I've never taken any money OUT of it, and I'm not actually sure how.

If you've given ING the details of another account (for setting up auto deposits, frex) you can transfer money back the other way. If not, they'll send you a check.

Susan,

That's awesome financial news!

I think the advice to discuss all this with a financial planner is very sound. However, I would not give them any control over the money or ask for advice about the cost of the trip. In my experience, what one "needs" for a trip can vary wildly. My "need" is your "want" is another person's luxury.

Personally, I would figure out what the type of vacation you are looking at would cost now, and use that as a base figure to ask the planner how best to save for it.

I think the family part should be easy to price out. The research part is trickier. Will that mean lots of traveling around? England? France?

One thing I would suggest if you will be renting a car is learning to drive stick. It's been a long time since I rented a car in Paris, but I remember that renting an automatic was about double renting a stickshift.

It seems to take way too much effort to just get them to pay their bills.

Man, that pisses me off so much! I've been paying my bills all morning and, really, Disney should be able to manage that much if I can.

I finally watched the Engineer's Guide to Cats. that was good stuff. Now I must go buy tuna.

completely unrelated: what's your favorite meat loaf recipe?

Laga, the sunflower butter is right next the peanut butter at Trader Joe's. I've been tempted, but too scared to waste money on something I have no idea how it tastes. Maybe oneday I'll be brave and less thrifty.

MM - That is GREAT news! Bennies are a wonderful thing.

Susan, great news too. I x-th the advice on financial planner. The advice of "don't let them control the funds" is not a bad one, as long as your good with following the plans outlined. It's my understanding that they work either on commission, or a flat fee for their time. The more organized you are going in, the better the meeting will go. As for long term planning for the trip. At this point in time, 5-7 years away, I would say keep it basic. You know you want to plan for x, and to start setting the money aside. I think looking at today's prices is a great start. That gives you the ballpark. In 5-7 years, we could have 2 economic shifts, so who knows what it will be then. As the time draws closer, 2-4 years, you can make adjustments based on prices then. And as it nears, 12-18 months, you can really price it out based on what finances you have. Start with broad strokes, and slowly work towards finished details.

There was more, but work is calling. I'm just happy there is good bitches news! YAY! We so need it!

Oh I remember what I wanted to say. Make sure the financial planner is certified! Not some yahoo to help you plan. Heck, we can do that for free here. Try [link] to find one. Also, going in, have an idea of how aggressive you want to be with your money. The more aggressive, the more possibility to make BIG money... and to loose BIG money. Safe means smaller returns, but more of a sure thing. So, a gut check going in will help the CFP help you assess where to put the money.

Man, that pisses me off so much! I've been paying my bills all morning and, really, Disney should be able to manage that much if I can.

I'm so pissed this time because I started calling them over 10 days ago just so this wouldn't happen. I've been assured twice in the past ten days that all way taken care of and I'd have a direct deposit on the 1st of May. Now it is a Friday afternoon and no one will even answer a fucking phone. The woman I had to deal with has her line forwarded directly to her voicemail. I've been calling since 10 this morning and every time I call I get one right and then a dump to voicemail. No one is responding to emails either. So yeah, it's going to hit the weekend with nothing done, and I'm fucked on over $10,000 until I can start trying again on Monday.

I did the work, you owe me my money. Pay the fuck up.

That's fucked up.

Welcome to my life as a Vendor. I wish that I could say this was the exception, but it's much more then rule with almost every company that I have to deal with. The bigger the company the more likely they won't pay on time, and the larger the check will be.

The bigger the company the more likely they won't pay on time, and the larger the check will be.

I've heard that from all over. Even if you accept that as SOP, though, not answering their phones like they are deadbeats ducking creditors, dude, Disney should not be pulling that shit.

You should be able to hit 'em with a big old late charge like the credit card companies do. And up your rates for the next job.