Comments on: Reader Mailbag: Difficult Things to Write

By: Fawn

Fawn — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 14:15:35 +0000

Q6-The year that my 4 children were “invited” to participate in 24 separate fundraisers for their activities/schools was the year we quit participating in the selling or the buying. I have no family or friends or neighbors that I so dislike that I am going to force my kids into “learning selling” crap 2x/month.

If I value the activity my kids are in, I will pony up the money myself.

By: Vivianne

Vivianne — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 13:03:09 +0000

Q. 6: I refuse to participate in school fundraisers from outside organizations, which make as much or more money for the fundraising organization than the school, and rely on goods produced in countries with less stringent labor and pollution laws than ours. Also, I don’t see the point when four kids on the block are all from the same school, and selling the same stuff. Our big fundraisers that I DO participate in are an arts evening (performances, art auction) and an auction evening with items donated by parents and local businesses. This money is mostly going straight to the school, providing advertising for my favorite restaurants, yoga studio, craft shop, etc. many of which are parent-owned or parent-frequented.
The only door-to-door I buy is Girl Scout cookies.

By: Temi

Temi — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:56:29 +0000

Q4- Johanna is correct. There is no income limit for conversions anymore. To confirm you can consult IRS pub 590 or call their toll free number 800-829-1040. It’s sometimes hard to get through but it’s free, unlike a tax attorney. However, if the annuity has serious tax implications, it still might make sense to recharacterize – you have until the due date of your 2011 return, and it usually needs to be reported on that return. The annuity may not all be taxable, depending on if it was purchased with money that had already been taxed or pre-tax money (like from a pension). If it was not purchased with pre-tax money only the gains in the account will be taxable. And since annuites aren’t known for their stellar returns, the tax hit might not be so bad. If it were me, my first step would be to find out from the annuity company how much of the distribution will be taxable.

By: Kevin

Kevin — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:26:53 +0000

@jackowick:

“The iPad is pretty rad, but I can’t use it to type for more than 5 minutes at a time”

I hear you. That’s why I bought the wireless Bluetooth keyboard. It’s incredibly compact, and makes typing on the iPad actually convenient. Cost me about $80 brand new, I was too impatient to hunt around for a used one.

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:25:12 +0000

#24 & 25 – I started it, but I did say IF he’s being abusive, which I don’t consider jumping to a conclusion. What suggested that to me was her statement, “I try to just lay low and not stir anything up.” If I were stuck with a boring guy, I don’t think I’d put it that way – IMO they’re probably at least having arguments when they interact, which isn’t a healthy situation for either of them.

If she is just bored with the guy, then they may just need some help so they can reach an agreement the relationship is over & live as roommates for the remaining year if they’re truly stuck in the house.

By: Jonathan

Jonathan — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:35:27 +0000

Kathleen (#24) – I thought the same thing. Based on what was said I never even considered abuse until it was mentioned in the comments.

By: Kathleen

Kathleen — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 23:16:18 +0000

Anyone consider that she might hide from the guy because she can’t stand him (he’s borig, annoying, etc.) and NOT jump to the abuse conclusion?

By: Steve

Steve — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 21:25:04 +0000

Q9 DO NOT RAID YOUR RETIREMENT. Seriously. Suck it up, find ways to cut your expenses, and pay it off over time. You would pay penalties to take the money out, and you wouldn’t be able to put it back in. Furthermore, times like this where the markets “aren’t doing anything” are the perfect time to invest.

By: Helen

Helen — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 20:46:00 +0000

Q1 – Vanguard semi-recently lowered the minimums on many of their funds; your $2.4k is already enough to invest in a Target Retirement fund, no need to wait any extra years.

By: PawPrint

PawPrint — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 19:55:31 +0000

Q3: I believe he’d have to work until about 66 1/2 to get full retirement benefits, not age 65.

Q4: My father had two annuities that were split among my siblings when he died. We didn’t have to pay additional taxes and it didn’t affect our ordinary income amount, but perhaps that’s because he had a trust or perhaps it was the kind of annuity. I don’t know–I hired a CPA to mess with that, paid for by the estate.

By: Dee

Dee — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 18:55:27 +0000

@Johanna I agree with you on the Rihanna thing. Definitely in poor taste.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:29:23 +0000

Q8: Just a +1 to everything valleycat said, especially the advice to contact a women’s shelter or similar organization. Whether you feel this man is abusive or not (and if you’re hiding from him out of fear of “stirring anything up,” that does sound like there’s some form of abuse involved), they may be able to help point you in the right direction.

Also, Trent: I know you change the OPs’ names sometimes. Maybe choosing the name “Rihanna” for the woman in the bad, possibly abusive relationship was not in the best possible taste.

By: jackowick

jackowick — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:25:28 +0000

Q10: The iPad is neato and nifty, but it’s suited for consumption, not creation. Yes, you can paint and use apps, and people for some reason think a car racing game or some RPG is great because it runs, but remember, there’s a reason why we love big screen displays. An iPad for an older person for an e-reader may not be the best fit compared to e-ink. Just, people, please continue to comparison shop. I have nothing against the iPad, just blind consumerism, disposable electronics, and not telling companies with large hardware margins that you want a lower price.

(And the iPad is pretty rad, but I can’t use it to type for more than 5 minutes at a time…)

By: jim

jim — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 17:14:29 +0000

Q4 : Good catch Johanna. They did repeal the income limit for conversions. I’d forgotten about that myself.

Q7 Dolores: If / when you get to the point that you can’t pay your bills then call the creditors and talk to them first. See what they can do to help you out. They may help with lower interest rates, defering payments or such. Next if you’re still unable to find work and can’t pay the debts then seek help from a non profit consumer credit counseling agency. THey can help you setup a repayment plan. Sounds like all your debt is unsecured. But if you’re flat out broke with no income then the final answer is to just stop making payments on the credit cards. You don’t need to pay a bankruptcy lawyer to help you not send check to the credit card banks. The credit card companies can’t do anything but phone you and send you letters. Not making payments is no worse than bankruptcy on your credit.

Q8 Rihanna : Can you sell the house at all? Is it worth more than what you owe? If you have any equity in the home then maybe you could sell it and use proceeds from the sale to repay the tax credit. Otherwise it sounds like you need to decide between living with this man who you can’t stand for another year or repaying the government the $8000 they gave you.

Q9 : No don’t raid your retirement.

By: sjw

sjw — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:45:26 +0000

#2 – in some cases, I think free childcare is ok. But you seem to have a double standard with respect to what your parents owe you and what you owe them. If you expect freebies, so will they.

If you don’t want them to have those expectations, pay them for the 1 day/week at a going rate.

By: Cc

Cc — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:26:38 +0000

Yes, buy that person an iPad! I have seen three gifted iPads in the last couple years and they are all still in daily use (I’m typing this out on one of those!). Not only are they a lot of fun, but I’ve been using mine as a painting tablet- Ive already got an iPad painting in a national magazine :) lol just braggng now. I love my iPad though- best gift ever.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:14:52 +0000

Q2-Your problems with your parents go beyond the financial and are much too deep to be adequately addressed by a finance blog. You (and your mother at least) need serious, long-term counseling if you are to ever move past the anger, delusion and resentment that are coming from both sides.

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:04:12 +0000

Comment #10 – Go to Trent’s facebook or twitter account if you want Trent to see a comment. That’s how the Saturday inspiration posts finally got fixed (several people complained on facebook).

Q4 – comment 6 is correct – last year we had moved $ to a Roth and had to retrieve it due to going over the limit. Just switch it back to a non-Roth.

By: Finance Nerd

Finance Nerd — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 16:04:00 +0000

@ #8 — you are right that it depends on the circumstances. But in the case of the OP who sounds very resentful of her parents, it’s reasonable to point out that they are doing something for her for free that would otherwise cost them $ if someone else did it instead.

By: Finance Nerd

Finance Nerd — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 15:55:35 +0000

@ #10 — Josh, the problem is I don’t think he actually reads the comments.