Author Topic: Epic FU money stories  (Read 2795095 times)

PathtoFIRE

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1600 on: April 06, 2017, 08:28:27 AM »
sets an SVP's car on fire

Wrong FIRE! Damage like that doesn't suggest that the perpetrator had much confidence in their economic position without that job, quite the opposite. I mean I like Office Space as much as the next guy or gal, but I can't help but think that this is the exact opposite of what most people find inspiring about this thread.

By the River

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1601 on: April 06, 2017, 08:32:22 AM »
Awesome thread!

FIRE is 10-12 years away for me, but when I do finally quit I definitely want people saying, 'Wow, now that guy got canned!'.

A few years ago, the company I worked at was purchased and they proceeded to fire my whole department (~100 people). So one of the fired employees says goodbye to everyone, calmly steps out the door, and sets an SVP's car on fire. It was glorious.

That's a way to go out in a blaze of glory.   But I'm wondering about your user name...is it far from early retirement or far from burning a VP's car?

Cannot Wait!

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1602 on: April 06, 2017, 08:47:47 AM »
sets an SVP's car on fire

Wrong FIRE! Damage like that doesn't suggest that the perpetrator had much confidence in their economic position without that job, quite the opposite. I mean I like Office Space as much as the next guy or gal, but I can't help but think that this is the exact opposite of what most people find inspiring about this thread.

Inspiring? No.  Epic?  Hell yeah!

farfromfire

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1603 on: April 06, 2017, 11:44:03 AM »
Awesome thread!

FIRE is 10-12 years away for me, but when I do finally quit I definitely want people saying, 'Wow, now that guy got canned!'.

A few years ago, the company I worked at was purchased and they proceeded to fire my whole department (~100 people). So one of the fired employees says goodbye to everyone, calmly steps out the door, and sets an SVP's car on fire. It was glorious.

That's a way to go out in a blaze of glory.   But I'm wondering about your user name...is it far from early retirement or far from burning a VP's car?
Both, unfortunately. Retirement is 10-12 years away, and I suspect that I should be at that FU money stage before setting fire to anything.

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1604 on: April 06, 2017, 11:45:43 AM »
Both, unfortunately. Retirement is 10-12 years away, and I suspect that I should be at that FU money stage before setting fire to anything.

Wrong mindset, as a great man said, if you're good at something never do it for free.  Fire for hire as a faster path to FIRE!

With This Herring

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1605 on: April 19, 2017, 12:39:14 PM »
Wow, what a great batch of FU stories!  Good job, dogboyslim!

I have had to tell him off when he decided to wear thongs to a club because of their dress code.

I think a translation is needed here.

Thongs is Australian for flip-flops (Thanks Quora, just read this there).

Sydneystache, Thongs in American is extremely minimalist underwear. Do a google search and see the images ;-)

A Thong is the underwear,   Thongs is a pair of flip flops.     I fortunately did not confuse the two on first reading.

If your buddy is wearing thongs, the underwear, it might defeat the purpose :-)

Signs as--- Temporary Deputy Grammar Sheriff.

Though I recognize that "thongs" can refer to certain sandals, it's always nice to get clarification.  :)  After all, my first thought was that he was going to wear his blue leather thong on Friday night and his green satin thong on Saturday night.  (See also "banana hammock," but not if you are at work.)  And I do have female friends who wear thongs (thong-style pants/panties) under their pants (trousers) on a regular basis.

albireo13

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1606 on: April 19, 2017, 12:53:08 PM »
thongs .. AKA butt-floss

Livingthedream55

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1607 on: April 20, 2017, 07:08:31 AM »
I dress very casually on occasion and have gotten looks like that on occasion.  No one has ever refused me service though.

On the other hand, having $1M+ in a bank savings account is not very mustachian.
I've pull out large amounts, dressed in a old biker jacket, nary a blink, didn't even ask for photo ID (had a bank card). 
It was going to a cashier's check and I think I had to sign for it.

$1M might be a small fraction of his stuff (cash allocation)?

I think he had $8M with the bank altogether. The manager at the new bank says "first" check:

Quote
"The first check he brought me was for $1 million,"


I got the story via /r/MaliciousCompliance. I like that version a little better and it has more details.

Quote
Sorry if this is a repeat. I just stumbled across this sub and immediately thought of a story I read in the Spokane Spokesman-Review about 30 years ago. I looked for the original, but could only find this Washington Post article

The original article had many more satisfying details, and it's likely my memory has added some. For example, I remember the parking fee being 50 cents, not 60.

Anyway, weathered looking guy wearing old jeans and a wrinkled shirt had just cashed a check at a downtown Spokane bank. Spokane had paid parking, but you could get your ticket validated at downtown businesses. With enough validation, parking was free.

As he's leaving, he remembers he didn't get his parking stub validated. He gets back in line and asks the teller to validate the stub.

"I'm sorry, sir, we only validate with a transaction."

He explains he was just here and shows her the receipt. She won't budge. He asks to speak to an upper level bank exec by name. "I'm sorry, sir, he's too busy."

He asks for a manger, explains, and again asks for the upper level exec by name. The manager explains that he's in a meeting and that the customer should leave.

The guy says, "If I make a transaction, you'll validate the ticket?" Yep.

"I'd like to close my account."

The teller gets a snarky look and starts complying, only to have her face fall as she pulls up the details. Suddenly, they are all apologetic and go to get the exec he'd asked for.

He's just as firm as they were and insists he wants his account closed. I recall it being around $8 million.

He took the cashiers checks, walked across the street and opened a new account at a competing bank, after getting his parking validated.

The bank changed their policy. They would validate parking sans transaction.



That was epic!!!!

paddedhat

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1608 on: April 20, 2017, 07:32:47 AM »
I dress very casually on occasion and have gotten looks like that on occasion.  No one has ever refused me service though.

On the other hand, having $1M+ in a bank savings account is not very mustachian.

I had an older friend who was worth at least ten million or so, highly educated, and a retired financial industry exec. The other side of the story was that he drove a POS pickup and spent his summers in worn out boat shoes, ragged cargo shorts, and polo shirts that were best used as shop rags. He had contracted for a five figure landscape job with a local firm. He stopped by their retail store just before the big job was to start. He wanted to grab a few supplies. The staff treated him like garbage, the just couldn't be bothered. He paid for his purchases, and dropped by the owner's office to not only report how he was treated, but to inform them that their biggest job of the year, was no more......................... I imagine there was a lot of ass chewing after he pulled away.

Rowellen

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1609 on: April 20, 2017, 06:23:12 PM »
Awesome thread and I can't wait to do this with my current job.

I have 2 stories.
Mine is early in my career. I had about 6 months of expenses saved. I had taken a job that was doomed from before I even started. First interview was with manager A and minority owner B. They were great. Job seemed great. Wonderful. Second interview was with B and majority owner C, who I wouldn't be working with directly. I took an instant dislike to C. Red flag 1.

Red flag 2. The job was preparing tax returns, financial statement and quarterly activity statements (BAS) for SMSFs. The BAS was done but the rest was 2 years behind. Holy shit!

Red flag 3. The ATO was sitting in the office performing full audits on two clients. This is not a common thing in a competent accounting firm but I didn't realise it at the time.

Colleagues, A and B were awesome. The work was challenging and enjoyable. How they had any clients left is beyond me but I enjoyed the catchup work. After 3 months, it was announced that B was leaving. That day. Never to be seen again. He was forced out by C for reasons unknown to me. Red flag 4.

I was worried but still had A as a buffer between myself and C so could mostly avoid him. A few months later C asked me how the catch up was going and when I thought we'd be done and I said great. Should be done in about 6 months. Next thing a colleague was let go. Red flag 5. Another colleague was let go not long after but rehired when C realised she was still needed.

A year in and although I loved the job and my colleagues, C made life miserable for everyone. I was stressed. My BF (now DH) was encouraging me to leave.

The final straw came when I clued on the fact that A was leaving. I confronted him and he confirmed it, saying C made him keep it secret. My performance review was due that week. C said nothing about the A situation, but asked me to justify why I should get a pay rise. I was speechless with fury. A was pushing his work into me. I wasn't ready for his role. I had no idea if I was being tricked into doing his job at lower pay or if he was being replaced.

After talking to BF I quit the next day. Turned out A was being replaced. When I met his replacement, I was so glad to have quit. He was another C. I served my notice. Started looking for work on my last day and had another job the next week.

My second story is my DHs and FILs. They worked together as contractors. When they lost a major contact they took on work as employees for another contractor. When FIL's dad died about 6 months later, he refused to allow them a few days off to grieve and arrange the funeral. They quit on the spot.




« Last Edit: April 26, 2017, 07:23:50 PM by Rowellen »

kelvin

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1610 on: April 27, 2017, 06:05:01 PM »
filched from other social media: "one of the most inspiring things i’ve ever seen was my co-worker quitting on the spot over an argument and proceeding to purposely make eye contact with my manager as she walked out of the fire exit, making the entire stores alarm go off. it’s was on a level of spite i can only dream of achieving."

EnjoyIt

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1611 on: April 27, 2017, 06:37:42 PM »
filched from other social media: "one of the most inspiring things i’ve ever seen was my co-worker quitting on the spot over an argument and proceeding to purposely make eye contact with my manager as she walked out of the fire exit, making the entire stores alarm go off. it’s was on a level of spite i can only dream of achieving."

Seams very appropriate :)

Zamboni

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1612 on: April 28, 2017, 01:18:31 AM »
I now wish my building at work had fire exits! :-)

Dicey

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1613 on: April 28, 2017, 05:46:11 AM »
filched from other social media: "one of the most inspiring things i’ve ever seen was my co-worker quitting on the spot over an argument and proceeding to purposely make eye contact with my manager as she walked out of the fire exit, making the entire stores alarm go off. it’s was on a level of spite i can only dream of achieving."

Seams very appropriate :)
Only if she worked at JoAnn Fabrics ;-P

homestead neohio

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1614 on: April 28, 2017, 12:19:22 PM »
filched from other social media: "one of the most inspiring things i’ve ever seen was my co-worker quitting on the spot over an argument and proceeding to purposely make eye contact with my manager as she walked out of the fire exit, making the entire stores alarm go off. it’s was on a level of spite i can only dream of achieving."

Seams very appropriate :)
Only if she worked at JoAnn Fabrics ;-P

Your pun has me in stitches.

solon

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1615 on: April 28, 2017, 12:33:57 PM »
filched from other social media: "one of the most inspiring things i’ve ever seen was my co-worker quitting on the spot over an argument and proceeding to purposely make eye contact with my manager as she walked out of the fire exit, making the entire stores alarm go off. it’s was on a level of spite i can only dream of achieving."

Seams very appropriate :)
Only if she worked at JoAnn Fabrics ;-P

Your pun has me in stitches.

If you cross your fingers after surgery you'll heal faster. Or maybe it's just super-stitchin.

SwordGuy

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1616 on: April 28, 2017, 03:40:39 PM »
filched from other social media: "one of the most inspiring things i’ve ever seen was my co-worker quitting on the spot over an argument and proceeding to purposely make eye contact with my manager as she walked out of the fire exit, making the entire stores alarm go off. it’s was on a level of spite i can only dream of achieving."

Seams very appropriate :)
Only if she worked at JoAnn Fabrics ;-P

Your pun has me in stitches.

If you cross your fingers after surgery you'll heal faster. Or maybe it's just super-stitchin.

We're supposed to be polite to one another.  Stop needling people over their mistakes!

SwordGuy

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1617 on: April 28, 2017, 05:14:09 PM »
filched from other social media: "one of the most inspiring things i’ve ever seen was my co-worker quitting on the spot over an argument and proceeding to purposely make eye contact with my manager as she walked out of the fire exit, making the entire stores alarm go off. it’s was on a level of spite i can only dream of achieving."

Seams very appropriate :)
Only if she worked at JoAnn Fabrics ;-P

Your pun has me in stitches.

If you cross your fingers after surgery you'll heal faster. Or maybe it's just super-stitchin.

We're supposed to be polite to one another.  Stop needling people over their mistakes!
And no more puns on this topic or the thread count will get too high.

G-dog

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1618 on: April 28, 2017, 05:26:59 PM »
filched from other social media: "one of the most inspiring things i’ve ever seen was my co-worker quitting on the spot over an argument and proceeding to purposely make eye contact with my manager as she walked out of the fire exit, making the entire stores alarm go off. it’s was on a level of spite i can only dream of achieving."

Seams very appropriate :)
Only if she worked at JoAnn Fabrics ;-P

Your pun has me in stitches.

If you cross your fingers after surgery you'll heal faster. Or maybe it's just super-stitchin.

We're supposed to be polite to one another.  Stop needling people over their mistakes!
And no more puns on this topic or the thread count will get too high.
Time to stop hemming and hawing and get back on topic.

Izybat

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1619 on: May 04, 2017, 06:13:43 PM »
Replying mostly to follow, but also to say that I WISH we had FU money at the moment, or as we call it, a Rage Quit Fund.

DH recently left a job at the company we both worked for (I still work there). He got a job with a huge international company that included a 59% pay increase and a sign-on bonus. He's worked there for 5 whole weeks, and it's been crap the entire time. Not enough training, bosses treating him like crap, terrible customers, on and on. He desperately wants to quit, and has had his finger on the resignation button for almost two weeks now.

Unfortunately, we don't have a huge cash cushion to support him leaving. If he quits in less than a year, he'll have to pay back the bonus, including the 40% or so taxes that were taken out (so basically, we'd have to pay out of our small savings to have him quit). But that savings is really the only savings we have to survive for a short time without his paycheck until he finds a new job. I've tried to convince him to stay on at least long enough to save up the money to repay the bonus, but he's not sure he can last that long (it'll take a good couple of months to earn it back, even with the huge raise).

We've been on a huge "pay down the debt" kick for the last two years, and have managed to pay off a ton (probably like $45,000), but the other side of that is that we haven't been saving because I've been shoveling all the extra money towards debt. Situations like this make me really question my financial plan and Dave Ramsey's stupid mini-emergency fund.

iluvzbeach

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1620 on: May 04, 2017, 08:25:19 PM »
Would the company you're with want him to come back bad enough to give him a bonus to come back so he could pay back the sign-on bonus?

GilbertB

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1621 on: May 05, 2017, 04:21:06 AM »
I think Ramsey recommends to slow down/stop debt payments when you can feel a storm is coming (your case) and put that sum back into the debt only when the storm has passed.

shelivesthedream

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1622 on: May 05, 2017, 04:52:46 AM »
Could he cope better if you both commit to him quitting the very day that he doesn't need to pay back his bonus - exactly one year of crap but no more? You could get a calendar and mark down the days. A year of crap is a lot of crap, but could he do it for all the extra money? Save it all and then maybe book a holiday of some kind or a fancy dinner or tickets for a big concert for right after he quits - give you both something to look forward to, and only takes up a small percent of the extra money. Just don't end up frittering it away during the year because he "deserves" small treats - you'll have one big treat to look forward to. It would be a big sacrifice but it sounds like it would make an enormous difference to your financial position.

TomTX

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1623 on: May 05, 2017, 05:30:10 AM »
There is a middle ground between "putting up with all the crap" and "FU NOW"

How about just acting as if he has FU money? Boss goes on a rant? Just walk out and go do the training. Customer is crap? Don't put up with unreasonable demands. Etc.

Empowering.

radram

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1624 on: May 05, 2017, 07:34:54 AM »
There is a middle ground between "putting up with all the crap" and "FU NOW"

How about just acting as if he has FU money? Boss goes on a rant? Just walk out and go do the training. Customer is crap? Don't put up with unreasonable demands. Etc.

Empowering.

I agree with this approach. I am sure you do not have to pay it back if he gets fired. While I do not advocate trying to get fired, I believe it is very reasonable to take a stand with some of the more crappy parts of the job.

boarder42

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1625 on: May 05, 2017, 07:39:59 AM »
Replying mostly to follow, but also to say that I WISH we had FU money at the moment, or as we call it, a Rage Quit Fund.

DH recently left a job at the company we both worked for (I still work there). He got a job with a huge international company that included a 59% pay increase and a sign-on bonus. He's worked there for 5 whole weeks, and it's been crap the entire time. Not enough training, bosses treating him like crap, terrible customers, on and on. He desperately wants to quit, and has had his finger on the resignation button for almost two weeks now.

Unfortunately, we don't have a huge cash cushion to support him leaving. If he quits in less than a year, he'll have to pay back the bonus, including the 40% or so taxes that were taken out (so basically, we'd have to pay out of our small savings to have him quit). But that savings is really the only savings we have to survive for a short time without his paycheck until he finds a new job. I've tried to convince him to stay on at least long enough to save up the money to repay the bonus, but he's not sure he can last that long (it'll take a good couple of months to earn it back, even with the huge raise).

We've been on a huge "pay down the debt" kick for the last two years, and have managed to pay off a ton (probably like $45,000), but the other side of that is that we haven't been saving because I've been shoveling all the extra money towards debt. Situations like this make me really question my financial plan and Dave Ramsey's stupid mini-emergency fund.

umm what is the rate of the debt you're paying down?  this is one of the reasons i choose not to pay down low interest debt.  also you make more money investing it.

RWD

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1626 on: May 05, 2017, 07:51:15 AM »
Situations like this make me really question my financial plan and Dave Ramsey's stupid mini-emergency fund.

You're on the MMM forums now, you can (and should) leave the terrible advice of Dave Ramsey behind. Here is a simplified order that you should be prioritizing your extra money (from /r/personalfinance on reddit). Notice that a 3-6 month emergency fund is before everything else. There is a more advanced order of prioritization on the forums here. Again, starts with an emergency fund to your satisfaction. And only then paying down high interest debts after that. Your lower interest debts should wait until you have maxed every tax advantaged account available.

I also agree with TomTX. Most jobs can become much less stressful when you just stop caring about what your coworkers and boss think.

homestead neohio

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1627 on: May 05, 2017, 08:48:14 AM »
I also agree with TomTX. Most jobs can become much less stressful when you just stop caring about what your coworkers and boss think.

+1, disengaging is the fastest path to less stress.

It may also increase the amount of respect your husband gets at work. 

I don't know anything about your husband's boss, Izybat, but I worked for a director who loved to walk all over weak people.  I truly believe he was a megalomaniac who enjoyed experimenting on his management team.  He set completely unrealistic expectations and then watched what people did.  Some had nervous breakdowns and/or family/relationship breakdowns, putting in so many hours trying to meet expectation they knew were not possible.  Others did what they could reasonably get done and said "that's what you get because that is what is reasonable."  If you stood up to him, whether out of desperation or not, it was seen as a sign of confidence and strength.  Only after that did he listen to your ideas and feedback about how to improve things.  Only after that would he accept push-back on unrealistic expectations.  For me, I stood up and gained respect, but that was too late to make the job situation tolerable.  I had no respect for him and had been through too much unnecessarily inflicted pain and moved on to a MUCH better situation.

If your husband is ready to walk, he should just start standing up to the nonsense.  There is nothing to lose if he's already prepared to walk.  This also gives you extra time at high earnings to build the Emergency Fund which you know you need.

Dicey

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1628 on: May 05, 2017, 09:29:12 AM »
I'd add to all of the awesome advice ^^above^^ something sassy like, "So this is why the last guy left." Or, "I wonder why this [completely unrealistic expectation] wasn't mentioned in the interviews?" They know they're a toxic environment, that's why they have to pay so much to attract new victims talent.
Toss the grenade right back at them.

CptCool

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1629 on: May 05, 2017, 10:19:00 AM »
Replying mostly to follow, but also to say that I WISH we had FU money at the moment, or as we call it, a Rage Quit Fund.

DH recently left a job at the company we both worked for (I still work there). He got a job with a huge international company that included a 59% pay increase and a sign-on bonus. He's worked there for 5 whole weeks, and it's been crap the entire time. Not enough training, bosses treating him like crap, terrible customers, on and on. He desperately wants to quit, and has had his finger on the resignation button for almost two weeks now.

Unfortunately, we don't have a huge cash cushion to support him leaving. If he quits in less than a year, he'll have to pay back the bonus, including the 40% or so taxes that were taken out (so basically, we'd have to pay out of our small savings to have him quit). But that savings is really the only savings we have to survive for a short time without his paycheck until he finds a new job. I've tried to convince him to stay on at least long enough to save up the money to repay the bonus, but he's not sure he can last that long (it'll take a good couple of months to earn it back, even with the huge raise).

We've been on a huge "pay down the debt" kick for the last two years, and have managed to pay off a ton (probably like $45,000), but the other side of that is that we haven't been saving because I've been shoveling all the extra money towards debt. Situations like this make me really question my financial plan and Dave Ramsey's stupid mini-emergency fund.

I just want to make sure you realize that unless explicitly stated in the employment contract, you DON'T have to pay back the company for the taxes on the bonus. The company is trying to make it easier for themselves and pushing the admin, paperwork, and tax filings onto you. The company is acting as an escrow situation for your income taxes. The money they took out for taxes should be refunded in this case. E.g. if the bonus was $10k, but you only received $7k and $3k was withheld for taxes, you should only have to pay back the $7k and the $3k would be removed from the payroll taxes the company pays to the fed gov. If you were told something else, I'd just tell them to pound sand after quitting and giving back the $7k portion.

Note - this only applies if the final paycheck is less than the amount you have to pay back. In the above example, if your final paycheck is $5k, you'd just write a check to the company for $2k

TomTX

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1630 on: May 05, 2017, 10:36:10 AM »
Replying mostly to follow, but also to say that I WISH we had FU money at the moment, or as we call it, a Rage Quit Fund.

DH recently left a job at the company we both worked for (I still work there). He got a job with a huge international company that included a 59% pay increase and a sign-on bonus. He's worked there for 5 whole weeks, and it's been crap the entire time. Not enough training, bosses treating him like crap, terrible customers, on and on. He desperately wants to quit, and has had his finger on the resignation button for almost two weeks now.

Unfortunately, we don't have a huge cash cushion to support him leaving. If he quits in less than a year, he'll have to pay back the bonus, including the 40% or so taxes that were taken out (so basically, we'd have to pay out of our small savings to have him quit). But that savings is really the only savings we have to survive for a short time without his paycheck until he finds a new job. I've tried to convince him to stay on at least long enough to save up the money to repay the bonus, but he's not sure he can last that long (it'll take a good couple of months to earn it back, even with the huge raise).

We've been on a huge "pay down the debt" kick for the last two years, and have managed to pay off a ton (probably like $45,000), but the other side of that is that we haven't been saving because I've been shoveling all the extra money towards debt. Situations like this make me really question my financial plan and Dave Ramsey's stupid mini-emergency fund.

I just want to make sure you realize that unless explicitly stated in the employment contract, you DON'T have to pay back the company for the taxes on the bonus. The company is trying to make it easier for themselves and pushing the admin, paperwork, and tax filings onto you. The company is acting as an escrow situation for your income taxes. The money they took out for taxes should be refunded in this case. E.g. if the bonus was $10k, but you only received $7k and $3k was withheld for taxes, you should only have to pay back the $7k and the $3k would be removed from the payroll taxes the company pays to the fed gov. If you were told something else, I'd just tell them to pound sand after quitting and giving back the $7k portion.

Note - this only applies if the final paycheck is less than the amount you have to pay back. In the above example, if your final paycheck is $5k, you'd just write a check to the company for $2k

Beyond that, at most pay back a pro rated portion of the $7k. If you were supposed to work a year and worked 5 weeks, that's ~$1000 less (10% of a year, 10% of 10k)

SwordGuy

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1631 on: May 05, 2017, 10:39:01 AM »
Or just tell the company you'll pay back what you owe (over and above the last paycheck, which they'll keep).  You'll put them in their place in line after your other creditors.  :)

Trifle

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1632 on: May 05, 2017, 12:32:45 PM »
Also -- check your state laws on final paychecks.  Some states do not allow employers to withhold from your final paycheck, even when you clearly owe them the money. They require the employer to set up another repayment method with the employee.  Which could be a pay-it-back-over-time scenario.   

Izybat

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1633 on: May 05, 2017, 05:36:57 PM »
Wow! Thanks for all the great advice.

We did check, and it claimed somewhere (in writing) that they can ask for the entire amount, the full $10,000 in the above example, rather than what we actually got. Not sure if they actually would, just that they can.  And given the current situation I am adjusting my 'get out of debt' expectations into a 'savings now' reality, but it's obviously not instantaneous. We aren't completely savings free as I've been working on my 401K all along, and while I'm not quite at the max contribution level, I'm getting closer. I've been inching it up a few percent every few months to make it less painful. We're also down to our last two debts, which if I continued to pay off at the rate we've been going would be gone in a year or less. However, that pace seems like it will have to slow down with the current situation.

As for his work situation, I know he's already pushed back some, not answering some emails/phone calls that seem unreasonable for instance, so we'll see how it goes. We're also just about to head out for a week vacation, so that makes it even better. We'll both have some time to decompress.

JLee

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1634 on: May 07, 2017, 12:23:17 PM »
Situations like this make me really question my financial plan and Dave Ramsey's stupid mini-emergency fund.

You're on the MMM forums now, you can (and should) leave the terrible advice of Dave Ramsey behind. Here is a simplified order that you should be prioritizing your extra money (from /r/personalfinance on reddit). Notice that a 3-6 month emergency fund is before everything else. There is a more advanced order of prioritization on the forums here. Again, starts with an emergency fund to your satisfaction. And only then paying down high interest debts after that. Your lower interest debts should wait until you have maxed every tax advantaged account available.

I also agree with TomTX. Most jobs can become much less stressful when you just stop caring about what your coworkers and boss think.

That reminds me of a day at my last employer when I mentioned I had a flight planned (IIRC it was for a family funeral), and a coworker asked if I already had the time off approved.  I said no, but it didn't really matter because I'd just go anyway.  The stunned look on her face was priceless.

COEE

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1635 on: May 07, 2017, 06:07:39 PM »
I don't think it's epic, but it is a FU story...

A couple Friday's back I got my pink slip due to a RIF of 30% of the company.  My first reaction was to ask my boss for a letter of reference, which he said he'd give me.  Immediately after my boss gave me the pink slip he gave me a contract offering to bring me back on as a independent contractor - doing the same job at the same price as a my previous job.  Sounds awesome, right?  Wrong!  The contract wouldn't cover benefits or half of the FICA!  This ends up being a 30% hit in salary if I want to take any vacation - and puts my unemployment benefits in jeopardy!  Pppft!  What a crappy awful deal that only benefits them!  They knew it - no question in my mind.

Fast forward a few days of my lamenting weather or not to take the contract gig (it is money after all).  I eventually try to negotiate a better hourly rate and a severance that makes up for my potential loss of unemployment benefits.  They don't want me that bad!  Shocker!  NOT!  I tell them that I'd rather continue with the layoff as originally intended. 

I start clearing my things.  And my bosses boss wants to talk to me.  The tool starts giving me a sob story about how he was trying to give me a 'soft landing' and how he had a hard time getting me the contract offer to begin with and how it was a good deal... blah, blah, blah.  I think he was trying to change my mind.  I took a deep breath and thanks to my mustachian/frugal ways I told him something along the lines of, "I don't need this job.  In fact, I have never needed this job since the day I walked in the door.  I came to work because I liked my pay, I liked the work, and I liked *most* of the people, but today I need this job less than the first day I started working here."  I basically told him to shove the job up his ass.  That felt good.  I don't think he believed what I was telling him.

As I walked out the door for the last time, my boss hands me a letter of recommendation.

Unfortunately, two of my coworkers took the contract deal.  They are getting screwed, and I'm not sure they even know it.  I'm guessing they are not in a position where they can tell their boss to shove it up their ass.  So sad.

TheBuddha

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1636 on: May 07, 2017, 07:17:25 PM »
Great story! I could read stuff like this all day long.

Trifle

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1637 on: May 08, 2017, 04:00:44 AM »
I don't think it's epic, but it is a FU story...

A couple Friday's back I got my pink slip due to a RIF of 30% of the company.  My first reaction was to ask my boss for a letter of reference, which he said he'd give me.  Immediately after my boss gave me the pink slip he gave me a contract offering to bring me back on as a independent contractor - doing the same job at the same price as a my previous job.  Sounds awesome, right?  Wrong!  The contract wouldn't cover benefits or half of the FICA!  This ends up being a 30% hit in salary if I want to take any vacation - and puts my unemployment benefits in jeopardy!  Pppft!  What a crappy awful deal that only benefits them!  They knew it - no question in my mind.

Fast forward a few days of my lamenting weather or not to take the contract gig (it is money after all).  I eventually try to negotiate a better hourly rate and a severance that makes up for my potential loss of unemployment benefits.  They don't want me that bad!  Shocker!  NOT!  I tell them that I'd rather continue with the layoff as originally intended. 

I start clearing my things.  And my bosses boss wants to talk to me.  The tool starts giving me a sob story about how he was trying to give me a 'soft landing' and how he had a hard time getting me the contract offer to begin with and how it was a good deal... blah, blah, blah.  I think he was trying to change my mind.  I took a deep breath and thanks to my mustachian/frugal ways I told him something along the lines of, "I don't need this job.  In fact, I have never needed this job since the day I walked in the door.  I came to work because I liked my pay, I liked the work, and I liked *most* of the people, but today I need this job less than the first day I started working here."  I basically told him to shove the job up his ass.  That felt good.  I don't think he believed what I was telling him.

As I walked out the door for the last time, my boss hands me a letter of recommendation.

Unfortunately, two of my coworkers took the contract deal.  They are getting screwed, and I'm not sure they even know it.  I'm guessing they are not in a position where they can tell their boss to shove it up their ass.  So sad.

Good on you COEE!  (And -- if you feel like it -- you could let the DOL know what they are up to . . . )

Pooperman

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1638 on: May 08, 2017, 04:36:29 AM »
Good on you COEE!  (And -- if you feel like it -- you could let the DOL know what they are up to . . . )

Exactly what I was thinking. I'd have been tempted to accept their offer and immediately report to the DOL. What's the worst they can do, fire you...again and get completely screwed by the DOL?

bunchbikes

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1639 on: May 08, 2017, 06:01:32 AM »
That reminds me of a day at my last employer when I mentioned I had a flight planned (IIRC it was for a family funeral), and a coworker asked if I already had the time off approved.  I said no, but it didn't really matter because I'd just go anyway.  The stunned look on her face was priceless.

When I was a teacher, school policy was no approved absences before/after a holiday break.

I requested to be off Wednesday before the week of thanksgiving, for my brother's wedding.

Principal denied. I told her "I acknowledge that you denied the request, however, I'm letting you know, that I will not be here, and that a sub will be in my place".

I got a note "in my file", and the matter was never brought up again. No consequences whatsoever. I think Principal was secretly cool with it, just couldn't say so, because she'd already denied a dozen other teacher absence requests for that same week.

I was definitely at FU stage, and the job was pretty stress-free, when I stopped playing by all the dumb rules.

COEE

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1640 on: May 08, 2017, 12:26:42 PM »
Good on you COEE!  (And -- if you feel like it -- you could let the DOL know what they are up to . . . )

Exactly what I was thinking. I'd have been tempted to accept their offer and immediately report to the DOL. What's the worst they can do, fire you...again and get completely screwed by the DOL?

Why do you think I agonized about what whether or not to take the contract work? 

Also, Let's just say I don't think the fat lady has finished singing.

Trifle

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1641 on: May 08, 2017, 03:58:18 PM »
Good on you COEE!  (And -- if you feel like it -- you could let the DOL know what they are up to . . . )

Exactly what I was thinking. I'd have been tempted to accept their offer and immediately report to the DOL. What's the worst they can do, fire you...again and get completely screwed by the DOL?

Why do you think I agonized about what whether or not to take the contract work? 

Also, Let's just say I don't think the fat lady has finished singing.

:)

One thing about DOL audits -- they come in to look at one thing, and often end up seeing other issues too.  Some common ones: 

--  Misclassifying employees as salaried/exempt from overtime (when really they are hourly/non-exempt).  The definitions are NOT straightforward/intuitive, and this type of misclassification happens all the time. 

--  Failure to pay overtime to people who were due it.  Say the employer had someone misclassified as exempt for years, but the employee was consistently working over 40 hours a week.  The DOL goes back and makes the employer fork over the time-and-a-half for the whole time the employee was misclassified (up to two or three years), plus fines

-- There are some new federal minimum salaries for many exempt employees (~$47k) and some employers don't know about it, or just aren't complying 

nawhite

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1642 on: May 08, 2017, 04:42:14 PM »
-- There are some new federal minimum salaries for many exempt employees (~$47k) and some employers don't know about it, or just aren't complying

Wait, so if you make less than ~$47k/year, your employer probably needs to make you hourly and pay overtime?

Smokystache

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1643 on: May 08, 2017, 04:50:32 PM »
-- There are some new federal minimum salaries for many exempt employees (~$47k) and some employers don't know about it, or just aren't complying

Wait, so if you make less than ~$47k/year, your employer probably needs to make you hourly and pay overtime?

If we're all talking about the same thing, that got blocked just before it was supposed to take effect:
http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/barack-obama/obama-s-plan-extend-overtime-pay-blocked-federal-court-n687541

Trifle

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1644 on: May 08, 2017, 05:04:53 PM »
-- There are some new federal minimum salaries for many exempt employees (~$47k) and some employers don't know about it, or just aren't complying

Wait, so if you make less than ~$47k/year, your employer probably needs to make you hourly and pay overtime?

Oops.  Spoke too soon. A federal lawsuit has it on hold right now.  www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/legal-and-compliance/employment-law/pages/flsa-overtime-rule-resources.aspx

And yes -- you've got it.  For many jobs (but not sales or computer programmers), under this new regulation if you earn less than $47k then the employer has to pay you OT.  So if/when this goes through the employer has to choose between raising salaries to that level or paying OT. 

My employer had gone ahead and made the changes (gave some people raises and reclassified others as hourly) before the lawsuit  hit.   Interesting!  I suppose with the new administration anything is possible now. The new rules could go through as is, die, or be modified. 

JLee

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1645 on: May 08, 2017, 05:41:08 PM »
Good on you COEE!  (And -- if you feel like it -- you could let the DOL know what they are up to . . . )

Exactly what I was thinking. I'd have been tempted to accept their offer and immediately report to the DOL. What's the worst they can do, fire you...again and get completely screwed by the DOL?

Why do you think I agonized about what whether or not to take the contract work? 

Also, Let's just say I don't think the fat lady has finished singing.

:)

One thing about DOL audits -- they come in to look at one thing, and often end up seeing other issues too.  Some common ones: 

--  Misclassifying employees as salaried/exempt from overtime (when really they are hourly/non-exempt).  The definitions are NOT straightforward/intuitive, and this type of misclassification happens all the time. 

--  Failure to pay overtime to people who were due it.  Say the employer had someone misclassified as exempt for years, but the employee was consistently working over 40 hours a week.  The DOL goes back and makes the employer fork over the time-and-a-half for the whole time the employee was misclassified (up to two or three years), plus fines

-- There are some new federal minimum salaries for many exempt employees (~$47k) and some employers don't know about it, or just aren't complying

My former employer is getting sued right now for this exact situation.

ducky19

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1646 on: May 11, 2017, 11:19:03 AM »
Having a really shitty day at work right now... would love to hear some more stories if anyone has one!

MNBen

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1647 on: May 11, 2017, 12:28:31 PM »
Having a really shitty day at work right now... would love to hear some more stories if anyone has one!

Only because you need it, as I don't think it's super EPIC, but I do like telling it....

Background:  I had a job where I could not stand the boss and it only peaked at the end and I did end up walking out one day and taking the entire summer off before looking for a new job.  I actually didn't know what FU money was, or even FIRE, but knew I was 'different' than the rest and had no issues taking a summer off working on fixing up a home I had just purchased in bankruptcy to start renting.

Also he was actually pretty easy to work around because he was spineless and mostly left me alone, but he was so incompetent it was still tough when he'd get an idea in his head and insist he was right.  And I loved the team I had trained myself and they were some of my favorite workers of any job.   It was also an IT job, I was their lead, and we helped support a warehouse, and the warehouse staff was absolutely amazing!  So I really enjoyed the job, except for the boss.

Story:  So many (too many) years before I eventually walked out, and I was pretty much a one-man team, there was a day when my boss stopped by and told me he was buying me a company cell phone to be carried in case an emergency came up after hours.   This was probably around 2005 when most people had cells phones, but I was a late adapter as I truly didn't need one.

Because I knew that the product I supported was pretty stable and I should seldom need a phone call, I told him I'd agree to carry a cell phone as long as he drafted up rules for when they could call me and what had to wait until the next day.  He agreed.

A few weeks later a cell phone box showed up at my desk.  I tossed it in a drawer and left it there. 

About six months later he stops by and mentions accounting is checking the cell phone bills and there has been zero activity on this number and he shows me the bill with what I guess is my cell's phone number.   

I reach down and pull out the box still sitting in my drawer and ask him if this is that phone.  He asks me why I'm not using it.  I told him I said I'd use it when he drafted up rules for when they could and couldn't call me. 

Needless to say there were rules drafted later that day, but still it made for a great story that still makes me laugh today!

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1648 on: May 11, 2017, 01:09:00 PM »
Quote
About six months later he stops by and mentions accounting is checking the cell phone bills and there has been zero activity on this number and he shows me the bill with what I guess is my cell's phone number.   

I reach down and pull out the box still sitting in my drawer and ask him if this is that phone.  He asks me why I'm not using it.  I told him I said I'd use it when he drafted up rules for when they could and couldn't call me. 

Needless to say there were rules drafted later that day, but still it made for a great story that still makes me laugh today!
  That's a brilliant story!  Thanks for sharing!

Guesl982374

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Re: Epic FU money stories
« Reply #1649 on: May 11, 2017, 01:34:54 PM »
Having a really shitty day at work right now... would love to hear some more stories if anyone has one!

I'll give you one too. This one might even help you out...

A few months back my direct manager mentioned to me that he wanted me to take on a Really Shitty Responsibility (RSR) on top of my current work load. I've watched this specific RSR make three of my peers leave the company/leave the work group. I obviously wanted nothing to do with this RSR and it looked like I didn't really have a choice. I had pre-aligned with my DW that I'd leave the company if I got RSR. Before he had the change to formally give me the RSR, I had a conversation with the executive sponsor (ES) on the company's largest project which I am working on and kinda-sorta dotted line report to him. I told the ES that I was getting the RSR and that while I really enjoyed working on the large project and at the company, I probably wouldn't last at the company for very long after I got the RSR. He had personally saw what the RSR did to two out of the three other peers and understood completely.

Within a week, ES went to the CEO of the company and stated that one of his major project risks was needing to keep me focused on the large project. The CEO gave direction to my direct management to NOT give me the RSR. To this day my manager hasn't a clue that I influenced the ES to make this happen.

Morals of the story:
-Don't be afraid to walk away from a job once you have a level of FU money.
-There is typically someone around you in the organization that has interests that align with yours, learn to leverage them.