The number of working days left – three!

I’ve sent my ‘so long’ e-mail to colleagues that I’ve worked closely with over the years and I’m glad I did that. I’ve received many well wishes and compliments. The company’s gotten large, so often in the past I’d find out someone was gone after reaching out to them for information.

I’ve completed the COBRA paperwork. The company will pay for the first three months and I’ll pick up the premiums (or change to another plan) after that. The monthly premiums will be just under $2500. Ouch! It’s for the family but still. I’m thankful that the company pays the first few months and I do have HSA funds that can be used for the premiums. We’ll definitely stick with COBRA for 2023, and probably 2024 but I’ll do comparison shopping for 2024 before making that decision. And now, I’ll have the time for that research!

Because I have to return the printer, I purchased a new one. I’ve just done the pack-up and set-up activities related to that. I was told that I could keep the cell phone (just not the company-paid plan) but not before I purchased a new phone and plan. So my former work phone will go to DS5. He’ll be upgrading from an iphone 7 to an iphone 11. He’s excited.

I can’t pack up the laptop and monitor until I’m really finished working. And much of my days this week are in knowledge transfer sessions with others.

We finally completed the long-procrastinated task of updating our wills. I’m glad to have it done though I am still working on the step-by-step guidance document for the executor. (requested by DH) That document has been a bigger chore than I expected but I’m learning a lot. In addition to online research, I bought a book that is so worth the cost: The Executor’s Guide by Mary Randolph. I also created documents for inventory of assets, final wishes, and contact information for all beneficiaries. Our previous wills had been written decades ago when we had just two children and lived in another state!

I am setting a target to review & update as needed the supporting documents annually and the will every 5 years. I am also continuing my long-term effort of simplifying our finances. The longer I live, the simpler the estate planning will become.

I’ve learned a lesson from my Mom’s death and left my jewelry and personal things to either my boys or my nieces instead of DH. My mom would be livid to know that some of her things ended up in the hands of the children of my Dad’s second wife and they sold it for cash. That will not happen to my things! Of course, I had that discussion with DH and he gets it. His mother also died first so the situation was similar.

I’ve never had a goal, and still don’t, to leave a substantial inheritance to my kids. I’ve told them this throughout the years too – that their college funding is their gift from us and that we plan to spend our remaining money to fund our own lives. We also don’t buy the boys cars, weddings, or down payments on houses. I don’t expect that to change unless we strike gold or something. If I have an unfortunate early death, they’ll benefit financially but otherwise their inheritance will likely be modest (and split 5 ways). As an example, I have a 30-year term life insurance policy that will expire in a few years. The point of that policy was to have assurance that the kids would be cared for if I died while they were young. It’s already served that purpose. Another policy is provided by my employer, but it will expire when I stop working. So no life insurance policies will likely be in place when I pass.

The good news for the kids is that we shouldn’t ever need to be financially dependent upon them. I appreciate that my parents provided that situation to my brothers and me too.

The new bank has free coin-counting for members so I took my banking bag full of change and deposited it into the new checking account: $53.07. I didn’t think so much of it was quarters! Then I used the new debit card at the grocery store to make sure it worked with no problem.

Finally, I submitted my updated direct deposit splits to the company’s payroll department that will hopefully be effective by February.

I’ve had a plan for some time now to replace my big bank with a local community bank. Last week I finally did the first step: opening the account at the new bank. Now I’m setting up links to other accounts and bill pay for some things. I thought it would be efficient to just do it all at once and that has resulted in required scrutiny of all those micro-deposits institutions make to verify identity. In hindsight, it may have been better to do them one at a time.

I also activated the new debit card. Next will be to change my payroll direct deposit to use the replacement account instead of the big bank one. Then I’ll probably use the big bank account to pay taxes this year before I close that account. They’ll probably charge me some crazy high monthly fee once my direct deposit stops because that’s what big banks do. In contrast the new community bank is completely free for members over 50. No monthly fees and free checks even without direct deposit.

Like many things, it’s more effort than I’d expected, but I like that the bank is a small community one that could be a walk from my house on a good-weather day.

So now I have three banks: a credit untion, a community bank, and an online savings account (Ally). 

I still can't comment on any blogs though I'm reading them. I like Rob's scooby-snack story!

I’ve slipped out of the habit of blogging and financial things are still happening.

My paychecks are back to the normal lower level since social security and 401k contributions are again being deducted. The company for the first time in decades (and maybe ever) increased its matching contributions from 50% up to 5% of total compensation to 50% up to 6% of total compensation. I still think that’s lower than the benefits offered by some of our major competitors but I was pleasantly surprised.

I’m targeting to retire in 18 months and I have a ‘This is the home stretch!’ feeling. I want to get some home projects done that could become pricey and I want to begin transitioning the way I spend my free time. When I finalize annual goals, I’ll focus on those aspects.

Happy new year!

DS5 is now a licensed driver. I spent about $350 on six hours of driving lessons several months ago and it was worth it to me. With DS1 & DS2 I wasn’t so afraid to ride in the passenger seat with a driver-in-training but I am now. Relatives helped on getting driving time for him too when we visited them last month. I’m glad that we’ve got the last one over the line.

I don’t know how much the insurance will go up from adding a third teenaged boy to the policy. Yikes! I’m expecting an invoice soon.

I had an annoyance with the car insurance & our state’s DOT but fortunately it didn’t cost me money – just inconvenience. While we don’t buy cars for the boys, I am willing to have them in my name and to insure them while the boys are in school if they choose to buy a car. [And their driving record is clean.] As a result, I have four cars in my name though I drive just one of them.

DS4 decided to sell his car and buy a different one so for a short while I had five cars insured. I didn’t realize it until later when I noticed different policy numbers, but apparently only 4 cars can be on one policy so the insurance company had the fifth car on a separate policy. Then when DS4 sold the car, the newest one was moved to the original policy so all the vehicles were together again. That’s when I received a notice from the DOT that they had been informed that my policy was cancelled. I know from the experience of one of my boys that if the DOT doesn’t receive proof of insurance by the deadline, they assume that you had a lapse in coverage and they fine you $500. You can appeal it by going to court and showing proof of insurance but the appeal is $150 for court costs. Sooo, I sent my proof of insurance to the DOT by registered mail so I’d get confirmation of its receipt. I may complain to the insurance company. Why would they contact the DOT when they just changed the policy? I don’t know if it was a mistake or if they’re required to do it.

I’m enjoying the last few weeks of our CSA season. My brother and his wife gifted me a couple of boxes from Farmbox Direct for my birthday so right now we’re getting fresh organic vegetables AND fruits! Heaven.

Our gas (with fake logs) fireplace gave out last year. We were able to hire a handyman to do some tweaking to limp it along last winter while I planned to replace it this year. Replacing it became a bigger and bigger deal. No place could just replace the ‘guts’ of it. Even the mantel couldn’t stay because it would break when the fireplace was pulled out. The fireplace came with the house so it was almost 20 years old.

That meant that an upgrade that I originally thought would be a couple thousand dollars was about ten thousand dollars. And the two places that sold & installed them were booked out for months. I think it was in July when I signed the contract and the installation was finally completed yesterday. The good news is that we have it in time for cold weather and it is far (far!) superior to our older one. This one is heating the house! It has a remote control that allows us to control the flame (5 settings), the lighting, the ‘embers’ (cosmetic only), and the fan. With the fan, it blows the warm air out into our family room which is open to the kitchen. I’m in love with it.

I set aside the money for it in the online Ally savings account so it would earn interest while we waited. I paid with a credit card and will move the money into checking when the CC is due next month. I’m doing the same thing with the money set aside for the fence – contract signed in May and it looks like it’ll be 2022 before it is installed because of material supply chain issues. Another post…  A picture of the new fancy fireplace:

I know it’s my age/generation but whenever I hear anything about cryptocurrency, it seems like fake money to me. I don’t get it. And I do realize that our paper money is no longer backed by precious metals so in effect its value is debatable too. I admit that I’m an old fogie in this area.

So recently DS2 installed something on DS5’s computer that earns cryptocurrency. The best I can understand after asking for an explanation is that DS5’s graphics card is being rented out for processing power when he isn’t using it. He’s making the equivalent of $2/day by having his computer run this. That piqued my interest. DS2 has his computer set up with multiple graphics cards connected to a single motherboard and he’s making a few hundred dollars a month while he’s at his real mechanical engineering job. That’s wild to me. He occasionally converts the crypto to dollars and transfers them to his bank account. Apparently the only gotcha is that you have to have a quality graphics card and they’re hard to come by now because lots of people are doing this. I assume that all that processing uses some electricity too.

 I just find it interesting that young adults have discovered an automated income stream. Kids today!

Life of leisure

A recent post in an online neighborhood app touched me and as a result we have three more felines. Making a total of five plus a dog. It’s not a frugal move!

The woman who needed to rehome them is terminally ill and nearing the end. She doesn’t have a husband, children, or siblings. It’s very sad for her – having to let go of her pets but knowing that it needs to be done. It’s traumatic for the cats too – I’m being very patient with them as they get accustomed to their new home. So far they are living in the master suite only.

DH says that I’m now an official crazy cat lady. I’m okay with that.

I’ve been back home since the middle of April and just haven’t gotten back in the habit of blogging. There was quite a bit to do to get the house back in order and my office set up. And catch up to do with neighbors and friends after being away for months. During the time I was gone, two people that were part of my regular routine died – not friends exactly, but folks I chatted with regularly in the neighborhood and the grocery store. That discovery put a damper on last week.

At work it’s like I never left. Finances are trucking along. The company stock has been a huge help with that.

This post is to push me back into the habit. I’ll blog on particular topics in the upcoming days. I need to organize my thoughts.

Boy Scout camp

I redeem credit card points for gift cards as soon as I’ve earned enough to qualify for one. This month I chose a Lowe’s gift card for the $50 reward. I’m sure we’ll use it this spring for yard work or a home repair.

As hoped, we received a stimulus payment based on our 2019 AGI since we haven’t filed our 2020 taxes yet. The $2100 is a pleasant surprise and will be used to pay for our annual CSA membership and the travel costs of returning home next month.

I started replacing some things before they failed several years ago. Like water heaters and car batteries. The kind of things that will certainly fail at a time that’s inconvenient and possibly risky. It may be a little more expensive to replace an item prematurely but that beats being inconvenienced when it eventually fails.

The newest (2010) car’s battery just got us though. We bought it used about a year and a half ago so I didn’t know how old the battery was. Because we weren’t sure it was the battery, it was taken to the shop. Now we’ll pay for a new battery and labor. Not next time though. I will place a tickler on the online family calendar to replace this battery at the end of its warranty.

Battery cost with labor: $198

One day this past week was ‘Colleague Appreciation Day’. I’m not sure if that’s a thing or if it’s just something that’s created and celebrated at my company. We each received an e-mail with an electronic coupon for a free Starbucks drink. How nice that it’s everywhere – I got a free fancy coffee at a Starbuck’s with a drive-thru between the hospital and our temporary home.

We've gotten to know one of the neighbors

I’ve probably mentioned before that we received stimulus payments during 2020 because they were based on 2019 income. We lucked out because 2019 is the last year the twins qualified for the child tax credit and that positively impacted the payment we received. Our adjusted gross income is within the phase-out range but even the reduced amount was a pleasant surprise.

 I’ve held off on filing our 2020 tax forms because we’re going to owe money this year as a result of the unexpected stock bonus just before the company went public last year. It could be that my delay will work in our favor and result in another reduced stimulus payment. I’ve read that the phase-out range is smaller and steeper so even if we qualify, it may be next to nothing. But again, anything would be a pleasant surprise.

A funny thing happened. Somehow my dad received an issue of Cosmopolitan in the mail. We joked about it but I did read it before it went to the trash. And guess what? I learned a financial fact. According to the article inside, the last coronavirus relief legislation (CARES Act) increased the list of allowable expenses for HSAs and FSAs. Now in addition to medical co-pays and medications, items like menstrual products, over-the-counter meds, and sunscreen are now qualified expenses for reimbursement.  And Amazon even has a filter for them: www.amazon.com/hsa  That’s useful information!

In 2009 when my Grandma died, she owned a piece of land that she’d inherited from a childless sibling. We didn’t realize that she had it because she’d never mentioned it or used it. The South Carolina land is bounded by train tracks on one side and has huge power lines running over it. My brothers and I inherited the land and decided to keep it. We paid the property taxes each year but we haven’t done anything with it either. After a brief conversation with them two weeks ago, my brother put an ad on Facebook Marketplace. Within a few hours, we had offers! It turns out that the little town is growing and despite features that I would consider undesirable, the 3-acre lot was attractive to several businessmen.

 We accepted an offer and have just completed paperwork to have the closing done without us in attendance. My third of the proceeds will be about $8000. Unexpected money is always nice and I know exactly what I will do with it. I will pay off the 0% interest credit card that expires next month where I have $7400 of debt parked. I feel fortunate that it’s just enough to pay it completely without touching savings and that I don’t need to look for any more 0% CC offers.

I calculate our net worth each month on the 3^rd after the house debt payments have cleared. It’s up $32k from last month. The increase is due mostly to the market rather than anything new or different – savings and investment contributions are automated. Our house value is up too according to Zillow.

The weather is getting warmer here so we've begun getting outside to exercise. I want to make sure I'm consistent with walking to support my bone density.

Even though I’m living away from home, I followed up on some medical tests – bloodwork, an ultrasound, and a baseline bone density scan. I am thankful that my doctor suggested the bone density scan because it showed that I already have osteoporosis in my spine. Yikes! I’m researching osteoporosis now.

Our family deductible was already met so the out-of-pocket costs for those things was insignificant, about $30. What surprised me though was the price of the bone density scan. It was about $100. Given my results and the fact that it’s a quick and painless procedure, I may choose to have them annually even if insurance doesn’t cover them that often.

On the other side of the fence, Dad’s hospital bill – just the hospital bill – for his organ transplant is $289k. With the associated bills for the professionals involved, it’ll be at least $350k. He’s doubly insured so his cost should be a tiny fraction of that.

In the Fall of 2020 while I was working but mostly focused on Dad, the company launched its IPO. It’s the third attempt so I think that most colleagues didn’t think it’d really happen but this time it went through. The company was profiled on the NASDAQ billboard in Times Square that day with pictures of our colleagues.

How ironic that it was in 2020 – a year in which we took 10% pay cuts because the company expected to perform poorly. Instead, technology companies excelled because of the broad dependence on technology forced by the country’s extended shutdown. Our initial stock price is now double.

I haven’t heard any talk of returning our 10%, but now my stock options are worth much more than before. Many are still unvested so I can’t exercise them yet.

Every colleague also received some shares of stock just before the IPO. I appreciated the unexpected bonus but it threw a wrench into my tax planning. We will owe thousands of dollars in taxes this year partially because the stock gift caused our income to exceed the threshold for the American Opportunity credit. We lost that credit, we lost a dependent (for a good reason – he’s on his own now!), and the twins are too old now for us to get the generous child tax credit. It was good while it lasted. On the positive side, the stimulus payments were based on our 2019 situation so we did get a break in 2020 despite their being 17.

I did decide to take family medical leave from work. On the first day of leave, as though it was planned, Dad was unexpectedly discharged early.

It’s time off one area but time on another. I’m looking forward to these months. I hope to focus on three areas: Dad’s return to health (of course!), my twins’ schooling, and my health habits. For Dad there are frequent doses of many drugs to administer, things to check, and appointments to attend. It’s a little stressful because I’m afraid of messing something up. The drug choices and doses have been and will continue to be changed frequently over the coming weeks.

Hospital view

While FML is unpaid time, the company does allow accrued sick time to be used. I am very thankful that I have been well over the years so now I can continue to get paid while I focus this time on the family. I’m hoping too that as Dad gets stronger, we can plan small outings to enjoy the city that is our temporary home. It’s a strange time but these will be memories we’ll hold forever.

My finances have done well on autopilot over the past few months. I’ll get back to regular financial posts after month-end. I hope to have more time to keep up with blog posts.