Author Topic: Overheard at Work 2  (Read 1112832 times)

sherr

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Overheard at Work 2
« on: December 19, 2018, 12:49:51 PM »
This is a continuation of the "Overheard at Work" thread that was getting unwieldy because it was over 400 pages long. If you want to read the archive of the old thread you can find it here:

https://forum.mrmoneymustache.com/antimustachian-wall-of-shame-and-comedy/overheard-at-work/

So, what crazy things have you heard at work?

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #1 on: December 19, 2018, 12:55:10 PM »
Nothing today. I just want to be the second to post in the new thread. :)

Happy hump day!

Cassie

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2 on: December 19, 2018, 01:12:22 PM »
Ptf

merula

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #3 on: December 19, 2018, 02:39:08 PM »
My department has undergone a lot of reorganization recently, and today there was a meeting with some brand-new leaders and the ~200 people under them, so the new leaders could introduce themselves.

One of them was talking about how his kids were older, college age, and that made Christmas a lot less fun because they get the same number of gifts as when they were little, but every gift is so expensive so he's shelling out thousands on his kids at Christmas.

Now, this was slightly tone-deaf because we all obviously make less than these guys, but we're all well-paid professionals. So it could've been worse, but like, your kids are adults! Set limits!

At least the other guy, the first guy's peer, followed up with "my kids are young, $20 goes a long way".

eljefe-speaks

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2018, 02:59:39 PM »
Coworker has complained on a couple of occasions recently about how much money he is dropping on Christmas. His family is coming to visit and he has to buy gifts for aunts, uncles, their kids, etc., and take them all out to dinner. While purchasing all these gifts he bought a 75" flat screen to treat himself and he found a "great deal" on a pool table. Also, he just got back from Disneyland a couple weeks ago. I have no clue how much money he makes but that is an alarming spending rate.

nnls

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2018, 03:11:51 PM »
Coworker has complained on a couple of occasions recently about how much money he is dropping on Christmas. His family is coming to visit and he has to buy gifts for aunts, uncles, their kids, etc., and take them all out to dinner. While purchasing all these gifts he bought a 75" flat screen to treat himself and he found a "great deal" on a pool table. Also, he just got back from Disneyland a couple weeks ago. I have no clue how much money he makes but that is an alarming spending rate.

Cant you just give adults nothing or something small like a bottle of wine

YHD

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2018, 05:06:44 PM »
Geez, I'm getting my nieces, who are actual young children, pens and pencils for christmas.

shadowmoss

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2018, 05:49:02 PM »
Posting to Follow.  No stories since I'm retired.  I do enjoy reading here and being glad I am retired.

Rural

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #8 on: December 19, 2018, 09:08:02 PM »
I don't have any really good stories since the one guy filed for bankruptcy and the hoarder retired. They cleared his office with a shovel, though.

Dee

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #9 on: December 19, 2018, 09:12:33 PM »
We recently had a long service awards ceremony at work. They celebrate 15 years and, I think, every 5 year increment after that. I couple people had been working there for 30 years. But one guy took the cake with 40 years of employment!!!! Strangely enough, he looks like he's in his 40s. Now, based on basic logic, he has to be at least pushing 60 but he looks quite young. I suspect he started at age 16 or so. I don't know him so I have no insight as to whether he is planning to pack it in anytime soon. We have a defined benefit pension plan and once you hit 30 years of service (I think) you max you. He could be getting 70% of his salary in the form of a pension if he stopped working.

I'm posting this here to mark the new thread but I'm not sure it's actually anti-mustachian. Some of the long-service people genuinely seem to enjoy being at work and very well may be SWAMIs or something akin to that.

But, geez, I sure plan to get out well before I hit the 30 year mark, let alone the 40 year mark!

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #10 on: December 20, 2018, 12:24:43 AM »
Shut it down

Freedomin5

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #11 on: December 20, 2018, 02:11:36 AM »
DH got in a bit trouble at work for his  gift exchange because the limit was $30 per gift and he only spent around $5 getting someone a thoughtful gift that he knew they would like...but still...it wasn’t “expensive” enough.

Dogastrophe

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #12 on: December 20, 2018, 05:20:38 AM »
DH got in a bit trouble at work for his  gift exchange because the limit was $30 per gift and he only spent around $5 getting someone a thoughtful gift that he knew they would like...but still...it wasn’t “expensive” enough.

I did slightly the opposite this year.  We had a Secret Santa with a $15 limit; I spent $23.  The gift was the book "Wealthing Like Rabbits (Robert R Brown) - he figured out quickly who his Santa was.  Told him he needed to read it but more importantly, get his teenage kids to read it.  :)

SquirrelStache

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #13 on: December 20, 2018, 08:15:07 AM »
PTF. I work from home most of the time, so I don't get to hear "funny" stories at work. I'll live vicariously through you guys instead!

ShoulderThingThatGoesUp

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #14 on: December 20, 2018, 09:39:31 AM »
Switching 401k providers means I’m hearing lots about people’s contribution percentages.

What the heck are these people doing? Gah.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #15 on: December 20, 2018, 09:49:10 AM »
I don't have any really good stories since the one guy filed for bankruptcy and the hoarder retired. They cleared his office with a shovel, though.
I really need to hear more about this hoarder ex-coworker

Rural

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #16 on: December 20, 2018, 10:22:01 AM »
I don't have any really good stories since the one guy filed for bankruptcy and the hoarder retired. They cleared his office with a shovel, though.
I really need to hear more about this hoarder ex-coworker


College professor. I actually feel very sorry for him, then and now. The hoarding was almost 100% paper,  enough they got an engineer in to be sure the weight in his second floor office hadn't done structural damage. He did virtually the same with his car, papers and garbage piled to the windows everywhere but the driver's seat, to the point it was wearing the tires from scraping the wheel wells on bumps. There really wasn't any comedy to it, nor shame since it was clearly illness. But he really doesn't have relatives so no one could do much to help. I've seen him a few times since and I think maybe the change and travelling some have helped. He seems a little happier and personal hygiene has improved. At least he saved enough to retire, though it is likely mostly due to our pension.

JLee

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #17 on: December 20, 2018, 10:28:30 AM »
My dept director told me today he pulled his entire 401k into cash/bonds in October, and moved all of his other investments into cash yesterday...

LPG

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #18 on: December 20, 2018, 10:37:43 AM »
I don't have any really good stories since the one guy filed for bankruptcy and the hoarder retired. They cleared his office with a shovel, though.

The hoarder actually makes me think of my office (Exaggeration of course, we aren't talking full on hoarder-level amounts of crap. But I like things neat and tidy, so that's how it felt to me). The office that I currently work in probably hadn't been purged in ~30 years. Yeah, the carpets got vacuumed and the surfaces got cleaned. But nobody ever got rid of old files, or old hardware. I was told what office I'd be working in, and instantly starting looking around at IT hardware from the 90s, textbooks from the 80s teaching people to code in FORTRAN, etc. One of the cabinets even had old HR paperwork from somebody who left the company over a decade ago, yet none of the previous occupants of this office noticed/cared enough to throw it out.

The first thing I did upon moving into the office was send out a company-wide e-mail saying that people had until the end of the week to remove anything they wanted, or it would all end up in a dumpster. And I mean first; I didn't even connect my laptop to the docking station first. Not surprisingly, the vast majority of the stuff ended up in the dumpster (Or recycled, as appropriate).

accountingteacher

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #19 on: December 20, 2018, 10:47:20 AM »
PTF

Also, we usually get paid on the 25th of the month.  However, since we are closed for 2 weeks for the holidays, we're getting paid tomorrow, the 21st.  My coworker is furious as he now needs to make this month's pay last 4 days longer than usual. 

bluebelle

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #20 on: December 20, 2018, 10:51:21 AM »
PTF

Also, we usually get paid on the 25th of the month.  However, since we are closed for 2 weeks for the holidays, we're getting paid tomorrow, the 21st.  My coworker is furious as he now needs to make this month's pay last 4 days longer than usual.
I wouldn't be able to stop myself from asking them 'why?  did we add 4 days to the month'?

fattest_foot

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #21 on: December 20, 2018, 11:14:26 AM »
My dept director told me today he pulled his entire 401k into cash/bonds in October, and moved all of his other investments into cash yesterday...

He got lucky in timing the top, let's see if he can call the bottom.

By the River

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #22 on: December 20, 2018, 11:41:21 AM »
Switching 401k providers means I’m hearing lots about people’s contribution percentages.

What the heck are these people doing? Gah.

I hear you, I'm on a project team changing our payroll provider.  In reviewing our parallel biweekly pay results, I'm amazed at the number of 401K deductions of 10.  [That's 10 dollars($) not 10 percent (%)]

Kahooli

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #23 on: December 20, 2018, 01:00:09 PM »
My dept director told me today he pulled his entire 401k into cash/bonds in October, and moved all of his other investments into cash yesterday...

He got lucky in timing the top, let's see if he can call the bottom.

I'd advise a nice even reinvestment along the way down for him. Lightning doesn't strike twice, and USD denominated bonds and cash are about to be the worst things you could have.

Threshkin

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #24 on: December 20, 2018, 01:13:26 PM »
My dept director told me today he pulled his entire 401k into cash/bonds in October, and moved all of his other investments into cash yesterday...

He got lucky in timing the top, let's see if he can call the bottom.

Bonds are bad when interest rates are rising.  Since stocks are falling, cash may be a good short term option.  Of course, calling the bottom is the trick.

I'd advise a nice even reinvestment along the way down for him. Lightning doesn't strike twice, and USD denominated bonds and cash are about to be the worst things you could have.

Feivel2000

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #25 on: December 20, 2018, 02:43:02 PM »
PTF

Starting a job in January, maybe I can add some stories then.

Dave1442397

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #26 on: December 20, 2018, 02:52:18 PM »
textbooks from the 80s teaching people to code in FORTRAN

Hey, I resemble that remark! I've been coding in FORTRAN at my current job since 2010. Every time we get new management, they say "Oh, we're going to rewrite that system in <trendy language of the day>". Then, after some discussion, they realize that no, they're not rewriting 20-million odd lines of FORTRAN anytime soon.


M5

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #27 on: December 20, 2018, 03:27:28 PM »
My new supervisor and his wife moved to the area in July, been renting on a 1 year lease since then. They recently decided they don't like their landlord and just can't stand not having their own place. Wife only works part time and household income is somewhere between $130-150k. So in true anti-mustachian style they are now under contract on a $500k house using a VA loan and only putting down the required 20% of the amount above $484k. Not only will his payments be somewhere around $3500/mo, they have to continue paying their rent of $2000/mo until the landlord finds a new renter!!

The icing on the cake? He's less than a year away from being eligible for his pension and roughly 3-5 years from his "planned" retirement........

And they want to move away after retirement. That's putting a lot of faith in this bull housing market.

happy

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #28 on: December 20, 2018, 03:32:09 PM »
ptf

Cassie

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #29 on: December 20, 2018, 07:24:33 PM »
M5, that’s totally crazy.

lemanfan

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #30 on: December 21, 2018, 06:01:28 AM »
Hey, I resemble that remark! I've been coding in FORTRAN at my current job since 2010. Every time we get new management, they say "Oh, we're going to rewrite that system in <trendy language of the day>". Then, after some discussion, they realize that no, they're not rewriting 20-million odd lines of FORTRAN anytime soon.

Perhaps I should learn FORTRAN now that I'm considering FIREing.  Having enough knowlege to charge a high consultancy fee could be a good way to put a little gold in my pocket in the future? 

FORTRAN-FIRE?

(also, PTF).

Dave1442397

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #31 on: December 21, 2018, 09:04:26 AM »
Hey, I resemble that remark! I've been coding in FORTRAN at my current job since 2010. Every time we get new management, they say "Oh, we're going to rewrite that system in <trendy language of the day>". Then, after some discussion, they realize that no, they're not rewriting 20-million odd lines of FORTRAN anytime soon.

Perhaps I should learn FORTRAN now that I'm considering FIREing.  Having enough knowlege to charge a high consultancy fee could be a good way to put a little gold in my pocket in the future? 

FORTRAN-FIRE?

(also, PTF).

You never know. They're trying to outsource it to India, but those people are all young, just out of school, and have no interest in FORTRAN. They had a 40% quit rate until this year, when they managed to bring it down to 20%.


AMandM

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #32 on: December 21, 2018, 10:50:10 AM »
Not only will his payments be somewhere around $3500/mo,

Just this morning my father mentioned that his first teaching job paid $3500 per year. I said, "Nowadays some people have monthly mortgage payments that size" and immediately thought, "Well, probably not many people do."

Kahooli

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #33 on: December 21, 2018, 03:00:27 PM »
Not only will his payments be somewhere around $3500/mo,

Just this morning my father mentioned that his first teaching job paid $3500 per year. I said, "Nowadays some people have monthly mortgage payments that size" and immediately thought, "Well, probably not many people do."

Thank the fed and the policy of monetary base inflation for that.

TomTX

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #34 on: December 22, 2018, 05:48:42 PM »
Coworker has complained on a couple of occasions recently about how much money he is dropping on Christmas. His family is coming to visit and he has to buy gifts for aunts, uncles, their kids, etc., and take them all out to dinner. While purchasing all these gifts he bought a 75" flat screen to treat himself and he found a "great deal" on a pool table. Also, he just got back from Disneyland a couple weeks ago. I have no clue how much money he makes but that is an alarming spending rate.

Cant you just give adults nothing or something small like a bottle of wine

Other than my parents and one cousin, we've managed a "no gifts for adults" agreement.

BeautifulDay

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #35 on: December 23, 2018, 12:02:49 AM »
Co-worker is a single mom (1 kid) and no siblings who lives with her boyfriend. Her father remarried and now has several step kids. Her dad told her this year he would only be buying a gift for her family instead of one for her, daughter and her boyfriend. This is because he has to buy gifts for all the step-kids/step-families. She is mad because she, boyfriend and daughter always buy individual gifts for him. She said they shouldn’t be penalized because the step family is bigger.

I said well maybe he really can’t afford it and isn’t it good if he sticks to a budget? She replied that if he really can’t afford it she would be ok with it. But that he could afford it because he just cashed out his retirement accounts. (I’m guessing her dad is about 60). And to further demonstrate that he could ‘afford it’ she said her dad just bought the step mom $500 diamond earrings. She already has a pair just like them. But those were bought by the step mom’s ex. So dad wants her to have new ones.

I wanted to say “your dad can’t afford any of this!”

Dicey

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #36 on: December 23, 2018, 09:27:48 AM »
Posting to Follow.  No stories since I'm retired.  I do enjoy reading here and being glad I am retired.
Me, too.

Luckystepho

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #37 on: December 24, 2018, 01:23:27 AM »
A colleague is about to have some pretty major work done on her home... walls knocked through to make all the downstairs rooms open plan, with folding doors. This will cost several thousand, particularly as some of the walls are load-bearing so will need joists (although a family member can do some of the work).

The kicker- she lives in social housing... it's not her house and she'll never own it...

SwordGuy

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #38 on: December 24, 2018, 07:34:09 AM »
A colleague is about to have some pretty major work done on her home... walls knocked through to make all the downstairs rooms open plan, with folding doors. This will cost several thousand, particularly as some of the walls are load-bearing so will need joists (although a family member can do some of the work).

The kicker- she lives in social housing... it's not her house and she'll never own it...

Damn.   If she's unlucky she could be paying to put it back in the original condition, too.

sapphail

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #39 on: December 25, 2018, 01:51:57 AM »
A colleague is about to have some pretty major work done on her home... walls knocked through to make all the downstairs rooms open plan, with folding doors. This will cost several thousand, particularly as some of the walls are load-bearing so will need joists (although a family member can do some of the work).

The kicker- she lives in social housing... it's not her house and she'll never own it...

Damn.   If she's unlucky she could be paying to put it back in the original condition, too.

That, and the housing authority might decide that if she has money for expensive renovations, maybe she shouldn't be getting social housing at all.


Inaya

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #40 on: December 25, 2018, 02:38:02 AM »
Ptf

Tom Bri

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #41 on: December 25, 2018, 07:52:45 AM »
Ptf

DaMa

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #42 on: December 25, 2018, 11:16:49 AM »
We were chatting at work about 401k, and I said I was maxing out every year.  My coworker said, "like 10%?"  I said, no the full amount, $18000.  Coworker looked utterly confused, like he had no idea what I was talking about.  Luckily, I got called away at that moment.

TomTX

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #43 on: December 25, 2018, 11:41:49 AM »
We were chatting at work about 401k, and I said I was maxing out every year.  My coworker said, "like 10%?"  I said, no the full amount, $18000.  Coworker looked utterly confused, like he had no idea what I was talking about.  Luckily, I got called away at that moment.

FYI, it was $18,500 in 2018 and will be $19,000 in 2019.

RecoveringCarClown

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #44 on: December 26, 2018, 12:20:43 AM »
TomTX beat me to it, still wish it was more.  I know some gov workers can do a lot more, never really looked into why as I never expect to be one.

TomTX

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #45 on: December 26, 2018, 04:48:34 AM »
TomTX beat me to it, still wish it was more.  I know some gov workers can do a lot more, never really looked into why as I never expect to be one.

So, while most employer plans (401k, 403b, SIMPLE IRA, etc) "count" against the same per-person $19k limit, the 457 plan has its own separate $19k limit. Only government entities and nonprofits can offer the 457. Some of them will offer both types of plan, effectively allowing $38k in contributions.

The flip side is that salaries tend to be notably lower than private sector, so it's more difficult to take advantage of the extra space.


MarciaB

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #46 on: December 26, 2018, 11:55:21 AM »
We were chatting at work about 401k, and I said I was maxing out every year.  My coworker said, "like 10%?"  I said, no the full amount, $18000.  Coworker looked utterly confused, like he had no idea what I was talking about.  Luckily, I got called away at that moment.

FYI, it was $18,500 in 2018 and will be $19,000 in 2019.


When I was working I contributed the max (which was $24,000 because I was over 50) and unwisely mentioned it at one point...to which the confused looks on a few colleagues faces (who made 6 figures, which I didn't) was comical. They had never considered that anyone could actually contribute $2000 a month...where on earth would you find that huge amount in a paycheck? And who even knew that was legal? Humanly possible?

auntie_betty

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #47 on: December 26, 2018, 01:28:33 PM »
PTF. Nothing to add as FIRE'd ;)

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #48 on: December 26, 2018, 05:44:26 PM »
Not a coworker but talking to someone I know about work. Friend quit his job to start a business. A year later, business is not started, no profit made yet. I hoping he is a closet MMM adherent. Last time we talked I completely blanked on the secret hand shakes, theme songs or moustache signals. Need more studying...

partdopy

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #49 on: December 27, 2018, 10:35:02 AM »
TomTX beat me to it, still wish it was more.  I know some gov workers can do a lot more, never really looked into why as I never expect to be one.

So, while most employer plans (401k, 403b, SIMPLE IRA, etc) "count" against the same per-person $19k limit, the 457 plan has its own separate $19k limit. Only government entities and nonprofits can offer the 457. Some of them will offer both types of plan, effectively allowing $38k in contributions.

The flip side is that salaries tend to be notably lower than private sector, so it's more difficult to take advantage of the extra space.

In some cases you can do even more.  I get a 403b and 457 that I can contribute to unmatched, and a 401a that my employer automatically deducts 5% of my pay and deposits a 2 for 1 match of 10% into, but I cannot increase or decrease the 401a contributions, nor roll any other funds into it.  So 38k plus 5% of my pay.