Personal Finance

Coco just ran through the same process as his brother.  Once you turn 18, you become a legal adult, so it’s time for your own bank account.  This helps with going off to college.  It is also another step towards being aware of your finances.  Sure he probably could have stayed with BOA, but I can’t stand that bank and he gets Fidelity accounts for free, while I work there,

     As part of the process, we talked  about what each account is for.  We talked about general investing and finances.  We opened an IRA.  We talked about the importance of saving now.  Coco understood he long term investment horizon, risk tolerance and investment models.  He will also get an infusion cash to that IRA, since I opened a minor custodial account years ago, on his behalf.

     This is just another important topic to have in regular conversations.  Talk about it early and often.  These kids need to understand financial obligations and responsibilities.   I feel like I would fail them, if I stayed quiet.

Cousins Day

Caz and Angie were really sweet.  They planned a whole day with Caz's younger cousins.  Caz and Angie wanted to take the kids out for a whole afternoon of fun.  And that is exactly what they did!
     Angie had been very thoughtful and had bought the kids Christmas presents.  Caz and Angie wrapped them here, then went to pick up the kids.  The four of them went to the movies to see the Grinch.  Then they spent some time in the mall arcade.  Not quite getting their fill of video games, they came back to the house to play Mario Kart.
     This excursion was a huge help to my sister in-law.  They were hosting Thanksgiving for a big crowd.  There was already a houseful of guests to entertain and to dodge, while getting the house and the food ready.  You know how family can be.  You love them, but they can be challenging at times.  My sister in-law certainly wasn't getting any help from her family.  They were mainly underfoot and creating roadblocks.  Having the kids out of the house was a huge relief.  She was so grateful.
     I am really impressed by Caz and Angie.  To have the forethought to plan a day with much younger cousins, when you have a short, finite time her to visit, is really sweet.  And Angie buying Christmas presents?  I know when I was in college, I was not thinking about a girlfriend's cousins.  Actually, I was pretty immature and selfish.  I probably didn't give enough thought and attention to any girlfriend at that time.  The price of the gifts doesn't matter.  All college kids are broke.  This is a prime example of being the thought that counts.  Really well done kids.  Kudos!

Gamecocks

Coco was accepted to the University of South Carolina!  That is teriffic.  Still waiting to hear on the Honors College there but this is great.  He has choices of colleges now.  How excellent!  The Gamecocks are on the rise in football too. 

The College Process

Coco submitted the next round of college applications.  Neither of these were on the common application..  One had addtitional short answers to write up.  But Coco has them in ahead of the deadline.  These two submissions are also SEC schools, Auburn and University of South Carolina.  These are the next two in the rankings behind FSU.  Both would be great landing spots for Coco.
     Sure, it would be easier on us to have them both at the same school.  But we want Coco to go to the place that is right for him.  It would also be cool if he and his buddy Tex, wound up at U of SC.  Columbia is a cool southern city.  The boys would have fun their.  And so would their parents.

Football Fans & Feathers

What a successful day!
     Demi accompanied Coco on the campus tour of Auburn.  I got to go with Caz.  I wanted her to see the view from the Eagle’s Nest.  I think they both enjoyed the tour immensely.  I hung out around the Quad with Gizmo.  It was nice.  We hit a food truck for ice coffee.  Gizmo attained Auburn Rock Star status, making friends all over.  Caz got of out class just before the tour ended.  I sent Gizmo running across the grass to Caz.  What a happy puppy!  A happy boy too.  He was excited to see his dog.
     We bought grilled pimento cheese sandwiches and lemonade from Toomer’s Drugstore.  We hit the bookstore.  We visited Caz’s room.  The boys watched the dog, while Demi and I went to an event at the Raptor Center.
     Every Friday, before a home football game, the Southeast Raptor Center on campus runs a birds of prey exhibition.  They trot out owls, vultures, falcons and eagles.  These birds are well trained.  They fly right over patrons heads.  The instructors explain how the birds come to the sanctuary, how they are cared for and how we can help protect them.  It is really an amazing display.  We were so glad we went.
     Following the Raptor Center, was dinner.  BBQ at Jim & Nick’s.  Always a crowd pleaser.

Auburn 2018 - The Visit

It is off to Auburn again.  The whole family is going again.  That includes the Giz.  She is wracking up the frequent flyer miles.
     This trip would include an official campus tour of Auburn for Coco.  Caz is slowly warming up to the idea of his brother attending the same institution.  We also had tickets to the football game.  What a coincidence, right?  What were the odds?  Caz was also cooking up a big tailgate, since his girlfriend’s parents, and her roommates parents would be going to the game.  We were expecting a good turnout.
     It has only been a month since we dropped Caz off and moved him into his dorm.  But we really only got to see him for less than 24 hours that trip.  It will be nice to spend some more time with him.  At least he is coming home for Thanksgiving this year.

The Greensheet

DHS Guidance uses “The Greensheet” for seniors to send their high school transcripts to their potential colleges of choice.  A student has to fill out their list of colleges, with applications deadlines.  They also have to pay a $10 fee.  A one time fee.  It doesn’t matter how many schools are on one’s list.
     We needed Coco to submit this ASAP.  We had already submitted the application for the University of Alabama.  Their admissions office was only waiting on his grades.  A couple of other applications deadlines are right around the corner.  If the guidance office is like most administrative offices, then speed of delivery is not in their wheelhouse.
     Check off another item on the to do list.

College Application - Part Deux

Fire in the hole! The first college application for Coco has been submitted!  This one was actually really easy to work through.  We sat together but Coco was in the driver's seat.  He needs to be hands on.  At least, I think so.
     This application is an opportunity take the lead, to be self-sufficient.  It is all apart of the growing process.  Coco actually didn't put up any resistance.  I think he is a bit excited.  Now, the waiting begins.  This also creates the possibility of an in house rivalry.  Application number one has been submitted to the University of Alabama.

College Tour 2.3 - UGA

Coco was scheduled for an 8:30 am campus tour.  Fortunately, we did not have far to go.  We parked and walked over to the visitor center. 
     We got the standard informational tour.  We found out that we were not the only Massholes visiting that day.  A family from Pembroke was their too.  After getting all the information about UGA, they loaded us up on buses. 
     UGA is a long campus.  It's probably ever bit as large in area as Auburn and FSU.  But it is very narrow and runs North/South.  It is also a very hilly campus.  The bus makes several brief information stops before dropping the tour off at the high point on the North edge of campus.  Coco had already noticed yesterday, that UGA did not have the emergency stations with the blue lights, which are so common on college campuses today.  That actually concerned him. I don't think the tour's explanantion for that phenomenon, did anything to reassure him.
     I actually though UGA was a nice looking campus.  Coco was not impressed.  I don't think it is in his top 5 now.  And even though they say it doesn't matter where to you live when you apply, 85% of students are from GA. 
     Well, it was still a good trip.  This is how you find out what you like and what you don't like.

College Tour - Travel Day 2

Today, was another long drive.  It is 5 hours from Tallahassee to Athens, GA.  We left at a decent time.  I din't make Coco get up too early.  I figure we would stop for lunch in Macon, GA.  I had talked Coco into letting me stop at the Big House Allman Brothers Museam in Macon.  He didn't hesitate in answering yes.
     Of course, as things tend to go with the best laid plans, my side trip was not meant to be.  As I went to turn into the Big House, I noticed the gate was closed.  And locked.  I couldn't even pull over on the main road.  I parked at the first side street.  I walked back and took as may pictures as I could.  Then I punched in a search to Google Maps to find lunch.  We found a great little sandwich shop actually.  A hidden gem.
     We reached Athens early/mid afternoon.  After checking into the motel, conveniently located by a frat house and an adult video store......Coco and I walked to the UGA bookstore.  Coco really didn't want to walk but this kid needed to move his body.  We hoofed it over and found the bookstore, no problem  We even got a peek inside the football stadium.
     We had dinner at The Place.  If you ever go to Athens, I highly recommend it.  The food was terrific.  The chicken and waffles were life changing.  I mean, candied bacon?  How can you pass on that.  Dessert was amazing as well.  After dinner, we walked it off by check out some of area.  It is a really nice downtown.  It's bigger than Auburn.  A lot more choices of places to eat and things to do.

College Tour 2.1

Coco was scheduled for an 8:30 tour of FSU.  We got up and out of the house before 8 am.  As fate would have it, the FSU Visitor Center is in the Doak Campbell stadium complex.  Visitor Parking is located right next to the Unconquered statue, which he wanted to see.
     "How hot is it?" asked Coco.
     "70."
     "It feels so hot!"
     I responded, "you do know you wanted to go to school in the south, right?  You know it is only going to heat up as the day goes on.  And most of the time it is hot and humid?"
     "Yeah."
We had the standard informational session.  It was actually very good.  FSU now has fall, spring and summer acceptance.  Those are great programs.  It should help Coco's chances of getting in.  His grades will be a hindrance but his SAT's scores will bail some of that out.
     Coco noticed that besides bricks being used on the buildings, they were used on the walkway.  It was like FSU was taunting him.  He seemed fine with it, despite his aversion to brick.  The beautiful landscaping and palm trees helped.
     Coco was also fascinated that football tickers were included in the tuition price.  He expected it to be like Auburn, where football tickets were purchased separately.
     In the afternoon, we took in a FSU baseball game.  It was $2 Tuseday.  $2 to see a top 5 ranked baseball team.  The stadium was beautiful.  It rained most of the time.  By the 8th inning, Coco had finally had enough (which was far later than me, but I was not going to admit that), so we left a 1-1 ballgame.  FSU went on to win, scoring 5 runs right after we left.  This trip only cemented FSU as the leader in the clubhouse for his list.

College Tour 2.0

It's Coco's turn to tour college campuses.  No sooner do we watch the oldest son go off to college, than we turn around and we prepare the youngest son to follow suit.  Coco has a leg up on his older brother.  We took Coco to most of the campus tours that Caz went on.
     This has already paid dividends.  Coco already has a good concept of colleges.  He understood that not all colleges are made the same.  He really has a grasp on what is a big school and what is a small school.  He knows what a city setting looks like and what a rural setting looks like.  He knows that some school are strong in one major, while others are strong in a a different major.
     Coco also knows that he wants to go South, just like his brother.  He will not be applying to any schools up North.  So now we are off to see 2 schools which he has not seen before, Florida State (FSU) and University of Georgia (UGA). 
     Today was a long day of travel.  We left Duxbury for the airport at 6 am.  We landed in Atlanta around 12:30 pm.  Our rental car was not ready.  We had to wait 90 minutes.  We then had to drive 4 hours to Tallahassee.  We finally rolled into my aunt's house around 7 pm.  We knew we would have to turn it around quickly, so we could head out for dinner.  Coco slept the whole plane ride.  He slept the whole car ride.  And yet, he still fell asleep at 8:20 pm.  Teenagers sure can sleep.

The List 2.0

It's Cooc's turn.  It's his college search.  He needs to make a list of colleges & universities, to which to apply.
     His list will all be southern schools.  He has no desire to go to school in the northeast.  He wants to attend a big school with big-time sports.  His number one right now is Florida State.  But I told him the same thing I told Caz, you need to make a list.  You need to have choices.
     So we used his school's recommended college search tool, Naviance.  Caz used it.  It worked well.  The parameters work nicely for searches.

The first draft:

Florida State
U of South Carolina
U of Georgia
LSU
Auburn
Alabama
U of Kentucky
Tennessee
Clemson
Mississippi State


This will change.  Maybe not by much.  But it is a start.

Camp War Eagle

Demi and Caz left for Camp War Eagle.  It's Auburn's orientation for new students and parents.  I M very excited for Demi to see the university finally.  I think it will make her feel better about sending her child off to college.  Sure, it's the heat of summery, but we will be moving him in during the dog days of August.  They have a few days to really explore.  I envy them a bit.

High Finance

I helped Caz open a new bank account today.  Actually, he opened a new Fidelity cash account.  The banks we tend to use are in short supply in the South.  I think the closest branch to his current bank account to Auburn is 90 miles away.  Plus.....I don't really like our current bank.  With his new account, he can deposit checks with his phone.  He can use his ATM fee anywhere too.  All his ATM fees are reimbursed.  It's a win-win.  The only drawback is that he had to open a brokerage account too.  I told him not to trade anything.  But this is a big milestone.  His first bank account.

Auburn, AL

Caz and I took off for a visit to see Auburn University today.  It was a pretty last minute trip.  We left for Logan airport, as soon as Caz walked in from school.  We didn't hit any traffic, which was a bonus.  We got dinner to bring on the plane in the airport.
     The plane took off and landed in Atlanta on time.  I had worn my Sam Adams shirt and Patriots hat.  I had the New England/Boston colors flying high, while strolling through Atlanta just before the Super Bowl.  I actually caught more flack for wearing my Sam shirt, than my Patriots hat.
     We picked up the rental car without an issue.  The drive was not bad at all.  It was a straight shot at 70 mph.  We gained an hour crossing over into the Central Time Zone.  The car ride was amusing.  Caz played DJ, while he gnawed on beef jerky.  He played a very interesting mix of tunes, Prince, MJ, Metallica, Kansas and Toto.  We had a nice chat on the ride.  He was excited to see Auburn.  He thanked me for booking the trip.  He was very sincere.  Hotel check-in was a breeze.  It actually didn't take long to settle down after traveling.  I was asleep in no time.

Gamecock Trip

What a successful trip.  Everything was perfect.  The boys had a great college visit.  Friday was fried chicken for breakfast.  We went by the baseball stadium, only to find out there was an intrasquad World Series going on later that afternoon.  The Garnet and Black World Series.  The campus tour was amazing.  The boys got to sit behind MLB scouts and their radar guns at the baseball game.  It was 85 and sunny, so perfect afternoon weather to hang out in the shade in shorts and T-shirts.  Our tour guide gave us an amazing tip for BBQ for dinner.  I was introduced to white Alambama BBQ sauce.  We walked the streets down town and grabbed some ice cream.  Day one was the perfect tour.
     Day 2 was Game Day.  We went out to Williams Brice Stadium where the Gamecocks were 14 point underdogs to Tennessee.  We did the whole tailgating thing.  We had been invited to a tailgate randomly the night before.  We went through Gamecock Park and Gamecock Village.  We saw the. Gamecock Walk.  We saw the line of Cabooses by the stadium.  And then the game was fantastic.  The home team won by 3.  The place was going bonkers the whole time.
     The quote of the weekend was Caz - "It is so peaceful here."  If the South didn't sell itself to Caz on this trip, nothing will.

College Visit Vol. 2

Demi took the boys up to see UNH today.  Getting Coco to go was a big deal.  That is a big win for the day.  He made it through the presentation but did not make the walking tour.  He like the school though.  Caz was not as impressed.  He met with the AD and got to see track practice.  That piqued his interest a bit.  He's been looking up Division 1 track times for his events ever since Auburn came onto his list.  Caz didn't think UNH would make his safety school list.  But one of his buddies came by the house, who was interested in UNH and had an uncle who is a big booster.  I think that changed Caz's mind a bit.  He seemed more agreeable towards it after his buddy talked to Demi and me about it.  They ate dinner in Portsmouth.  It was great for the boys to see how close UNH is to Portsmouth.  It is a great city.  Another selling point.

College Bound

Caz met with some experts today.  We met with College Bound.  They had put on a parents workshop for DHS on the college admissions process.  They offer an array of college search/admissions services, from the search, to the application process, Financial Aid navigation, and so forth.  We used their introductory free meeting session.  I think we need the help.  I know first hand how useful it can be.  If it wasn't for a local man who had his own similar business, I might not have found Colby.  I am forever grateful to him.  And I am sorry he is no longer around to help other generations of Duxbury kids.
     It was a good session with College Bound.  It started a little rough.  Caz got lost on the way to the appointment, so he was late.  But it was very informative.  Caz was very interactive.  Caz gave his honest assessment of what he is looking for.  We both think we could use the help.

The College Search - Round 1

It all started today.  The first college search.  It is another milestone moment.  Caz wanted to see Worcester Polytechnic Institute.  I scheduled us for the informational session with campus tour, since it is February break.  Caz and I got up early and drove to Worcester for the 9 AM start time.  It was a long ride.  The overnight rain had led to some icy conditions in parts where the temperatures dropped.  We traveled a route that was new to be, but I trusted in Waze.  We got there with 10 mins to spare.       The information session lasted an hour.  Caz was listening attentively.  They threw quite a bit of information at us.  It was all helpful.  We both took different things from the session.  Seeing how WPI teaches, it seems like the school is tailor made for Caz.  I know it only the first stop of many.  There is a long way to go. I shouldn't get my hopes up.  But I really hope he gets in there.  He couldn't ask for a better situation.
     The campus tour was very helpful as well.  It was led by an energetic senior. We got to see small (25-30 students), medium (approximately 70 students) and large (200 students max).  They showed us the various types of laboratories, mechanical, chemical, computer, engineering, etc.  We got to see the dorms, cafeterias, and sports complex.  Caz was taken with it all.  The campus is self contained.  It is in Worcester, but the campus is set apart on it's own to a degree.  He seems excited.  I will just have to keep my fingers crossed.