whan that aprille

[jazzfish]

As noted elseweb, Happy The Internet Gets Stupid day! If you're still planning an April Fools gag, first consult this handy reference guide.

... cripes, it's been six months since I last poked at my 101 in 1001 list. Partly that's because I slowed down something fierce after about mid-October. Partly it's because I've plucked most of the low-hanging fruit. I dunno. It's still a useful referent / reinforcement, long as I remember to check in with it every so often.

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101 in 1001 update (the list)

Completed:
2) [Travel outside the US] again, somewhere else. 2013-02-22, Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico
71) Dispose of unwanted games. 2013-10-07. Enough are gone that I'm willing to call this a win.
79) Convert my 401(k) into something that's useful in Canada. Deemed unnecessary 2013-12-08. Per Chris the accountant, this cannot really be done without taking the tax hit and penalty for early withdrawal. If and when we buy a place I'll liquidate it for a down payment; until then it can sit and earn, and pay out in 25-30 years.
94) Sort out my problems with Scrivener's RTF export/compile. Seems to have fixed itself; no idea what it was doing but it's stopped doing it now.

In progress:

24) See ten movies at the Vancouver International Film Festival. (5/10) 2013-10-10/11
31) Submit 100 stories to paying markets. (6/100)
34) Expand, revise, & submit "In the City of Memory." Out for what's likely the last round of feedback. Edits in May, and then submitting!
36) Write, revise, & submit story #4. Blood-mages. Moving forward, but still in progress.
45) Play an in-person game of Ogre. My copy has arrived!
47) Play or purge all the unplayed boardgames in my collection, except for Italia. (12/13) Sold TZAAR at auction, traded Di Renjie and Magna Grecia.
57) Go running or swimming three times a week for three months. 'Consecutive.' 1/3
70) Dispose of unwanted comics. 100 Bullets gone in a trade.
78) Stay under budget on discretionary purchases for six months. 'Consecutive.' 2/6
80) Get some financial advice from a financial advisor. Had a preliminary visit with someone at VanCity.
82) Determine whether it makes any sense at all to a) buy a place or b) move. Moving, yes. Buying, maybe but probably not.
85) Sort out my relationship to my parents, sister, & niephlings. I... may have gotten this taken care of? In my own head at least?
92) Reread the oeuvre of John M. Ford. (3/13) Read a pirated ebook of The Last Hot Time.

Abandoned:
43) Play each of the GIPF games at least once. (0/7) GIPF is an awesome idea that I will never have time and opportunity for. Sold the games at auction.

Comments

[rbandrews]

If and when we buy a place I'll liquidate it for a down payment

I have a little recent experience in this. It's not as easy as you think.

You can't just withdraw the money without taking a tax hit and a punitive 20% fee for early withdrawal. This is harsh and will likely make you think withdrawing it isn't worth it, which is the point.

You are allowed to make a loan to yourself from it for various reasons, and buying a house is one (if it's a primary residence, etc etc). But there are some catches:

- Your 401k provider has to support making loans, which costs your employer more when they set up the plan. Mine doesn't.

- You can loan yourself a maximum of half the amount, with a special case that you can always loan yourself 10k even if that's more than half.

- And the big one: if you leave your job, your employer can (and probably will) require you to pay back the loan immediately, in full. This includes if they lay you off or fire you.

I decided it wasn't worth the risk / fees.

[jazzfish]

I would totally just take out a loan against it (that is in fact an option in my plan), except that I am technically no longer with that employer. In 2011 I stopped being an employee of $COMPANY and became an employee of $COMPANY Canada.

Problem is, after three years on one income in a living situation that presumed two incomes, all our non-emergency-fund savings is depleted. Which means, *if* we decide to buy a place, my 401(k) is the main/only source of down payment money.

I am sure AoW 3 is great! But a) I never played AoW 2 (when I tried it constantly rebooted my system instead of loading the game) and b) I have a backlog of games that is like six feet long. Also c) FTL comes out for iPad tomorrow. :)

[rbandrews]

So, in that case, if you just withdraw the money, even for a first-time home purchase, you'll only get about 60% of it. I have a 401(k) from Imagitek with $21k, I was only able to get out $12k with the rest going to taxes, and I decided it wasn't worth it.

Those are entirely valid reasons not to play AoW 3. :) AoW 2 wasn't great though, you aren't missing anything by not playing it.

[jazzfish]

Holy crap, okay, so the other two reasons for me to not play AoW 3 are 1) they want real money for it, which comes as kind of a shock to the guy who's only bought indie/bundled/steam-sale games for the last five years, and 2) it's Windows-only.

[rbandrews]

Also two entirely good reasons. :)

[rbandrews]

Also, I like April Fool's Day. :) But my post yesterday wasn't a joke: there really is an Age of Wonders 3, and it really is awesome. You should get it!