January 2, 2012
Happy New Year!
This is the first year I’ve taken this long to review the year. We spent the holidays traveling for two days on either side of Christmas, three days jammed with visiting of friends and family, overlaid with a nasty cold for me, and then it was back to work for me, though the family’s vacationing continued and followed us back home for the last week of the month.
December 15, 2011
It’s around the time of the year that people are caught up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays, or the end of the year and everything that entails: financial closings, year end sales, family gatherings. A flavor for every profession and preference.
A few weeks later, we’ll be talking about setting goals or sharing the goals we’ve picked. We might have decided on them as a way to create the new us, to define an aspirational year or just pragmatically, reach new milestones. And much of the time, people will say the best way to set goals is to use the system in which you’re stating Specific, Measurable, Achieveable, Realistic goals with a Timeline. It’s meant to keep one ticking along on the road to success without burning out or slumping over in despair.
That’s totally valid. My goals, once I pick them, are general and then absolutely strategized within an millimeter of any possible parameters.
But I’m having a step before that.
In these weeks before I set goals, I’m spending some time setting Impossible Goals. So named specifically so that it sounds completely unrealistic and totally removes the pressure from my tactical brain that cannot resist immediately analyzing how I have to make it happen.
This is the time to throw utterly preposterous and lofty goals into the air and count really fast as they come floating down, thinking all the while, what else can I do? What else should I do? What else would I do?
If anything were a possibility – before reality strikes, dreaming a dream – what would I want to have done in that year?
Of course I started with money. This morning I told Doggle, “Momma’s gonna increase our Net Worth by 100K.” He was blase.
I told him too, “Dad’s gonna get you a bigger bone if he gets a promotion.” That? He perked up for. SMH. Priorities, Doggle. Mom’s goal gets you health care.
This is the year I get a promotion.
This is the year to shoot for, heck, 100K? Make that 150K NW increase. Be creative. Be really really really creative. (Legally.)
This is the year I hit the supplemental alternative employment route. I want a safety net in case either of us doesn’t love our jobs and career paths anymore, it doesn’t pay enough or we just need a fall back.
This is the year we set ourselves up for buying a home.
This is the year we set ourselves up for getting a second dog, or maybe figure out the kid thing.
Or maybe not.
This is the year I make a difference in someone’s life.
This is the year Doggle learns how to play with another dog. (bwahhaha… he can barely process the toy thing. Ok ok, no mockery.)
This is the year I make progress toward a CFP. And figure out what I’m going to do, really.
December 9, 2011
Once upon a time, I dreamed big for the future. Out of those dreams, I formulated a life plan wherein I’d be taking a professional health degree of some kind and a PhD, entering a white collar profession, and buying a home for myself and my parents (separate homes, mind) before the age of 30. After 30 was a little hazy, but I figured plotting the next 23 years was good enough. Also, the juggle of two degrees and affording two homes was a tough enough nut to crack – I wasn’t ready to plot any more years.
This was before I knew the words “net worth” because, you know, seven years old, but you had better believe that the balance sheets did not include debt. I’d already been writing out the checks for the bills for my parents and knew how I wanted to set up my own budget when the time came.
You may notice, as my mother had, that I had made no provisions in those plans, for marriage or kids. As far as I was concerned, it might happen, it might not, I wasn’t planning on it or depending on it and figured it wasn’t terribly relevant to the trajectory of my career and money. That was a pretty unsophisticated understanding of how life and marriage works.
Clearly, I was bound and determined to have my own mind and at the time, that also meant keeping my own finances, separate and free. As the years passed, I saw too many bad choices made by one or another couple where there was a divide in the spender/saver continuum, even in my own family, or business decisions gone awry, especially in my own family, and I just couldn’t fathom living in that life.
“If you live in a community property state, not combining finances is just lying to yourself about legalities.” @practicalwed
So once upon a time, I might have disagreed with Meg. Even though the only real example of marriage I had was the relatively healthy and supportive partnership my parents shared, I was still certain that I could keep separate finances in any prospective
August 28, 2010
Test!
May 30, 2010
This month shows an interesting slide in both assets (primarily investments) and a nearly equal drop in expenses. Those expenses were mostly relocation-related, this month’s cash usage was pretty much the renters insurance policies I bought.
It is a little disappointing that the $5K/5K challenge doesn’t show up significantly on this snapshot, but that’s because it’s lost in the overall picture. As a detail, it plumped up the emergency fund a good amount. I have plans for that emergency fund – a lot of that cash will be going into a long-term CD to earn as much interest as possible until rates go up elsewhere. Perhaps I could even “part” with $20K? *shudder*
I’m a cash hoarder and it’s distinctly weird to lock up more than half my cash, but it’s time to crush that kind of emotional saving!
I continue on the last leg of the Challenge this week and then have to decide the next step of my overall financial plan to supplement my income this year.
December 14, 2009
I recently discussed the upcoming changes for my health care coverage in 2010.
My ex-benefits office sent an update for the coming year and I was wrong about my ARRA expiration: it’s actually good until the end of April, not the end of March. My rates, however, still increase to $142/month starting in January, and jump to $410/month post-ARRA expiration. A relief and a bummer rolled up into one.
Unless a job is secured by that time, the COBRA will take a serious bite out of my savings each month, but I’ll still have the money to pay it. I just have to reproject the budget to see what the drawdown looks like against my savings accounts.
This New York Times article, Steps to Take Before Cobra Subsidy Ends, notes that some people are expecting their unsubsidized COBRA to reach unsustainable amounts, costing more than half their monthly unemployment. According to the article, bills are pending in both the House and Senate to extend the subsidy for six months, but I’m skeptical that it would pass in time to affect my budget.
The Times suggests the following coping techniques:
BUY TIME Yes, the full-price Cobra payments are onerous. But if you pay the first month or two, you will be buying time to see if the subsidy is extended and time to shop around for health insurance alternatives that may be more affordable.
Check ehealthinsurance.com and healthplanone.com for general pricing information from carriers that provide individual policies in your area.STAY ON TOP OF IT If you’re making the switch to full payments be sure to keep in touch with your Cobra administrator so you will know whether Congress grants an extension, and what you need to do, if anything, to get it.
Depending on your plan and situation, this person may be a staff member of your former employer’s benefits department. Or it may be someone at the insurance company providing your Cobra coverage, or a third-party administrator. Be sure to read through your paperwork and find the person you need to stay in contact with.LOOK FOR REDUCTIONS With or without the subsidy, family Cobra coverage costs much more than individual coverage or coverage for just you and your spouse.
Without your regular income, your children may well be eligible for the Children’s Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP. It covers children in families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid, but too little to afford private health insurance. If you can insure your kids through CHIP, Mr. Pollack said, you can significantly reduce your Cobra payment. For more information go to insurekidsnow.gov.NEWLY LAID OFF? If you have been laid off this month and your employer has promised to cover your health care until the end of December, beware: that magnanimity could work against you.
The way the law is written, workers are eligible for the subsidy only if they are “eligible for Cobra” before Dec. 31, said Kathryn Bakich, national health care compliance director for the Segal Company, a benefits consultant. And simply being laid off in December does not necessarily make you eligible, particularly if your employer-provided coverage is extended through the end of the year.
As with most things to do with the economy and the government’s actions, I view it as a wait and see situation. With luck, none of you out there really need any of this information!
December 13, 2009
By way of helping with the astronomical work load, I’ve got a guest post over at Funny About Money. Just a little rumination about unemployment.
Hope everyone is safe, warm and dry today! It’s gloomy out there!
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