T-5 months!
I had no idea adjusting the various insurance policies we have would be such a nightmare. It seems like everything is based around the idea that everyone has an address that very rarely (if ever) changes.
- Health insurance – I have a couple of quotes, but need to work on this more. Since we’re losing our employer’s policies, we will need to get both an independent, US-based plan and a traveler’s plan.
- Car insurance – I think we will need new policies on the car if we admit that we are no longer living at our apartment. Jason’s parents will have one of our cars because they’ll have the dog, so I’m guessing we’ll get an AZ policy.
- Renter’s insurance – I was actually going to let this one go because none of the stuff we are keeping is particularly valuable and will be locked in a storage unit. Even if an earthquake caused the ground to open and our storage unit to fall in, it wouldn’t be a huge deal. (But now that I think about it, renter’s doesn’t usually cover earthquake damage… right?)
Clearly there is still a lot of work to be done with this – I’ll try to keep you guys updated.
Other than insurance, we’ve started talking about what we need to get rid of and even gave away my fish tank! I’ve collected a ton of boxes from our office’s recent move, so if I had the time, I could even start packing! We go on a trip to Italy in about 3 weeks and when I get back, I’m going to let my boss know my last day will be December 30th. January will be the epic month of organizing, selling, donating, tossing, and packing.
I also need to get on the international driver’s licenses – this is a one-time visit to an AAA office, so perhaps I could focus on this baby step and do it Saturday!
Update 8/30/16:
I’ve been working on this here and there for the past week and here’s what I’ve come up with so far –
- Health insurance – we are going to declare our income for 2017 as the lowest possible to qualify for Covered California, so we benefit from the subsidies since we don’t know how long the trip will be. If we return before the end of the year and work, we’d pay back anything we are ineligible for, plus a possible penalty fee.
- Car insurance – going to talk to our car insurance company about dropping the car we are leaving here to liability only (it is going to sit in storage) and if the car staying with Jason’s parents needs an Arizona policy.
- Renter’s – not sure we will keep a policy open since we don’t really qualify without a residence and all of the valuable stuff is in the bank safe deposit box. If the earth opened up and swallowed our stuff, it wouldn’t be the end of the world – we don’t have expensive furniture, clothes, or kitchen stuff.
Also – we both got our international driver’s permits last week so that’s one item off the list of things to do 😀