Jeremy at Generation X Finance did an excellent series on wills and estate planning this week that I wanted to point out. I also want to keep the posts here as a sort of bookmark to myself.
Jeremy did a really nice job covering how assets are transferred at death through a will, trust, and contract law. Here are the links:
Transferring assets through a will
Transferring assets by operation of law or contract
Last week, I asked you guys about saving for your kids’ college tuition. I wanted to publish the results of the poll, so here they are.
The question was “Do you intend to help your kids pay for college?”
Yes, we’ve started a college fund: 31% of respondents
Yes, but we haven’t started saving yet: 10%
I don’t have kids, but I intend to help them: 41%
No, we have the means but prefer not to: 10%
No, we’d like to but it’s just not going to happen: 8%
Just a couple of comments about the results. Obviously this isn’t anywhere close to scientific since respondents were self-selected. I thought two of the numbers were particularly interesting, though. First, 10% of those responding could save for college, but are choosing not to. I have considered whether paying for college is a good thing all things considered. I can see it both ways (we do save for college, by the way). Second, 31% have started a college fund for their kids. That’s a pretty significant fraction.
Thanks to all who participated in the poll.
As the father of a beautiful and funny (she gets it from her mother) three year old girl, I’m continually learning new things. Sometimes it’s a new way to look at something; sometimes it’s something practical like the right way to cut a pancake; sometimes it’s something I thought I knew about. Here is an incomplete list of things my toddler has taught me about money.
mentions our last trip to Disney World at least once a day. And we went six months ago. She also talks about our trip to this attraction or that park repeatedly. Does she talk about any certain toy or article of clothing like that? Hell no. I’ve learned the biggest bang for our buck is spent on experiences - going places and doing things - rather than possessions.I’ll soon be taking a leave from my job through FMLA. It occurred to me, though, that I had no idea what that would mean regarding benefits. So I did a little research and here’s what I found out.
The bottom line is, when you’re out on FMLA leave, you continue to get health insurance as if you were still working. If you pay for part of your coverage, you still have to pay your piece. Other benefits resume when you return to work.
The details
The details of benefits coverage seem to be pretty simple. Continue to pay for your portion of medical benefits and they remain in effect. If you fall more than 30 days behind, your employer has the right to halt your coverage. But to do so, the employer has to send written notice to that effect.
If an employee doesn’t return to work within 12 weeks, the employer is not obligated to pay for the employee’s medical benefits. Company-to-company policies may differ, of course, but that’s the minimum standard for FMLA.
Finally, if while you’re out on leave you would have gotten canned in a mass firing, the employer can stop benefits effective the day you would have been terminated.
benefitsYou can definitely break down personal finance concerns by age. Things that are important when you’re 22 become trivial at 55. Your key concern at 65 isn’t the same one you had at 45.
As another birthday passed, I started thinking about how those things break down. Obviously, not everyone will have all of these things happen during the time-frame I show (or at all, for that matter).
20 to 30
31 to 45
46 to 55
56-65
65+
