I proactively talk to my father, Dan Hogan, about my finances

From:                              Hunter Hogan [[email protected]]
Sent:                               Monday, July 19, 2010 4:06 PM
To:                                   ‘Dan Hogan’
Subject:                          Cash

Hey Dad,

Since your credit is tied to my credit, I thought I would let you know what is happening with my cash flow.

Most of my student loans were in deferment or reduced payments status. Since all of my student loans provide an interest rate discount for autodraft, they are all set to autodraft. The loans are administered by three different companies. With one of the companies (that holds the most debt), I have had an autopayment of $285 for the last year or so. On Monday, July 12, they debited my account $1475 (or so). My loans had come out of deferment, but I hadn’t noticed. I had enough cash in my account to cover the transaction, but not much more.

So, I quit my road trip and came back to Illinois. I wrote a check from my Capital One credit card: normal APR and no transaction fees. It looks like I have my cash flow covered until at least July 30.

Looking ahead to the next year, my current plan is:

  1. Study
    1. LLM at Chicago-Kent
    2. Study towards math degree from Excelsior and economics PhD pre-requisites
    3. Learn Chinese
    4. Take bar in NY in February (state subject to change)
    5. Take bar in California in July (state subject to change)
  2. Make money
    1. Private practice based on Domestic Violence victims
    2. Tutor Chinese students
    3. Lectures to law students about Hohfeld system
  3. Write articles
    1. Civil/criminal contempt for DV/SV victims and their lawyers
    2. Hohfeld definitions
    3. (Independent study in LLM)
  4. Future work / school
    1. Apply for (or at least research) PhD programs
    2. Apply for 2011 clerkships
    3. Look for other 2011 job(s)
    4. Look at international lawyer work (e.g., foreign clerkships or tribunals)
    5. Teach or study in China?
  5. Be fulfilled
    1. Create forms and procedures for DV victims and their lawyers
    2. Photography and art (can I make this part of a degree?)
    3. Exercise (Swing dance? Teach?)
    4. Cooking
    5. Make cheap wine-preservation device
    6. Make bumper stickers

Going back to school does a bunch of good things:

  1. My loans go into deferment, eliminating a huge monthly bill
  2. I have access to new loans if I need them to pay bills
  3. Medical insurance
  4. Very cheap bus pass
  5. Free access to legal databases and the law library

The financial aid process takes time, so even though classes start Aug 23, I should not count on getting cash from my student loans until September.

I had some issues with unemployment disbursements, but I have fixed them. I should start receiving around $700 every two weeks beginning in August. I applied for retro-active benefits, so there is a small chance I will get one-time lump sum payment between $350 and $3,500. I will know about that soon.

I had a retirement account with Illinois, and I just submitted the form to have the money refunded to me. After penalties, I think it will be $1800 cash. That will take 10-30 days.

I have at least $5,000 of credit readily available for expenses that will accept a credit card.

It is reasonable to assume that by October 1, all of my finances will be in order, and I will not have any cash issues. (I don’t have money problems right now, I just have issues with getting cash at an affordable rate. I could get expensive cash, however, by getting a cash advance on my Chase card. The rate is 19.5% and I have to pay a transaction fee. I can get cash, but it is very expensive.)

So, between now and October, I just need to make sure I can pay my cash-only expenditures: child support, rent, car loan, credit card payments, and student loan repayments.

In sum, long-term cash flow is solid: cash in my retirement account, new student loans, unemployment, and work as a private attorney. Cash flow before October 1 will have some timing issues, but it should be manageable: only use cash on cash-necessary accounts, cash in my retirement account, and unemployment. I’m also trying to find creative ways to get cash into my account. For example, I paid Lauren’s electric bill with my AMEX and she gave me the cash, which I will deposit into my checking account.

That’s my status. I have some obstacles to maneuver, but my credit rating is not really at risk.

Hunter

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