My daughter is working for a health care organization and her employee health insurance covers dental and eye care, which our insurance does not, so it turned out better for her to switch off of our insurance.
We flew to S’s new city—DC & helped scout apartments & the area. I gave his new landlady his deposit & 1st month rent. She opted to allow him to rent because we had all flown in and showed up as the 1st person to view the unit. She was please it was a young adult and his parents and figured less Likely to be a problem tenant with wild parties.
S was reimbursed by employer for the scouting trip, moving expenses, and driving from LA to DC, including hotel stays along the way.
Congrats!
I moved D to her new work city in my small car. She’d been in dorms for 4 years so didn’t own any furniture - or a car. So mostly clothing and a few small things. Over the next few days we went out and bought everything she needed (furniture, kitchen supplies etc), or had it shipped. It would have been silly to buy stuff here and rent a UHaul to move it.
She paid for everything with her signing bonus/relocation $ which was given to her a some time before she started.
If your child comes off your insurance, can you put them back on later if needed before they turn 26?
My D has already accepted a job offer to start after she graduates (she’s a junior now). We already know the company’s benefits and the health insurance is better than mine (which is very good) and it’s free for employees. I pay to have her on my insurance because my firm only pays for employees. So the plan is to drop her from mine once she starts working. But she will eventually go to graduate school before turning 26 and will need insurance.
Shouldn’t be a problem to add your under 26 year old back on your plan, as long as there is a life change (new job, going to school) associated with the insurance change.
Having seen both my son and my daughter make the transition, I can say that it takes money, and the young person may not have the money on hand. Even if the new employee is lucky enough to get a signing bonus or reimbursement of moving expenses, they may not see that money until after they’re actually on the payroll. Meanwhile, they need to pay their first and last month’s rent, acquire some basic furniture and several days’ worth of work clothing, and in some instances buy a car.
It’s also important to realize that jobs lined up before graduation may not start immediately after graduation. The new graduate may be without an income for a month or even more before starting work.
I know that some parents think that their children should be totally independent the moment they graduate from college, but I don’t think it’s realistic. Six months after graduation might be realistic for those who already have jobs lined up.
For some (more likely with lower or lower-middle income) families, there is more immediate financial pressure for the kid graduating college (or sometimes high school) to be self sufficient quickly, or at least contribute to the family finances if staying at home. Granted, this is not the typical forum demographic, but there are families where this is a consideration.
I have done some browsing of apartment websites just to get a feel for the range of rent in the area where he will be working. Paying first month rent and a security deposit seems common but not last month’s rent which will reduce cash needs. Also, he can try to sublet his current place for the last two months of that lease. I am planning on cash and some smaller items he can use now, and also in the new place, as Christmas gifts. I know the vacuum he and his current roommates have does not do a good job. Not an exciting gift but also not fun to buy for yourself!
Forgot to mention that in my browsing I saw that some apartments include cable, parking, laundry in unit or building, etc. DS will need to consider amenities when comparing pricing. What amenities are expected vs unusual these days?
Amenities have at least three possibilities:
- Included.
- Available (possibly outside the rental housing).
- Not available.
Also, there could be quality or convenience differences. Laundry in unit, in building, in laundromat next door, or in laundromat far away are gradations of convenience.
D only pays for electricity and that is directly with the electric company, not through her leasing office. Cable, internet, trash, water and one dedicated parking spot all included in her rate.
YMMV, we had a spreadsheet for apartment shopping and included utilities did vary a lot.
My daughter pays her own electricity (her apartment in Boston is heated by electric heat and she runs a window AC in the summer - so the bill is not insignificant.) Her cooktop is gas - which is included. Her apartment doesn’t have an oven so she cooks with one of those Breville convection countertop ovens(so more electric).
She pays her own internet/cable and the laundry uses quarters and is in the basement (3 flights down - no elevator). Garbage and water (so heating the water also) is included and there is no such thing as parking in Boston.
She has one friend who she apartment shopped with and they saw a washer/dryer unit in the apartment that used quarters (strange - that set off red flags in my opinion).
By law (at least in Boston), the utility company must provide you with the costs for the last year for that apartment. You can use this to help figure out what your costs might be.
Newer apartments generally have more amenities (like dishwashers and elevators). Location is key on rents - closer to transportation and downtown areas - means higher rent.
Snoop around a little on line for reviews of the management company (if the apartment is manged that way). My daughter’s is run by a very good one, 24 emergency line and they do respond. There was a gas leak in one of the apartments (not hers) and they had a plumber there to fix it the next morning.
Included utilities may seem nice, but since that reduces the incentive to conserve, the average use is probably somewhat wasteful, so the embedded utility bills in the rent may be higher than if someone conservative with utility use were paying for what s/he actually uses.