|
ufsteph posted:FI is like becoming an Olympic athlete. You have to dedicate years, decades to living your life in pursuit of that one goal. Good analogy. I find it a tad annoying that Knyteguy puts so little effort into FI and yet still mentions it as a serious possibility. He is clearly a white picket fence type of fellow, and not a FI person. So kidding himself with this FI talk. Not that there is anything wrong or evil with a white picket fence. Just know thyself, Knyteguy.
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 12:01
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 03:58 |
|
|
Financial independence guys actually *enjoy* extreme thrift. They are not sitting there going "God, I'd love a Hawaiian vacation right now, BUT I MUST NOT. SELF-DENIAL!" - they are like, "Look at those rubes spending the price of a decent car on a Hawaiian vacation, when I'm having more fun camping in the woods in a tent I got off Craigslist for $10, fishing for a more delicious supper than even a five-star chef could make." Knyteguy should accept that his real goal is to live within his means and retire comfortably at 60, not to scrimp and save and retire at 40. That's not to say that he should give up on the budget thing, but FI is kind of flavour-of-the-month right now, and not for everyone.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 14:25
|
|
|
BarbarianElephant posted:Financial independence guys actually *enjoy* extreme thrift. They are not sitting there going "God, I'd love a Hawaiian vacation right now, BUT I MUST NOT. SELF-DENIAL!" - they are like, "Look at those rubes spending the price of a decent car on a Hawaiian vacation, when I'm having more fun camping in the woods in a tent I got off Craigslist for $10, fishing for a more delicious supper than even a five-star chef could make." I agree (though I wouldn't put it so strongly). I save 2/3 of my post-tax income not so much because I deny myself what I want as because I simply don't really want to spend that much. Knyteguy is very very clearly not this type of person. He loves to spend, he wants to spend. Spending is a large part of what gives him happiness (nothing evil with this, just pointing it out). For him to achieve FI would involve immense pain, which he is unlikely to be willing to endure.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 14:43
|
|
|
John Smith posted:For him to achieve FI would involve immense pain, which he is unlikely to be willing to endure. Or he could get a job that pays fair market value for a software developer and just not increase his spending at all.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 15:46
|
|
|
Droo posted:Or he could get a job that pays fair market value for a software developer and just not increase his spending at all. Wasn't it also possible for him to start working directly for the company that his boss lends him out to?
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 16:18
|
|
|
Droo posted:Or he could get a job that pays fair market value for a software developer and just not increase his spending at all. Knyteguy posted:Discretionary - meh just fun stuff or lazy stuff. I don't think KG has learned the proper mind-set that would prevent him from spending the extra cash. Oh, he'd put some of it towards debt, but I bet he would think, "I'm making enough now. We can splurge a little, right?" and then proceed to do so while not making any real progress with his debt. He'll lose track of his spending comfortable in the knowledge that at least things are getting paid, and hey!-- he's putting more money towards debt than he was before, so he doesn't really have to worry about the money. Habits. It's all about habits. Also, KG wrote "wary" and not "weary" and for that I am thankful.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 17:11
|
|
|
The big test when gaining more income is to avoid lifestyle creep. And Knyteguy is a great mental gymnist so I could easily see him having a "Well we can afford it now!" attitude. "Decided to up my sisters pay to $600 a month, we can afford it now and I really want to help her out" "Really needed a second car now that I have a longer commute!" "Wife decided to go back to school to become a flavor of the month" "Upped discretionary to $250 each a month. We just feel really burned out because we've been counting pennies for so long" etc. etc. "Decided to send our son to a nice pre-school, this will allow my wife more time to study and find a job!" There's always something to spend more money on and there's always a justification. EDIT: But ya if he could get a new job and spend $0 more doing it he could be in an amazing place in as short as 6-12 months.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 17:25
|
|
|
It drives me crazy hearing what people think I can't do. Know thyself? I know that I have no limitations on what I can do. Including saving money. If I said screw it "know thyself" 2 years ago I wouldn't have started this thread and we'd be on payday loans still. People would still laugh "Knyteguy, you saving? Haha.", or "We wouldn't think you'd have even $1,000". You don't have to be born with some sort of money skill to save money, it can be learned. There is more than one path to FI. The guy who has a highly successful business can be FI, the frugal min-maxer can be FI, the guy who gets a huge windfall can be FI, the guy who makes really good money and spends like he makes normal middle class money can be FI. No you don't have to be this enlightened dude who shits in an outhouse in the woods instead of going to Hawaii. You have to learn to live within your means of course, but so does everyone. Also ironically I actually just posted an article about MMM going to Hawaii for a vacation. I'm not clearly anything. I can set my own expectations and I can set what I want in life, and the only one limiting that is myself. I'm not disadvantaged, I'm not from some caste system where my opportunities are basically none, I'm not bound by some stupid money spending problem, I'm not bound by material wants, and I won't be bound by my kids not being able to get braces or whatever (and if he's anything like me he will need braces). I'm trying to start to approach money like I've been approaching exercising. For me with exercise it's not about going out there and blowing every ounce of energy you can, getting burned out, and skipping out for 3 months because "gently caress that". It's a matter of consistency, and I've only very recently come to see this. Getting out there every day or hell even most days and walking an hour a day is far more valuable, and will lead to more progress, than one good day or one excellent hour. Sometimes I'll miss and eat a bunch of lovely food for whatever reason; no one is perfect. What's important is that after doing that I don't get discouraged, or even disappointed. I go out on the walk the next day and keep going. Eventually my success will help drive me, and I'll be able to start jogging, and then I'll be able to start running (knees allowing). Etc etc same with money. IllegallySober posted:I have a few thoughts but I'm going to wait until tomorrow to post them because I'm running on very little sleep and I'd kinda like to see where this conversation goes before I jump in. Thanks Sober. I'm trying to be open to input. Especially with budgetary methods. Everyone else: I've read your posts and the input will be duly considered. I'm on the same budget for the next two months, so any actual additional categories or additional money being allocated will need to wait until August.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 17:36
|
|
|
Droo posted:Or he could get a job that pays fair market value for a software developer and just not increase his spending at all. See, this is the kind of thinking I disagree with. Sure, if you're single, relatively young, don't intend to have kids, and will be happy to retire somewhere with a low cost of living. AND you don't increase your spending (which means never making a lifestyle upgrade, which means you have to be happy with your current spending rate), then probably you can make it in a decade or two of work. But he has a family to support and he wants to buy a house (and you need to own property for this because rent can go up and gently caress you) and his daydreams about FI include expensive stuff like helping his mom with the bills etc etc. That Olympic athlete analogy is spot on and frankly, someone making 120k pretax and struggling to keep their spending below 60k post-tax (while failing to save for a down payment) is not going to achieve FI, even if they can lock that spending at 60k post-tax (and he even protests about how much he wants to keep up with the Joneses!) The other-other poster is right too: he doesn't have the mindset for frugality and he needs to change that first if this is a serious goal of his, or else he's gonna hate it. Not to say he can't change that obviously, because I believe he can. But now that he's treading water instead of drowning, that's what needs to be a priority. edit: ^ Didn't see that post before posting. So okay, let's see some numbers: How much yearly income do you need to be FI (i usually consider that amount "you don't need to work instead of you work for rear end in a top hat clients or part time" but sure, whatever amount you think)? Please include the amount you'd spend on gifts/helping your family, etc. How much total principal do you need to make that from investments? (This is "free" money, opposed to money you make from a job or owning a business.) How much debt/mortgage do you need to take care of first? How many years do you need to save with a pretax income (sorry, we're in different tax brackets so I don't know the conversion) of 90k? 120k? 150k? 200k? Double edit: Ahahahha doesn't MMM guy make like a seven figure income from his blog? L O L Colin Mockery fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Jun 2, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 17:38
|
|
|
Hey and in my post above I keep saying guy, but I mean that genderless. Substitute "guy" for "person" above.Horking Delight posted:See, this is the kind of thinking I disagree with. Sure, if you're single, relatively young, don't intend to have kids, and will be happy to retire somewhere with a low cost of living. AND you don't increase your spending (which means never making a lifestyle upgrade, which means you have to be happy with your current spending rate), then probably you can make it in a decade or two of work. Good post and something to consider. I don't necessarily want early retirement, but I do I want financial independence. Like if I could feasibly take 10 years off of work, but not necessarily retire forever, that might be enough. I was unemployed for 2 years it's boring as poo poo sitting at home all the time. Being able to start and nurture a business, or just tell my boss to gently caress off, or not worry about layoffs, etc. Then if I keep working I could let that 10 years of freedom compound into something more, etc. I too like the Olympic athlete stuff. Gotta walk before you can run etc. If running is FI then I'm still crawling, but I'm not sitting on my back unable to move myself anymore either. I think I've set my own expectations too high, setting your guys' expectations too high. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 17:50
|
|
|
Knyteguy posted:It drives me crazy hearing what people think I can't do. Know thyself? I know that I have no limitations on what I can do. I can sit here and say that too, but realistically I know myself and I know that I will never run a marathon in less than 3:35 and qualify for Boston. That doesn't mean I should stop running and improving myself. It means I won't be an elite runner. Which is ok! Because it is very, very hard to do that. You can have a good hold on your finances and work to better yourself and family without FI.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 17:54
|
|
|
A ten year buffer is incredibly long. Honestly, making your career really good and keeping your resume up to date and networking well is probably better for giving you the sort of security you're talking about. Plus maybe a 2-year buffer or your wife not needing to work (but being able to in a pinch, as she does now but with a better career). I wouldn't call that FI at all, because you'd still be a wage slave, but you'd have the financial buffer to choose your master, basically. Frankly , this is what a lot of people who have a six-month emergency fund can probably manage, and is much easier to attain, especially since you're in a really hot industry right now. For example: I'd consider myself in this category (as a single person with barely any expenses), but my reaction to FI as a concept is pretty negative, as I'm sure you've noticed. Colin Mockery fucked around with this message at 18:01 on Jun 2, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 17:59
|
|
|
How about we roll with this - my main goal right now is to get out of debt. Beyond that? Well that can be analyzed and addressed afterwards, but no matter what we need to get out of debt right now. Every other single thing is a means to that end. Everything else should come naturally (including finding new jobs) as we work towards that goal. Next month is a 3-paycheck cycle for my wife, so we'll get to get off to a good start on the debt payoff. You guys always say to set SMART goals... I'll try to come up with a time frame (which will assume all other factors stay the same). Maybe I'll piece down that goal further, too. Pay off an additional $5,000 towards the car in X time, etc. E: clarification Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 19:27 on Jun 2, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 18:28
|
|
|
How about you fix your June budget first.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 19:45
|
|
|
See. You say things like wanting to achieve FI, taking 10+ years off, or "being secure". And then you try and justify moving to one of the most expensive cities in the entire US. San Diego #8 - "Income a couple would need to pay for the same moderately affluent lifestyle in different cities" San Diego #10 - "Most Expensive U.S. Cities to Live In" San Diego #13 - "U.S. cities with the highest cost-of-living, according to Expatistan" You can't have it all. You can't retire early / pay off debt / save by setting a budget that has $0 debt repayment, $0 savings, and $0 retirement contributions. You did this just last week! I mean it's crazy. You flip flop every 14 days. Bugamol fucked around with this message at 20:57 on Jun 2, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 20:53
|
|
|
Bugamol posted:See. You say things like wanting to achieve FI, taking 10+ years off, or "being secure". This is why I don't frequent this thread. Everything is in an ever-changing state with expensive decisions being made every few weeks or months. I know spending money is addictive but having savings (meaning debt repayment or investment) is important to do consistently. Budgets are something to stick to and not blow out.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 21:06
|
|
|
Saying you want to be financially independent while blowing $460/month on discretionary/misc/restaurants is bad with money.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 21:07
|
|
|
Bugamol posted:See. You say things like wanting to achieve FI, taking 10+ years off, or "being secure". Now, moving to an expensive city and trying to stay there for FI would be a bad move, no doubt.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 21:18
|
|
|
Bugamol posted:See. You say things like wanting to achieve FI, taking 10+ years off, or "being secure". Instead of trying to debate every point here and what my intentions were, I'll just say that Cicero lives in or near the SF Bay (list 3 #3/#4), and is working towards FI (successfully, last he shared). San Diego for me was not a flip flop. I'm not going to debate it anymore; it's completely pointless as the offer didn't come through. Just need to focus on the debt payoff. I've already done the math with the "time to payoff debt" post that was a requirement of the charity, but I think I forgot my wife's 3rd paycheck in July which should start us off early. e: ^ 
Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 21:21 on Jun 2, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 21:19
|
|
|
I know nothing about Cicero, but does he happen to have a wife a kid and 3+ animals?Cicero posted:I'm living in a small space now to save lots of money with my big Silicon Valley salary, and there's nothing stopping me from moving somewhere cheaper eventually. This is not what you were planning on doing. You were planning on spend $2,300 a month on rent. EDIT: I checked the FI thread and it looks like Cicero might have a family? Hard to tell. At the end of the day you posted a budget that you were "happy with" that had $0 savings, $0 retirement contributions, $0 debt repayment, and you were "happy with it". That's not how you become FI. Bugamol fucked around with this message at 21:38 on Jun 2, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 21:32
|
|
|
No animals, but I do have a wife (who has somewhat expensive grad school) and a kid though. And Bugamol is absolutely right that it requires sacrifice to make work. For example, I'm living in a 1br mobile home (well it's not really mobile at all, but manufactured). Most days I bike to work, which is 8 miles each way. I've cut back a ton on random tech purchases in the last year or two. I don't eat out very much anymore, although it helps immensely in that area to work at Google (working at Google is great with money). And even though I love cats, I don't have any, partially because of the workload involved, partially because of the cost, and partially because of the greater flexibility you get with not having pets (as others have noted, having a bunch of pets makes finding a place to rent much harder).
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 21:52
|
|
|
Bugamol posted:I know nothing about Cicero, but does he happen to have a wife a kid and 3+ animals? Knyteguy posted:I'm not going to argue with you guys about it any longer, but I will say that I feel like I've explained thoroughly enough that if the offer comes and it's about what I've been budgeting, then I'm very likely not going to take it. I didn't say I was going to dip into our emergency fund (in fact I said the opposite), and I never said anything about the budgets themselves working or being a justification for moving. I in fact said the opposite. It's cool to be hard on me to keep me on my path if my intentions are off track, but they weren't off track here. I was trying to better my financial situation, and then choosing the absolute worst case scenario of San Diego being expensive for the sake of budgeting. I didn't want to rent for $2,300, but I was planning on having to rent for $2,300 for the sake of exploring whether the move was worth it. "If I could find no other option in SD but a $2,300 place to rent, would this move for this job be worth it?". That's something BFC has been trying to drive into my head for awhile, and I think I did a good job following that here. Cicero posted:No animals, but I do have a wife (who has somewhat expensive grad school) and a kid though. Yep I agree, pets are great but at the same time they suck. If I could do it over it'd be one cat or one small dog. Until we're settled in our own home at least and we don't have to worry about moving anymore for a long time, if ever. Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Jun 2, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 22:02
|
|
|
Eh, I can't resist. My husband and I have 3 cats and a baby in a rental in Southern California and we are on track for our FI goals. If I had to do it all over again I'd only have one cat but we were young, stupid, and living in a condo my parents owned when we got them. Pets and kids are so bad with money. If you've allowed your lifestyle to creep up once you should expect it to happen again when your income increases unless you behave better with money. FI (or whatever you want to call not needing to work for someone else) is based on both behavior and income, you can't have just one. Making debt payoff the #1 priority is a great idea because you'll pay yourself first, which is a key behavior no matter what your income level. Your other examples of how someone could achieve FI (a really high income, a windfall) still involve paying yourself first and living well below your means if they want to remain FI.
|
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 22:56
|
|
|
Knyteguy posted:"If I could find no other option in SD but a $2,300 place to rent, would this move for this job be worth it?". That's something BFC has been trying to drive into my head for awhile, and I think I did a good job following that here. This will be my last post and then I'll just let it go, but I disagree here. You built a budget that had $0 savings, $0 debt pay down, and $0 retirement contributions (alongside a lot of other silly things like over calculating tax, not including medical insurance, etc, etc, etc.). That budget left you with a whooping $300 a month or something silly. And you were seriously considering taking the offer if it came in. Personal opinion. If I had done the same math as you I would have immediately said "Well this just doesn't work" and moved on. You argued with the thread for pages about "what you feel is important", "it'd be a fun city to live in", and every know and then touting you want to live somewhere that has a higher COLA, but your budget wasn't taking advantage of it. I know you want to "just move on now" that you didn't get that offer, but I mean give me a break. Anyways. [/rant]. Keep up the hard work. Set realistic goals. Be more honest with yourself. You've definitely come a long way and I think the majority of the thread is pretty proud of you all things considered. I mean you've almost got $10k cash in the bank when you were living off payday loans 1.5 years ago. That's super impressive! EDIT: Very likely not going to take it should have been there's no way in the world I'm going to take this. I guess that's my driving point here. Bugamol fucked around with this message at 23:44 on Jun 2, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jun 2, 2015 23:40
|
|
|
Knyteguy posted:It drives me crazy hearing what people think I can't do. Know thyself? I know that I have no limitations on what I can do. Including saving money. Denial. Knyteguy posted:I think I've set my own expectations too high, setting your guys' expectations too high. Enlightenment. Expecting to have a decent lifestyle with the changes you are making is reasonable. Expecting to achieve FI with the changes you are making is a joke.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2015 06:13
|
|
|
I don't really follow the thread anymore but the constant updates to the title are great. Keep doing that. Good luck though man, it sounds like you are struggling a bit.
|
|
#
?
Jun 3, 2015 19:21
|
|
|
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1eOxaMNBuI2qHz5CLWLcNuDEE3TSKHURdC2ubaZinnI0/edit?usp=sharing I made some changes to my resume based off of what I read in that Ask a Manager blog that was recommended. Please let me know what you think, I will also be posting it in the resume thread.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2015 20:47
|
|
|
Just off the top of my head, I'd remove your high school. Once you have your BA, your high school diploma is not only implied - it makes you look very junior to have it on there.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2015 21:05
|
|
|
I don't have much constructive to say so instead of being a dick I'll say that you should have the SA resume guy put something together for you. You have tons of experience, but your resume feels very "fluff" and insubstantial. I don't think it's doing a good job of communicating what you can bring to the table.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2015 22:23
|
|
|
It depends entirely on the jobs that she's actually applying to.
|
|
#
?
Jun 4, 2015 23:34
|
|
|
Bugamol posted:I don't have much constructive to say so instead of being a dick I'll say that you should have the SA resume guy put something together for you. You have tons of experience, but your resume feels very "fluff" and insubstantial. I don't think it's doing a good job of communicating what you can bring to the table. The biggest thing it seems to be missing is specific, concrete examples that are backed up with quantifiable improvement (for example, instead of "reorganized stock room leading to increased productivity," maybe something like "reorganized stock room for efficiency which directly contributed to a 24% increase in revenue the following month" or whatever.)
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2015 02:02
|
|
|
Ya and things like: Time-management and organizational skills Accurate cash handling and deposits Became the go-to person in the department when concerns needed to be addressed by building relationships with employees Effectively communicated with corporate office via email and phone to plan events Continually inputted receiving invoices well above the deadline Are just pure fluff. I mean you put on your resume that you know how to use a phone and e-mail. That should hopefully be a gimmie.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2015 02:06
|
|
|
Bugamol posted:I don't have much constructive to say so instead of being a dick I'll say that you should have the SA resume guy put something together for you. You have tons of experience, but your resume feels very "fluff" and insubstantial. I don't think it's doing a good job of communicating what you can bring to the table. I think with these sorts of problems, Danny would be a better choice. I've used both of them, and I preferred Danny when I was having trouble with the meat of the work.
|
|
#
?
Jun 5, 2015 02:32
|
|
|
spwrozek posted:I don't really follow the thread anymore but the constant updates to the title are great. Keep doing that. Just got finished reading through this thread over the past month (or two? IT'S BEEN A RIDE) and, Knyteguy? Genuine praise. I was still early enough in the thread when the title changed to the current beauty that I thought first "When the hell does he pick up new cats, they're all currently spayed??" and then, "Oh no, he didn't make it a month? That's a bummer." Because you really do seem to be getting it in the past few months in a way you were not in the year and change before that. You get defensive less (although the last back and forth saw you pretty defensive). You roll with people's hard no's better (early on most times someone came at you with neutral advice that you shouldn't do what you were thinking of doing you treated it like an attack). You ARE budgeting better now! None of this is to say anyone who worries about you back-sliding or resuming old habits is wrong. You still seem to think more positively than you likely should. But (as you've been saying in fact!), you do seem to be working on it and making good progress. Count me as another someone rooting for your success Knyteguy. I read SloMo's thread right before yours and read that shitshow of a roller-coaster through to completion. But I hope I've caught up to this after any of the "Mini-Cooper" and "BASIL" stories to watch boring, incremental progress punctuated by a safe, low-impact, no-move salary raise for both of you.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2015 22:05
|
|
|
Old Greg posted:Just got finished reading through this thread over the past month (or two? IT'S BEEN A RIDE) and, Knyteguy? Genuine praise. I was still early enough in the thread when the title changed to the current beauty that I thought first "When the hell does he pick up new cats, they're all currently spayed??" and then, "Oh no, he didn't make it a month? That's a bummer." Because you really do seem to be getting it in the past few months in a way you were not in the year and change before that. Thanks man. Sometimes it's hard for me to see progress too (slow to change), so it's cool to hear that some things have changed a little. I agree that the risk for a backslide is still there. I feel like it seems to get better as the months go on, so hopefully it will be much less of a concern as we begin (and finish) the process of paying down debt. Yes my goal now is to make the boring incremental progresses. Well actually I think this will be much more exciting part of it all than up until now, but we'll see. I'm just tired of throwing away so much money on interest every month, so the sooner we're finished paying for our past mistakes, the better.
|
|
#
?
Jun 8, 2015 22:32
|
|
|
The end of Tuyop and Cornholio's threads were just "stayed under budget, paid off X loan" by the end of it, IIRC. It was pretty great.
|
|
#
?
Jun 10, 2015 16:13
|
|
|
Horking Delight posted:The end of Tuyop and Cornholio's threads were just "stayed under budget, paid off X loan" by the end of it, IIRC. It was pretty great. I was kind of thinking this one could end with the financing of a new car  . Nah I'm just playing of course.My wife's work automatically enrolled her in an ESPP/savings plan at 4% income distribution somehow. I'm putting this here to remind me to look into that. I don't trust JCP stock right now, and I don't like that this was done automatically. It also puts some of that into some mutual fund I think (it looked to be Vanguard at a quick glance, but I didn't look very closely). It would probably be great if we weren't in debt, but we are.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2015 16:51
|
|
|
Knyteguy posted:My wife's work automatically enrolled her in an ESPP/savings plan at 4% income distribution somehow. I'm putting this here to remind me to look into that. I don't trust JCP stock right now, and I don't like that this was done automatically. It also puts some of that into some mutual fund I think (it looked to be Vanguard at a quick glance, but I didn't look very closely). It would probably be great if we weren't in debt, but we are. ESPP programs shouldn't be investing in a separate mutual fund, they're called "Employee Stock Purchase Plans" and they're generally a way for the company to sell stock to employees at a discount. You'd have to look to see how your wife's works specifically, but they're usually a good deal if you can afford to not have the cash on hand for a few months, even if you "don't trust" the underlying company stock. Here's how mine works. I sign up, and at the start of the next cycle (1/1 or 7/1) I'm "enrolled." They take a percentage out of my post-tax paycheck every week (4% in your wife's case?) and put it into a pile. At the end of six months, on 7/1, the company buys company stock for me with my pile of money. Lets say for ease of numbers that this $1,000. My company then takes the price on 1/1 and compares it to the price today on 7/1, and sells it to me at 15% off the lowest price. So if the stock was at $10 on 1/1 and $20 on 7/1, I get to buy the stock at $8.50, and immediately make $11.50 per share. If it goes the other way, $20 on 1/1 and $10 on 7/1, I still get to buy the stock at $8.50, but the shares are only worth $10. I make less money, but I still make 15%. You've already been taxed on the money that went into the ESPP, so you only pay additional taxes on the gain. Assuming you can afford to "lock away" the cash for six months and your company offers a discount similar to above, it can be a fairly high guaranteed return on your money. Again, please check the specifics of JCP's program. Post them here and people will dissect them. If you're getting hit with high-interest debt it might still be worse than paying it off.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2015 18:59
|
|
|
Inverse Icarus posted:ESPP programs shouldn't be investing in a separate mutual fund, they're called "Employee Stock Purchase Plans" and they're generally a way for the company to sell stock to employees at a discount. Alright thanks I'll try to find the details and post them here (she was notified via letter and it didn't explain much). It's the volatility of JCP stock that worries me, but I guess it could be worth looking into if the plan was similar to yours. Quick job hunt update: still getting a bunch of poo poo from that recruiter, but I've been ignoring their calls as they call me at work, it's people I haven't worked with, and they're also calling me at 6:30am sometimes. loving look up the concept of time zones assholes  . The only guy I liked working with was California's branch. I'll have to call them and tell them I'm done working with them for the time being.A Reno company just contacted me through my LinkedIn, and then again after they saw my Github. It's NodeJS and frontend work (since I did a pretty comprehensive website with it that's on my GitHub), but I'm not certain that's what I want to do. I enjoy frontend work a lot but I don't think the work pays as much. NodeJS has kind of a bad reputation right now, also. I'll contact them after a little research and fill you guys in if it goes anywhere. I'm also thinking of recreating a project I've done here at work and starting a business selling it and doing contract work to support it. Every single company I've interviewed with this past month or so was more interested in that than anything else I've done (even taking notes from what I told them for their own implementations), so there's a market. That consulting company I was going to work for is going to do the exact same thing, and I've got the jump on them since I've actually made a version and it's in production. Anyway just a little update; not much to say on the F side of BFC at the moment. edit: oh and holy gently caress how could I forget? My wife has an interview tomorrow with a marketing firm as a junior associate, and another interview next week (with a company that seems shady to me, but it's for office manager so we'll see). Knyteguy fucked around with this message at 22:27 on Jun 11, 2015 |
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2015 22:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 18, 2024 03:58 |
|
|
I'm totally shocked that you and your wife have local job opportunities if you spend a little time looking for them. Nobody in this thread said that was possible.
|
|
#
?
Jun 11, 2015 23:52
|
|