Many Americans receive their health insurance coverage through their employer. When I left my employer at the beginning of October, our family’s coverage was impacted. In my case it was pretty simple: my new employer provided a health plan comparable to StartupInc’s. But this isn’t always an option for everyone. In 1985, Congress created a… Continue reading Keeping My Healthcare Plan
One of the ways our family enjoys spending time together is by playing board games. It’s our way of finding ways to interact and laugh together. Every year we add games to our collection and with the holiday season right around the corner, I thought I’d share some of the games we played this year.… Continue reading Games We Played in 2021
October 2021 Update My favorite season is Fall. The leaves are gorgeous and the temperatures are cooler. We squeeze in some family camping trips, especially on weekdays when campgrounds aren’t mostly vacant and the only other families are either retirees or homeschoolers like us. Camping in New York and Ohio Our big camping trip this… Continue reading October 2021 Update
Over the past two-plus decades, I have accumulated over 500 logins and passwords. I suspect that’s more than the average web user, but probably not by much. Keeping track of these all in my brain would be impossible. Of those logins, I only remember four of them: my computer login for work, my computer login… Continue reading Why I use a password manager and why you should too
Unlike me, my sister is an actual accountant. When I was talking to her about her taxes a few months ago, my ears perked up when she said she was still itemizing deductions on her federal tax return, even though her itemized deductions were less than her standard deduction. Huh? I thought the equation was… Continue reading Should I Itemize My Deductions When My Standard Deduction is Higher?
I finally filed my 2020 taxes after filing for an extension last May. I hoped for additional tax changes related to the pandemic, making it advantageous to hold off filing. I would have been fine filing in May. As with every tax year, I learned new things, mostly about how I could reduce my taxes… Continue reading Taxes – 2020 Edition
Today is my last day at StartupInc. When I joined four and a half years ago, we were a motley crew of sixteen. Now, we’re nearly 300. I joined shortly after the series A round and watched the company grow through B, C, and D rounds. From my vantage point, the company’s trajectory is solid,… Continue reading A New Gig
We love celebrating Labor Day by going camping. We call it our “not back to school” camp and have been doing it for years. It’s intentionally timed when all the other children across the country are back in school. Less crowds (or none!) and cooler temperatures. My second youngest was born at the tail end… Continue reading September 2021 Update
The FAFSA’s Expected Family Contribution (EFC) for college expenses has two components. I dug previously into the Expected Parental Contribution (EPC) and how to minimize it. Today, we’ll look at the second component, the Expected Student Contribution (ESC). Obviously, the expectation for how much a student contributes to their own education is higher than for… Continue reading Financial Aid: Student’s Contribution
Recently, I was talking with a Maryland resident about 529s, financial aid, and tuition. You know, my favorite subjects. After the conversation, I poked into the costs of attending the University of Maryland and found a surprise: differential tuition. Huh. What is lurking behind this obfuscation? Let’s find out. What Good Is Differential Tuition? In… Continue reading What is differential tuition?
