It's been a few weeks since my last post - since then, not much to report. 

School is going well, and I have adapted to the workload.  I'm happy to say that it feels much more doable, I was just overly excited and doing a lot at once lol.  I've fallen into a good groove, and can't believe that the end of next week marks halfway through the session.  

Work is still nuts, and I haven't heard about the promotion yet.  It would be in effect for July 1, and they usually notify people a few days to 2 weeks before.  So basically, I could hear at any point now.  

Finances are chugging along.  Things are slowing down but that's to be expected.  Some big chunks of money are coming in over the next few months, but I already have the plan on what is going to happen with those, so it's just execution.  I still think that it'll be a very successful year financially, and even though I am not following the plan quite as strictly as I was at the outset, I've found balance that I can live with.  

Yesterday was payday.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Paid a bunch of bills, debt went down some, savings went up some.  Again, I'm waiting with baited breath for news of the promo so I can figure out how this impacts my budget for the rest of the year.  

A question has come up that I am wondering if anyone here can answer.  When my grandfather passed, there were quite a few fairly high value savings bonds (series EE) left behind.  All have a POD/TOD.  He was listed as the sole owner on the bonds, and did not pre-emptively pay any taxes on the interest earned over the years.  The bonds are all at full maturity.  His heirs, my mother and her sisters, have agreed that they are aligned with having his estate pay the income taxes on the accrued interest, and the plan is to cash all of the bonds this year, so that the 1099s can be included in his & my grandmother's 2021 taxes (MFJ, Grandma has advanced dementia, so she unfortunately is not a part of these discussions).  The tax implications make no difference for their/her financial situation. 

Of the PODs, one of them is on Medicaid, and is concerned that if she cashes in the bonds left to her, that she will get bumped into the next income bracket, which would boot her off Medicaid.  On the flip side, she is unemployed, and really could use the cash infusion.  From my research, it appears that it would have been easier if the bonds were cashed while he was alive, because he would still be the owner....but that's not where we ended up.  So I guess the main question is.....since there are PODs on the bonds, are we able to have "him"/his estate be responsible for reporting the income/paying the tax on the interest?  Is it as simple as the POD takes their bond to any bank, and brings the required documentation (assuming ID, and his death certificate), then the bank cashes, and generates a 1099, which I then have his tax preparer include in his 2021 tax filing?  If this is the case, it would seem to me that the PODs would not be the ones reporting the income, but he would.  Anyone have any insight here?  I have been researching on the Treasury site, but of course, it's not super clear.  FWIW, the other PODs don't really care who reports the income/pays the tax - it's just this one person with a tenuous situation.  As the person handling all of the paperwork, I have just asked that if indeed the 1099s will have his name on them, that all of the bonds be cashed in 2021, so that I can include them all with his final tax filing.  I don't want to be filing taxes for him years after he is gone.  I am trying to simplify all of the estate matters for my grandmother as well.