state of New York is making me seriously rethink this notion of relocating to the City.
There are several considerations, not least of which are: who is still hiring, how much are they willing to pay, and will most (or more) employers adhere to the LIFO (last in, first out) rule?
The state’s economy faces some stark times with budget cuts, job cuts, and more to balance a deficit of $1.5 billion. Calling it a “budget challenge” seems a little bit of an understatement. Or perhaps I’m simply pessimistic.
The mayor has already announced several billions of dollars in belt-tightening measures for the 2007 to 2010 fiscal years, and he made it clear on Wednesday that more austerity was still in order. Even with the measures announced on Wednesday, the city still faces a deficit of $1.3 billion in the 2010 fiscal year, which starts on July 1.
“We do take these measures with a heavy heart,” the mayor said, adding, “We’re committed to keeping New Yorkers working, but we also have to keep the city’s finances in order.”
The mayor said he was not calling for the kinds of deep cuts in police, fire, education and health-care spending that characterized the fiscal crisis of the 1970s, when the city teetered on bankruptcy.
“We’re just not going to return to the dark old days of the ’70s when service cuts all but destroyed our quality of life,” Mr. Bloomberg declared. “We are faced now with the reality from the financial crisis: We must cut spending and generate more revenue. Each path is unpleasant and painful.”
The mayor recited a grim litany of statistics: $500 billion in losses on Wall Street, a loss of 147,000 jobs in the financial sector, and a projected $2.6 billion drop in city revenues between the last fiscal year and the current one. (The fiscal year ends on June 30.)
November 4, 2008
Wanda at Well-Heeled‘s trying out a new game called Emergencyopoly which, as it turns out, is a game (slightly altered) that I’ve been playing for the past few months. I won’t rehash the update here, but it amuses me that this article from Savvy Sugar on back-up plans coincides with the theme of preparedness and a question we’ve all been asking ourselves:
What’s your backup plan? What does your parachute or lifeboat look like when the plane/ship goes down? If you lost your job tomorrow, do you know what you’d do? What are you doing right now to prepare?
Some answers I’ve heard:
1. Look for another job, doing anything necessary to pay the bills.
2. Take the leap to do something I’ve always wanted, but was too afraid to leave my job for.
3. *pointed to me* Hang onto Revanche as she walks out the door. [double take] “What?”
Yes, someone actually said I was their backup plan. Hah!
November 3, 2008
Just read this NY Times article, Forming a Club to Share Financial Wisdom:
I’ve long lamented the fact that there aren’t as many money clubs as there are book clubs. Plenty of us would be more successful in meeting our financial goals if we met regularly with a small group of like-minded people to lay our finances bare, from incomes to debt to our spending foibles. It would be one part Debtors Anonymous and one part Weight Watchers, a bit like the investment clubs that were popular in the 1990s but with every part of our financial lives under the microscope.
What I didn’t do, but should have, was try to inspire an international movement around the idea. That’s what five women from Vancouver are trying to do with their new book, “The Smart Cookies’ Guide to Making More Dough” (Delacorte Press), and Web site, smartcookies.com.
Much of the book offers fairly basic financial advice, and it will probably resonate best with young women. The silly name, meanwhile, might turn off serious-minded people.
But that would be too bad, because theirs is a story of guts and grit, of five women who leaned on one another to rein in individual money habits that were fairly destructive.
At first I thought, that’d be awesome! And it would be. But what I’d want even more than a money club is a career club, one with members at various stages of their careers. I’d certainly love to get together with people who are financially wise for cross-mentoring but I’m at the stage where, mostly, I’ve got a good handle on the basics and much prefer to discuss at more advanced levels topics like career planning, investing, understanding the stock market, estate planning, insurances, real estate, etc. (Heh, estate planning. I plan to have an estate, someday.) This blog and reading about a hundred other PF blogs scratches the personal aspect of my finance itch rather well whereas I’m ripe for professional development.
What do you think? Would you want to start a money club? Or is there some area or topic that would more effectively contribute to your life?
October 25, 2008
After procrastinating for hours, I finally tackled another load of organizing today. While sorting through piles of folders, manila and accordian, I found some leftovers from a three year old benefits enrollment packet. Among the papers was an envelope containing information on long term care insurance. It was clearly set aside for perusal at a later time because I’ve been very concerned about long term plans for my parents since starting this blog, but had never been satisfied enough with my research on this topic to satisfy my need for information before purchasing it.
Alas, how clear is hindsight. I should have signed up for this years ago! Had I done so, at least one part of our dilemma would be less frustrating. Unless my mom is declared functionally disabled, she cannot draw any governmental benefits, and my dad cannot afford to leave her alone to go work a job with regular hours because we don’t have anyone to stay with her. Catch 22: they have very little income of their own, and now that we’re in this fix, my dad can’t go out, leaving mom alone, to earn a decent wage.
From my review of the materials, assuming the new insurance company that my employer contracted with last year honored the same basic requirements, mom would be eligible to claim benefits now, thus freeing my dad to work a more regular job and support at least the two of them.
For future reference, a typical set of triggers for benefits eligibility, according to the California Department of Aging, would be based on the inability to perform at least 2 of the 7 activities of daily living (ADL) listed below, or on impairment of cognitive ability:
- Bathing
- Dressing
- Continence
- Toileting
- Tranferring
- Eating
- Ambulating
She’s definitely suffering from impairment of cognitive ability, and at least 2 of the above 7 ADLs. I did have some sense of urgency when I was in my first year of employment, but it fell by the wayside because money was still too tight. Now that it’s too late to help mom, I need to take a long hard look at the application for my dad because if anything happens to him, too …….
In the state of California, consumers are protected by the following regulations (also from the California Department of Aging):
1. Guaranteed Renewable or Noncancelable Protection: Every long term care policy sold to an individual must be either guaranteed renewable or non-cancelable. Guaranteed Renewable means that the company cannot cancel your policy or change any of the benefits, unless you fail to pay the premiums. Insurance companies are allowed to increase premiums for a “class” of policies, but not for you individually. Non-cancelable means that your coverage cannot be canceled or the benefits changed, and the premium cannot increase as long as you continue to pay on time.
2. Continuation or Conversion Coverage: If you purchase a long-term care certificate through a group, you can continue or convert your coverage if the group cancels the master policy or terminates coverage. Continuation means you keep the same coverage if you pay the premium on time. Conversion means you get an individual policy of insurance with identical or equivalent coverage without health screening. In each case, your premium can change when you are no longer in the group.
In other words, if your group leaves the company, you’re still ok. If you leave the group, the company is not bound to continue offering you the same policy.
3. 30-day Free Look: Every applicant (except purchasers in employer or trade groups) has the right to return any policy or certificate within 30 days of receipt, for any reason, and have all premiums or fees refunded. The 30 days begins on the day you get the policy or certificate.
4. Forbidden Requirements: Policies sold after 1990 cannot require you to be in a hospital before benefits will be paid in a nursing home, or to get skilled nursing care before personal care services are covered. Companies can’t refuse to pay you benefits because you weren’t in a hospital or nursing home before you needed covered home or community services. Companies also cannot refuse to pay covered benefits to people who are diagnosed with a mental illness or cognitive impairment, including Alzheimer’s disease, if they meet the eligibility trigger in the policy.
Duties of Agents and Companies: California law requires agents to comply with certain standards when selling insurance and to give consumers certain information at the time they make a sales presentation. If you are replacing a policy, agents are required to give you a fair and accurate comparison of any policies you may already have with one you are considering for purchase.
If you are buying any long-term care insurance, you must be given a “Long-term Care Insurance Personal Worksheet.” This form gives you important information about any rate increases the company has had, and asks you to consider certain other issues related to buying long-term care insurance and your ability to pay premiums over time. If you do not complete this form, the company is required to contact you before issuing coverage to make sure the agent showed it to you, and that you meet their standards for income and assets to purchase this product. The Personal Worksheet is intended to help you purchase the right type of policy and an appropriate amount of coverage for your particular circumstances. Insurance agents have a duty of honesty, good faith, and fair dealing to all consumers. They are prohibited from using high pressure tactics to sell you insurance and are not allowed to sell inappropriate coverage or excessive amounts of insurance. Advertisements and other marketing materials used by agents and by companies cannot be misleading. Violations of these standards should be reported to the California Department of Insurance at 1-800-927-HELP (4357).
I do wonder, though, how these protections change if the person paying the premiums move, or even if the beneficiary of the insurance moves out of state. Do you retain the protections of the state in which you purchased/initiated the coverage?
October 21, 2008
At some point, I’m cutting the cord, and moving out of the shared household situation. I never planned to disappear or run away; a healthy, low stress transition for my family is paramount to my ability to actually leave. As things in the workplace deteriorate, essentially forcing my hand, I’m not sleeping well now, and likely won’t until a good back up plan is put together. So I’m not cutting the cord, I’m just loosening it up.
Now that I’ve reached a relatively stable point where I can cover my expenses for a few months, I thought that I was ready to re-face the tangle of my family’s poorly met needs and start mapping out a reasonable course of action. I asked my dad to write out his understanding of their financial obligations and income (prospective or otherwise) and the sources so I could see the full financial picture.
One of our major obstacles has been my dad’s inability/ refusal to separate his pride from the situation. He couldn’t get over the fact that he/they were depending on my financial support so never got to a mental place where we could work together to create a tenable solution for the family. The only times I’ve ever fought with my dad were those few times I tried to get him to talk to me about money so we could address the needs and problems. As a result, I resorted to commandeering all of the bills, except their car payment and the loans he wouldn’t tell me about, because seeing late late late reminders and late fees drove me insane.
We’ve finally made some progress; he had to come to this on his own, I just wish it’d come sooner. I don’t know how long the cooperativeness will last, he and Mom are both depressed by the long struggle and their guilt of being a burden, and asking me to make some major mistakes to help them. After spending many months being solely responsible for Mom’s care, around the clock, this is the first time he didn’t even argue. He made out a list for me that I’ve been pondering ever since.
Frankly, it’s scary. Really really scary. I knew that I’d have to make enough to survive on my own, and send money home, but I have no idea where to begin, it’s so bleak. Their unstable income doesn’t even fully cover their few obligations (a couple loans, the car loan, medical care) much less living expenses. For reference’s sake, I pay:
- The rent,
- All utilities (electric, water, gas, trash)
- The truck,
- Auto insurance,
- Gasoline,
- Groceries,
- Cell phones,
- Phone/Internet,
- Any household incidentals like supplies or appliances.
The car will be paid off in a year, the truck in 9 months. That will relieve both our wallets, but it’s still a long way away.
I need to sit down with a sharpened quill and calculator this weekend. Meantime, I’m going to concentrate on the positive: I might finally be able to get Dad to participate and share the burden of planning. And he won’t be in the dark about the finances as a whole. And maybe I can actually get him to see light at the end of the tunnel!