41 cents/mile is a national average, i believe. As far as tagging that on to your resale, the improvements alone add value so i dont know how that factors in and is dependent on the maret in your area, but if i were in your position, i would figure it in. It is figured in when a contractor bids on a job, when a supplier delivers products, as well as the business itself's including in overhead, so why wouldn't you be entitled as well.

"By the way, the conversation pit made it easier to pass around the peace pipe, if you know what I mean." Ah, that makes sense. I guess I never thought about that specific activity. "Conversation pits were popular because people actually had conversations. No computers, no cell phones, no texting. You actually looked people in the eye and talked." I do understand that the 1970s were certainly a social era. Perhaps I'm out of touch with the generations younger than me, but I'm fairly certain people still have conversations. I absolutely understand making a seating area just for conversations. But what I'm wondering is: why a pit? Why not just a circular or semi-circular seating arrangement? Did it make the room feel more open? Make the conversation area feel more intimate? I've never been in one and have always wondered what drew people to the idea of a pit.

Bought our first house the first year we were married, it was going to our forever house. Loved our home, we were there 23 years. Unfortunately our neighborhood gradually changed over time and I was not feeling comfortable there anymore. The timing for a move worked for our family. my youngest just graduated high school. The timing for finding a new home for us was not as good, few homes on the market and lots of competition. We ended up in an area we liked, but spent more on the house than we wanted and still did not really get what we were looking to buy. But we had sold our house and had been living with my in-laws for 6 months, it was time to compromise. While this home is very nice and I think some of my friends think I am crazy for wanting to move, I do not view this house as my long term house. It is in a good location. Love the back patio, the big windows, my closet and all the birds. We back up to a ravine with a view of trees and a bit of the city. It is a great home for entertaining. Otherwise it is okay and really I dislike the kitchen, probably half the reason I do not want to stay. Unfortunately this is not correctable without moving the kitchen and I do not love the rest of the house enough to go down that path. Also, not really affordable. But my husband absolutely loves it here, so we are still here. That said we are currently trying to decide if we are going to downsize. This will allow us to buy a bigger home in the desert while keeping a smaller home in our neighborhood. Otherwise we will buy a smaller place in the desert and stay in this house. The third option is the I continue working part-time until we downsize our current home, then we could do both until I decide to retire. My plan had been to retire next year at 62. We were hoping to do a lot of traveling but that is out for the foreseeable future anyway, so continuing to work is not such a bad option for the next few years.

When talking about trusts and inheritances, most people have so-called living trusts, revocable trusts, in mind. These function in place of a will to avoid probate costs, delays, and hassles. When property passes to an heir through a living trust (which becomes irrevocable at death), it receives a basis step up to the value on the date of death (or alternate valuation date, if elected). Sometimes people transfer property to an irrevocable trust during their lifetimes. When this is done, the settlor's historical basis carries over and at the time of death, there is no basis adjustment because the property placed into the irrevocable trust is not owned by the decedent at death.