Archive for the ‘Work Life’ Category

Setting up a 529 Plan in Colorado

We had a baby in January and I’ve been procrastinating setting up her 529 plan.

“A 529 Plan is an education savings plan operated by a state or educational institution designed to help families set aside funds for future college costs. It is named after Section 529 of the Internal Revenue Code which created these types of savings plans in 1996.”

Source: savingforcollege.com

I’ve skimmed articles and listened to podcasts about the subject, here are some highlights:

1. You have to research and choose a State offered 529 Plan

I chose Colorado’s 529 Plan, my home state, mainly because I just love Colorado..and I wanted the tax benefits their 529 Plan gave me for being a resident. I then choose the Direct Portfolio Savings Plan because it was managed by Vanguard and I have an IRA with them.

2. Once you’ve decided on a 529 Plan, you have to signup and choose options

The Direct Portfolio Savings Plan 529 Plan that I chose offered 4 options, each based on level of risk. Of course, I have no idea what I’m doing so I just choose the first option, “Age-based”, it adjusts your level of risk over time beginning at high risk and moving to low risk as it gets closer to the beginning of college. This is the option the Obama’s chose for their kids.

3. Now you can start contributing

The maximum the 529 Plan can have in it is $280,000. You can contribute whatever you want each year until you reach that maximum.

4. When you are ready to pull money out:

Distributions from the Plan that go towards tuition costs come out tax-free. This makes sense because the money has already been taxed when it goes in but then comes out without being taxed. So, you are not double taxed on this money or it’s gains by the IRS. Read this FAQ page for more info

I also enjoyed listening to Marketplace’s Story on choosing 529 Plans.

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How I use Social Networks

I read this paragraph from an article titled 10 Ways Social Media will change in 2009:

“They will connect around meaningful topics and have live and simultaneous conversations within parameters they themselves define, which will bring relevance back to their interaction with others.”

This got me thinking about my “meaningful topics” and how they related to the social networking technologies I use the most: Facebook, Twitter, BrightKite, LinkedIn and Gyminee.

Facebook is my mindless entertainment

Like everyone it seems, I joined Facebook a while ago and connected with a few old high school friends.  That seems like the good ole’ days of Facebook, now I am friends with clients, coworkers, and people I grew up with but were never friends with and my wife and Denver friends.  Facebook competes with entertainment like watching TV, reading a magazine, etc.  Most of my Facebook activity is at night or triggered by receiving an email notification.  Facebook becomes increasingly relevant to my social life as my friends begin to use it and post time sensitive, relevant things like “wanna go skiing tomorrow?”.  Find Kelly Taylor on Facebook

Twitter means keeping in touch with the tech community

Most of the people I follow on twitter are tweeps in the Boulder/Denver tech scene, VCs or software developers.  Only a small percentage of people I follow are actually friends of mine in real life.  Surfing twitter usually sends me down productive, educational rabbit holes, informs me of what’s going on in the community and what is top of mind for the important thinkers in the tech industry.  I take twitter very seriously and feel it’s added tremendous value to my career.  Find Kelly Taylor on twitter

BrightKite broadcasts how rad I am

I only “Check In” occasionally using BrightKite on my iPhone.  Usually I do this because I am somewhere cool like my favorite restaurant Mountain Sun or hanging out skiing in Silverthorne.  I love BrightKite’s iPhone app and have fun with the service….but kindof wish twitter would buy them to simplify things.  Find Kelly Taylor on BrightKite

LinkedIn is my Career Counselor

I look at and tweak my LinkedIn profile occasionally which helps me perform an internal audit of my career and how things are progressing.  The act of joining groups on LinkedIn seems almost more important than participating in them.  Occasionally I comment on a discussion or attempt to connect with someone through someone in my network, but that’s about the extent of it.  View Kelly Taylor’s profile on LinkedIn

Gyminee is my training reality check

I’ve used web apps before to help with my marathon and triathlon training such as Training Peaks.  My latest favorite is Gyminee because of the beautiful UI including graphs and “letter grades” as well as it’s social networking component.  Most of my “friends” on Gyminee are similar to my twitter friends, I only know them online and we’ve possibly met once or twice in real life.  Even though I don’t know these people it still provides a good motivator for me to keep up on my workouts, post my progress and comment on group discussions.  View Kelly Taylor’s Workouts on Gyminee

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It is interesting to ponder the “meaningful topics” in my life that I don’t use social networking technologies for, there aren’t any.

This leads me to the conclusion that the idea of a “Social Network” is going to fade into basic computing and life infrastructure.  

I enjoyed reading the above articles for the author’s predictions in 2009:  Ad Revenue, Convergence of Networks and Platforms, Social Media Jobs…very similar to 2008 predictions I’ve read.  One predication I feel he missed is that today’s “Social Media” is the gateway to interactive TV.  Watching Obama’s Inauguration speech on CNN/Facebook with my Facebook “News Feed” showing my friends realtime comments about the event is a good indicator of things to come.

All in all, pondering Social Media’s future from time to time is a good thing.  Goodness knows most of my drinking beers, dinner with friends conversation begins with “So, on Facebook I read that…..”.


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Morning Think Time

I set my iPhone Alarm for 5:10am, currently to the ringtone Viva la Vida by ColdPlay.  Most days during the work week I am able to wake up, sometimes I need to sleep in and I do, no pressure.  On some advice from Brad Feld, I have created a routine for my wake up: turn off alarm, coffee already brewing, standup and stretch, grab robe, walk downstairs.  I have found having a routine for getting yourself out of bed is a key part of being able to wake up early.

I have set no rules for myself for this early morning time, it’s my time.  As I sit down at my computer I check email, twitter, sometimes read through my RSS feeds…it’s my time to think, surf and read.

A result of this no pressure approach is that I get to see where the morning takes me.  Sometimes the first tweet I read takes me down a path of learning something completely new.  For example, a few days ago I watched a 30 minute interview of Mike Wallace and Frank Lloyd Wright at 5:30am!  I’ve also had mornings in which I sit down and start chipping away at my Inbox.  If I had this scheduled or planned I am sure I would not be able to drag myself out of bed.  I’ve had great IM sessions with friends on the other side of the globe, written blog posts, worked on startup ideas, fixed bugs, watched videos, caught up on Facebook and more during my morning think sessions.

As much as I practice GTD and follow concepts advocated by people like David Allen, I feel that having total free time to think, read and learn is key to work happiness.  By the way, I am writing this at 6:04am as I pour my second cup of coffee.  I wonder what today has in store for me.

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