My aunt died recently. She had a pre-paid funeral plan that covered the casket (which she had already picked out),the funeral, head stone, and the cemetary plot.
She wanted to make sure that expenses would be covered to make it easier for her daughter. But she had procrastinated on something. She never picked out a plot and so the plan never paid for one. The funeral, head stone, and casket expenses had already been paid out.
The family wasn’t sure where they should bury her. Shipping her body back to the city of her birth was out of the question due to expense. They finally made a decision and went to buy the plot. The cemetary wanted the $1,500 for the plot upfront. Her daughter didn’t have $1,500. The providers of the pre-paid plan said they would cover it but it could take a week.
A week? What was she supposed to do with her mother’s remains for a week? It was yet another stress she was having to cope with while grieving for the loss of her mother. Luckily, another family member stepped up and fronted the money for the plot so the funeral could move forward.
Is a Pre-Paid Plan Really A Plan?
My aunt never would have wanted to put her daughter through that but it never occurred to her that there might be a bureaucratic delay in benefits pay-out. Have you considered it in your plans? Does your plan have all expenses already paid for? If not, do you have a cash reserve set aside to cover expenses that might not get paid out until later? If you are to be interned in another city, have you factored transportation costs into your plans?
Even if you have, have your loved ones? No one enjoys talking about death plans but the alternative of a grieving loved one having to confront unplanned for expenses is far more unpleasant. You need to make sure your wishes are clearly outlined and that all expenses will be covered immediately after your death. You also need to make sure you know the final wishes of your loved ones and plan now how to cover the related expenses.
No one wants to be put into the position of having to make decisions about their loved ones remains based on ignorance or cost.
Now that I’ve finished school I’m feeling an obligation to get a job despite the fact that we’re getting by just fine. Its not that I have anything against earning more money but I like my role as a stay-at-home dad.
While there are many factors that influence a person’s decision to remain at home or re-join the workforce, here is a simple formula for deciding how much you would need to earn to make it worthwhile:
Jobs Expenses + Time Compensation + Approx. tax % = Minimum Income Needed
JOB EXPENSES
Start by making a list of all the expenses you can think of associated with going back to work such as:
- Transportation costs- car payments & insurance, parking & gas, bus or train fare
- Meal costs- Lunches, obviously. Will you have to eat dinner out more often as well?
- Clothing- uniforms/work attire including shoes, accessories, and cleaning costs
- Childcare- before & after school care or daycare, summer & school vacation daycare, lunches & snacks
Estimate all those expense for a week and multiply by 52.
TIME COMPENSATION
This is the tough one. Basically, you need to decide how much money above job expenses you need to bring home in order to compensate you and you family for the time you will not be spending with them and for the free-time you will lose because everything you used to take care of during the day now has to be done on the weekends or at night. You might also want to factor in activities you will have to give up or cut back on as a result of you working. How can you put a price tag on time spent with your children? Better figure it out because that is exactly what you have to do! If you really, can’t maybe you should seriously reconsider going back to work.
TAXES
Now total up your job expenses and time compensation and add approximately how much you think you’ll end up paying in taxes. This percentage will vary depending on your combined income level and where you live. For my purposes I wanted to err on the side of caution so I used 40%.
EXAMPLE
Let’s just throw out some ficticious numbers:
Work expenses: $12,840
Time compensation minimum: $25,000
Approximate Taxes: 37%
12840 + 25000 + 37% = 51841
So the minimum you’ll need to make each year to make it worth your while is $51,840. Then the question becomes:
Can you make this much money or are you willing to settle for less time compensation?
If the answer is “no”, you may want to rethink going back to work. If you return to work to for less, you may find yourself miserable and resentful. If your decision leaves you unhappy, both you and your family will pay the price.
Now all this is assuming you’re looking to return to work because you want to and not because your financial situation demands it.
When circumstances demand it, we suck it up and do what we have to in order to survive but when we have the luxury of making a choice, we need to think it through very carefully because money is not the only determinant of your standard of living.
