Musings on taxes and DOMA (defense of marriage act)

I am doing taxes again this year, I love doing OTHER peoples tax returns. Each one is a puzzle but the puzzle comes with a prize (usually) if I get a refund for the customer. I've had customers hug me, thank me, try to give me tips, and generally it's a good time for anyone to get the annual tax thing over. I've also had people cry at my desk, have their eyes glaze over when they realize what they are having to pay, and sometimes it's not a good time for all.

I've also worked with people whom I am certain are lying to me. People who are trying to game the system, people who are not being totally truthful and some who are blatant fibbers. Why? because the tax code is so complicated, so convoluted, and so difficult to decipher, that many people know that they can get more money from the government by not declaring what they really should.

There are 5 filing statuses:  Single, Married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, and widow(er).  Single and married filing separately both get the same personal deduction amount and married filing jointly just gives 2 people the same deduction as 2 single people. Head of Household and Widower statuses require that the person with this status have children, and as such, the person with children gets a stepped up personal deduction than would a single person or a married person filing separately.  Here's where all the problems begin.

Two people, living together, maybe married, maybe not, with children. Only one person in a household is allowed to file Head of Household and declare dependent children. What happens when 3 generations are living in a house? Often, more than one of the adults with children will file Head of Household in order to get more income deducted and often, to receive additional earned income credit that can net thousands of dollars in refundable cash to the working parent.

Here's an example:

Married couple, with 3 children living in their house. One of the children, age 19, has a child of her own.  The correct way for this family to file is this:  Married filing jointly, with either 4 dependents (their 3 children and the grandchild, if in fact all 4 lived with them all 12 months and all 4 depended on them for support) OR MFJ with only 2 dependent children, and with the one child who has her own child filing single along with 1 dependent child, if in fact this adult provided more than half her own support and also more than half the support of her dependent child.

What usually happens is this:  Single man with no dependents; wife files as head of household (even though they are living together) with 2 dependent children; adult child also files as head of household with one dependent child.

The reason this family files this way is to maximize the filing status credit, which is higher for head of household, and also to maximize earned income credit payments to the children's parents.

It's a system that's unwieldy, difficult to understand and apply to the situation, and ripe for fraud. The IRS frequently sends letters out to Head of Household taxpayers asking for proof of household expenses, proof of the child's actual dependency, and proof of residency. Many people end up owing the IRS thousands of dollars of money that was refunded and paid out, but then disallowed later when the proper documentation could not be shown as proof.

The religious right believes that marriage is only between a woman and a man, and therefore our federal social security benefits and tax code should only allow MFJ status for one man + one woman. The groups demonstrating for homosexual, and individual rights, argue that marriage should be an individual choice, and our federal social security and tax laws should base individual rights on individuals, rather than religious teachings.

I have a better idea. Let's just simplify the tax code and make it 1 deduction for 1 person. That's it. No married filing jointly or separately, no head of household or qualifying widower, just 1 person, 1 deduction amount. That way, we don't have to ask, did you live with your spouse for the last 6 months of the tax year? Did anyone else live with you who is also filing head of household? Right there, it would simplify so much, tax-wise. It won't matter if you are married in the church, or married legally, or just living together, or even if you are of the same or different sex. One person, 1 deduction, 2 people living together, they file separately, with 1 deduction each. They can then split up all the deductible expenses, however they want. If 2 people are married, or living together, but only one is working, then that non-working person can be a dependent on the primary taxpayer's tax return. After all, they are supporting that person, yes?

If the government wants to credit more money for people with children, then they can beef up the child tax credit; the earned income credit is already there for people with children, but I wouldn't mind if more money went to people with children.

I used to feel strongly that married people should only be a man and a woman. In my older age, now, I am thinking more of the individual rights of our citizens. The United States of America was founded on the principle of individual rights, and I'm thinking that even though I personally wouldn't want to marry someone of my own sex, why should I be in favor of not allowing someone else to do it? After all, they aren't harming anyone, they aren't stopping me in my own 'pursuit of happiness'.  Actually, the LAW is hampering these people of their own 'pursuit of happiness' and I don't think that's ethical, in light of our constitution.

Here's another conundrum: a married homosexual couple with children (homosexual marriage is legal in certain states) is required, by federal IRS law, to file thusly: 1 head of household with dependent children, + 1 single person.  If a heterosexual married couple filed thusly in any state, today, that would be fraud, as a married couple living together CANNOT file separately legally, either as 2 singles or as 1 H of H + 1 single. They can file married filing separately, but they will lose many credits available to MFJ and to H of H. In effect, the IRS actually legally grants a homosexual couple a richer amount of deduction, simply BECAUSE their marriage is not recognized by the federal government. Hmmm. I wonder if all those homosexual married couples realize what they might lose if DOMA is struck down?

The IRS tax code is a monster of confundity; there are tax lawyers who make a living researching and deciphering details of the code. If you call the IRS, and ask one question multiple times, you will receive multiple answers. My suggestions could possibly simplify that code, and perhaps make life simpler for many people. Anybody out there agree with me?

IRS Tax Season!

It's tax season. Most of those who were expecting a refund have already filed and  probably are spending that money, helping our businesses and economy flourish.

The rest of us procrastinators, who are dreading that final determination of just how MUCH we are going to pay the IRS, are waiting for the last minute. This year we get 2 extra days, until April 17, thanks to some obscure (to me, anyway) holiday in Washington D.C. which normally falls on April 15th. In 2012, it falls on a Sunday, which gives all those D.C. workers a holiday on Monday the 16th, meaning that the rest of the country gets until Tuesday April 17th to file our taxes and to mail off that check for owed taxes. 

Since many people aren't familiar with D.C. happenings, at our tax office we expect a rather humdrum Monday and Tuesday. Clean up. Maybe I'll file my own taxes (late, natch) on  the 17th.

The IRS requires all paid tax preparers to ask questions this year of ALL clients regarding off-shore accounts. Do you have over $10,000 in foreign accounts? Do you have signature authority over a foreign account or trust of over $50,000? I have yet to hear of anyone saying yes to these questions.

Did you know if you have a foreign account with less than $10,000 that you are required to report to the IRS your income on that account? Penalties are imposed if you have an account over $10K and you don't report it, but the IRS expects you to report ALL foreign income on your return. I am not a betting person, but I would not hesitate to bet that many expats have an account that may be earning a bit of interest in an account well under $10k but that they aren't reporting that little bit of income. 

The IRS put a new set of "filters" on their servers this year that accept electronically filed returns. The IRS wants everybody to file electronically: it's more accurate, requires fewer employee handling, and was supposed to be faster. The filters are said to "find" more anomalies, mistakes and red flags sooner than a year or two after one has filed.

What actually happened was a severe slowdown around February 7th/8th in return processing. The IRS website "Where's My Money" began the season with a statement regarding preparation processing taking "7 to 10 days". Once the pipeline got hung up, the website closed down to traffic briefly, then when it was again functional, the site restated the time frame as "10 to 21 days". Reality for certain customers was a refund wait of 4 to 6 weeks for apparently no reason. It seems that the IRS didn't accurately plan or prepare for the influx of so many returns so fast after Jan 30th, when all wage earners are supposed to receive their W2s. Your government and mine at work. Slowly.

Processing appears to be back to normal at the time of this writing (March 14th) but could clog up again easily during the last weeks of the season. While I don't think this will bother too many people who need to pay the IRS more money, it seems to me that the government department in charge of collecting taxes all year long should be able to effectively plan for processing the returns that they require us to file. 

I'm still working on my own tax return and that of my mother, who passed away last year. Her return is not a complicated one, but I determined that both the Social Security Administration and the Federal Pension people sent incorrect 1099R forms. A recipient must survive the entire month to be able to receive a month's Social Security wages, so the payment sent to her in September was required to be refunded to the SSA because she died in August. The Personnel Payroll payment sent to her in August was automatically withdrawn once I notified them of her passing. It seems the payment for August was actually for July but she is required to be alive the entire month AFTER the payment. Nevertheless, both 1099R's included the payment that was given back to them. Of course, they  had no intention of correcting this mistake until I notified them of it, and I am awaiting corrected documents so I can file correctly.

Did you know if you don't owe any tax, you are not required to file a return? Most people file, anyway, just to collect any taxes that have been withheld. If you don't file, and you DO owe tax, you are assessed a penalty for not filing and then interest on the money owed. No penalties or interest if you didn't owe any money, and if the IRS owes YOU money, they won't pay you any interest or penalties on the money you claim.

In our office this tax season we have seen a number of clients who haven't owed any tax for a few years, and haven't filed, either. They come into our office with reams of documents. In many cases, we file a return for them for the current year, plus the past 3 years. The IRS will accept returns and amendments for only the prior 3 years, unless you have been deployed in the military, in which case you get a break and can go back farther. 

This tax season we are ALSO visiting with many people who suspect that their prior year returns were incorrect, or they are certain that the prior returns were wrong, due to a nasty gram sent to them by the IRS. Once we've reviewed their filed return along with the IRS findings, many times we determine that the IRS has incorrectly determined that the person owes too much money. In one case, a person with a rental property incorrectly determined the depreciation on the rental for the last 3 years and we found $848 in additional tax refunded to him for EACH of the last 3 years. In another situation, a person (doing his own taxes on Turbo Tax) did not accurately declare stock sales of around $80,000, and the IRS wrote him a letter stating that he owed another $20,000 in taxes on the sales.  YIKES! this poor person was in a panic, but not to worry, a quick call to the brokerage house to get the basis (purchase price) of each piece of sold stock allowed us to correctly document the Schedule D for investment sales on an amendment to his return. He actually only owed about $300 in back taxes, and we submitted the 1040X along with the broker statement. Whew. that was a nice thing to be able to do for someone.

My dad used to say, I'm off to the salt mines. Well, me, I'm off to the computer/paper mines. Contact me if you need help with your taxes - I can help.

Anniversary of WWII Bombing of Hawaii....and the last day to sign up for a Medicare Advantage Plan

Today is December 7th. A day in infamy, when Hawaii was bombed and the United States joined in to fight World War II.

It's also the last day for Medicare Advantage sales for January 1, 2012 effective dates.  Up until this year, most Medicare Advantage, or Medicare Part C, sales for the following calendar year were accepted from late October up until December 31st. For those who waited until the last minute to sign up at the end of December, problems arose when they tried to use the coverage for prescriptions or to see a provider just after the new year without an ID card. Because of this issue, Medicare imposed a new enrollment time period from October 15 through December 7 for this year's enrollments, giving everyone at CMS and at the insurance companies a chance to process all applications and get those all important ID cards into the hands of the senior enrollees prior to the January 1 effective date. Seemed like a good plan.

I wonder who chose the enrollment dates? I would not hesitate to guess that it wasn't someone who lived through WWII back in 1941 when the bombs were sneakily dropped onto Oahu. If the person who picked this date for the last day to enroll was actually someone who remembers December 7, 1941, they would have picked December 6th, or December 8th. Just not December 7th.

 My guess is it's some worker bee at CMS who flunked US History and had no idea that he or she picked such a famous date in our history.

Or I could be completely wrong. Maybe it was someone who studied history and thought that December 7th was a good date to pick for the last day of the annual election period for Medicare Advantage plans. Maybe the person who picked the date thought, well, I bet all those seniors will remember THIS date as the last date they can enroll!

Bombs away.....but hopefully not on US soil ever again.

Over 65 Medicare Choices

This year, from October 15th until December 7, Seniors over 65 can review, purchase or change their Medicare Advantage and Medicare Drug plans. After December 7, seniors cannot make any changes to their purchases for these plans, unless they are just turning 65, have heart failure or diabetes, or are Medicaid eligible with a Low Income subsidy.

For more info, here's a link to 2 articles that I wrote on Suite 101 (copy the entire address below and paste in your internet address box)

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Call me, email me or send me a Facebook message if you have any questions. I am certified by 3 separate insurance carriers to offer Advantage plans, and I can help you find the right choice for you and your budget.

I'm thankful for.....being able to get rid of stuff

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. First, I would like to say that I am thankful for all my friends and family who keep me sane. Second, I am thankful for good health (for my family and friends and me, too) and also good financial health (again, for the same people).

And I'm thankful that my kids still keep coming back home for my cooking!

For the past year and a half, I've been working at 3 different jobs, and I'm thankful that I can work at all 3: Insurance Agent (my 2 year non-compete is finally done! I can work with my old clients again); Tax Professional ( I guess I did a good job last spring, they asked me to come back this tax season, and want me to be an office manager!) and writer and...

Ebay and consignment "stuff" seller. I came home from my mother's house, after she passed, and after her funeral and then after cleaning out her closets and drawers and cupboards with the drive to get rid of stuff. While I like my stuff, they are dust catchers and they do clutter up the few rooms and closets and drawers that never seem to have room for anything new. I began the decluttering process by photographing a few items, uploading them onto Ebay, and hoping they will sell. A few did sell, although unfortunately, those few items that sold were very small and took up very little room. The bigger items languished even though I reposted them at least once or twice.

Hubby and I went to a store in a town north of here, an upscale town, not a large city, and one that is a "destination" for people who like to drive an hour or so to a village with shops full of kitschy things. Antiques, clothes, jewelry, wine, crafts, etc. We found a shop with lots of items that we loved looking at: Indian pottery, South American crafts, antiques, etc. Just like home! I told the shopowner that we had lots of stuff, would she consider consignment to sell my items? She said, sure, bring 'em over.

A few weeks later on a Saturday we drove up again, this time with 2 large boxes with our treasures packed carefully. The shopowner picked out about half of our items and said that she would discuss pricing with her shop partner and hopefully they would sell.

On Monday, her partner called us and asked us if we had more things like the ones that we left there? Oh, boy, do we!  We packed up another 2 boxes and off we went. They were both happy to try to sell our stuff and we were thrilled to see our treasures beautifully displayed and described. And I was very pleased with the prices that they set for our pieces.

I hope the stuff all sells. I don't want to bring them back home! I'm enjoying the "uncluttered" look that we now have in our house. And we are hoping to get rid of more stuff...I would hate to die and leave my messy cluttered house to my kids to have to clean out.

Back to selling insurance...once again

When I sold my book of benefits insurance business 2 years ago, I signed a formal and final contract with a 2 year non-compete agreement. Said clause stipulated that I would not seek an agent of record commission-able status from any clients listed in the "sold" book of business, nor would I try to sell any new products to these same listed clients. While many of my agent friends in the business own the opinion that these non-compete clauses don't hold up in court because a person has the right to make a living, I agreed to hold to the agreement anyway. I signed the agreement, I received fair compensation, and the ethical and honest thing to do, in my opinion, was to honor the agreement.

As of the end of this month, stated 2 years have ended. While part of me yells "open season!" another part of me, says: go slowly, be cautious, don't burn any bridges, and think carefully. A few of my old clients I expect will be glad to have me back in the business; a few old clients I would prefer to leave with my former agency, for various reasons. A few have even kept contact with me for the last 2 years and have already said they are looking forward to my return - which  makes me feel very grateful for loyal clients.

Meanwhile, I haven't been sitting on my duff reading paperbacks and eating bonbons...well, not too much. Recently, I completed certification and licensing with 3 Medicare Advantage insurance carriers; I've signed on one new group client; my agent of record letter is formulated and ready to go out to a choice listing of former clients. I've contracted with IBC bank and will spend time at a local grocery store pharmacy twice a week with an Medicare Insurance product booth and also at my local IBC bank - who will help with leads and application submission during the Medicare Advantage Open Enrollment Period that starts next week, and runs until December 7th this year.

I've also been asked by H & R Block to manage one of their local tax preparation offices this year. Last tax season, I worked part time at one of the HRB tax offices and really enjoyed the work, the people and the educational knowledge opportunities related to taxes. In my spare time this summer and fall, I've completed and passed numerous tax courses and also passed the first Tax professional certification course. While I'm not sure -exactly- how I feel about the thought of managing people again, the tax pros will be working for commissions and HRB just needs someone to manage the "office" - or at least, that's what I've been told. I hope that I am up to the challenge, but it's only for 4 months, and ends around April 16. I can do anything for just a few months! wish me good fortune?

So why do I continue to review job listings on LinkedIn and others? Is it because I am still not too sure about this "semi-retired" status? I really don't think I want a full time 8 to 5 job, anyway. I suppose it's just habit....I'm not "employed" so I need to keep looking, I guess. Crazy, heh?

This week, we are in the midst of plumbers and tilers and drywallers who are remodeling out guest bath that had broken tile and very old shower fixtures.

Being able to "oversee" the jobs, and just actually be here while stuff is happening (and doors are opening and staying open and Coco runs around barking and trying to get in everybody's way) has been a Godsend. We couldn't have had the remodeling done so efficiently if I wasn't here and flexible about workers coming and going.

This week, I've been at home every day, all day. Next week, I will spend most of the week (and the next 2 months, also) at the local HEB grocery store and at 2 IBC banks. Hopefully, I will find lots of baby boomer 65+ prospective customers and will sell a lot of insurance products to happy beneficiaries. I'm actually looking forward to getting dressed up every day and being busy, helping people find good product fits for their needs.

It's a good life!

A good friend and a wonderful lady is in heaven now

Yesterday a good friend of mine, a very lovely lady and very special person, passed on to heaven. She was a wonderful person to all: daughter, sister, wife, mother, friend, grandmother. Tall, slim, gracious and classy, she was kind and generous to everyone always. She left this world much too early.  I believe that God didn't want to her suffer any more so he called her home to be with Him.

When someone passes from us quickly, or too young, we all second guess ourselves, at least I do. I should have done more, I should have helped or visited more. I wasn't generous enough with my time.  I feel guilty that I wasn't allowed to spend time with my own mother right before she passed on just last month, or at the very least, I should have been there when it happened.  But I didn't, and I wasn't there. My friend left me a message on my answering machine on Tuesday to tell me that she was now at home, but by the time I heard her message, I had already been to visit with her there....I listened to her message just a few days later and then she was gone from us on Saturday, so so fast.  She was blessed with many family and close friends at home, caring for her and loving her at all times during her last weeks of life.  I am grateful, and I know many of her friends are grateful too, that we were privileged to be able spend a few precious minutes with our friend before she was called home.

My friend loved life, her family, her friends, and especially her husband, her 2 children and her 3 grandchildren. I knew her before the grandchildren were born back when she was a working lady. We were all very busy then. Within the space of a couple of years, she was blessed with 3 gorgeous grandchildren and decided to retire so that she could spend precious time with them while they were small. Her grandchildren loved her tremendously and she loved them so very much.  They were so special to her.  I was jealous of her 3 grandkids, but she was generous enough to "share" them with me from time to time.  Those 3 children are wonderful people who I know will never forget their Gramma and how much she cherished and loved each one of them.

She loved get-togethers, dinner parties, Thanksgiving, New Year's, group meetings: whenever there would be food and friends and conversation. She also enjoyed visiting family during the summer, family who lived far away. There are so many people who loved to be with her. She always set a delicious table with wonderful cuisine, good people and great conversation, along with wine, cheese, bread and finished off with a bit of decaf coffee. At her house, I always knew that I would eat a fabulous homemade meal with all the trimmings and enjoy visiting with fascinating people. When she came to my house, she always brought me something....she was thoughtful like that.

Once I "retired" and wasn't as busy as before, I had the opportunity to spend time with her, just the 2 of us.  I will dearly miss those times. We saw each other more often in the last year, and I am grateful that I have those memories with her. Just last month, we went for a doctor's appointment together and then later had a very late lunch.  We talked and talked and talked for the better part of the day. We discussed everything: family (both mine and hers), politics, faith, food, travel.  She was tired by the end of the day, but she never complained. She always had a smile on her face.

If you didn't know her, you might say, wow, that person was really something, incredible! Truly, she really was something. She always wanted to know how I was doing, what was happening with me. She sympathized with me in all my troubles and gave opinions sparingly but honestly and with kindness.  She made a point of putting ME at ease, always.  But even she had a few doubts and regrets occasionally, she told me once. She was human, after all, just like the rest of us. But I can't believe that she ever hurt anyone, that just wasn't her style. Her simple goodness and pureness of spirit made me want to be a better person, to try to be more like her. I doubt that I will ever come close.

She made the world a sweeter place with her presence, and I was blessed to be able to call her my friend.  I will miss her very much and I know that all of you will miss her, too. Adios, my friend. May you watch over us all. Put a good word into God's ear for us since you are already there, ok?   I will see you again.

A wonderful woman passed away last week.

My mother, Anne Drobot Gunter, passed away on August 24th, 2011. I will miss her so. She was feisty, witty, kind, generous and unique. She was also smart, disciplined and a wonderful wife, mother, auntie, sister and grandmother.

She patiently taught my kids to play card games; she helped me fend off bullies with word phrases that made them stop -- without me using any violence or cruelty. She never left the house without impeccable hair, nails, clothes and lipstick; she always set a lovely table and made a feast for guests. She prayed daily for all the members of her family, that God would guide us and protect us.

She suffered much: loneliness when she was far from her family; when her parents, my father, and her daughter, my sister died; when family members disappointed her; and finally when she began to be very sick and frail, when her body ached and she couldn't breathe normally. She tried not to complain, and when she did we didn't really listen, we were wrapped up in our own anguish, knowing that she was going to leave us soon.

She was opinionated and had strong beliefs: God's love and grace, family ties and loyalties, giving, cleanliness and neatness, discipline, thriftiness, humor, enjoying the goodness of the earth and people.  I grew up without Koolaid, boxed cake mixes, fast food, bought cookies (except for girl scout cookies) or sodas in the house - she believed in making and baking tasty, fresh and well prepared food for the family always. Cereal and milk for breakfast was the fastest food we ate, and that was only after she found herself a job outside the home and didn't have as much time as before. As a teenager, tv dinners, tang, bought pastries and coca cola were treats that I purchased for myself with my own money as she would never had brought them into the house. Homemade bread and pastries, baked chicken and real mashed potatoes or pot roasts and scalloped potatoes made with her father's potato mandoline were often on the menu at home; at Christmas she made fudge with a candy thermometer.

My father treated her like the queen he loved. They were devoted to each other, and had a friendship and partnership that never faltered. She never had to balance a checkbook, fill the gas tank, handle home or auto repairs, pay bills or do the taxes - she did the laundry, the housework and the cooking.  Until he passed away 16 years ago. Even so, she managed to cope and successfully adapted, even though she missed him immensely. She learned how to balance the checkbook and pay bills, even take care of the car and get her taxes done. She lived within her budget and yet still managed to send money to those in need - and also to her grandchildren on their birthdays. She was always gracious and welcoming to all.

She was a long time mainstay at her church, and a member for 58 years. She gave that church a lot of herself and her money over the years and spent much time there - as a deaconess, member, bible study teacher, collection money counter, and probably more tasks and duties that even I was ever aware of. She made friends with no less than 4 preachers, all of whom came to love and respect her - and I'm sure will miss her now that she's not there. There will be a hole in that congregation that will be difficult to fill.

She nursed me through asthma, cat allergies, measles, my tonsil and adenoid removal surgery; helped me pick out my first purchased dress from the Sears catalog (that wasn't a hand-me-down) and numerous pairs of gawdy glasses in the 60's; encouraged my studies; told me what she thought about each of my boyfriends (she never really liked any of them until she met the one I married); proudly watched me graduate from college and then later get married; entertained my children in so many ways that I hear about another one all the time; taught me to love reading novels and magazines; taught me the importance of a good first impression; and never let me grow too old for her to tell me what she thought about my clothes, my hair, my life, my plans.

I will always be her baby - her youngest child. I used to hate that, now I am sorry I didn't appreciate her efforts more. She always said she tried to do her best, I think she did pretty good. My dad died 16 years ago, I think of him almost every day, and miss him just as much today as I did then. I know I will think of her every day, too, and will miss them both tremendously. I wish I could pick up the phone and call heaven to talk to them, as I know they are both up there. I hope they are both smiling down at all of us. My promise to each of them is to try to live up to their expectations of me as a daughter, a wife, a mother, a person. They would want that.

I'm now a "published author"!

I've finally made it!!   I wrote 2 articles on Medicare: the basics, and finding additional coverage to cover out of pocket Medicare costs have been published on suite101.com .

Here's the link:  http://www.suite101.com/seniors-health-medicare

These two posts are currently unpaid posts, but if they are picked up and used elsewhere, I might get paid. I may even send them to my local newspaper and see if they want to publish them. Suite101 editors state that once you've got anywhere from 20 to 30 articles on their site, you start to make money. I hope! I also posted this link on my Facebook page, hopefully some of my friends will read it, too.

Someday, I hope to make a good living out of doing this.  Photo credit:  Ambro.

Back in the saddle again

Back home again, and back into the grind of work. I spent another week or so with my mother, helping her a bit after her surgery. I didn't do a lot, just errands and household cleaning and stuff. She is having difficulty with her loss of control over her life so it's a constant tug of war: how much does she want done vs. how much she will let you do.

I've agreed to work with one of the local banks, selling Medicare supplements and Advantage plans this fall, starting in September until January, during the Medicare enrollment period. I will be placed either in one of their bank offices with set appointments OR at a desk in a local grocery store, accepting walk in queries - and hopefully sales. This is something new and different for me, as I've never actively focused on the senior market. However, I believe that in the coming years, this will be the market of choice for health insurance agents (think of all those baby boomers!) so I'm going to give it the old college try. I've spent the last month completing forms, faxing/emailing resumes, licenses and E & O policy pages - basically showing them that yes, I am a licensed and insured insurance agent and I am capable of selling insurance. Now I will spend August going through the Medicare required education and certification to sell the products. The feds have made so many regulations that one must go through many hoops just to sell in this market, that I hope it is worth it all! I've already got a few friends asking me questions about the differences and details available in the supplement marketplace. At the very least, this will educate me on the subject.

On a similar note, I passed my first certification test with H &R Block. Tax professionals are given 3 tries and a passing grade of at least 80 percent is required to be hired back to HRB in January. I passed on the first try with 95 percent! The plan is to try the 2nd certification test next week. If I can pass that one, then I'll move on to the 3rd test before the season starts in January. I doubt if I will pass either of the next 2 tests on the first try, but it's ok, I get 3 tries!

This summer has been very hot, dry, and very boring. I'm looking forward to becoming productive again, soon. And that Panama Canal cruise I've always wanted to take is tempting me tremendously.....if I make a few good sales, I just might be able to book it soon.

I'm a stuck in a whole bunch of sandwiches of life

My mother is in the throes of COPD and lung cancer after over 70 years of smoking. It's a scary time for her, and for me, too. My father passed away 16 years ago, my middle sister 9 years ago, and my oldest sister and I live such disparate lives that we rarely speak and certainly do not really know each other. I live half way across the country from my mother, I just went up there last month to help her with a procedure and will be up there again this month when she has another procedure done. I suspect that I will be traipsing up there again at least a couple of times this year; that is, if she survives for more than a couple of months. She's strong and a fighter but I am afraid the fight may be taking her last bits of strength. She will become tired of fighting soon, it's just a matter of when she decides that it's all too much and wants to give up. Meanwhile, she is coping with just trying to get through every day while facing certain death. I wish I could help her more than I can, and wish I could help more than she would even allow me to do.

My 29 year old son still lives with my husband and me. He has a job, which pays contract wages, sometimes, but he says he loves this job and it's the first one he's ever loved. I just wish it paid enough for him to pay his bills, live independently, have health insurance, and be able to enjoy a few luxuries and save a bit. He's home a lot, especially during the week, but he mows the lawn and vacuum/mops the floors and clean the bathrooms - when I whine about it. His particular sense of household cleanliness doesn't have the same sense of urgency as mine. My usual method of operation is to start talking about a house cleaning a week ahead, telling him that I am having friends over for dinner and that it would be nice if the house was, well, clean? and the front yard looked inviting?  I admit, it is nice having someone around when hubby is gone, and I do enjoy the company as he is a good roomie, but I can't always count on that - he does have a social life, thank goodness. I have told him that he is going to have to move out before his 30th birthday. I don't want to have a 30 year old man living with me....unless he's my husband or my boyfriend.

My husband is employed by a very good company that pays him well and provides excellent benefits for both of us. That's the upside. The downside is that he has to travel 3 weeks out of 4, and the travel is exclusively to Mexico - Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey. He's tired of business travel, packing on Sunday, flying out, hotels, packing up to leave, restaurant food, all of it.  He's also tired of traveling exclusively to Mexico, it's become a scary place, even though he is completely familiar with those 3 cities, his clients and the places that he frequents.  We both love to travel to foreign places, but business travel just isn't the same as leisure travel. You have to be somewhere all the time, you have to look good, you have to be prepared and pleasant. All in all, I think he'd rather be traveling to Paris or Toronto, but he's fluent in Spanish and good at international sales, so for right now, his job provides the majority of our income.

Since I left my last full time job in May 2010, I have had a lot of time to think about whether that was the correct decision, and whether or not I want to go back to work full time. Hubby says, just enjoy it while you can, but secretly, I wonder if he is jealous of my free time and the fact that I don't have to get dressed every day. And that I don't have to be somewhere most of the time. If the tables were turned, I would be jealous! However, I am busier now than when I was employed. I have 3 part time jobs that pay significantly less than when I had one job but since I am at home all the time, I do everything related to the household: bills, taxes, cars, insurance, schedules, appointments, vacation planning, house fixing, cleaning, shopping, cooking, laundry, dishes, etc. Whew! I get a lot done in my nightgown and housecoat.

Truthfully, I am grateful that I have someone supporting me right now (although I do have a bit of income coming in from my 3 part time endeavors to support my shopping vices) and that I am able to drop everything immediately, if need be, and fly up to help my mother. I wouldn't be able to do that if I was working a full time job. And if I did have a full time job that I was able to leave whenever I wanted, I would at the very least feel guilty when I dropped everything to go. So maybe the stars are aligned for me right now, and maybe this is where I need to be and maybe I am doing what I need to do right now. I suppose I should be content?

Here's the crux of my dilemmas:

I'm sandwiched between wanting the gratification (and pay and stimulation) of a full time job and needing to be able to go at a moment's notice.

I'm sandwiched between the guilt of being able to luxuriate at home for as long as I want and wanting  to spend the money that my husband slaves so hard to provide for us.

I'm sandwiched between needing to kick my son out on his own for his own good and wanting to keep him close to home so I can enjoy his company.

I'm sandwiched between wanting to fly the coop and leave all my cares behind - retire with hubby to a far away place with a slower pace - and needing to be somewhat close to my mother (for the time being, anyway) and even closer to my children, whom I love and like and would miss dreadfully if I didn't see them at least weekly.

I'm sandwiched between being too young to retire and too old to start something new.

All in all, sandwiches are NOT my favorite food right now. I'd rather be an empanada, rich inside and cocooned by an outer shell that's not too hard to break.

Back to work...maybe~

Having had a few mini vacations, one to Tucson to watch the fireworks in the desert after the monsoon, and one to help take care of my ailing mother, I'm back to work. Sort of.

I am having a very difficult time getting back into the swing of things. Is this what is called writer's block?We arrived home late Tuesday the 5th and while I had every intention of writing and doing a lot of work on Wednesday & Thursday, it's now Friday. I've piddled around and read all my emails and Facebook comments from my friends but I haven't done anything that can be considered paid labor. Unless you count making dinner for myself and my employed husband and then doing the dishes and laundry, which of course somebody has to do!

I paid a few bills, upgraded my phone at the Sprint store (see my pretty new purple fone in the picture!), helped a client with 3 very old whole life insurance policies, went to an H & R Block tax meeting, talked to my friends, took the car to the tire shop to remove a nail from it, drove my daughter's foreign exchange student to school, watered the plants on the patio, went shopping, mailed a few things, and that's about it. The sum total of 2 and a half days.

Why is working from home take so much discipline? Is it because the whole house screams at you:  clean me, wash me, fix me, eat me. I hate "fixed" schedules, even when I worked in an office. I always preferred getting in early or staying late when needed so that if needed, I could cut out for a few hours either in the middle of the day or in the afternoon and still manage to get all the work done. Now, if I don't start, nothing gets done, but no one, really, is awaiting me. Well, my publisher is waiting for me to finish my latest assignment - but apparently the "deadline", which came and went on the first of June is not really "dead" and according to Nick, I can keep writing more pieces, if I want.

Maybe I'm just tired of the assignment and bored and ready to start a new project? Or maybe I just need to discipline myself, buckle down, and get going.

My goal now: 2 to 3 articles every day until we leave on our next vacation. I hope I manage to keep the ball rolling!

My Daddy, the best dad there ever was

My Dad was the best dad ever, in my humble opinion. He was the first boy who hugged me and told me I was special. Then he continued to hug me and tell me he loved me and still thought I was special as I got older, until the day he passed away.

Daddy was always interested in what I had to say or do. When I wanted to learn how to ski, he researched the ski and boots market and found me the best skis, poles, boots, ski jacket and pants that his little budget could afford. When my mother refused to go to the movies, he and I started "movie night" where the 2 of us would go to the movies together, eat candy bars and drink Coca-Cola (which m mother never allowed in the house) and then discuss the movies together on the way home. I still remember seeing "Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia" with him. I was around 12 years old, but somehow he thought I was old enough to see adult movies.

He never let on to me that the world might impose any limitations on me, not because of being a female growing up in the 60's and 70's, nor because maybe I might not be able to hack it. He had great confidence in me, much more than I had myself, growing up. Whenever I think I might not be able to hack it, I try to remember my dad's faith in me, and how he thought his greatest accomplishments were the daughters that he raised.

My only regrets are that sometimes we all didn't live up to what he wanted for us all the time. And I regret that he didn't live to see my children grow up to be fabulous people on their own. He loved his grandchildren so much, and loved spending time with them. Once he told me that I was too hard on one of my kids. I replied that he would never have let me do what he was telling me that I should let slide. "Yeah, well. Maybe I was too hard on you kids", was his reply. He really wasn't.  Most of the time, his discipline was a harsh look and a comment that he was "disappointed" in me. All this makes me realize that what I do remember is how much he loved me, not how much he disciplined me.

Parents are never perfect, and kids, unfortunately, don't come with a simple How-to Manual. I'm sure he felt he made mistakes, and I'm sure that I've made mistakes, too. But I remember him with great fondness, and much love.

And that's how I want my own children to remember me when I'm gone. I want them to remember me just like I remember my dad -- I want them to know how much I love them, just like how much I knew he loved me, just as I am. 

Making money with blogs

Yesterday I signed up for Google ads....I'd already signed up for Adsense previously...in hopes that somehow I would be able to make a few $$ from writing something that somebody might like to read. Next I posted my blog address on my Facebook page and asked all my friends to click to the site and please to click on the ads.

Today, I checked the site stats and Voila!! So far, in 2 days, I've made a total of $5.26 !! How exciting! Now, if I make about $2.60 every day, that's, hmm...less than a hundred dollars a month. Not too shabby for my first attempt, but I believe I need to get serious about this if I'm planning on being able to live off of writing.

When I signed up for the ads, I applied to a number of ads that Google prompted to my site after I selected a few of my "interests". I immediately got 2 "acceptances" and a few other "pending" notices. Later, I received "declined" notices from all the rest of my choices. I've found that Blogspot and Adsense only allow 3 ads to appear on the blog. I searched around in the "setup" of the site, and found that I had previously set up 3 Adsense spots. Adsense spots are a rolling list of anywhere from 3 to 7 click-thru ads.  This prompted me to try to remove 2, but I was only successful in figuring out how to remove 1, leaving me with 2 Adsense ads and only 1 of the selected ads that I had uploaded to my blog. Why? remember, you can only have 2. So, I will have to rotate the ads, see how they work.

I also have a blog on Wordpress. Wordpress is much easier to manipulate, writing and design wise, but I haven't yet figured out how to monetize my Wordpress blog. I'm not even sure that it allows for paid ads. That's my next project.

"Monetizing" the blog....I'm not really sure I know what I'm doing?

And will this actually produce any money?

To date, I have learned the following about monetizing a blog:
1) Adsense will override any other ads that I've signed up with and are approved for on my blog;
2) Blogspot will only allow 3 ads to be viewed on your blog; so, if Adsense is set for 2 spots, you can only have one other money producing ad.
3) If all my 277 friends on FB click through just once on an ad, I may make about...$2.77...or less, if not enough people click through.
4) most ads state that if 100 click thru's happen, you get $xx.xx payment. Somehow I have not figured out how Adsense will pay, nor how much they will pay. I'm still learning.
5) whoever writes the "help" pages and the instructions on blogs and blog ads must be much more technology savvy than the average user.  IMHO, I am more knowledgeable than many, but there's a lot in there that is as bad as learning Chinese. Oh, wait, maybe someone in China wrote it and then google translated it?

Meanwhile, I should be writing on my contract job, but writing about Alzheimer's is so much less fun than figuring out stuff on blogging and how to get paid for it.

I better get back to my real writing job.

Trying to get rid of old stuff

Over the last 30+ years, I have amassed a large quantity of National Geographic magazines. I have also picked up a few very old ones, from the 50's and 60's. I find them fascinating and I love reading and re-reading them. Unfortunately, they take up a lot of space in my closet and they are nasty dustcatchers. 

This week, I decided to cull out a few keepers and sell the rest on Craig's list. I took a picture of a few new and a very old one, and posted the item on Craig's list. Someone named "Mike" immediately asked to come look at them, and I replied that we could meet at a local diner. Nice safe busy place, I don't really want any strangers at my house!

I asked my strong son to get them down off the top shelf in the closet and help me put them in boxes, so I could cart them out to the car and hopefully, sell the lot.

Meanwhile, my son started looking through them, and said that $30 was way too cheap a price for the collection; then he started finding the ones that he wanted to keep - and started throwing out bids for the lot. My reply was that "Mike" already wanted to buy the lot for $30.  My sense of duty and honesty propelled me to keep my word, I felt that I couldn't go back on "Mike" and sell the lot to someone else and tell him, tough luck.

Plan was to meet "Mike" today @ noon. Around 11:00, I received an email from "Mike", he no longer wants to buy them.

New Plan:  I will chronicle the issues and edit my Craig's list posting. Or else just take them down to Half-Priced books and get a few dollars credit.

turning .tif file pictures into .gif files. Any advice?

I scanned a few photos from way back when, prints, to my computer so that I could upload them onto my Facebook page of my high school friends. Unfortunately, Facebook will not upload .tif files. I've been told to "re-save" them as .gif files but when I try to do this, I don't get that option available. Any suggestions?

Laptops! I have 2 now!

I bought a new laptop last summer. I am certain that it was defective because in about 2 weeks the screen went crazy horizontal lines - no normal screen sights at all. I took it in to the computer big box store and 5 weeks later, they sent me a new one. First they lost it, then they apparently hadn't typed in my correct phone number, so they sent me a nasty email that said "we have tried to reach you, your computer is ready, come get it." Hooray! then a few months later, I dropped it on the tile floor. It still worked fine but the external box on the left by the hinge was severely dented and closed funny.

Since it still worked fine, I was too embarrassed to take it in for repairs, so I waited until this spring to take it back. I took it in, along with my external hard drive so that they could back up all my new stuff onto the external drive. They called me a few days later to say that the external drive was ready. I went there to pick it up, and they had lost it! Stolen, destroyed, lost, who knows where that thing - mind you with all my stuff on it - was.

Someone there with a few brain cells went and retrieved my laptop from the warehouse (where it goes to be sent off to Sony for repairs) so that the data could be backed up onto a new external drive. Whew. Then they couldn't find the laptop AGAIN!! I was furious. When I went to pick up my laptop, it had been sent back, yet not repaired!

I'm going to skip over all the back and forth and trips to the store and complaints and people passing the buck and so on etc. I will skip ahead to a call I received from the store manager telling me that, because of the bad service that I received, they wanted to GIVE ME another laptop! OK, but what about the one that is @ Sony, supposedly being repaired? Oh, that one is yours, too. This will be one from us to show us our sincere apologies.

I might also mention that right before this call that I received, on my last trip to the store, I had  requested a letter, signed by someone at the store, that stated that the store LOST my external hard drive and took responsibility for that loss. Yes, they replaced it, but it had a lot of personal, private information on it. I wanted some proof in case my identity got stolen somehow, that could trace it back to that. The manager said that he was certain that the hard drive was destroyed.  Apparently when they transfer data from one old external drive to another new one, they destroy the old one. I certainly hope that is what happened.

So, now I am enjoying using 2 computers at once! I can research on one screen, write on the other....so much easier than tabbing back and forth.

I guess it pays to complain sometimes. And ask for proof of loss.

Editor's approval!

My current writing assignment was supposed to be finalized last Wednesday, but the original instruction was that I could write 50 to 70 or more articles out of a possible 200 or 300 titles.  I asked for a short extension to Friday, which was granted. On Friday, I wrote my editor and said, I can keep writing if you need me to? Each article is supposed to be 500 to 650 words. He wrote back on Sunday that what I had written was "certainly fine so far" and that I could keep at it this week, no worries.

"Certainly" makes up for those 2 rejections that I keep trying to "reject" out of my memory!

I'm too busy to be unemployed!

Not to be too distracted by the 2 rejects that I received from one publisher, for 2 very small articles, I decided to move on.
I spent the better part of 2 weeks in May enrolling teachers in their choice of insurance benefits for a broker friend of mine. I like doing this type of work; I'm not really selling but my expertise and knowledge of the benefits and the insurance business is greatly appreciated by the majority of the people with whom I sit with while explaining their options.
In between the 2 weeks that I was enrolling, I spent a week or so with a friend in Cuenca Ecuador. She and her hubby have listened to me talk on and on about Ecuador for almost 20 years and they decided that, maybe we should just up and sell the farm (literally) and go. They did, last winter, and love it there - no regrets. So I had to go, see them, check out the new pad, enjoy the gorgeous weather, flowers, food and good company -- and I had a blast. Wish my hubby went with me, too, but, somebody has to work...harder than me, anyway.
I'm working on finishing an assignment for the one publisher that I have actually been successful - and who has actually paid me!! but it's been a bit slow going as the articles are all about medical conditions and I have to do a lot of research to get it right.
Next, I have applied to no less than 3 other publishers to hopefully! be approved/hired/accepted to write for them. I can't live on the one assignment about every month and a half that I do receive currently.

I had plans to re-arrange the "office/guest room/bicycle stuff room" to be my office, buy a new desk, throw out the junk I haven't used for years... For the last 2 years, my office has been the dining room table...and I believe that I like being able to look out the front window at my favorite tree, be close to the fridge for snacks, and put my feet up on one of the other chairs. Here's a pic of my new Sony Vaio laptop on my messy "desk"!