Don’t Buy a House in SoCal yet…

…cuz according to this article, the big one is going to hit just any minute now.

 Maybe I should go buy that earthquake insurance.

Incentive for Contribution

My coworkers and I came up with a new technology to solve one of the current system problem and just for the heck of it, we filed a patent disclosure with our company. I just got the notice that the patent attorneys thought the technology is pretty neat, so the attorneys are going to submit this patent disclosure to the US Patent Agency (but we would need to comb through 1000+ pages of other patents to make sure our technology does not infringe onto existing patents) *WOOHOO*. 

The awesome part [for the company] is if this patent goes through, the company can use it to make millions and billions. The not so awesome part [for me] is I would be getting 0.00% of that money. Of course such arrangment would not bout well with anyone, so our company has this incentive program where if your idea can be submitted (like in our case), we get a small reward ($1,000 or so). And if the disclosure becomes a patent, we get another small rewards.

I think it is pretty neat the company has this incentive program to encourage employees to be innovative. Furthermore, I think if the company increase their incentive amount and provide employee with more opportunity (and time) to be innovative, more employees will try to be more creative with their technological approach rather than going with the traditional (heritage) route. I think this is one of  main reason that Google is doing so well. What do you think? Does your company has any incentive program?

Although I won't get rich out of this, it is still pretty cool that in a year or so, I may be able to officially call myself an Inventor.

This Suit Costs $1,400 or $140…

For my male readers, great article on how to buy a men's suit from the Budgeting Babe's blog.

Free Night at Mariott

HSBC mailed me their "Smart Idea" promotion. Open an interest checking account with direct deposit or $3,000+ deposit, and you will receive one free night and breakfast for two at one of over 2300 participating Marriott hotels.

Pretty sweet deal.

You Won the Lotto! Now what…

It's Just Money wrote a very good entry comparing taking cash value or annual payment if one shall win the lotto.

It makes more sense to take the cash value so those money can generate even more money. However, if I win the lotto (assuming my financial and personal situation is about the same), I would take the annual payment.

I have no problem with handling such amount of money. However, when it comes down to what I want in life, annual payments make more sense (for NOW). With annual payment, I would have the freedom to choose how I spend my time (work, travel, bumming around…) for at least the next 20 years. I been taught well in term of living within my mean, so if I save and set money aside for retirement and investment, I can manage to have that financial freedom for the rest of my life.

However, if my situation change (most likely), I'd take the lump sum. For example, say if my parents' livelihood is depending entirely on me or if I have kids, then I would take the lump sum so if anything shall happen to me, their lifestyle won't change overnight.

What would you do if you win the lotto? 

I’m a “Weird Thing” Magnet

Apparently, I am a magnet for weird stuffs.

A few days ago, I received a delinquent fee notification for a parking violation that got ticketed 400 miles away from where I was on that day. I called and turned out the Sheriff wrote down the wrong license plate number. Hopefully DMV would clear this up soon.

Today, someone deposited $10.75 into my Pay Pal account. It'd be typical IF I was selling stuff but I had not put anything on eBay for years. Neither could I figure out what the payment was for from the payment details. I emailed the buyer about it. It's probably another mistake. 

I should go buy a lotto tomorrow, maybe by mistake I would win!

Real Estate in Southern California

The main culprit behind the latest price hike is the unrelenting demand for limited housing, a problem fueled by record-low mortgage-interest rates, adjustable-rate financing and a population stampede into Southern California that shows no sign of slowing.

Read more here.

Base from this article, I guess I should be glad I already got a house despite that the house take up more than 50% of my income.

Odd Fee

In the vehicle registration renewal notice I just received, there one very odd item.

———————————————

PARK/TOLL VIOLATIONS 

Date                  Agency              Violation No.          Code          Amount

08/13/05          Santa Cruz          009281419          44310          $130

——————————

This makes no sense as:

1) I never received any ticket (so I don't know what is this violation for).

2) I was in LA at that time.

The only number I can call is the general DMV number, but of course, it's too late to call now as DMV office is closed. I guess I'll have to wait till Monday to find out what is going on.

 Have you ever receive anything weird like this on your vehicle renewal notice?

Private Annuity Trust

In a typical arrangement, you sell appreciated assets — residential or commercial real estate, artwork, securities, even closely held businesses — to a trust, in exchange for a series of fixed annuity payments that last for the rest of your life. The trust then goes ahead and sells the appreciated asset to an end buyer. The cash proceeds are invested by the trust, and are used to fund your annuity payments.

By selling the property in exchange for an annuity, you avoid paying the upfront capital gains that you would have owed if you had simply sold the asset outright. Instead, you are taxed on the annuity payments when they come out of the trust, which spreads out the taxes over a longer period of time. What's more, you can defer receiving the annuity payments for years, thereby further postponing your tax payments.

Read More Here

It Pays to Shop Around…

I have been a loyal customer with my current auto insurance company for the past 7 years. My car insurance would expire soon. The premium for the next 6 months is about $100 higher than before, just because I moved to another zip code (which is only 4 miles from the old one).

I decided to look around and see if I could get a better deal elsewhere. Since I wanted to be prepare, I googled for tips on finding the best car insurance and found many helpful sites ( such as this one here.)

First, I called  GEICO. Their customer representative was very friendly and the whole process only took about 10 minutes. However, their quote is $300 higher than the current premium. The customer representative told me that my current premium is really cheap and it would be hard to beat.

However, since I like doing my researches online, I proceed to gathering quotes from  Progressive  and two internet auto insurance brokers (  Insweb and Insure.)

Progressive quoted $30 more. Considering its name recognition, I thought that was a very good price.

Insweb found 2 insurance companies but both are $400 more.

Insure found 7 companies, only Esurance's quote is lower than my current premium (by $70). However, the review on the web for Esurance is not so good. Esurance was noted for the ease of signing up and easy web navigation but there were many rants on Esurance regarding it's poor customer service and claim process (which is the most important thing when accident happen).

I called the current company and raised the deductible to $1000 (from $500), which in turned, reduced the current premium by $50. For the same coverage, premium from the current company would be $20 more than Esurance. But because I feel this company been pretty good while I have no experience with Esurance, I decided to stay with the current company.

In the end, I did not find a better deal elsewhere but I did feel much better knowing my insurance rate is very reasonable.