Smelly Shoe Fix!

DH has worked since he was about 13, starting out at his grandfathers gas station. When he graduated from HS, he went to a tech school and then went into the auto industry as a mechanic. Since the late 80's, he's been working with the auto rental industry in management, overseeing fleet maintenance. The first company was out of Florida only and they was picked up and purchased by a major japanese car manufacturer. Which in turn was bought by a larger rental car company and that was taken over by a large waste management company which had diversified businesses. That company merged with another larger rental car company which in turn, made too many employees with the same jobs :). Dh was let go and was unemployed for 18 months. We really learned alot at that time about being conservative even when you have a substantial savings, and such. Also about how great insurance is (he had the motorcycle accident in 2002 and he was highly uninsurable outside of a group plan, so we had to do the COBRA) and to never ever underestimate the benefits of a full time job :) Finally, he got into the company he's with now, going on his 3rd year. Well, looks like they are 're-interviewing' for the position since the title is being changed & will be based out of Oklahoma. Hmmm. Sell the house in this market? Relocate the 2 high school kids? Have wife quit job? Take a chance on relocating and company may/may not be purchased by another company & be in same position as before? Take the chance & just do it?? I don't know what to tell dh. Sure, I'm always open for change. He, on the other hand, does not like change whatsoever. He's the kind of guy that you have to PUSH off the cliff, he will never jump freely ... kind of a weird analogy, I'm sure, but it just means that he won't take any chances. I do know that IF we sold this house that we've been in for 20+ years would be difficult, mentally. Financially too, I suppose. I mean, we'd still be able to walk away with a bit of $ in our pocket BUT nothing like it would have been a few years ago (the house is tax assessed at $1.5M but there is no way the market can bear that kind of sale price now). We only have $145K and $100K mortgage on it, so anything over $300 would be substatial. However, this house should also be our retirement account. To only make $150K on 20 years of investment, maybe I'm being greedy? I know that at $300K the house would sell in a day or two, most likely to a developer as it's zoned for multifamily/townhouses. Snatch it up & sit on it til the market turns, which we all know WILL, just when? :) Anyways. Even if he chooses to reinterview, does not mean he will get it (what to make of that??). So if he doesn't, then what. Well, he already said, this is the end for the auto rental for him. He's tapped out. So what then? Own business? Whole different industry? Somewhere else in auto industry? It just sucks cuz the economy is sinking and now is not a good time to be without a job. So....I am trying to focus on keeping MY portion of the bills up to date & paid so I can focus more on savings. Need to start our taxes. For some reason, I think that we will have to pay again. When we moved our investments over to JEdwards, there were proprietory stocks that had to be sold, not transferred. So we took a hit on capital gains for that ... thank god dh decided to only do 1/2 at this time. We will have to do the other 1/2 this year. Last year we paid $4500 additional in taxes which sucks!! Not to mention had to pay the accountant $500 to tell us that. This year, I will get turbo tax, pull out the past 5 years of tax returns that accountant did, and try & do it myself. Worse comes to worse, I'll give to an accountant to do ... but I'm hoping I can do myself. So that's my latest dilema. Never a dull moment anymore!!