We take a walk, the sun is shining down

[austin_dern]

I suppose I should share my personal tax situation report. As last year, I ended up owing money, although this time both to the federal government and the state. I would've come near breaking even if I hadn't picked up some money in that web site thingy and finally got a royalty check; while I won't get rich on that, it wasn't accounted for in my withholdings.

It did, though, prompt me to finally open an individual retirement account. I should have done this years ago, yes, but trying to figure out my bank's scheme for setting one up online left me feeling like I didn't really need to deal with this right now, and trying to find a money guy to talk this over with in person was right out for obvious reasons. Fortunately, TurboTax provided online guides that let me set up something in pretty short order and within my comfort range.

And then the next day, they called, leaving a message on my parents' answering machine, offering to give me any investment guidance I might need, if I need any. They also sent me an e-mail saying they'd called to say they were ready to give etc etc. So when I got home besides the message I also got reported from my father that they'd called and left a message saying they called, et etc, and then I got it again from my mother, just in case. I'm the skitterish sort of consumer, prone to shying away from the clerk at Best Buy even when I do want help; if they're going to be this solicitous of me I'm going to take my money somewhere I can be let alone, thank you.

Oh, except, the day after that my bank e-mailed me to ask that I call their fraud-detection division. They even called me at work and I don't know how they got that number, but in the time between being told I had the message (at lunch) and going to my office to pick it up they hung up because, I guess, they aren't that excited about fraud after all. They were just concerned that I really and truly wanted this larger-than-normal check sent out. I did, and that was that, apart from actually doing any investment stuff.

Trivia: To remedy the government's fiscal catastrophes following the Seven Years War the Prussian government adopted the French system of tax management known as the régie (in which tax farmers received only a percentage of the revenue above a prior stipulated sum), and which brought the state back to fiscal health. Source: Citizens: A Chronicle Of The French Revolution Simon Schama.

Currently Reading: Bottom Of The Ninth: Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, And The Daring Scheme To Save Baseball From Itself, Michael Shapiro.

Comments

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

I've got an IRA myself, but it's lying stagnant right now as I'm getting much better return (namely, a 100% match) from my 401(k) at work, now that I'm eligible. If your workplace offered a 401(k), that would be an excellent path to take.

..I'm fine with my IRA lying stagnant, but to get tot hat point I had to call their central office to ask for my agent, whose number has changed and did not have a new one in the home office's system. But as the home office could halt contributions for me,t hey did, and at some point perhaps int he future I may resume.

--Chi

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I'm .. not sure if they have a 401(k). I should check the employee's manual, if anyone has a copy.

It's kind of aggressively stupid on my part that I haven't had one before, since my lifestyle is perfect for automated-payroll-deduction schemes. I'm just taking longer than usual to stop living like I'm poor, I guess.

[chefmongoose.livejournal.com]

You really should. If there's any sort of match, the 401(k) is probably the best investment.

--Chi

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I should. Coincidentally, last week revealed that if I ever got an employee's manual I've lost it completely. I imagine it's replaceable, though.

[porsupah.livejournal.com]

Contrary to the banks' claims, I suspect their fraud departments use particularly twitchy, caffeinated squirrels as their triggers, given that actual activity compared to their triggers don't seem to have more than a passingly coincidental relationship.

One of my banks was, at least, happy to concede that I wouldn't easily be able to visit my nearest branch with two forms of identification, on the grounds that that was about 6,000 miles away. Much un-muted Hindi conversation in the background later, they were fine with some more verbal proof of identity.

[austin-dern.livejournal.com]

I'm glad my bank hasn't wanted to see me in person. They have opened a branch just an hour away from me and I could go up to Manhattan if I needed to (and would probably find that more pleasant anyway), but it's still a disrupt-the-whole-day kind of thing.

They did ask what branch I opened my account from, which I over-answered by pointing out the physical location and that it wasn't running under the same marque at the time. Although possibly being able to identify when they subsumed the local branch into the international corporate overlordship told them something about my actually being there.