My Financial To Do List:
- Decide whether to contest tax assessment of rental by May 31.
- Get rental unit cleaned up and re-leased by June 1.
- Pay car insurance renewal premium of $642 by June 14.
- Enroll in and pay for 2 summer term CFP classes by late June ($1,470 incl books).
- Submit request for $700 reimbursement for Spring CFP class from employer as soon as the final grades come back in late June.
- Make $5,000 annual payment to grandfather by mid July for the personal loan he gave me last summer for the downpayment on my second rental property.
- Pay off $6,325 in credit card debt before 0% rate expires in the fall.
- Enroll for review course for CFP exam by the end of the summer.
8 comments:
Do you use any of the available to do list applications on the web? www.todoist.com I use every day.
Meg, you should ABSOLUTELY contest your tax assessment.
Every.
Single.
Year.
In Texas, your taxes CANNOT go up as a result of the ARB hearing. They can only stay the same, or go down. There are law firms out there who will go to the ARB on your behalf. If they don't lower your taxes, they don't get paid. If they do lower your taxes, they get paid a percentage of the money they saved you. So at the end of the tax year, either your financial situation has not changed, or it has changed for the better.
This is a no brainer!
How did your grandfather (or both of you) come up with that repayment plan? 5K on a 45K loan seems like little to me. Also, what money are you using to pay him back? Your own earnings, rental income, or their gifts?
I'm just curious! I LOVE the way you all help each other get ahead. DH and I are not anywhere near the place your grandparents are, and we probably never will be. But in our own much smaller way, we hope to help our kids "get ahead" too.
PS We're doing it the same way you are, with rental real estate.
@ coolshawn - I'll have to check it out! But I have to admit I'm kind of old school when it comes to my to do lists. I handwrite them and revel in physically checking off each item.
@ Anon - Thanks for the advice! I've got my real estate agent getting some comps together for me so that I can be informed. No way that property went up 5% since I bought it last year - especially when there was a foreclosure on that street.
@ debtheaven - I came up with the repayment plan; he hadn't established one and after running the numbers I figured that $5K a year was what I could afford without compromising my other savings goals. I don't want to pay it off TOO aggressively because it's at such a good interest rate (2.4%), but I want the figure to be substantial enough so that he knew I was serious about repayment.
Oh, and it's a $21,000 loan now. My grandparents' 2009 annual gift to me went towards forgiveness of that loan. I figure he may do that again in 2010, so really this may be the only payment I make on it. He wouldn't care if I never made a payment, but I still want to do it, on principal. He's going to be so proud to get that check in the mail!
Meg, that was exactly why I was so puzzled! I didn't realize that your grandparents' 2009 gift went towards forgiving that loan, so I didn't understand how they could be gifting you $24K a year (I think) yet you'd only be repaying them $5K a year. Now of course it's clear!
And I agree about your grandfather being so proud to get that check in the mail!
Can you include a gift card for Vegas? ;-)
I think a lot of the problems people have with this "gifting" thing is that they don't understand that the gift comes with a very clear underlying message, you shall pay it forward / pass it on.
Meg, check out this timely article: http://www.lifestylesunlimited.com/how_to_protest_your_property_taxes_and_win
Also, if you're in D/FW and want to get serious about investing in real estate, you could do worse than join Lifestyles Unlimited.
@ anon - thanks I'll check that out.
@ debthaven - thanks for the moral support! There's definitely the expectation that :)we (me and siblings and cousins) use our blessings positively - and the fear that we won't - which is why I know they are proud that I (the oldest and therefore the first guinnea pig) have asked for funds for investments and that I got a good education. But FYI this set of grandparents would never voluntarily set foot in Vegas! That's the other side. :)
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