I filed my taxes a few days ago, but today seems like an appropriate time to talk about them.
Because I had imputed income this year, I new that I would be owing taxes and estimated the amount to be $150 a month or $1,800 a year combined for Fed and State.
Unfortunately my estimates were a bit off. Due to dividends and capital gains I ended up owing $2,245 - almost $450 more then I thought. Ouch.
I also calculated that my average tax rate based on total taxes owed/AGI was 16.6% for Fed and 5.9% for State, or 22.5% combined. Because I didn't buy a house or a car the tax stimulous had almost no effect on me. Come to think of it, I don't believe I even know anyone that the stimulous helped...
Additionally, because I owed the Fed more than $1,000 I might owe a small penalty. I never new that rule existed, but I probably should have did more tax research knowing that I had imputed income. Sigh. Why is the tax code so complicated?
I hope everyone is planning on getting your taxes in - otherwise you could face big fines for filing late.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Zipline in SF
There is a temporary zipline in the plaza across from the Ferry Building!?!?
Yes, it is a collaberation between ziptrek and the British Columbia tourist industry. And the best part? It's free!
So of course I couldn't pass up the chance for free fun.
I got a little lucky in that the cloudy weather kept the throngs of people away and I only had to wait in line for 5 minutes to get my wrist band. Other people have reported waiting for an hour or more - some couldn't get a wrist band at all because they had already given them all away. To be safe, if you want to zipline, it's best to get there early.
So how was it? Awesome. After signing a waiver, they get you in a haness and helmet. From there you get to climb to the top of a 150 foot tower and clip on to the line. Once you're safely and securely cliped in, just lean back and off you go - 20 seconds and 600 feet later you land at the other side of the plaza.
It is a ton of fun, I spread my arms like I was flying, laid back horizontal, spun around and even got partially upside down. I don't think 20 seconds has ever gone by so fast before!
If you're in the area and have some free time, I would definitely recomend you take a ride down the zipline while it's still here. It's only here until the end of the week so don't wait too long.
It's fun, adventurous, thrilling and free! It's also a great promotion for BC, which I now kind of want to go visit - I've always heard good things about Vancuver.
Yes, it is a collaberation between ziptrek and the British Columbia tourist industry. And the best part? It's free!
So of course I couldn't pass up the chance for free fun.
I got a little lucky in that the cloudy weather kept the throngs of people away and I only had to wait in line for 5 minutes to get my wrist band. Other people have reported waiting for an hour or more - some couldn't get a wrist band at all because they had already given them all away. To be safe, if you want to zipline, it's best to get there early.
So how was it? Awesome. After signing a waiver, they get you in a haness and helmet. From there you get to climb to the top of a 150 foot tower and clip on to the line. Once you're safely and securely cliped in, just lean back and off you go - 20 seconds and 600 feet later you land at the other side of the plaza.
It is a ton of fun, I spread my arms like I was flying, laid back horizontal, spun around and even got partially upside down. I don't think 20 seconds has ever gone by so fast before!
If you're in the area and have some free time, I would definitely recomend you take a ride down the zipline while it's still here. It's only here until the end of the week so don't wait too long.
It's fun, adventurous, thrilling and free! It's also a great promotion for BC, which I now kind of want to go visit - I've always heard good things about Vancuver.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Health Care Reimbursement Account
This year I opened a health care reimbursement account for the first time. These accounts let you pay for health care expenses such as doctor visits, dentist and eye care expenses with pretax dollars.
This is my first time with an HCR account so I started with a modest amount - $260 or $10 per pay period.
After enrolling I received what is esentially a debit card with a $260 balance that you use to pay for an allowable medical expenses. Each plan has different allowable expenses, so if this is something you are considering check with your HR department and read the literature they have available.
Because you pay pretax a HCR can be a great way to reduce the cost of medical expenses - so long as you can make a reasonable prediction of your yearly medical expenses. However, HCR plans are use it or lose it style plans, so if you don't spend as much as you thought you were going to there is no way to get the money back. This can also lead to people getting a lot of optional things (prescrition sunglasses, extra boxes of contacts, preemptive wisdom teeth extraction etc) in December rather then just lose the money.
I used it for the first time yesterday, charging a $20 co pay for an eye exam so I have roughly 7 and a half months to use the remaining $240 or I'll be one of those people ordering things I don't really need just so I don't completely lose the money I paid into the account.
Does anyone have more experience with a HCR account, or have any good tips for what to spend the money on if you have extra at the end of the year?
This is my first time with an HCR account so I started with a modest amount - $260 or $10 per pay period.
After enrolling I received what is esentially a debit card with a $260 balance that you use to pay for an allowable medical expenses. Each plan has different allowable expenses, so if this is something you are considering check with your HR department and read the literature they have available.
Because you pay pretax a HCR can be a great way to reduce the cost of medical expenses - so long as you can make a reasonable prediction of your yearly medical expenses. However, HCR plans are use it or lose it style plans, so if you don't spend as much as you thought you were going to there is no way to get the money back. This can also lead to people getting a lot of optional things (prescrition sunglasses, extra boxes of contacts, preemptive wisdom teeth extraction etc) in December rather then just lose the money.
I used it for the first time yesterday, charging a $20 co pay for an eye exam so I have roughly 7 and a half months to use the remaining $240 or I'll be one of those people ordering things I don't really need just so I don't completely lose the money I paid into the account.
Does anyone have more experience with a HCR account, or have any good tips for what to spend the money on if you have extra at the end of the year?
Opening Day
Baseball started this week. It may be 2 months early, but for me this is the unofficial beginning of summer. As usual there were some major player movements this year: Halliday to the Phillies, Lee to Seattle, Holliday resigning with St Louis, Bay to the Mets, Lackey to Boston - what does it all mean, if anything?
Here's how I see things.
AL East: Yankees - simply too much talent not to win
AL Central: Twins - the loss of Nathan won't be as bad as a lot of people think.
AL West: Angels - Scioscia still has enough guys to get them past trendy pick Seattle and into the playoffs.
Wildcard: Boston - they should have tremendous pitching and an offense that's good enough to get them past the Rays for the wild card.
NL East: Phillies - should we give Halliday the Cy Young now or do we have to wait until the end of the year?
NL Central: Cardinals - Pujols and Holliday back to back, wow. In a weak division that should be more than enough, never mind they have good pitching.
NL West: Diamondbacks - This was the hardest division for me to pick but I'm going with the Dbacks on the theory that Webb and Haren will be healthy (two big assumptions) and some of that young talent will flourish. I’d like to pick the Giants as the home team, but I don’t think they have enough offense to get it done.
NL Wildcard: Braves - the Braves always have solid pitching and Hayword will give them enough offense to grab the wildcard.
ALCS: Yankees vs Boston - I like Boston's better rotation in a head to head series.
NLCS: Phillies vs St Louis - again, I'm going with St Louis because of the better pitching depth. I'll be the first to admit there is no one outside of Linsicum that matches up with Halliday though.
World Series: Boston vs St Louis ala 2007 with Boston winning in 6 games, again relying on their pitching.
Now I get to sit back and watch as the baseball gods make a mockery out of my predictions.
Here's how I see things.
AL East: Yankees - simply too much talent not to win
AL Central: Twins - the loss of Nathan won't be as bad as a lot of people think.
AL West: Angels - Scioscia still has enough guys to get them past trendy pick Seattle and into the playoffs.
Wildcard: Boston - they should have tremendous pitching and an offense that's good enough to get them past the Rays for the wild card.
NL East: Phillies - should we give Halliday the Cy Young now or do we have to wait until the end of the year?
NL Central: Cardinals - Pujols and Holliday back to back, wow. In a weak division that should be more than enough, never mind they have good pitching.
NL West: Diamondbacks - This was the hardest division for me to pick but I'm going with the Dbacks on the theory that Webb and Haren will be healthy (two big assumptions) and some of that young talent will flourish. I’d like to pick the Giants as the home team, but I don’t think they have enough offense to get it done.
NL Wildcard: Braves - the Braves always have solid pitching and Hayword will give them enough offense to grab the wildcard.
ALCS: Yankees vs Boston - I like Boston's better rotation in a head to head series.
NLCS: Phillies vs St Louis - again, I'm going with St Louis because of the better pitching depth. I'll be the first to admit there is no one outside of Linsicum that matches up with Halliday though.
World Series: Boston vs St Louis ala 2007 with Boston winning in 6 games, again relying on their pitching.
Now I get to sit back and watch as the baseball gods make a mockery out of my predictions.
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Easter deals
I love Easter. Spending time with friends and family, the food, the drink, the good cheer - not to mention the candy.
I also love the day after Easter, aka the day everything goes half off. Stores don't want to clog their shelves with candy for a holiday that won't be back for another 364 days, so they mark everything 50% off and blow out the inventory. I went to Walgreens around 1:00 in the afternoon Monday and already the selection was pretty thin. Most of the good candy (aka the chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies and eggs) were all gone but I was able to score bags of M&M's and a few other goodies as well as an egg dyeing kit that was only $0.50 for some fun later in the year.
Did anyone find any especially good deals this year?
I'm sad to report but I experimented with a new candy this year, the brand new chocolate covered marshmallow peep, from who else but peeps. It was truly awful. The marshmallow was yellow, tasted funny and was oozing a weird sticky sap. I very much doubt I'll ever buy another one of those peep chocolate marshmallow monstrosities again. From a company that makes a marshmallow candy covered in sugar that has a nearly infinite shelf life, I wasn't sure what to expect but I was expecting something much better then what I got. That's a giant fail for you peeps.
I also love the day after Easter, aka the day everything goes half off. Stores don't want to clog their shelves with candy for a holiday that won't be back for another 364 days, so they mark everything 50% off and blow out the inventory. I went to Walgreens around 1:00 in the afternoon Monday and already the selection was pretty thin. Most of the good candy (aka the chocolate covered marshmallow bunnies and eggs) were all gone but I was able to score bags of M&M's and a few other goodies as well as an egg dyeing kit that was only $0.50 for some fun later in the year.
Did anyone find any especially good deals this year?
I'm sad to report but I experimented with a new candy this year, the brand new chocolate covered marshmallow peep, from who else but peeps. It was truly awful. The marshmallow was yellow, tasted funny and was oozing a weird sticky sap. I very much doubt I'll ever buy another one of those peep chocolate marshmallow monstrosities again. From a company that makes a marshmallow candy covered in sugar that has a nearly infinite shelf life, I wasn't sure what to expect but I was expecting something much better then what I got. That's a giant fail for you peeps.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
brand name vs store label: oatmeal
I like to start my day with warm oatmeal with brown sugar. It warms me up, fills me up, tastes good and is fairly nutritious.
As this is something I consume regularly I want to maximize the trade off between price and taste so that I am getting the best possible value. I tested the brand name oats (quaker oatmeal) and the store brand (safeway).
Shelf price:
Quaker Oats - $5.49 for 42 onces or 13 cents an once
Safeway - $3.99 for 42 onces or 9.5 cents an once.
Taste:
The taste of both were pretty similar, especialy after the brown sugar was added - which makes sense as oatmeal is basicly a commoddity product.
Consisteny:
Here is where things got a little interesting. The Safeway oats seemed to be smaller and have more oat dust/powder/residue vs the Quaker Oats and this seemed to give the Safeway oatmeal a more pasty texture. Adding more water seemed to take care of the issue, but it took some getting used to.
Conculsion:
The brand name and store brand are very close. I slightly prefer the Quaker Oats, but not $1.50 more. However, Safeway often runs buy one get one free specials on Quaker Oats making them cheaper then the Safeway brand so the best strategy for me is to look out for these specials and pounce when I see them. Even better would be if I could find a coupon to combine with the sale! I've also noticed that walgreens has occasional sales on oatmeal, so I'll have to keep an eye out to see how much they are charging.
As this is something I consume regularly I want to maximize the trade off between price and taste so that I am getting the best possible value. I tested the brand name oats (quaker oatmeal) and the store brand (safeway).
Shelf price:
Quaker Oats - $5.49 for 42 onces or 13 cents an once
Safeway - $3.99 for 42 onces or 9.5 cents an once.
Taste:
The taste of both were pretty similar, especialy after the brown sugar was added - which makes sense as oatmeal is basicly a commoddity product.
Consisteny:
Here is where things got a little interesting. The Safeway oats seemed to be smaller and have more oat dust/powder/residue vs the Quaker Oats and this seemed to give the Safeway oatmeal a more pasty texture. Adding more water seemed to take care of the issue, but it took some getting used to.
Conculsion:
The brand name and store brand are very close. I slightly prefer the Quaker Oats, but not $1.50 more. However, Safeway often runs buy one get one free specials on Quaker Oats making them cheaper then the Safeway brand so the best strategy for me is to look out for these specials and pounce when I see them. Even better would be if I could find a coupon to combine with the sale! I've also noticed that walgreens has occasional sales on oatmeal, so I'll have to keep an eye out to see how much they are charging.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Gen Y Marketing
There is a marketing survey of sorts making it's rounds on the internet how Gen Y is different than previous generations. Here is my take.
I do have cable, but only basic. This is augmented by dvd's from netflix and watching tv online. Considering there are only 4 or 5 shows worth watching, I don't think I'm missing much.
I don’t have a landline telephone. In fact, with the exception of work and calling my family on occasion, I don’t speak on the phone much at all.
I do text, a lot. If there were a plan offering unlimited text but pay extra to talk, instead of the current unlimited talk and pay extra to text phone plans, I would sign up immediately.
I do listened to the radio, but only for about 5 minutes in the morning. I do use pandora to listen to music at work though.
I don’t read a physical newspaper or magazines. Sadly, people give me magazine subscriptions and they just sit on the table unread. Even when I'm interested in the subject material, I have little desire to read the magazine.
I do read books though, and they are usually bought from Amazon.
I don’t ever text in for special offers/promotions, I'm worried it's a scam and I'll get charged or my number will get put on some list and I'll start getting text from them. I don't want either of those things.
I don’t try a new restaurant/salon/bar without reading the reviews on Yelp, and if the reviews aren't good I won't go.
I don’t play games on corporate/brand websites, really, why would someone do that? They make you register with all sorts of personal info and contact information so they can spam you forever and then after all that the games usually suck anyway. No thanks.
I don’t buy full albums of music, even on iTunes. Sometimes I get a CD as a gift but I really have no idea when the last time I bought an entire full length CD was - 10 years ago maybe?
I don’t carry much cash, usually less than $40. I put everything on my credit card. Why carry around a bulky wad of paper (linen more accurately) bills when a little plastic card is all you need?
I do multitask, maybe more than I should there is something to be said about focusing on one thing and doing it well.
I do get 99% of my information online. I love my google reader and get most of my daily news online. I love being able to go read the best content at each of the daily papers, though with most papers just reissuing AP news reports there are fewer and fewer quality writers anymore.
I don't like calling and waiting for customer support. Companies should have web chat based support or at least an automatic call back feature so you are called when a CSR is free instead of keeping you on hold. On the recent celebrity apprentice (a guilty sunday night pleasure) a Norton Antivirus exec complained that there was no phone number on the ad generated by the women's team: Note to Norton, we don't want to call you to order your product. You should have asked where your web page promo was. I'm assuming you can download Norton and the million updates that will come with it, so why not just send people to the web site?
I do find that companies/brands worth following in the social media space are few and far between. There are a lot of companies trying to get into this space and it's resulting in a lot of space being taken up without a lot of quality content. But:
I do believe that if you can engage, entertain, and/or teach me, I will value what you have to say, come back for more and buy your products. I look for value in anything that I do. If a company is providing me with a service that adds value to my life then I'm going to want more of it and be willing to pay for it.
What do you do or don't do and how does it compare to other generations?
I do have cable, but only basic. This is augmented by dvd's from netflix and watching tv online. Considering there are only 4 or 5 shows worth watching, I don't think I'm missing much.
I don’t have a landline telephone. In fact, with the exception of work and calling my family on occasion, I don’t speak on the phone much at all.
I do text, a lot. If there were a plan offering unlimited text but pay extra to talk, instead of the current unlimited talk and pay extra to text phone plans, I would sign up immediately.
I do listened to the radio, but only for about 5 minutes in the morning. I do use pandora to listen to music at work though.
I don’t read a physical newspaper or magazines. Sadly, people give me magazine subscriptions and they just sit on the table unread. Even when I'm interested in the subject material, I have little desire to read the magazine.
I do read books though, and they are usually bought from Amazon.
I don’t ever text in for special offers/promotions, I'm worried it's a scam and I'll get charged or my number will get put on some list and I'll start getting text from them. I don't want either of those things.
I don’t try a new restaurant/salon/bar without reading the reviews on Yelp, and if the reviews aren't good I won't go.
I don’t play games on corporate/brand websites, really, why would someone do that? They make you register with all sorts of personal info and contact information so they can spam you forever and then after all that the games usually suck anyway. No thanks.
I don’t buy full albums of music, even on iTunes. Sometimes I get a CD as a gift but I really have no idea when the last time I bought an entire full length CD was - 10 years ago maybe?
I don’t carry much cash, usually less than $40. I put everything on my credit card. Why carry around a bulky wad of paper (linen more accurately) bills when a little plastic card is all you need?
I do multitask, maybe more than I should there is something to be said about focusing on one thing and doing it well.
I do get 99% of my information online. I love my google reader and get most of my daily news online. I love being able to go read the best content at each of the daily papers, though with most papers just reissuing AP news reports there are fewer and fewer quality writers anymore.
I don't like calling and waiting for customer support. Companies should have web chat based support or at least an automatic call back feature so you are called when a CSR is free instead of keeping you on hold. On the recent celebrity apprentice (a guilty sunday night pleasure) a Norton Antivirus exec complained that there was no phone number on the ad generated by the women's team: Note to Norton, we don't want to call you to order your product. You should have asked where your web page promo was. I'm assuming you can download Norton and the million updates that will come with it, so why not just send people to the web site?
I do find that companies/brands worth following in the social media space are few and far between. There are a lot of companies trying to get into this space and it's resulting in a lot of space being taken up without a lot of quality content. But:
I do believe that if you can engage, entertain, and/or teach me, I will value what you have to say, come back for more and buy your products. I look for value in anything that I do. If a company is providing me with a service that adds value to my life then I'm going to want more of it and be willing to pay for it.
What do you do or don't do and how does it compare to other generations?
Friday, March 26, 2010
Profit Sharing
A day after getting our raise/bonus information, I found out what the company profit sharing is: 0.5%
Yes, half a percent.
After reading the email I stared at the screen for a minute of so in a state of shock and wonder. 0.5%? My thoughts ranged from What's the point?, to Thanks for nothing, to I guess I should be happy I at least got something.
And really, all three of those things sum up how I feel. I do feel glad that I got something when so many others don't get any profit sharing bonus but is half a percent the best they could do? After telling everyone how good of a year we had, how we topped our internal projections? I can't help but wonder if management isn't being completely honest with the employees.
Yes, half a percent.
After reading the email I stared at the screen for a minute of so in a state of shock and wonder. 0.5%? My thoughts ranged from What's the point?, to Thanks for nothing, to I guess I should be happy I at least got something.
And really, all three of those things sum up how I feel. I do feel glad that I got something when so many others don't get any profit sharing bonus but is half a percent the best they could do? After telling everyone how good of a year we had, how we topped our internal projections? I can't help but wonder if management isn't being completely honest with the employees.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Raises and Bonus
We finally got our raises and bonuses. Yay, I think.
I'm really conflicted as to how I feel about the results. On one hand I'm glad that I got any raise and bonus with all of the economic horror stories that are going around. On the other hand, the results weren't very inspiring.
The raise was for 2.7% but my bonus was cut 45%. When put in dollar terms the net result is that I'll get about $200 more this year than last year. Somehow I don't think I'm winning the battle against inflation this year.
This is after the company got done telling us how great the results last year were. Unfortunately it turns out that our bonus structure is dependent on the individual unit that you're in and apparently the unit I'm in is struggling.
With the market being up more than 50% since last year this doesn't make much sense to me, but there isn't much I can do about it. I'm not responsible for generating new business and I'm not even sure what metric is being looked at when bonuses are decided.
Normally I'd try to negotiate a better raise or bonus, but my boss tried to get me the full bonus but the decision to cut the bonus came from way up top. Meaning I'd have to go to my boss's boss to get anything changed and I don't think I have the leverage to do that.
To make matters even worse, my manager didn't seem optimistic that things would get much better next (this) year, or possibly even the year after that.
Which is really discouraging and makes me wonder if I should start thinking about checking out other companies.
In an ironic twist, we get to fill out our employee satisfaction survey soon. I think I know exactly what I'll be telling them.
I'm really conflicted as to how I feel about the results. On one hand I'm glad that I got any raise and bonus with all of the economic horror stories that are going around. On the other hand, the results weren't very inspiring.
The raise was for 2.7% but my bonus was cut 45%. When put in dollar terms the net result is that I'll get about $200 more this year than last year. Somehow I don't think I'm winning the battle against inflation this year.
This is after the company got done telling us how great the results last year were. Unfortunately it turns out that our bonus structure is dependent on the individual unit that you're in and apparently the unit I'm in is struggling.
With the market being up more than 50% since last year this doesn't make much sense to me, but there isn't much I can do about it. I'm not responsible for generating new business and I'm not even sure what metric is being looked at when bonuses are decided.
Normally I'd try to negotiate a better raise or bonus, but my boss tried to get me the full bonus but the decision to cut the bonus came from way up top. Meaning I'd have to go to my boss's boss to get anything changed and I don't think I have the leverage to do that.
To make matters even worse, my manager didn't seem optimistic that things would get much better next (this) year, or possibly even the year after that.
Which is really discouraging and makes me wonder if I should start thinking about checking out other companies.
In an ironic twist, we get to fill out our employee satisfaction survey soon. I think I know exactly what I'll be telling them.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Saving for Retirement
I was reading this cnnmoney article via yahoo finance about saving for retirement and was surprised and saddened by what I saw. The article didn't say, but since this is a retirement article I'm going to assume they mean saving in a 401k or IRA.
I wasn't so surprised to see that 43% have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, it seems like there are a lot of people that contribute only a little or maybe they contribute some and then take it out later. What really surprised me was that 27% had less than $1,000 saved. $1,000??? I save more than that every month! And it's not like I make more than $100k, I'm just good with my money - carefully spending and saving the rest. Actually I take the save first, then carefully spend then save again with whatever is left, which seems to work pretty well for me.
The article concludes by saying that people will have to work longer to make up for the shortfall in their savings. Which is fine by me. I have no problem with the choices that people make in how they spend their money so long as they don't expect me to help subsidize the difference between what they did save and what they should have saved by having to pay higher taxes.
Unfortunately this might be wishful thinking. Social Security, medicare and medicade all face huge funding issues and the only probable solution appears to be a combination of reduced benefits and higher taxes to bridge the gap. The net result is that the savers in the economy get punished. In the present the savers get punished through low interest rates and low rates of return on most investments and in the future the savers will get punished through higher taxes.
This is not good. It's actually very bad. Savings is one of the drivers of economic growth. Our government should be encouraging people to save, not be mindless consumers filling their over sized houses with ever more stuff. I only hope someone in Washington dusts off an econ book one of these years.
I wasn't so surprised to see that 43% have less than $10,000 saved for retirement, it seems like there are a lot of people that contribute only a little or maybe they contribute some and then take it out later. What really surprised me was that 27% had less than $1,000 saved. $1,000??? I save more than that every month! And it's not like I make more than $100k, I'm just good with my money - carefully spending and saving the rest. Actually I take the save first, then carefully spend then save again with whatever is left, which seems to work pretty well for me.
The article concludes by saying that people will have to work longer to make up for the shortfall in their savings. Which is fine by me. I have no problem with the choices that people make in how they spend their money so long as they don't expect me to help subsidize the difference between what they did save and what they should have saved by having to pay higher taxes.
Unfortunately this might be wishful thinking. Social Security, medicare and medicade all face huge funding issues and the only probable solution appears to be a combination of reduced benefits and higher taxes to bridge the gap. The net result is that the savers in the economy get punished. In the present the savers get punished through low interest rates and low rates of return on most investments and in the future the savers will get punished through higher taxes.
This is not good. It's actually very bad. Savings is one of the drivers of economic growth. Our government should be encouraging people to save, not be mindless consumers filling their over sized houses with ever more stuff. I only hope someone in Washington dusts off an econ book one of these years.
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Goal Updates
Wow, has it really been 2 weeks since I last posted? Sorry about that. I had family in town and have been studying like crazy for the CFA exam. Combined with work being busy it looks like blogging got away from me. I'll make an effort to keep on top of it better going forward.
Max out Roth – On pace!
Maintain 16% in 401k – I'm still contributing 16%!
401K balance of $60k – Fail. current balance is $42,622, I've gone up from last month but only by my contributed amount. The account return was practically 0% and I'm going to need better then that if I want to get $60k by the end of the year.
Make an extra $500 – Ahead of pace. Did a focus group and got $250 for it. Score! It was a fun mock jury focus group about software copyright infringement.
Maintain $10K emergency Fund - On pace!
Sell something on ebay – Fail. Nothing sold so far.
Pay down student loan to $32,000, so in effect my goal is to pay another $1,370 in addition to the regular payments - Fail. I've made no additional payments so far and with a rate of only 1.625% have decided this isn't something that I really want to do anymore.
Personal:
Climb 5.11 – On pace! I'm making progress here. I tried and failed at a 5.11A, I just have to keep trying the climbs. I also think I need to build up some additional strength in my legs and also upper body to complete these harder climbs a bit easier.
Climb/Yoga 3x per week. This goal is temporarily reduced to 2x a week while I'm studying for the CFA exam over the next 3 months. On pace! I think I went climbing 7 times last month.
Consistently work out 3x per week – Fail. work has been busy and so I cut back to going twice a week. I'll have to work on this one.
Weigh 178 lbs – Fail! big time. I took a huge step back here with my weight dropping to 168.7 last weigh-in. This leaves me with 10 months to gain 10 pounds. Still doable but I'm going to have to hit the gym and eat more. I've come to the conclusion that I just don't eat as much as I think I do.
Take two vacations – Fail. With the CFA taking over my life, most things that are time intensive are on hold. I took a business trip to San Diego, but that doesn't count. I think a short vacation after the CFA is just what I need to help recover!
Look into moving – done. we looked into moving but didn't see anything better for the same or less money. It's just crazy how much rent is in the Bay Area. This is something we'll come back to in the summer and fall though - again, once I have free time after my exam.
Reviewing my list I'm starting to see more fails than goals I'm on pace for. Some of these I'll have to live with as I don't have nearly as much free time due to the CFA exam but there are other ares where I'll have to work harder at. In general though I'm fairly happy with where I am with two months down, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
Max out Roth – On pace!
Maintain 16% in 401k – I'm still contributing 16%!
401K balance of $60k – Fail. current balance is $42,622, I've gone up from last month but only by my contributed amount. The account return was practically 0% and I'm going to need better then that if I want to get $60k by the end of the year.
Make an extra $500 – Ahead of pace. Did a focus group and got $250 for it. Score! It was a fun mock jury focus group about software copyright infringement.
Maintain $10K emergency Fund - On pace!
Sell something on ebay – Fail. Nothing sold so far.
Pay down student loan to $32,000, so in effect my goal is to pay another $1,370 in addition to the regular payments - Fail. I've made no additional payments so far and with a rate of only 1.625% have decided this isn't something that I really want to do anymore.
Personal:
Climb 5.11 – On pace! I'm making progress here. I tried and failed at a 5.11A, I just have to keep trying the climbs. I also think I need to build up some additional strength in my legs and also upper body to complete these harder climbs a bit easier.
Climb/Yoga 3x per week. This goal is temporarily reduced to 2x a week while I'm studying for the CFA exam over the next 3 months. On pace! I think I went climbing 7 times last month.
Consistently work out 3x per week – Fail. work has been busy and so I cut back to going twice a week. I'll have to work on this one.
Weigh 178 lbs – Fail! big time. I took a huge step back here with my weight dropping to 168.7 last weigh-in. This leaves me with 10 months to gain 10 pounds. Still doable but I'm going to have to hit the gym and eat more. I've come to the conclusion that I just don't eat as much as I think I do.
Take two vacations – Fail. With the CFA taking over my life, most things that are time intensive are on hold. I took a business trip to San Diego, but that doesn't count. I think a short vacation after the CFA is just what I need to help recover!
Look into moving – done. we looked into moving but didn't see anything better for the same or less money. It's just crazy how much rent is in the Bay Area. This is something we'll come back to in the summer and fall though - again, once I have free time after my exam.
Reviewing my list I'm starting to see more fails than goals I'm on pace for. Some of these I'll have to live with as I don't have nearly as much free time due to the CFA exam but there are other ares where I'll have to work harder at. In general though I'm fairly happy with where I am with two months down, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Trying a 5.11
Yesterday I tried a 5.11A for the first time. The route was next to a crack and using the crack and the holds I worked my way up and as i was being lowered down I thought to myself that it really wasn't that hard. Then I was told that using the crack isn't allowed unless the route explicitly says so. So sad. Of course I tried the 5.11 again without using the crack but by that time I was a bit tired and the results were not good. I think I made it about a quarter of the way...
I'll keep trying but I'm not disappointed at all, actually I'm surprised that I'm even trying a 5.11 this early in the year given that it's one of my goals to accomplish by the end of the year. With 10 more months to go, I'm confident that I'll get an 11 before the year is over - even if I can only climb once or twice a week for the next three and a half months while I'm studying.
As with most things in life, slow and steady will win the race.
I'll keep trying but I'm not disappointed at all, actually I'm surprised that I'm even trying a 5.11 this early in the year given that it's one of my goals to accomplish by the end of the year. With 10 more months to go, I'm confident that I'll get an 11 before the year is over - even if I can only climb once or twice a week for the next three and a half months while I'm studying.
As with most things in life, slow and steady will win the race.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Social Capital
This started as a comment on BostonGals blog but I realized I had more to say on the issue than just a paragraph.
The book The Bag Lady Papers tells the story of Alexandra Penny who lost her savings to Bernie Madoff and subsequently had her friends rally to her aid helping her find a job, get published and launch her art career. Admittedly I haven't read the entire book so I don't know all of the details but I don't want to talk about the exact details of her life because I don't think they are important. What is important is that throughout her life, Penny fostered and developed her social network so that when she needed help the most she had a deep pool of talented and influential people that could help her.
It's easy to berate her for coming from money or for having influential friends that helped her recover - yes she had a lot of advantages - but I think there is also a lesson that everyone can apply to their lives and that's the power of social circles. If she had not consciously developed that pool of "social capital" she would never have been able to bounce back the way she did. Did Penny have built in advantages? Yes, of course she did. But she also made a series of choices in her life to put her in a position to succeed. So, instead of dismissing her as some elite snob whose life has no bearing on yours think of the overall lessons you can learn from her story.
So what are you doing to create a broader and deeper pool of social capital? Is your pool of social capital a puddle, a lake or an ocean? And what have you done recently to make it larger?
Have you taken your boss's boss out to lunch recently to learn about the goals of your company and how you can help. If you're interested in starting a business, have you met with other small business owners to learn about common mistakes you should avoid making? When was the last time you called an old friend from school to see what they are doing? Have you hosted a diner party recently?
These are just a few examples of things you could do to broaden, deepen and strengthen your pool of social capital. Eventually everyone needs help in their lives, from the smallest of favors to the biggest of problems. When it comes time for you to call on your pool of social capital, will it be large enough to sustain you?
The book The Bag Lady Papers tells the story of Alexandra Penny who lost her savings to Bernie Madoff and subsequently had her friends rally to her aid helping her find a job, get published and launch her art career. Admittedly I haven't read the entire book so I don't know all of the details but I don't want to talk about the exact details of her life because I don't think they are important. What is important is that throughout her life, Penny fostered and developed her social network so that when she needed help the most she had a deep pool of talented and influential people that could help her.
It's easy to berate her for coming from money or for having influential friends that helped her recover - yes she had a lot of advantages - but I think there is also a lesson that everyone can apply to their lives and that's the power of social circles. If she had not consciously developed that pool of "social capital" she would never have been able to bounce back the way she did. Did Penny have built in advantages? Yes, of course she did. But she also made a series of choices in her life to put her in a position to succeed. So, instead of dismissing her as some elite snob whose life has no bearing on yours think of the overall lessons you can learn from her story.
So what are you doing to create a broader and deeper pool of social capital? Is your pool of social capital a puddle, a lake or an ocean? And what have you done recently to make it larger?
Have you taken your boss's boss out to lunch recently to learn about the goals of your company and how you can help. If you're interested in starting a business, have you met with other small business owners to learn about common mistakes you should avoid making? When was the last time you called an old friend from school to see what they are doing? Have you hosted a diner party recently?
These are just a few examples of things you could do to broaden, deepen and strengthen your pool of social capital. Eventually everyone needs help in their lives, from the smallest of favors to the biggest of problems. When it comes time for you to call on your pool of social capital, will it be large enough to sustain you?
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Hits and Misses at the gym
I haven't been feeling well this week and as a result i haven't been eating that much or going to the gym regularly. Several nights diner was just a sandwich. So it was with some trepidation that I stepped on the scale at the gym the other day. My fears were confirmed when I came in at 169, a loss of more than a pound and a half.
I have been feeling better and am now eating normally again as well as going to the gym once again but it was still a shock to see that much of a loss. 178 suddenly feels like it's a long way off from where I am right now.
Not everything was bad news though. At the climbing gym I was able to successfully climb the 10.D that I wasn't able to get last time. It felt really good to get a 10.D (and it's only February!) and now I'm positive that I can do an 11 by the end of the year. My confidence level is high so I just might try one tomorrow to see what it's like. It feels really good to be over my injury and able to climb freely again.
I have been feeling better and am now eating normally again as well as going to the gym once again but it was still a shock to see that much of a loss. 178 suddenly feels like it's a long way off from where I am right now.
Not everything was bad news though. At the climbing gym I was able to successfully climb the 10.D that I wasn't able to get last time. It felt really good to get a 10.D (and it's only February!) and now I'm positive that I can do an 11 by the end of the year. My confidence level is high so I just might try one tomorrow to see what it's like. It feels really good to be over my injury and able to climb freely again.
Friday, February 12, 2010
Making some extra money
I still haven't started a side business but I did make some extra money this week. I was lucky and got into a mock trial focus group, which was not only interesting and a lot of fun it also paid pretty well.
I can't give many details due to confidentiality issues but the case had to do with intellectual property infringement on a pretty large scale. It was pretty clear that the defendant was guilty, the only real question we faced was how much in damages we thought should be awarded. Actually, the defendant never even said that they were innocent...
So, at the end of the day I gave 10 hours of my time, got lunch out of it and for the most part found it interesting. The best part - I got $250 for doing it. in one day I got half way to my yearly goal of $500!
Too bad these days don't come around more often. I'll definitely have to look into doing more of these focus groups.
As for what to do with the $250, I haven't decided but am considering putting it in my travel fund.
I can't give many details due to confidentiality issues but the case had to do with intellectual property infringement on a pretty large scale. It was pretty clear that the defendant was guilty, the only real question we faced was how much in damages we thought should be awarded. Actually, the defendant never even said that they were innocent...
So, at the end of the day I gave 10 hours of my time, got lunch out of it and for the most part found it interesting. The best part - I got $250 for doing it. in one day I got half way to my yearly goal of $500!
Too bad these days don't come around more often. I'll definitely have to look into doing more of these focus groups.
As for what to do with the $250, I haven't decided but am considering putting it in my travel fund.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Goal Updates
Max out Roth – On pace!
Maintain 16% in 401k – I'm still contributing 16%!
401K balance of $60k – Fail. current balance is $41,657, I've actually gone down this month - ugh.
Make an extra $500 – Fail. I think I've made about $5 doing a few surveys. I'll have to try and pick this up a bit.
Maintain $10K emergency Fund - On pace!
Sell something on ebay – Fail. Nothing sold so far.
Pay down student loan to $32,000, so in effect my goal is to pay another $1,370 in addition to the regular payments - Fail. I've made no additional payments so far and with a rate of 1.625% I'm not entirely sure I want to.
Personal:
Climb 5.11 – On pace! I'm making progress here. After taking 2 weeks off for an injury I'm back in the 10C, 10D range and am confident I can get to 11 by the end of the year.
Climb/Yoga 3x per week – Fail. But only due to injury. When healthy I've been hitting the gym regularly. Climbing 3x per week had to be reduced to 2x because when I made the goal I completely forgot that I had to set aside time to study for an exam. Even 2x might be a stretch for the next few months though. I love climbing though so it's something I'm going to make a serious effort to do as often as I can.
Consistently work out 3x per week – Fail. Again, only due to injury. Now that I'm healthy again I've been going 3-4 times a week.
Weigh 178 lbs – On pace.
Take two vacations – Fail. The Caribbean was a possibility but that seems to be losing some steam esp with all the studying I have to do. A fall vacation might be in the works though.
Look into moving – done. we looked into moving but didn't see anything better for the same or less money. It's just crazy how much rent is in the Bay Area. This is something we'll come back to in the summer and fall though - again, once I have free time after my exam.
Reviewing my list I'm hitting about .500. A few of my fails were due to being injured for a few weeks but there are a few areas that I need to work a little harder on - such as making extra money on the side. In general I'm fairly happy with where I am one month into the year, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
Maintain 16% in 401k – I'm still contributing 16%!
401K balance of $60k – Fail. current balance is $41,657, I've actually gone down this month - ugh.
Make an extra $500 – Fail. I think I've made about $5 doing a few surveys. I'll have to try and pick this up a bit.
Maintain $10K emergency Fund - On pace!
Sell something on ebay – Fail. Nothing sold so far.
Pay down student loan to $32,000, so in effect my goal is to pay another $1,370 in addition to the regular payments - Fail. I've made no additional payments so far and with a rate of 1.625% I'm not entirely sure I want to.
Personal:
Climb 5.11 – On pace! I'm making progress here. After taking 2 weeks off for an injury I'm back in the 10C, 10D range and am confident I can get to 11 by the end of the year.
Climb/Yoga 3x per week – Fail. But only due to injury. When healthy I've been hitting the gym regularly. Climbing 3x per week had to be reduced to 2x because when I made the goal I completely forgot that I had to set aside time to study for an exam. Even 2x might be a stretch for the next few months though. I love climbing though so it's something I'm going to make a serious effort to do as often as I can.
Consistently work out 3x per week – Fail. Again, only due to injury. Now that I'm healthy again I've been going 3-4 times a week.
Weigh 178 lbs – On pace.
Take two vacations – Fail. The Caribbean was a possibility but that seems to be losing some steam esp with all the studying I have to do. A fall vacation might be in the works though.
Look into moving – done. we looked into moving but didn't see anything better for the same or less money. It's just crazy how much rent is in the Bay Area. This is something we'll come back to in the summer and fall though - again, once I have free time after my exam.
Reviewing my list I'm hitting about .500. A few of my fails were due to being injured for a few weeks but there are a few areas that I need to work a little harder on - such as making extra money on the side. In general I'm fairly happy with where I am one month into the year, but there is still a lot of work to be done.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Inexpensive but awesome Saturday
Today R and I went to Muir woods and spent the day hiking through the redwood trees. We go several times a year and every time I'm amazed at the natural beauty of it all. The stream which can be little more than a dribble at certain times of the year was rushing with all of the rainwater from our recent storms creating beautiful small waterfalls. The best part is it's only $5 a person to get in! When you add in the $6 bridge toll, $3 for the snacks we took, $10 for the In N Out we ate after (we love In N Out, it's a rare guilty pleasure) and we had a great Saturday for $30 and also used up the last of our prepaid Zipcar $$ for the month instead of letting it expire. And as an added bonus, we also got some good exercise.
If you live in the bay area and have never been to Muir Woods to see the redwood trees, you should really consider going. Depending on where you want to go you can hike for an hour or for a day. You can walk along streams, pass trees more than 300 feet tall, hike to the ocean and walk along the beach or just hang out in the visitor center and gift shop - which incidentally has some pretty cool gifts for your friends and family that enjoy nature.
If you live in the bay area and have never been to Muir Woods to see the redwood trees, you should really consider going. Depending on where you want to go you can hike for an hour or for a day. You can walk along streams, pass trees more than 300 feet tall, hike to the ocean and walk along the beach or just hang out in the visitor center and gift shop - which incidentally has some pretty cool gifts for your friends and family that enjoy nature.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Back to climbing
After taking 10 days off to recover from an injury I got back into the climbing gym this weekend. I was very rusty with my footwork and I need to build up my endurance again. In the last four weeks I think i only went climbing 3 times :( and two of those times I had to stop early due to pain. So I really need to build up the strength in my hands, forearms and legs again.
The good news is that I climbed for hours and am pain free! I easily climbed a few 10.A's, struggled up a 10.C, yes I fell, and failed to even make it to the top of a 10.D. It was the first 10.D I've ever tried and it was at the end of the night when I was already tired, so I don't feel bad that I wasn't able to do it. Plus, doing challenging climbs wasn't even my main goal, staying healthy was. And I did that!
After climbing I went into the locker room for my weekly weigh in and this week I came in at 170.8, up nearly half a pound from last time and keeping me well on pace to finish the year at 178.
Also this week, I've hit the gym at lunch for a quick 30 minute workout three times so far. I won't go today because I'm climbing tonight but will go again on Friday. I'm going to try and take the 10.D first thing tonight, hopefully being fresh will help me get up the wall.
The good news is that I climbed for hours and am pain free! I easily climbed a few 10.A's, struggled up a 10.C, yes I fell, and failed to even make it to the top of a 10.D. It was the first 10.D I've ever tried and it was at the end of the night when I was already tired, so I don't feel bad that I wasn't able to do it. Plus, doing challenging climbs wasn't even my main goal, staying healthy was. And I did that!
After climbing I went into the locker room for my weekly weigh in and this week I came in at 170.8, up nearly half a pound from last time and keeping me well on pace to finish the year at 178.
Also this week, I've hit the gym at lunch for a quick 30 minute workout three times so far. I won't go today because I'm climbing tonight but will go again on Friday. I'm going to try and take the 10.D first thing tonight, hopefully being fresh will help me get up the wall.
Monday, January 25, 2010
exercising?
Sadly no, I haven't been. I aggravated a recurring injury and had to shut things down for a week.
This has been a lingering injury because instead of giving it ample time to heal, as soon as it would stop hurting I'd be climbing again. But after my first or second climb I'd be in pain again. Not this time. This time I went a full week with no stress on my shoulder or arm muscles. After three or four days I was pain free but still kept to my recovery plan. No climbing, no gym for a week. I really missed it. About midway through the week I would look at file cabinets at work and think to myself that I could easily climb up to the top of the cabinet.
After a week has passed I was pain free, but still didn't go back to climbing. Instead I gave my shoulder a series of small tests to help it build up. I did push-ups one day, curls another and finally pull-ups and after each day I was still pain free. I was finally ready to get back to climbing!
This same process of breaking a goal down into smaller goals can also help with your finances. Want to pay down your debts so you can live debt free? First get pain free - get a handle on your monthly budget so you're saving more than you spend. Next start to build a little muscle with small exercises - send extra money toward your debt. Full recovery - find even more places to save and snow ball your payments which will really cut down on the debt you own.
This has been a lingering injury because instead of giving it ample time to heal, as soon as it would stop hurting I'd be climbing again. But after my first or second climb I'd be in pain again. Not this time. This time I went a full week with no stress on my shoulder or arm muscles. After three or four days I was pain free but still kept to my recovery plan. No climbing, no gym for a week. I really missed it. About midway through the week I would look at file cabinets at work and think to myself that I could easily climb up to the top of the cabinet.
After a week has passed I was pain free, but still didn't go back to climbing. Instead I gave my shoulder a series of small tests to help it build up. I did push-ups one day, curls another and finally pull-ups and after each day I was still pain free. I was finally ready to get back to climbing!
This same process of breaking a goal down into smaller goals can also help with your finances. Want to pay down your debts so you can live debt free? First get pain free - get a handle on your monthly budget so you're saving more than you spend. Next start to build a little muscle with small exercises - send extra money toward your debt. Full recovery - find even more places to save and snow ball your payments which will really cut down on the debt you own.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Overwhelmed at work
Today I was greeted with 6 urgent tasks and one major, and very urgent, project to start my day. looking at the stacks of paperwork on my desk made me feel a little overwhelmed at first. It was oddly demotivating seeing all of this work that I had to do. I really wanted to skip the 6 smaller tasks and focus on my large project but I new the smaller tasks needed to get done so I couldn't just blow them off.
I took a few minutes to get a cup of tea, gather my thoughts and organize the 6 tasks. While it looked like a lot of work at first glance, I estimated that each task would only take about 20 minutes each. I closed my email and web browser to minimize distractions and began working my way through each task. An hour and a half later I finished the last of the tasks, went to the gym for a quick workout, got some lunch and then had the afternoon to work on my larger project.
The next time your faced with something that looks overwhelming at first, take a deep breath to relax and look at the situation calmly. It may not be as much work as you think and if you remove the things that commonly distract you (phone, email, web surfing, texting etc) you probably can get things done faster then you first thought.
I took a few minutes to get a cup of tea, gather my thoughts and organize the 6 tasks. While it looked like a lot of work at first glance, I estimated that each task would only take about 20 minutes each. I closed my email and web browser to minimize distractions and began working my way through each task. An hour and a half later I finished the last of the tasks, went to the gym for a quick workout, got some lunch and then had the afternoon to work on my larger project.
The next time your faced with something that looks overwhelming at first, take a deep breath to relax and look at the situation calmly. It may not be as much work as you think and if you remove the things that commonly distract you (phone, email, web surfing, texting etc) you probably can get things done faster then you first thought.
Updates
I managed to go to the gym twice this week and also went climbing twice, though my climbing is being severely restrained by a recent shoulder strain. I think I'm going to have to stop climbing for a week to ten days to let it heal before I can hit the walls again. I really feel bad about it, not only do I really want to climb but I can't help but feel like I'm letting my climbing partner down by not being there. I know that he'll be able to "partner call" for someone to fill in, but I still feel bad about it. Still, there is no way I can reach my goal of climbing an 11 with a bad shoulder, so I have to get myself healthy.
Also, at my weekly weigh in, I tipped the scales at 170.4, so I'm about seven and a half pounds from my goal. With a good healthy diet and plenty of exercise I think I should be able to make my goal of 178 pounds.
Also, at my weekly weigh in, I tipped the scales at 170.4, so I'm about seven and a half pounds from my goal. With a good healthy diet and plenty of exercise I think I should be able to make my goal of 178 pounds.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Student Loan
While checking in on the $5,000 student loan payment I sent it to make sure it was received, I learned that my interest rate isn't 1.9% like I originally thought. It's actually 1.625% !! This gives me less incentive to pay off the loan early because I'll be saving that much less in interest costs and when combined with the opportunity cost of not having the extra cash to save, invest or keep for an emergency I'm no longer sure it makes sense to aggressively pay down the loan.
I think I may send in an occasional extra payment but not make it automatic. I'll have to give this some more thought though.
I think I may send in an occasional extra payment but not make it automatic. I'll have to give this some more thought though.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Getting a Credit Card Fee Reversed
I just received my credit card statement and was surprised to see a finance fee charge of $28.12 for foreign transaction fee. Huh? I did go to Canada and use my card but wasn’t aware that there would be a fee involved to do that. So, I checked the web site to see if I could find the fee disclosed there. Nothing.
On my current statement I saw the following: “Your card provides the convenience of transacting worldwide wherever MasterCard is accepted. Each purchase you make outside the US is subject to a transaction fee.”
Hm. I don’t remember seeing that before. And how is the transaction fee determined? Checking past statements I confirmed that the paragraph above was not included.
Again I went back to my account website to try and find my user agreement assuming that the fee must be buried in the agreement someplace. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the user agreement anywhere on the site.
My only recourse was to call my credit card company and see what was going on with this fee. Before I called I reminded myself to follow the basic rules of success: be respectful and courteous to the CSR, ask for what I want (an explanation of where the fee came from and hopefully the fee waived) and to be persistent, going to the manager level if necessary. I also went to the bathroom, not knowing how long the call could last but preparing myself for the worst.
I quickly navigated the computer options and got to a live CSR. After asking about the fee I was told that it was a 3% charge applied to charges placed outside of the US. Quickly grabbing a calculator I confirmed that since I did charge $940 outside of the US the $28.12 charge was pretty accurate. The CSA went on to say that the fee was charged by the processing company directly and that it couldn’t be reversed.
I didn’t like the sound of that. Sticking to my original plan, I explained that I couldn’t find disclosure of the fee anywhere on the website or my statement and that they needed to disclose a fee to me before they could charge me for it. I think this sent the CSR off his script at this point as he was silent for a minute and then told me that there wasn’t anything else he could do but that his manager could answer any other questions I might have. Yes, please I told him.
I was finally past the gatekeeper and into the inner sanctum where the real power to make decisions lies. She must have gotten a summary from the CSR because the manager already knew what I was calling about and told me nearly the same thing as the CSR, except that the manager also said the fee was indeed disclosed in the user agreement and in fact she was having another copy of the agreement sent to me just in case I didn’t have my original copy.
Feeling myself losing the battle I reiterated that I looked at the web site for the agreement or a fee schedule and told her I wasn’t able to find one and that it also wasn’t listed on any of my statements. I then asked if she knew where on the website the fee was disclosed. She stumbled for a bit and then admitted that she wasn’t sure if it was listed on the website.
There it was. The crack in their defense I was looking for. Ignoring what the original CSR said about the fee being non-waivable, I told the manager that I didn’t think it was right for them to charge a fee that wasn’t readily disclosed and asked for the fee to be waived. After a slight pause she said that she could waive the fee as a one time courtesy to me. I thanked her for waiving the fee, she thanked me for being a good customer and I ended the call.
The lessons learned are that finance fees and charges can be disputed and reversed – despite what a CSR might tell you provided that you are calm, courteous, persistent, willing to ask for what you want and have a logical reason for having it waived. Hopefully this lesson will be able to help one of you get a fee reversed with your credit cards.
Follow up note: After doing some research I have since learned that it is standard for most credit card companies to charge a fee for purchases outside of the US. Since I had never heard of this, I think that might be a sign that I need to travel more. Still, I don't feel bad at all for having the fee reversed, Citi should make it far easier to find the fee disclosure for things they are going to charge you for.
On my current statement I saw the following: “Your card provides the convenience of transacting worldwide wherever MasterCard is accepted. Each purchase you make outside the US is subject to a transaction fee.”
Hm. I don’t remember seeing that before. And how is the transaction fee determined? Checking past statements I confirmed that the paragraph above was not included.
Again I went back to my account website to try and find my user agreement assuming that the fee must be buried in the agreement someplace. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the user agreement anywhere on the site.
My only recourse was to call my credit card company and see what was going on with this fee. Before I called I reminded myself to follow the basic rules of success: be respectful and courteous to the CSR, ask for what I want (an explanation of where the fee came from and hopefully the fee waived) and to be persistent, going to the manager level if necessary. I also went to the bathroom, not knowing how long the call could last but preparing myself for the worst.
I quickly navigated the computer options and got to a live CSR. After asking about the fee I was told that it was a 3% charge applied to charges placed outside of the US. Quickly grabbing a calculator I confirmed that since I did charge $940 outside of the US the $28.12 charge was pretty accurate. The CSA went on to say that the fee was charged by the processing company directly and that it couldn’t be reversed.
I didn’t like the sound of that. Sticking to my original plan, I explained that I couldn’t find disclosure of the fee anywhere on the website or my statement and that they needed to disclose a fee to me before they could charge me for it. I think this sent the CSR off his script at this point as he was silent for a minute and then told me that there wasn’t anything else he could do but that his manager could answer any other questions I might have. Yes, please I told him.
I was finally past the gatekeeper and into the inner sanctum where the real power to make decisions lies. She must have gotten a summary from the CSR because the manager already knew what I was calling about and told me nearly the same thing as the CSR, except that the manager also said the fee was indeed disclosed in the user agreement and in fact she was having another copy of the agreement sent to me just in case I didn’t have my original copy.
Feeling myself losing the battle I reiterated that I looked at the web site for the agreement or a fee schedule and told her I wasn’t able to find one and that it also wasn’t listed on any of my statements. I then asked if she knew where on the website the fee was disclosed. She stumbled for a bit and then admitted that she wasn’t sure if it was listed on the website.
There it was. The crack in their defense I was looking for. Ignoring what the original CSR said about the fee being non-waivable, I told the manager that I didn’t think it was right for them to charge a fee that wasn’t readily disclosed and asked for the fee to be waived. After a slight pause she said that she could waive the fee as a one time courtesy to me. I thanked her for waiving the fee, she thanked me for being a good customer and I ended the call.
The lessons learned are that finance fees and charges can be disputed and reversed – despite what a CSR might tell you provided that you are calm, courteous, persistent, willing to ask for what you want and have a logical reason for having it waived. Hopefully this lesson will be able to help one of you get a fee reversed with your credit cards.
Follow up note: After doing some research I have since learned that it is standard for most credit card companies to charge a fee for purchases outside of the US. Since I had never heard of this, I think that might be a sign that I need to travel more. Still, I don't feel bad at all for having the fee reversed, Citi should make it far easier to find the fee disclosure for things they are going to charge you for.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Student Loan repayment
Playing with my financial calculator (yes I do that for fun sometimes) I ran some calculations on my student loan and came up with some interesting results. My current loan of $40,398 will take 218 months to pay off with no changes. However, I sent in $5,000 yesterday bringing my loan balance down to $35,398 which will be paid off in 186 months if I keep my payments the same.
Then I ran calculations based on paying more each month. If I hit my goal of paying an additional $1,370 or $114 a month it would be paid off in only 117 months – assuming I maintain the higher payments. An extra $200 a month would bring the payoff period down to 91 months. But even small amounts can really cut down on the length of the loan. An extra $80 a month would save me 55 months, an extra $30 would save 25 months and even an extra $100 a year would save 6 months. Taken to the extreme, a mere $2 extra a month, which I would never notice in my budget, would take off 1 month.
Here is a chart of various payment options
Payment Length of Loan in Months Length Reduction in Months
$219 186 0
$222 185 1
$227 180 6
$250 161 25
$269 148 38
$300 131 55
$319 123 63
$333 117 69
$419 91 95
(sorry about the poor chart)
Even paying extra each month I’m looking at 10 years or more of student loan payments, unless I really ramp up my prepayments. Ouch. At least it’s at the rock bottom rate of 1.9%, which is why I’m not really in a huge rush to pay it off. There is a lot to be said for the option value of having cash on hand to either make a timely investment or to use in case of an emergency. So what am I going to do? I’m going to start by paying an extra $50 a month and contribute additional amounts based on what I earn from outside sources.
Then I ran calculations based on paying more each month. If I hit my goal of paying an additional $1,370 or $114 a month it would be paid off in only 117 months – assuming I maintain the higher payments. An extra $200 a month would bring the payoff period down to 91 months. But even small amounts can really cut down on the length of the loan. An extra $80 a month would save me 55 months, an extra $30 would save 25 months and even an extra $100 a year would save 6 months. Taken to the extreme, a mere $2 extra a month, which I would never notice in my budget, would take off 1 month.
Here is a chart of various payment options
Payment Length of Loan in Months Length Reduction in Months
$219 186 0
$222 185 1
$227 180 6
$250 161 25
$269 148 38
$300 131 55
$319 123 63
$333 117 69
$419 91 95
(sorry about the poor chart)
Even paying extra each month I’m looking at 10 years or more of student loan payments, unless I really ramp up my prepayments. Ouch. At least it’s at the rock bottom rate of 1.9%, which is why I’m not really in a huge rush to pay it off. There is a lot to be said for the option value of having cash on hand to either make a timely investment or to use in case of an emergency. So what am I going to do? I’m going to start by paying an extra $50 a month and contribute additional amounts based on what I earn from outside sources.
Monday, January 4, 2010
2010 Goals
In 2008 I made a list of goals that I wanted to accomplish during the year and I did well, completing almost all of them. For some reason I never made that list for 2009 and it felt like I was floundering a little during the year, sailing through life without a ruder. I’m sure that I made progress both financial and personal, but I couldn’t quantify any of the gains.
With that in mind, I made a list of what I would like to have happen during 2010, both financially and personally.
Financial:
Max out Roth – I’m already sending in enough to max it each month, I just have to keep making the contributions.
Maintain 16% in 401k – maybe even increase it to 17%
401K balance of $60k – current balance is $42,156, additional investments should bring it up to about $55k so I’m hoping for roughly a 9% return to make up the difference.
Make an extra $500 – I want to make extra money on the side but as I’ve never done this before, I’m going to set a low goal in the hopes of reaching it and getting some positive reinforcement.
Maintain $10K emergency Fund - this means that I'll resist the temptation to spend it and also that there won't be an emergency in 2010 major enough to cause me to tap into this fund.
Net Worth $200K – currently my net worth is just under $150k. This is a bit of a reach and I’m not sure if I can get to $200k but with a diligent saving and investing plan and some decent returns I might be able to get there.
Sell something on ebay – again, this is something I’ve never done but want to learn how to do.
Pay down student loan to $32,000. The balance is currently $40,398 and I just sent a wire transfer for $5,000 which will bring my balance down to $35,398 and I’m estimating that with my regular payments the balance will be $33,370 at the end of the year, so in effect my goal is to pay another $1,370 in addition to the regular payments. The interest rate is only 1.9% so I’m in no real rush to pay it off, but even paying small additional amounts can make a big difference in the length of the loan so I want to start making an effort to pay it down. I’ll write about that more later.
Personal:
Climb 5.11 – I climbed a few 5.10c’s, so hopefully by continuing to go regularly I can reach 5.11 by the end of the year.
Climb/Yoga 3x per week – my plan is to either climb or do yoga on a T,Th, Sat schedule.
Consistently work out 3x per week – my plan is to go to the gym by my work on a MWF schedule. With vacations and days off, I won’t get there every day but my goal is to do it consistently.
Weigh 178 lbs – Here my goals are coming together, by going to the gym and working out more, I’m hoping to add muscle mass and increase my weight to 178 lbs. But, I need to do this through exercise and eating right because I want mostly additional muscle mass. I don’t want to eat doughnuts and chips all year long and gain fat weight.
Take two vacations – R and I have been talking about going to Hawaii some day, maybe this will be the year that someday arrives. I also want to take another vacation either with R or by myself, just to get away, relax and go someplace I’ve never been before.
Look into moving – there are some things about our apartment that really bother me, so we’re going to look into finding another apartment that is a similar price range but has better amenities. It would be great if we could find a place that costs the same of less, but that might be wishful thinking in SF.
I have a lot of goals on my list this year, and I probably won't get them all checked off but if I can get most of them and make progress on the others I'll still be much better off than if I never made this list. I also like the accountability of having my goals on paper.
With that in mind, I made a list of what I would like to have happen during 2010, both financially and personally.
Financial:
Max out Roth – I’m already sending in enough to max it each month, I just have to keep making the contributions.
Maintain 16% in 401k – maybe even increase it to 17%
401K balance of $60k – current balance is $42,156, additional investments should bring it up to about $55k so I’m hoping for roughly a 9% return to make up the difference.
Make an extra $500 – I want to make extra money on the side but as I’ve never done this before, I’m going to set a low goal in the hopes of reaching it and getting some positive reinforcement.
Maintain $10K emergency Fund - this means that I'll resist the temptation to spend it and also that there won't be an emergency in 2010 major enough to cause me to tap into this fund.
Net Worth $200K – currently my net worth is just under $150k. This is a bit of a reach and I’m not sure if I can get to $200k but with a diligent saving and investing plan and some decent returns I might be able to get there.
Sell something on ebay – again, this is something I’ve never done but want to learn how to do.
Pay down student loan to $32,000. The balance is currently $40,398 and I just sent a wire transfer for $5,000 which will bring my balance down to $35,398 and I’m estimating that with my regular payments the balance will be $33,370 at the end of the year, so in effect my goal is to pay another $1,370 in addition to the regular payments. The interest rate is only 1.9% so I’m in no real rush to pay it off, but even paying small additional amounts can make a big difference in the length of the loan so I want to start making an effort to pay it down. I’ll write about that more later.
Personal:
Climb 5.11 – I climbed a few 5.10c’s, so hopefully by continuing to go regularly I can reach 5.11 by the end of the year.
Climb/Yoga 3x per week – my plan is to either climb or do yoga on a T,Th, Sat schedule.
Consistently work out 3x per week – my plan is to go to the gym by my work on a MWF schedule. With vacations and days off, I won’t get there every day but my goal is to do it consistently.
Weigh 178 lbs – Here my goals are coming together, by going to the gym and working out more, I’m hoping to add muscle mass and increase my weight to 178 lbs. But, I need to do this through exercise and eating right because I want mostly additional muscle mass. I don’t want to eat doughnuts and chips all year long and gain fat weight.
Take two vacations – R and I have been talking about going to Hawaii some day, maybe this will be the year that someday arrives. I also want to take another vacation either with R or by myself, just to get away, relax and go someplace I’ve never been before.
Look into moving – there are some things about our apartment that really bother me, so we’re going to look into finding another apartment that is a similar price range but has better amenities. It would be great if we could find a place that costs the same of less, but that might be wishful thinking in SF.
I have a lot of goals on my list this year, and I probably won't get them all checked off but if I can get most of them and make progress on the others I'll still be much better off than if I never made this list. I also like the accountability of having my goals on paper.
Vacation recap
I’m back in SF after an adventurous vacation. I was originally planning on spending 4 days in Canada visiting friends (with a budget of $400 for hotel, $150 for food and $75 for gas plus another $100 for spending money for a total of roughly $725) and a week with my family but a major snow storm changed all that. I was stranded in Canada for 3 extra days due to all of the flight delays, and had to rearrange my return flight so that I was still able to spend a week with my family.
While I enjoyed the extra time in Canada with my friends, it caused me to go over budget. The hotel came to $673, food was $135, gas was $122 and misc spending money was $100 (which was mostly spent on food) for a total of roughly $1,030. Most of the extra was due to the hotel, so I don’t think I did that bad and I was able to get a few Christmas gifts while I was in Canada.
The trip was a lot of fun and I’m glad I was able to go. We went to a hockey game (junior hokey league, not NHL), saw some light houses, lots of Bay’s and Coves, and ate their local lobster. I also got to finally eat a donair which isn’t readily available in the US for some strange reason. I might have gone $300 over budget, but it was worth it. I’ll just have to make up for it in January.
While I enjoyed the extra time in Canada with my friends, it caused me to go over budget. The hotel came to $673, food was $135, gas was $122 and misc spending money was $100 (which was mostly spent on food) for a total of roughly $1,030. Most of the extra was due to the hotel, so I don’t think I did that bad and I was able to get a few Christmas gifts while I was in Canada.
The trip was a lot of fun and I’m glad I was able to go. We went to a hockey game (junior hokey league, not NHL), saw some light houses, lots of Bay’s and Coves, and ate their local lobster. I also got to finally eat a donair which isn’t readily available in the US for some strange reason. I might have gone $300 over budget, but it was worth it. I’ll just have to make up for it in January.
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