“At Your Best” – book review
As part of one of my professional mastermind groups, we recently read “At Your Best” by Carey Nieuwhof (available in Minnesota through Inter Library Loan) and discussed the book as a group. Big topics from the book included: But the biggest take-aways from the book from my perspective were: A…
Brain development and executive functioning – why the future isn’t real yet
Earlier this month I attended a presentation by executive functioning coach Sarah Ward, co-director of Cognitive Connections. She was teaching parents how to make their home structure support better executive functioning. I was attending this to help figure out how to set up my home to better support my children,…
How to have a GREAT Celebration of Life
A beloved family member died this summer, right around the 4th of July holiday, and it made it difficult for arrangements to have a well attended funeral. Instead, a big Celebration of Life party was planned for this fall. Let me share with you from this experience some tips on…
What did October 2023’s new segment rate release mean for my pension lump sum? Strategies for cashing out
Back in November 2022, my pension value was updated with the October 2022 segment rate release, and the numbers weren’t pretty, with a drop of 53% of my pension lump sum value. Now that the November 2023 pension value update has happened, does it look any better? How bad is…
Is your raise really a raise, or a pay cut in disguise?
Yesterday I showed you why your employer may have had to have raised the deductible and out of pocket maximum on your high deductible health plan for 2024. You’ve also heard how much your pay raise for 2024 will be. But while your new insurance bills kick in January 1st,…
Why did my high deductible health plan’s deductible go up?
This fall during open enrollment you may have seen your employer state that the deductible for your high deductible health plan was going to increase “in accordance with 2024 IRS requirements”. What does that mean, and how does it impact you? While the words to describe this type of health…
Minnesota Rebate Checks Are Taxable
Some Minnesota residents received rebate checks in 2023 from the state government. While most states’ stimulus checks during the official portions of the COVID-19 pandemic declaration were not federally taxed (although Minnesota’s Frontline Worker Pay was). As the federal government had changed the pandemic’s official designation before the Minnesota checks…
Scheduling life may be inconvenient – do it anyway
Those bright spots in your life, the memories that you look back on over and over again, they don’t come out of nothing. They usually come out of investing time and energy when it’s inconvenient, when it’s hard, when it’s painful. Tonight we made some of those types of memories….
New benefits go into effect January 1, 2024
For most employees, the new benefits elections you made in November 2023 go into effect January 1st 2024. And if you’re on Medicare, January 1st is when Medicare plans change over too. With those transitions, the benefit rules you’re used to may have changed, and you need to be aware…
Using your 2023 benefit funds before they time out
Many of the benefits you have through your employer have time constraints on them. Before your new benefits begin January 1, 2024, if you have any limited use funds, they will disappear after December 31st. Now is the time to spend them! What are limited use funds, that need to…