February 11, 2007
I’ve changed the allocation of my Vanguard 403(b) from a 75/25 VTRIX/VTIVX to a 60/40 allocation.
And last year I opted to sign up for the contributions to be applicable through the 2006 calendar year, intending to increase my contributions or change them in 2007. Foolish! That did not work out the way I expected. Instead of being able to jump on that at the end of 2006, it turned out that my online access to the contribution signup was delayed until mid-January!
Naturally, that meant my selections wouldn’t go into effect until February. Augh! So now I have to up my contribution again, starting in March, so that the cumulative amount will make up for losing ground in January. I think that works out to throwing 600/month into that pot so that it averages out to about the same. Lazy Benefits Office bums! I’m sure they hate me now because I keep changing my contributions.
I learned MY lesson: just sign up for continuous contributions!
Last night, I went through and looked at last year’s tax return and figured out how to plug in this year’s numbers. That went ok, but I have a little more homework to do because I’m a little fuzzy on the Self Employment tax. I always get a 1099 for the amount of my bonus because the company just cuts me a check from the office and it’s up to me to do the tax figurin’. But what constitutes an expense when I figure my net profit and how would I prove those expenses? I’m sure he estimates the amount I have to spend on new business clothes each year because that’s mandatory for my job, and I sure don’t use that clothing for anything BUT business travel, etc. but what else qualifies as an expense to calculate net profit? I work from home so I would think that a portion of those expenses for internet and cell phone would qualify, but I’m not sure how that works exactly.
Eventually I came up with a modest number, but I haven’t gone through my state return yet. The question is, with all of the insanity swirling about trying to get flights and visas and coordinating travel schedules and work schedules and packing and all that business, do I really want to spend a few more precious hours working on my taxes and second guessing my numbers and decisions? Or should I ask the accountant to double check my numbers, let him do the state taxes and just plan to do them myself next year?
My family’s accountant usually does my taxes for about … 75% of his usual cost. He’ll have the normal charges-breakdown, per form, which add up to approximately $75 and then he’ll stick a sticky note on there saying “Just pay me half!” or “$50 is ok!”
February 9, 2007
So the meetings went ok despite my near-paranoic fussin. We got back yesterday, actually. Or rather, at about 1am this MORNING. *sigh* That’s right. Instead of getting a good night’s sleep on Thursday and leaving Friday morning, we left after lunch on Thursday and kept on truckin’ until past the wee hours of the morn. What else sort of sense would have worked better?
And I got the news that my grandmother back in the old country isn’t doing well at all. Nothing’s wrong with her, exactly, other than being 93, so, you know. PaDucky’s gonna have to go back to see her and PadresDuckies want to know if I’m going too. He’s going to be gone for two weeks, starting the end of this month. This is what an e-fund’s for, so that’s really not such a worry, [though the airfare alone will start at $700!] but trying to figure out how to fit this trip into March so that I’m not stuck there for two weeks will be interesting, to say the least.
And I’ve still not come to grips with the fact that I’m going back to say goodbye. I don’t want to. I want to see her as I remember her now, healthy and lively and wise. There’s a piece of me that keeps hoping that she’ll understand that we’re coming to see her, and miraculously get better. But most of me is terrified that I’ll just get there in time for her to have gone and ….. say goodbye.
What really gets me is that I can now pretty painlessly afford send MaDucky to see grandma (her MIL), but her health won’t permit it. Figures. I finally get the point where I can afford to foot an emergency trip that’s really important to her, but she can’t go.
February 2, 2007
Kicking and screaming? Yes, that was me. But Blogger wouldn’t let me sign on AT ALL without upgrading to their new Blogger and so now I’m upgraded. So you know what that means: some of you have turned into Anonymous. *sigh* Uhm, I know that the first response to “Saving too much?” was mOOm because I read it before it changed, but I’m not sure who responded to “Dear Yodlee.”
I don’t know how/who has resolved this problem, but in the meantime, would y’all mind signing off as well? It’s much appreciated!
January 30, 2007
Please don’t ask me the price tag of this weekend for I am ‘shamed to admit that I allowed BoyDucky to spoil me within an inch of my life. In my defense, I had NO CLUE all that he’d had on tap. In his defense, surprising me is a pretty big deal. He’s the only one who has ever managed this feat. Anyway, that does not in the least detract from the great funs we had!
My gift to him: Volumes 1-4 of Robert Kirkman’s Invincible.
And the first volume of Bill Willingham’s Fables, Vol 1.
I’m a comic book geek through and through, and I was SO thrilled to find a comic that BoyDucky enjoyed and actually wanted to follow. I don’t know how he’ll like Fables, but I know he likes Invincible.
So yes, the aforelaid comic gifting rules as determined by a comic friend and I will apply here as well. [Gifts will always be comics, or comic-related. And the gifter will always read the gift before wrapping it for the giftee. For quality control purposes. Really.] But I started his first comic book collection!!
And he got me ….. *drumroll please* my first ever wine-tasting!
We …er … “invested” as they say, in wine-selling lingo (they would!), in a bottle for our anniversary next year, and another for perhaps a dinner party when and if he can get his family and mine to come up. I have a feeling that we’ll be drinking that bottle ourselves as well!
I did learn that the smaller wineries like Cakebread only distribute a small amount of wine to the common buyer who might come by for a tasting, otherwise 80% of their wines go straight to restaurant distribution and the rest goes to people who are part of the wine club for that particular winery. Those who join the wine club can get a few as 4 bottles a year up to … ten, I think? They also receive a discount on the wine bottles, as much as 20% off each bottle’s price. I think it’s definitely an interesting idea if you’re really a fan of the wines that a particular winery produces but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it “investing” in a great wine.
Both Wanda and mOOm have touched on an article and a subject near and dear to my heart: Could you and I possibly be saving too much for retirement?
You’ll have to let me know what your situation is, but I would NOT make this generalization about anyone, even PF bloggers, and most especially not for myself. Why? Because of SingleMa’s appropriately timed question today about Bailing Out Family Members in Financial Trouble.
Call me a pessimist but when I’m considering the future I’ll probably have more dependents rather than fewer, I don’t consider Social Security a viable source of retirement income and I imagine that healthcare will only remain a high expense. On top of that, there’s always the X factor of family members in need. For that category, I’d really only consider my parents eligible for support because unless there’s a true emergency, I am determined not to become the Bank of Ducky. I can guarantee that my parents, while not terribly spendthrifty, haven’t got anything put away specifically for retirement.
So personally, I can’t see where I could possibly be making a responsible decision by saving LESS than what I’m saving now. I think that’s the core of the issue for me: I anticipate heavier financial burdens
to come in the future and it would not make any sense for me to back off. The examples given in this NY Times article of those who are more than well-prepared for retirement implies that there are numerous people who are entirely prepared for retirement. Look around you, does that seem to be the case in your life? I can think of a few exceptions, Moom’s mom, TBH’s parents and “in-laws”, probably BoyDucky’s parents, and a couple of very wealthy friends who were born into money. That’s the sum of it for my friends and acquaintances, blogging community and all.
It’s really best to evaluate the statements that all these “experts” are spouting and decide for yourself what really truly applies to your own wallet and how you might want to act on the newly issued advice of the month. After all, you’re the one who has to live on that retirement money!
And for the record, I don’t think I’m squandering my youth if I miss out on a few unfinanced adventures, I’m saving my middle aged years from stress!
January 26, 2007
This is going to be me ALL weekend. Except when I’m eating. And taking walks with BoyDucky, because I have to get back in shape. But the rest of the weekend? That’s ME:
Oh, but I’ll be hanging out with BoyDucky, so it’ll be more like:
