On Saturday, The Pony will join the ranks of the regulars. He will officially become a City Carrier for the USPS.
He has not yet received his official official letter, but he has been informed. Sadly, he lost a portion of the 3 days of leave he had accumulated as a City Carrier Assistant since his 1-year anniversary in April, because there was no way to fit them into the schedule on short notice. Ain't THAT a fine how-do-you-do for being frugal with his benefits, and even working with his steak-oil-burned hand peeling like a molting reptile!
Anyhoo... The Pony is not complaining. He received his handbook of benefits, and is shopping for different health insurance, and contemplating 401k contributions.
We already took him out for a celebratory meal, and a casino trip is planned for an upcoming day off. Congrats, my little Pony, on a lifelong career opportunity, with job security and benefits. Such a thing is rare as hens' teeth these days.
Tomorrow, a few pictures of the aftermath of our meal...
Congratulations to Pony! May the weather always be kind, may the dogs all be his friends, may the cats ignore the fingers in the mail slot and may he always have a reliable vehicle and no more falls or slips or slides and may he be sure footed every step, ofevery day. Ranee (MN)
ReplyDeleteI will relay your congratulations and your wish to The Pony. As my mom used to say, "He will get a kick out of it."
Delete401 contributions should be to the max, or as much as he can afford. Cranky advise that is hard to follow at his age.
ReplyDeleteThe USPS will match The Pony's contributions up to 5%. He is contemplating 10-15% . Like he says, he can always adjust it when he sees how it's working out. He's still interested in investing in a flip house with us, too. I say you can't go wrong putting your money into land. They're not making any more! The 10 acres we bought when he was a baby has more than doubled in price.
DeleteThe Pony is not living high on the hog. He's not one to squander his money on a balcony pepper farm!
joeh said what I was going to, 401k contributions as much as he can possibly spare. He doesn't want to end up scraping for pennies in his old age. I wish I'd been taught when I was young.
ReplyDeleteMy teacher's retirement was automatically withheld from my check, so I am not well-versed in 401k contributions. I agree that now is the time for The Pony to put in as much as he can. I'd also like to see him invest in real estate, and just sit on it for a while. It can only increase in value over his lifetime.
DeleteI cringe every month when we get the statement showing how much Hick's 401k is losing as the stock market dips. Like he says, though: "I ain't lost nothin' till they sell the shares." At least we're not drawing any money out of my investments, so technically they aren't "losing" anything.
I agree with the real estate too, if The Pony can buy a small place and rent it out so the incoming rent covers his outgoing mortgage payments, he's off to a good start.
ReplyDeleteWe are still interested in the beauty shop property, since it can be turned back into a house, and there's the other house on the same corner lot. So two rentals. Hick is going to give the owner another week, and then try to call him.
DeleteCongrats to the Pony! One of my sons-in-law is big on saving for the future. By the time our Layla graduated highschool, he has $100,000 set aside for college. that is separate from the retirement account. She is a college senior this year, still making the deans list every quarter.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure The Pony will say "Thanks" for the congrats. Good for your saving SIL, that's fantastic! We had enough set aside for Genius and The Pony to cover what their scholarships didn't, but we didn't have THAT much between them!
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