Fun & Famous
WHAT I WOULD HAVE LIKED TO LEARN AT SCHOOL
Never in my life did I score higher than a six in math. I couldn't care less about what cos tan sin does, or how many meters of fence farmer Jan needs to enclose his field of 30m by 30m, or how many oranges Jantje can buy with three weeks of pocket money. I have wasted countless youthful hours on such nonsense only to find out now that there are so many important things I still don't know. If schools would just reorganize their curricula, we would ultimately get very smart, sensible, and responsible citizens.
Tax matters
Last week I had another little incident with the Tax Authority, something about lost receipts and such. And a letter came in saying that I need to file my annual tax return again. At least, I think so; I never really understand those letters. I would have loved to learn the basic principles of taxes and administration back in the day, then it wouldn't have been such a total disaster and chaos every time. But no, I was too busy measuring fictional fields.
Health insurance
Does anyone understand the concept of health insurance? I don't think so. Something gets deducted every month, I believe, or credited, and if I break something, I don't have to pay for it myself. That's nice. But recently I had to pay for something my doctor said I could “claim on my health insurance. Just fill out the form.” Um, right. Which form? And where can I find it? And how do I fill it out? AND WHERE DOES IT HAVE TO GO AFTER THAT?!?!?!?!? In the end, I just paid for it myself.
Mortgages
Eight years ago I bought a house and that's lovely, but a mortgage is less rosy. There's interest on it or something, and you can deduct it from your salary or vice versa, but how and what – no clue. And then you keep hearing people say that you sometimes need to refinance your mortgage for a better interest rate. I nod yes and mumble along but am quickly calculating how much money Jantje needs to borrow to buy oranges with his pocket money for the
rest of his life every month.
VvE
And once you have that house, you often have trouble with the VvE, the Homeowners Association. The idea is quite noble: if you live in a building where multiple people reside, you put a little money into a pot every month that can be used for things that benefit all residents. A new roof, a new front door, that kind of stuff. But how to set up such a VvE and what rules are attached to it, beats me. I'm also in a VvE but try to have as little to do with it as possible, which ultimately is just annoying for myself.
Leaks
Just a little basic understanding of how leaks and other issues in and around the house work. That would save me so much hassle with handymen, carpenters, plumbers, and whatnot.
Returning packages
This is a bit of professional deformation, but I don't know how to return an online order. Or well, I've never really looked into it, but it's also so complicated. The outcome is often that I order something online, it doesn't fit or isn't right, but I don't return it because I can't find my way through the web of FAQs that I don't understand anyway. Et voilà: a closet full of mistakes. And thanks, school.
