October 28, 2008
About two weeks ago, I saved an acquaintance from getting a ticket. The metered spots only allow 4 hours of parking before a certain time in the evening, and she’d run out of meter time an hour before Free Time. As parking enforcement rolled up, glancing over at her car, I popped out and dropped some money in her meter.
When I drove into work last week, I used the meters because I normally commute by train and don’t have a long-term permit. Absentmindedly noted that I needed to move my car at 4:50 after parking …. then, I completely forgot until 5:50 pm. I was in agonies, sure I’d been ticketed.
Whether it be because I’d earned a little non-tickety-karma by helping someone else out or because there was construction on the street, there was no ticket on my windshield. Hallelujah for avoiding stupid-absentminded fees!
October 27, 2008
It aggravated me to no end to realize that after spending all that time organizing, scanning and shredding, I was still receiving paper statements. Well, duh. I’d not followed up by cancelling paper statements because, deep down, I don’t trust those darned companies not to try to slip one past me!
*By “those” companies, I mean all of them. I don’t trust companies. But that’s just because I’m a good steward of my money and they’re good takers of my money. Biiiig difference.
In any case, there’s no point in prolonging my pain when I know off the top of my head that, at least for my Chase credit cards, I can always download the PDF of the statement for my records.
As of tonight, I’m signing up for paperless only for my:
- Chase credit card accounts – 4 total. I only use one card regularly, so I’ll check those statements as they’re produced and I’m not worried about the other three. Any charges on the other three will come up as transactions on Yodlee so I can check out the anomalies.
- Citi credit cards – 5 consumer cards total. They’ll send me email notifications for each statement and I can download the six most recent months’ worth of PDFs as well.
- American Express – couldn’t switch because they were having maintenance issues. Bummer, try again later.
By the time I’m through scanning all the CC statements, a billing cycle will likely have passed and the statements will stop. Yippee!
Next up: cell phone bills (2), and banking statements (10). It occurs to me that a great way to simplify some of this would be to consolidate more accounts and, y’know, actually simplify my banking and accounting systems. Mmhmm…. just a thought.
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 23, 2008
How bad is it when you’d rather work than go to lunch with higher-ups because you know that the outcome of the lunch has already been determined, thereby negating the need for the lunch? I mean, it’s gonna be good food and good food is my weakness.
But I’d rather be at my desk, having a lunch of herbs. Sad.
October 22, 2008
A reader emailed me asking about the job market in the LA area. Now, LA is awfully big, and my personal experience is pretty limited, but I know I’ve got fellow bloggers and perhaps some readers in the LA area as well.
I’m including some excerpts of our correspondence below, lightly edited to preserve the reader’s anonymity:
I’ve been looking for a job in the LA market for an embarrassingly long amount of time at this point (close to a year) and am at my wit’s end as to what to do. I’ve submitted numerous copies of resumes, cover letters, networked, randomly dropped in . . . and nothing. What is your personal assessment of the market?
Part of the problem is that I’m currently in Arizona and have been doing long-distance looking and applying (using a friend’s CA address).
I had a few follow-up questions:
1. What kind of job are you looking for?
2. What experience do you have in your field?
3. Are you looking to go for the traditional full time position, or a part-time, or a freelance/contractor situation?
4. Why are you looking at the LA job market in particular?
1. I graduated from college in 2006 (with a degree in psychology, and a minor in music performance – talk about marketable!) and have experience in the social services (but ultimately knew I needed to make more money) and the financial services (which, being in this industry, I count myself lucky to still have a job at this point). Unfortunately, I’m feeling highly underutilized in my current position and after further thought, have determined several industries/capacities that I could see myself working in. Obviously the financial world would be the easiest transition, but in a smaller organization would be ideal to be able to take on more responsibilities. Additionally, there is the field of higher education (which flies in the face of my need for more pay, however! the pay is still better than the social services and the environment is unparalleled in what I’ve heard regarding an appreciation of intelligence and the ability to maintain constant stimulus). Additionally, there’s also human resources (which would be a natural extension of my education in psychology), market research (again, natural extension), or working in either capacity (HR or research analysis) within an entertainment organization. As I said, a truly wide swath!
2. I spent approximately a year within the social services, and have been with my current employer now for 1 year and 4 months.
3. Right now, there are some additional health concerns (again, possibly another manifestation of the paranoia) that ultimately leads me to want a traditional full time position. I’d be open to several part time positions if need be, but it’s not ideal.
4. I’m looking in the LA job market for the need for change and sense of adventure, which sounds truly cliche I know, but here me out! I’ve lived in the state of Arizona for 10 years now, and while it’s treated me nicely (a full ride to a state university and graduating Cum Laude aren’t anything to necessarily talk down on I think), I just don’t get the feeling that there’s anything more here. I’m growing stagnant. And having visited LA on numerous, numerous occasions – several of them being recently – I’ve slowly fallen in like with the area. I hesitate to say love, but my comfort level as increased 100-fold and every time I get back on I-10 at this point, I feel like I’m driving the wrong way. Also, I’ve always had a passion and interest in the entertainment industry and, given the interests, would love to possibly have the opportunity to work in a leading entertainment organization in some capacity, cliche as that may sound as well. If not that, then still, who can argue with the number of world-class universities in the area regardless?
It’s been about four years since I last stalked the job market in this area, so I’m pretty out of touch with the feel of the market. It seems to me, though, that the jobs being offered are not in plenty, and with many people running scared from the softening economy, it’s going to get even tighter than it’s already been.
I wonder if you’ve tried finding a job with a company that has branches in the LA area with an eye to transferring at a later date? If you haven’t had any bites thus far, perhaps you should try closer to home as another way in.
Alternatively, could more training or education be in order to move to a different level of employment?
Readers, can any of you offer any suggestions or advice?
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!
The nearly thousand page tome has arrived! I immediately started reading it the second I opened the box. Thank goodness I still live at home and have someone to tell me to go eat dinner; I’m so easily distracted by mail, and good mail at that.