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asmallrabbit
Dec 15, 2005

Lord Windy posted:

I don't know if I have a credit rating. My mobile phone is the first thing I've put in my name and I've only gotten that in the past 3 weeks. Job is about a month now. What is a secured card btw?

And HEC is an Australian government loan system for students. It has no interest rate but it is pegged to the interest rate. My compulsory payments are taken out of my tax on payday. I can pay it off with a decent discount, but it's costing me very little at the moment.

Yeah, I don't know if it's different in Australia, but when I first got my cell phone, I didn't have a credit rating so I had to put a deposit on it, even though the phone itself doesn't show up on my credit (unless I miss payments).

Since your job is only a month old, the bank isn't really going to use that to back a card, as mentioned, a secured card is where you put a deposit on the card based on what limit the card is set too. I think I started with a $1000 dollar visa, so I gave the bank $1000 which they held in a GIC for me. If I maxed out the card and didn't pay, they would take the money from the GIC. It's a way to get a card when you don't have any credit history so you can start building one.

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asmallrabbit
Dec 15, 2005

BizarroAzrael posted:

Okay, but just to be clear, when I say "spending" I only mean that I use that card when I part with money, because using debit from my current account might put me into the overdraft which would be more costly. I still mean to spend as little as possible right now. I'm in a holding pattern with the old card, and have been gradually paying off the second. Thinking about it, my total debt has been going down, though slower than I'd like.

Stop using your cards. Don't try and do any balance transfer magic. Don't get new cards. If you can't buy something in cash, it's better if you don't buy it.

Pay off your old card with the highest interest rate first, then pay off your new card. Let old card and account sit at 0 if you plan on making your new account your main account. Alternatively, see if you can get a loan from your parents or something to pay off your cards while you get a new job.

Most important though, STOP USING YOUR CARDS.

Hawkperson
Jun 20, 2003

Can somebody give me a little bump in the right direction? I realize I've probably postponed filing my taxes too long to be able to set up a new retirement plan and contribute money for 2010, but the fact that I did this is motivating me to get 2011 setup ASAP so I don't have this problem again. However, given my debt-income-savings situation I'm not sure what is more financially smart:

I've got about 20k in a savings account doing nothing, a used car loan that's at about 11.5k at 10.99%, and I take home over 3k/month and spend less than half of it.

Should I start a retirement plan? Or should I throw all my extra money at my car loan? Right now I am throwing money at the car loan, and if I continue at this rate I should be paid off in 2012 sometime.

LorneReams
Jun 27, 2003
I'm bizarre
http://20somethingfinance.com/2010-irs-maximum-allowed-roth-traditional-ira-contribution-limits/


I think you have until mid-April so You didn't miss any deadlines yet...

BizarroAzrael
Apr 6, 2006

"That must weigh heavily on your soul. Let me purge it for you."

asmallrabbit posted:

Stop using your cards. Don't try and do any balance transfer magic. Don't get new cards. If you can't buy something in cash, it's better if you don't buy it.

Pay off your old card with the highest interest rate first, then pay off your new card. Let old card and account sit at 0 if you plan on making your new account your main account. Alternatively, see if you can get a loan from your parents or something to pay off your cards while you get a new job.

Most important though, STOP USING YOUR CARDS.

I'm not sure I see how it's different to paying with the card and putting more on it than I spend each month. And I could end up dipping into my overdraft if I shop with my debit card.

Chin Strap
Nov 24, 2002

I failed my TFLC Toxx, but I no longer need a double chin strap :buddy:
Pillbug

BizarroAzrael posted:

I'm not sure I see how it's different to paying with the card and putting more on it than I spend each month. And I could end up dipping into my overdraft if I shop with my debit card.

Don't shop with any sort of card. Physical money has a far different psychological effect, and with a budget in place you have actual limits. It works. Look up the envelope system.

Sophia
Apr 16, 2003

The heart wants what the heart wants.

BizarroAzrael posted:

And I could end up dipping into my overdraft if I shop with my debit card.

That's kind of the point. With a card, if you're shopping you can look at something and say "well, this will push my spending up higher but I'm still under my limit and can pay it off next month" regardless of whether you really need to buy it or could find a better deal. When you're paying straight cash or debit, you look at it and say "well, I don't have enough money for this unless I put something else back" or "this will push me into overdraft territory if I get it" respectively and it immediately rearranges your priorities.

It really will change your behavior dramatically, especially if you have a problem with spending a few dollars here and a few dollars there until it adds up to trouble.

Dead Pressed
Nov 11, 2009

BizarroAzrael posted:

I'm not sure I see how it's different to paying with the card and putting more on it than I spend each month. And I could end up dipping into my overdraft if I shop with my debit card.

Chin Strap posted:

Don't shop with any sort of card. Physical money has a far different psychological effect, and with a budget in place you have actual limits. It works. Look up the envelope system.

Studies have shown this to be true. Common increases in spending rate at about 12% on average. You'll spend less if you don't use plastic of ANY KIND.

10-8
Oct 2, 2003

Level 14 Bureaucrat

Hawkgirl posted:

Can somebody give me a little bump in the right direction? I realize I've probably postponed filing my taxes too long to be able to set up a new retirement plan and contribute money for 2010, but the fact that I did this is motivating me to get 2011 setup ASAP so I don't have this problem again. However, given my debt-income-savings situation I'm not sure what is more financially smart:

I've got about 20k in a savings account doing nothing, a used car loan that's at about 11.5k at 10.99%, and I take home over 3k/month and spend less than half of it.

Should I start a retirement plan? Or should I throw all my extra money at my car loan? Right now I am throwing money at the car loan, and if I continue at this rate I should be paid off in 2012 sometime.
I'd use some of that 20k to pay off the used car loan. Even if you pay it off completely you still have $8.5k in the bank and you'll be able to replenish that quickly if you're saving $1500/month plus whatever you were already allocating to your car loan.

PRADA SLUT
Mar 14, 2006

Inexperienced,
heartless,
but even so
If I charge a purchase to my credit card, pay it off, then return the purchase, is it possible to transfer the "extra" back into my bank account?

I have an Amazon.com CC with Chase, and I bank with Chase as well.

Hufflepuff or bust!
Jan 28, 2005

I should have known better.

PRADA SLUT posted:

If I charge a purchase to my credit card, pay it off, then return the purchase, is it possible to transfer the "extra" back into my bank account?

I have an Amazon.com CC with Chase, and I bank with Chase as well.

My understanding is that they will only send you a check for the negative balance if you close the card.

Ashcans
Jan 2, 2006

Let's do the space-time warp again!

My credit card would send me a check if there was a negative balance on the account for more than 60 days. It didn't require closing the account or anything, and I didn't even ask them to do it. This was several years ago though, so I am not sure if any policies or regulations have changed.

Call them and ask what your options are? If you use the card regularly it might just be easier to leave it there and have it applied to future purchases.

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

PRADA SLUT posted:

If I charge a purchase to my credit card, pay it off, then return the purchase, is it possible to transfer the "extra" back into my bank account?

I have an Amazon.com CC with Chase, and I bank with Chase as well.

They are required by law to refund any credit balance within 60 days whether you close the account or not. If you ask them for a refund, they will probably give it to you sooner, but are under no legal obligation to do so. If the payment/refund did not create a credit balance, they are not required to return anything to you, but if you ask, they may. Either way, a credit that posts on your account is not the same as a payment, so if you still have a balance, you still have to send them a payment.

MrMidnight
Aug 3, 2006

Has Quizzle stopped giving free credit report and scores every 6 months? I usually check around that time I didn't see any way to get it.

asmallrabbit
Dec 15, 2005

BizarroAzrael posted:

I'm not sure I see how it's different to paying with the card and putting more on it than I spend each month. And I could end up dipping into my overdraft if I shop with my debit card.

By continuing to use your card you are buying into the fact that you can continue spending more money then you have. You should not be in any danger of dipping into your overdraft, because you should not be spending money you don't have. Switch to cash, then it's impossible to overdraft and it will make you a bit more concious of your spending. If you continue to use your credit card, even if you are putting more onto it then you spend each month, you are still increasing the amount of interest you end up having to pay.

KennyG
Oct 22, 2002
Here to blow my own horn.

Chin Strap posted:

Its not that simple, since the way it works is that with traditional IRAs, the deduction is off the top (i.e. x more dollars not being paid at the top marginal rate), and in retirement the tax payment fills up from the bottom (i.e. you pay the taxes on a lower marginal rate if you don't have much taxable income). So if you anticipate you have very little taxed income during retirement, a traditional IRA would be better than a Roth simply to fill up the really small tax brackets later.


This is something few people realize. The ROTH can be a particularly bad bet. The current ROTH schedule is scheduled to get an inflationary adjustment starting in 2012. Let's just say this happens and it's 3.5% historical and you make the max contribution for 35 years. If you are in the 25% tax bracket (most people are who are eligible for a ROTH), you are paying 25% for the privalege of that tax free withdrawl. The problem is that your average rate is closer to 20%. This means that you could have contributed 6250 to a 401(k) plan or deductable IRA (if available) instead. Assuming you remain in the 25% tax bracket for your entire life, you would gain an additional $80,500 to invest and work for you before withdrawls began. Your ending balance of a ROTH would be $1.2m with 7.5% avg return and your 401k would be $1.5m.

This means you can have 30 years of $83,375 a year with 6% during retirement returns with a ROTH and $89,940 AFTER tax* if you get $12,000 in personal exemptions/deductions. The catch that people don't think about when they contribute to a roth is that when you withdraw you are not withdrawing at the marginal rate. You get deductions and expemtions that trigger first. This means that for most people the first ~10k (right now, potentially a lot more in 35 years) is not even counted.

Unless tax rates go up, a lot, you will likely lose in a ROTH. This hurts even more if you assume that you will not get or significantly lose social security as it would not be there to boost your taxible income and increase your rates. Yes paying taxes sucks, and no one wants to do it, but betting on a roth is betting on a major, major, major overhaul of the US tax code to something closer to 40-50%, which would be unlikely given the deductions and credits that usually come with higher rates.

*25% top marginal bracket, I know that 89940 is above the cut off for the 25% bracket but inflationary adjustment assumed

KennyG fucked around with this message at 17:59 on Mar 30, 2011

nwin
Feb 25, 2002

make's u think

I've looked through a decent amount of this thread, but haven't seen exactly my question, so here goes:

I am looking at getting a new credit card. Right now, I have pentagon federal's cash back card. I am looking at getting their travel rewards card.

Right now, I average getting back about 30-60/month with the cash back program.

On average, my wife and I fly home once/twice a year. It seems to me, (someone that has NEVER used airline miles or credit cards using miles), that it would be most beneficial to get a card that gives me miles. However, that's why I'm coming to ask you guys.

50/month average in cash back = 600 a year cash back.

A roundtrip flight for both of us once a year = 800 or so.

Since I use my credit card for everything except rent and pay it off every month, wouldn't it make more sense to use a airline miles credit card?

Again, I've never used these before, so I'm not entirely sure. Also, it says you spend $1, you get 1 point...do all airlines use the same calculation like 1 pt=50 cents towards an airline ticket or something like that? It doesn't look like it excludes any airlines, but it doesn't specify anything really...

Thanks in advance for any help!

nwin fucked around with this message at 20:50 on Mar 30, 2011

PRADA SLUT
Mar 14, 2006

Inexperienced,
heartless,
but even so
(Solved)

PRADA SLUT fucked around with this message at 23:06 on Mar 30, 2011

Engineer Lenk
Aug 28, 2003

Mnogo losho e!

KennyG posted:

Roth IRA vs other retirement investments

There are other quirks too - Roth IRAs don't have minimum distribution requirements (Roth 401ks do), you don't pay any penalty for withdrawing direct contributions (or rollovers after their seasoning period). You can effectively put aside more value by investing in a Roth than trad IRA, since the $ limits are equivalent but one's in post-tax dollars and the other is in pre-tax.

place
Jun 19, 2008

place fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Feb 10, 2017

moana
Jun 18, 2005

one of the more intellectual satire communities on the web
Honestly, if your parents are willing to cosign and have good credit you probably won't have any problem finding a place that will rent to you. I wouldn't worry too much about your credit score. Maybe go into a Citi branch and ask them what they can offer you once the student account is up (don't they just extend those accounts? I'm not sure), and hope they will give you something better than the transfer rate. Just make sure you get that poo poo paid off ASAP, because it's way too easy to think that CC debt is manageable and then something bad happens and you're hosed sideways.

place
Jun 19, 2008

place fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Feb 10, 2017

Hufflepuff or bust!
Jan 28, 2005

I should have known better.

wacky posted:

Oh yeah definitely. I'm glad I got into debt now to be honest because to a grown up with a job it's laughable compared to the potential debt you can get which is really just soul crushing. But since as a college student, the perceived stress is the same, I think I've learned my lesson. I'm already planning all my poo poo out on Mint.com and I'm excited to get everything under control. I think I'm going to move away from Citi. They may send me another card and I probably will keep it open, but I kind of want the Chase Freedom and it looks like I can do a transfer for 3%. I'm living with my brother who is just going into school next year so my parents are involved with all of this anyway. I'll just be handling my half.

Anyway, after posting I found this website: http://www.myfico.com/FICOCreditScoreEstimator/Default.aspx
I put in all my information as it stands now and it estimates my FICO is 625-675. I then put in information given that I applied for a new credit card and got it less than 3 months ago. It says my score would be 675-725. My Experian score was higher than all of those, but regardless it estimates I'd be better to have a 50% credit-debit ratio with a new credit card just opened than to have a 99% one. Who knows.. there is always the chance that I get rejected for a Chase card (although it doesn't look hard to get and my credit is technically good enough) and that could also hurt.

a)even if it was a student credit card DO NOT CLOSE IT as long as it does not have an annual fee. Transfer the balance to a low interest card if you can, but don't close it. Length of credit is an important point on your score, and closing your oldest open credit line (your only cc) will dramatically reduce your average. Keep it open and stick it in a drawer somewhere.

b)your "Experian" score is not your FICO score. It is often referred to as a "FAKO" - just an estimate, usually higher than your FICO actually is. So if you're in the high 600 range, chances are your FICO is actually in the 500, low-600 range. This isn't necessarily bad, just don't get a big head about it. Opening a new card will help you because you'll be using less of your total credit, and have a new open line (more lines is generally better).

c)If your parents co-sign, you probably won't have a problem getting an apartment lease.

place
Jun 19, 2008

place fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Feb 10, 2017

foundtomorrow
Feb 10, 2007
Even when you close a cc, it still reports and factors into your AAoA for 7 years. I still wouldn't recommend closing it though until you get better rewards CCs. I personally would never close any card unless it had an AF or I was denied credit for having too much available credit which is always possible.

foundtomorrow fucked around with this message at 21:18 on Apr 1, 2011

place
Jun 19, 2008

place fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Feb 10, 2017

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

wacky posted:

Ugh I'm starting to get panicky again. My credit score isn't terrible but I still have a 99% credit to debt ratio. I can't pay it off until I start the job but the credit score check for the realtor says nothing over 60% preferably for good credit. The thing is, my dad will be a guarantor and also be paying the half for my brother and he as excellent credit (800s). Will this balance it out? Somehow, we are going to make it half my dad and half me whether its cosigned, we are both on lease, he is a guarantor, etc. But will my crappy situation ruin everything and leave me stranded?

I am desperately thinking of ways to quickly throw money at the debt to bring it out of the 90% at least. I can maybe bring it down to around 87%. Maybe I should request a credit line increase? Would that ding me?

You're trying to get an apartment, right? As long as your previous landlord can vouch for the fact that you didn't destroy the old place, you have a job, and you come up with the necessary deposits, you will be all set. Someone will rent to you. Also, why do you need a realtor to find an apartment? When I was renting, I always did better just looking for families renting out their duplex than a big landlord who only deals through realtors.

I don't like the fact that you are maxed out. How much debt are we talking about? If you applied for an increase and they gave it to you, your credit score would improve, but please balance that out against the likelihood you will actually use it. I know you will have the best of intentions, but more often than not if you have it, something will come up that will force you to use it. If you didn't have it you would somehow manage without going deeper into debt. I would rather see you come up with a debt reduction plan instead of a credit improvement plan.

Zeta Taskforce
Jun 27, 2002

foundtomorrow posted:

Even when you close a cc, it still reports and factors into your AAoA for 7 years. I still wouldn't recommend closing it though until you get better rewards CCs. I personally would never close any card unless it had an AF or I was denied credit for having too much available credit which is always possible.

I'm not picking on just you, but PEOPLE, WE DON'T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF CLOSING CREDIT CARDS WE DON'T NEED! THEY ARE NOT GEMS WE COLLECT TO MAKE A CHARM BRACELET!

Seriously, if your credit is thin and new, I wouldn't close anything, but if your credit is already excellent and well established, it's not that big of a hit. If you have an emergency fund, pay cash for the small stuff and can make a down payment for the big stuff, you are golden.

place
Jun 19, 2008

place fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Feb 10, 2017

Agent 99
Oct 25, 2005
Student loan question: for the next 6 months I'm eligible for repayment assistance on my student loan. I'd pay a min payment of $226 a month, the government would cover approx 80% of the interest per month, around $90. My loan is slightly more than $27000 and the interest racks up at $4.15 per day.
I make $39,000 a year, but I'm taxed relatively high and 10% of each of my paycheques goes to my pension fund. I have around $4200 in consumer debt, which I pay off about $750 per month. It's down from $8100 in the 7 months since I've begun working after school.
Should I take advantage of the repayment assistance, or make a higher payment on my student loan, cutting down what I pay on the consumer debt? 95% of the consumer debt is in a student line of credit at 5%. I'd like to pay it down because it has my mom as a cosigner and I'm completely financially independent of my parents and I'd like my finances to reflect that. I don't have any investments and only save about $100 per month because I care more about paying down debt. I don't know much about money besides the fact I don't like having debt. Advice please!

Hufflepuff or bust!
Jan 28, 2005

I should have known better.

Zeta Taskforce posted:

I'm not picking on just you, but PEOPLE, WE DON'T HAVE TO BE AFRAID OF CLOSING CREDIT CARDS WE DON'T NEED! THEY ARE NOT GEMS WE COLLECT TO MAKE A CHARM BRACELET!

Seriously, if your credit is thin and new, I wouldn't close anything, but if your credit is already excellent and well established, it's not that big of a hit. If you have an emergency fund, pay cash for the small stuff and can make a down payment for the big stuff, you are golden.

I totally agree, but in this case I think it is the right advice: specifically because this is his oldest credit line which would really strike his average age of credit.

You are exactly right, though, that if you have a lot of "long open" accounts, closing one or two won't hurt you. For "credit newbies," however, who are likely to have few, young credit lines then "keep it open unless there is an annual fee" is probably a pretty good rule of thumb.

wacky posted:

I have lived in dorms and im in NYC :P I have a credit reduction plan but it relies on my job that I have in NYC that I just got post college. I cab clear my debt in less than a year once I'm settled down and working but the idea I can't get a place until then scares me. This is a great opportunity and once started will make my debt a thing of the past. The only thing wrong with my score is high usage of credit..no late payments ever. We are talking 5k right now btw.

I wouldn't be scared unless you are denied. I strongly suspect that the cosigner you will be completely fine (unless your dad has terrible credit too). If they say that they are denying you based on the credit inquiry, ask them to reconsider and provide documentation of your new salary and I think you will persuade them. It isn't (usually) the case that they take your number, hold it up to another number, and then say "yes" or "no" based on that. There are a lot of qualitative factors involved, in your case: cosigner, steady job, and they will see no late payments on your record.

Hufflepuff or bust! fucked around with this message at 04:25 on Apr 2, 2011

GobiasIndustries
Dec 14, 2007

Lipstick Apathy
I was recently denied a loan request and decided to check my credit report as to why, and I found two items on there that have been sent to collections, apparently from my time as treasurer of my fraternity (from 3.5 years ago). I was told that there had to be a name on the bills, and being a psych. sophomore, I was stupidly naive. Is there any way I can get those things off my credit report? I'd gladly pay the $400 to expunge that info from my records, since I was essentially the fall man for the chapter debt. Everything else I looked at (other than two 30 day >credit payments 3.5 years ago) was my personal accounts and were all in line.

Sophia
Apr 16, 2003

The heart wants what the heart wants.

Agent 99 posted:

Stuff

It's possible I'm not understanding your situation so bear with me, but I don't know why you wouldn't go with the repayment assistance and keep paying down your consumer debt - you're essentially getting free money from the government for 6 months by using it. And, while you don't list interest rates here, consumer debt generally has higher rates than student loans, so it's in your best interest to pay that down as fast as possible in general.

I feel like we must be missing some drawback to having the student loans outstanding because otherwise I don't know why you'd want to make a higher payment on the student loans than you need to regardless. Are their interest rates really high?

Edit: Oh, I'm seeing now where you say that the consumer debt is at 5%, and though I'm too lazy to figure out what 4.15 / day on your student loans is exactly, back of the envelope seems like it might be a bit higher than 5%. In that case I can see why you'd think about repaying the student loans first. Given that the government is giving you enough money to offset the higher interest rates, I'd still take advantage of it for the next 6 months and then starting hitting your student loans hard 100%. In 6 months your consumer debt should be pretty small.

I'd also say if you have a decent amount (~6 months of expenses) of savings, I would stop saving and throw the extra $100 at the debt as well, and some people would say you shouldn't have any savings. It's unlikely you're earning the same level of interest on your money that you're paying out by having outstanding debt. Even if you just divert the $100 for the next 6 months to that debt, you might be able to eliminate it by the time assistance runs out.

Sophia fucked around with this message at 12:26 on Apr 2, 2011

place
Jun 19, 2008

place fucked around with this message at 05:02 on Feb 10, 2017

Agent 99
Oct 25, 2005

Sophia posted:

. Given that the government is giving you enough money to offset the higher interest rates, I'd still take advantage of it for the next 6 months and then starting hitting your student loans hard 100%. In 6 months your consumer debt should be pretty small.

Thanks for the advice! That is what I was planning on doing, but a few people at work acted like I was insane for still paying the minimum on the student loan. The interest rate is 5.5% floating, so similar to the consumer debt but the balance is just so much higher. Taking the repayment assistance and paying lots of the consumer debt is what I've been doing for the last 6 months and it's working pretty well. It's also really likely that this will be my only chance to take advantage of the assistance because once the 6 months are up, my salary will have increased and I won't be eligible anymore. (Which I think is crazy but what can you do. Student loans are kind of depressing because they're so huge.)
I don't have more than 1 month's expenses in my savings account (I know, bad) so I think I'll stick with the $100 for now. Thanks again, it's good to hear from someone who know what they're talking about.

Agent 99 fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Apr 2, 2011

HooKars
Feb 22, 2006
Comeon!
So, I'm almost 29, single and recently moved to a new city for a job and as it turns out, I hate it with a passion. I am thinking about quitting and moving back to where I grew up, despite not having a job lined up (I'm applying but haven't found anything ). I don't want to stay in the same industry that I'm currently in (Law) and would like to find a job that is more of a 9 - 5 office job. I realize that could probably take awhile (I'm still applying for law jobs too just in case but I really, really don't want to end up with one and I'm not admitted to practice in the state I want to move to which matters for some law jobs). In a perfect world, I would quit and then travel for a month, but prior to this job, which I've had for 6 months, I was unemployed for a year and a half so I'm still kind of nervous about "wasting" my money. However, I also feel like I'm pretty good financially and I've never been anywhere. Anyway, I'd like an honest analysis of where I stand and whether this sort of up and change my career, gently caress around for a bit, etc. is really possible.

First, I have no debt, and that includes student loans. I currently make $110,000/yr. My apartment costs $1650/month and I have 5 months left on it and I probably can't get out of the lease. I'm not even thinking about quitting until end of May at this point but that'd be $5,000 I would need to have set aside. I have a car that's paid in full but it's a pretty big piece of crap and could die at any time. My parents don't live in the area so I'd have to get a place but I'd probably have a roommate. Travel-wise I'm thinking either Europe or Central America and there'd be hostels involved.

I have $75,000 set aside in what's pretty much straight up cash (savings/checking), another $80,000 in stocks, and about $75000 in retirement accounts. Am I stupid to be worried? Sometimes I feel like reading about people's debt skews me to think I'm doing better than I am.

Anything to consider?

HooKars fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Apr 3, 2011

Hufflepuff or bust!
Jan 28, 2005

I should have known better.

HooKars posted:

Anything to consider?

That I hate you and wish I had your problem =P

KennyG
Oct 22, 2002
Here to blow my own horn.

HooKars posted:

So, I'm almost 29, single and recently moved to a new city for a job and as it turns out, I hate it with a passion. I am thinking about quitting and moving back to where I grew up, despite not having a job lined up (I'm applying but haven't found anything ). I don't want to stay in the same industry that I'm currently in (Law) and would like to find a job that is more of a 9 - 5 office job. I realize that could probably take awhile (I'm still applying for law jobs too just in case but I really, really don't want to end up with one and I'm not admitted to practice in the state I want to move to which matters for some law jobs). In a perfect world, I would quit and then travel for a month, but prior to this job, which I've had for 6 months, I was unemployed for a year and a half so I'm still kind of nervous about "wasting" my money. However, I also feel like I'm pretty good financially and I've never been anywhere. Anyway, I'd like an honest analysis of where I stand and whether this sort of up and change my career, gently caress around for a bit, etc. is really possible.

First, I have no debt, and that includes student loans. I currently make $110,000/yr. My apartment costs $1650/month and I have 5 months left on it and I probably can't get out of the lease. I'm not even thinking about quitting until end of May at this point but that'd be $5,000 I would need to have set aside. I have a car that's paid in full but it's a pretty big piece of crap and could die at any time. My parents don't live in the area so I'd have to get a place but I'd probably have a roommate. Travel-wise I'm thinking either Europe or Central America and there'd be hostels involved.

I have $75,000 set aside in what's pretty much straight up cash (savings/checking), another $80,000 in stocks, and about $75000 in retirement accounts. Am I stupid to be worried? Sometimes I feel like reading about people's debt skews me to think I'm doing better than I am.

Anything to consider?


The real question is what do you think you would end up doing. Making $110k a year is awesome and allows you great flexibility, but what will happen when you get your new job. If you go from making 110 to 50 what happens to your finances. It's entirely up to you, but with $75k set aside, even a 6 month emergency plan with ~$3000 in monthly expenses would leave you with more than 50k of cash left to use. However, I can't really comment on the wisdom of quitting a job with 8.8% unemployment. What are your monthly expenses, what is your non-legal employment prospects, what will quitting a job after 6 months do to your resume?

HooKars
Feb 22, 2006
Comeon!

KennyG posted:

The real question is what do you think you would end up doing. Making $110k a year is awesome and allows you great flexibility, but what will happen when you get your new job. If you go from making 110 to 50 what happens to your finances. It's entirely up to you, but with $75k set aside, even a 6 month emergency plan with ~$3000 in monthly expenses would leave you with more than 50k of cash left to use. However, I can't really comment on the wisdom of quitting a job with 8.8% unemployment. What are your monthly expenses, what is your non-legal employment prospects, what will quitting a job after 6 months do to your resume?

Ideally, I'm hoping to find a job as a copywriter or contract specialist for a company. A paralegal job would be okay but I would rather get out of law firm life altogether. I'm not sure how realistic those careers are but I have contract experience as an attorney, editing experience from my law school extracurriculars, and some paralegal experience from before law school. Top 10 law school, top 25 undergrad, good gpa for both, likely considered "overqualified". I would be moving to a suburb of NYC so the NYC job market would be an option, though not ideal. The 8 month job won't look great on my resume. As I mentioned, I was unemployed for a year a half before this job so there's already a pretty big gap there, and I only worked 6 months at my prior job before I was laid off.

I would probably try to do something like Leapforce/Lionbridge while I job hunted to bring in some money, and try joining some temp agencies. I currently spend about $3,000 a month, with $1650 of it being my current rent. Once I move, I should be able to drop the rent to $600 - $700. And I spend about $300/month traveling back to the place I want to move to so that expense would disappear as well. I used to live on $1500/month when I was unemployed so I should be able to pretty easily reduce what I'm spending. Health insurance will likely be the largest new expense because I'm a 29 year old female but luckily I have no real medical problems.

I am really nervous about quitting during this economy. I was terrified during my entire year and a half of unemployment that I would never get a job again. I can try to stick this out until the month before my lease ends (and travel then) but I feel like I'm wasting my life working 60 - 70 hours a week at a job that I absolutely hate.

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intensive purposes
Jul 1, 2009
HooKars, have you ever thought about starting your own business, or something similar? It's risky, but with the job market so bad (especially for overqualified law grads), so is sitting unemployed for too long. If you have any interest in that, it may be a good time to go for it--you've got the savings safety net and if you were to apply to other jobs later on, the business experience on your resume would be a demonstrated break from law firm life to mitigate the overqualified thing... that's one way to do it that would be in your control.

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