Investment

» allancoleman - 2006 / 2007 HSA data

Hello SteveT ,

I don't ask the post office to hold my mail for longer than a month any more , although I have in the past at other post office boxes I've had in other towns in Alaska . Mail forwarding is a big deal for snow birds . The way I've solved it now is to obtain the largest Post office box possible at that particular post office . That size box at my permanent mailing address in Anchorage , Alaska is over $600 a year . The largest size post office box I was able to obtain here in Kailua - Kona is $300 a year .

My present mail forwarding routine is to have the local UPS Store to check my post office box in Anchorage , Alaska ONCE a week and forward ALL mail to me here at my Kailua - Kona post office box while I'm absent from Alaska . In the summer when I'm in Alaska and might be absent from that condo there for longer than a week , that post office mail box there is big enoough to hold a month's worth of mail . My Kailua - Kona post office box is big enough to hold all my mail when I'm ansent from Hawaii from May til October . I will call that UPS Store approximately December 27th and request that they STOP forwarding my mail after that date and when I show up in Alaska January 12th , I'll only have a couple of weeks worth of mail waiting for me .

Snow birds can also obtain a permanent mailing address from some mailing service and call them when you want mail forwarded too . I just like dealing with the US postal service for my permanent mailing address for safety reasons . Don't care to have my mail sit out in a mailbox on the street , yard , or condo lobby .

The UPS Store in Anchorage , Alaska charges me $5 to pick up my mail . They have other accounts at my local downtown Anchorage , Alaska post office so are able to keep those expenses down because they have numerous accounts to check and pick up too at that post office . That , and the large box of 100% Kona coffee I send the staff there every trip I come over here to Hawaii . I then pay the first class mailing charges to my address here in Hawaii . I ONLY forward mail from Alaska to Hawaii . I never forward mail from Hawaii to Alaska because my permanent mailing address is in Alaska .

It's easy to keep the tax bite lower with TurboTax . . And fun . I like plugging in different numbers on different line items on my tax return and seeing the end taxes due without alot of math . Makes tax planning for future years easy .

-- posted by allancoleman