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Taking A Look At My 2008 Goals

December 3rd, 2008

NCN

Last December, I created some goals for 2008. Throughout the year, I have been tracking my progress. Here’s where I stand, with one month left in December, and with five months left to fund my wife’s Roth and my kids’ ESAs for 2008.

Account	Amount	Progress
My 403b	$15,500.00	$15,500.00
My Wife’s Pension	$2,000.00	$2,000.00
Daughter’s ESA	$2,000.00	$0.00
Son’s ESA	$2,000.00	$0.00
My Roth	$5,000.00	$5,000.00
My Wifes’ Roth	$5,000.00	$0.00
Total	$31,500.00	$22,500.00

Technically, the 403b and my wife’s pension will be fully funded at some point in December, but I went ahead and included them in my calculations, since they are automatic contributions from our paychecks.

I have five months, between now an April 15th, to fund my wife’s Roth and Education Savings Accounts for both of my kids. Unfortunately, I had hoped to fund my Son’s ESA for 2007, but I missed the April 2008 deadline. So, instead o $4000, as per my original goal, I’m working for a $2000 contribution before April 2009.

Looking back, the new baby and high gasoline prices really had an impact on our finances in 2008. I am happy to note that I was able to fully-fund my 403b for the second year in a row.

My original plan was to fully-fund all of these accounts by the end of 2008, but there’s just no way. I like to have a cash cushion in my emergency fund, and I’m not willing to dig into it in order to make an artificial December 31st deadline. As long as I make the contributions before April 15th, I’m cool.

How did you do during 2008? Are you on pace to reach your goals? Did the higher gas prices or the falling economy set you back? Leave a comment and let us know!

Sign Up With Upromise Before The Holidays

November 9th, 2008

NCN

Christmas is just around the corner. If you haven’t signed up for Upromise, now is the time!

You’ll earn money for your kids’ college – and it’s free. Simply sign up at Upromise, register your debit, credit (boo), and grocery store cards, and you’ll start earning. Your friends and family can also sign up and earn points for your kids. Also, shop through the Upromise online interface, and you’ll receive even more rewards.

Oh, one more cool thing. If you don’t want to put the money in a 529 plan for college savings, you can request that Upromise simply cut you a check in the amount of your rewards. That’s what I do.

If you sign up for Upromise through one of the above affiliate links, I’ll make a few bucks. Thanks!

Posted in College

3 Comments »

Setting Up Automatic Contributions To Retirement And Education Savings Accounts

August 11th, 2008

NCN

I’ve just spent a few minutes setting up automatic contributions to my Roth IRA, my wife’s Roth IRA, and three Education Savings Accounts (one for each of our children).

Contributions to these types account can be made any time between January 1st of one year and April 15th of the next year. So, I have until April 15th, 2009 to fully-fund both Roth IRAs and the three ESAs.

There is a four month period of time – between January and April of each year – when contributions can be made for the prior year or the present year. When making a contribution, always make a notation of the year with which the contribution should be associated. You don’t want to send in a contribution for 2008 and have it count towards 2009’s contribution limit, or vice versa.

Personally, I’m going to push myself and try to get all of my contributions in before December 31st. That way, I can hit the ground running in 2009 and I won’t have to deal with the period of overlap. But, if I can’t scrape together all of the money that I need between now and then, it’s good to know that I have the four month cushion. Of course, if I bleed over into 2009 with my 2008 contributions, my 2009 contribution schedule will be affected.

For our family, our Roth IRA limits are $5000 for me and $5000 for my wife, and $2000 for each of our three kids. (I’ve already fully-funded my Roth IRA for 2008. Between now and December, I’ll be working hard to fully-fund my wife’s Roth IRA and the three ESAs)

Here’s the current contribution breakdown (with my own December 2008 deadline) -

2008	Wife’s Roth	ESA 1	ESA 2	ESA 3
August	1000	400	400	400
September	1000	400	400	400
October	1000	400	400	400
November	1000	400	400	400
December	1000	400	400	400
Totals	5000	2000	2000	2000

Here’s the backup contribution breakdown (with the actual April 2009 deadline) -

2008	Wife’s Roth	ESA 1	ESA 2	ESA 3
August	555.56	222.22	222.22	222.22
September	555.56	222.22	222.22	222.22
October	555.56	222.22	222.22	222.22
November	555.56	222.22	222.22	222.22
December	555.56	222.22	222.22	222.22
2009
Jan	555.56	222.22	222.22	222.22
Feb	555.56	222.22	222.22	222.22
Mar	555.56	222.22	222.22	222.22
Apr	555.56	222.22	222.22	222.22
Totals	5000	2000	2000	2000

The automatic contributions will be made from my primary checking account and have been scheduled to be withdrawn on the day after I deposit my monthly paycheck.

Posted in College, Retirement

5 Comments »

Time To Request A Withdrawal From My Upromise Account

July 24th, 2008

NCN

As many of you know, I’m a big fan of Upromise. Sign up for free, register your debit cards, credit cards, and grocery bonus cards, and you can earn cash rewards for your kids’ college. Upromise encourages you to invest the rewards in 529 plans, but, I don’t use 529 plans to save for my kids’ college. Instead, I like to withdraw my money from Upromise, once a year, and use the money to fund my kids’ Education Savings Accounts (ESAs).

From the Upromise site -

Can I withdraw company contributions from my Upromise account without transferring them to a savings plan, and if so, how?

You can withdraw your Upromise contributions at any time during your membership. To withdraw company contributions from your Upromise account, submit a letter in writing to Upromise requesting a withdrawal from your Upromise account. The letter must state your full name and exact amount that you would like to withdraw, up to total amount available in your account, pending contributions are not eligible for withdrawal.

For the protection of our members, we require that your letter either be notarized or contain a Signature Guarantee if the withdrawal request is in excess of $200. A Signature Guarantee is a guarantee you can obtain from a financial institution, such as your bank, that your signature is yours and that it is genuine.

Withdrawal letters should be sent to:

Upromise
ATTN: Customer Care
P.O. Box 55555
Boston, MA 02205-5555

Download Withdrawal Request Form (Direct Link Removed)

Checks are sent once per calendar quarter, so you should typically receive your check within 12 weeks of your request being received.

As you can see, Upromise makes it easy to get to your money, and then you can do whatever you want with it. (They’ve even created a Withdrawal Request Form. Print it out and mail it it in. In about 12 weeks, you’ll have your check!) Of course, you could leave your money in the Upromise account and invest it in a 529 plan. Whatever you decide to do, it’s good to know that you can get to your rewards money, if you want.

Right now, I have more than $50 in my account. I’m going to mail my letter Friday morning. I’ll let you know when my check arrives.

Posted in College, Resources

11 Comments »

Hurry! A Reminder To Sign Up For Upromise For Free And Get $10

May 26th, 2008

NCN

Just a quick reminder -

If you haven’t signed up for Upromise, now is the time! They have extended their free $10 offer throughout June. Several readers took advantage of this offer in March and April, and now they’ve extended it until June 30th!

Click here to read more about Upromise and the free $10 offer. Or, if you are ready, go ahead and click here to sign up for you free Upromise account and save for college while you shop.

Posted in College

3 Comments »