Author Topic: Overheard at Work 2  (Read 1112974 times)

Feivel2000

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2500 on: June 14, 2020, 01:00:58 AM »
"You're either incompetent or a criminal, you can't or won't answer basic questions, DO YOU KNOW MY DEBIT CARD'S CREDIT LIMIT, YES or NO?"

Wouldn't that be simply the credit limit of the underlying bank account?

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2501 on: June 14, 2020, 02:12:19 AM »
"You're either incompetent or a criminal, you can't or won't answer basic questions, DO YOU KNOW MY DEBIT CARD'S CREDIT LIMIT, YES or NO?"

Wouldn't that be simply the credit limit of the underlying bank account?

The answer is probably 0.  No credit will be issued.  But potentially the bank allows overdrafts and the overdraft limit could be considered a credit limit.  But I'd just stick with 0.

On the other hand, Amex says they don't have credit limits.  They evaluate every purchase for an approval decision.  I'm sure they have some back-end metric that is a maximum allowable charge, but no rep will give that to you (you can, however, enter an amount you wish to charge on the website and it will give you a non-binding approval/denial).

AnnaGrowsAMustache

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2502 on: June 14, 2020, 01:02:55 PM »
So today I heard that car parks in the area that I park in for work can be rented for $90 per month. A few of my colleagues have taken up this offer. The car parking area isn't large - from the very back of the lot to the front door of my workplace is about 2 minutes walk, max. The carparks near the workplace building are all reserved, and the $90 per month buys you one of those. However..... the carparks at the back of the lot aren't assigned to any building and are all freeeeeee...........


Feivel2000

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2503 on: June 14, 2020, 02:34:59 PM »
The answer is probably 0.  No credit will be issued.  But potentially the bank allows overdrafts and the overdraft limit could be considered a credit limit.  But I'd just stick with 0.

Really? In Germany (where CC usage is pretty low, compared to the US, but we are catching up), giro accounts (checking accounts) are very common to come with a line of credit, the so called Dispokredit. leo translates this to overdraft.

But it is definitely considered as credit. The interest is of course high (but with ~10% p.a. more reasonable than some credit cards).

prudent_one

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2504 on: June 14, 2020, 03:46:01 PM »
So today I heard that car parks in the area that I park in for work can be rented for $90 per month. A few of my colleagues have taken up this offer. The car parking area isn't large - from the very back of the lot to the front door of my workplace is about 2 minutes walk, max. The carparks near the workplace building are all reserved, and the $90 per month buys you one of those. However..... the carparks at the back of the lot aren't assigned to any building and are all freeeeeee...........

By my calculations, they are valuing their time at around $60/hour to save that short walk.  Nuts.

Salivanth

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2505 on: June 16, 2020, 02:30:11 AM »
So today I heard that car parks in the area that I park in for work can be rented for $90 per month. A few of my colleagues have taken up this offer. The car parking area isn't large - from the very back of the lot to the front door of my workplace is about 2 minutes walk, max. The carparks near the workplace building are all reserved, and the $90 per month buys you one of those. However..... the carparks at the back of the lot aren't assigned to any building and are all freeeeeee...........

By my calculations, they are valuing their time at around $60/hour to save that short walk.  Nuts.

And income gets taxed, and expenses come after taxes.

Plus it's physical exercise, so that "costs" half the time in my book.

Mairuiming

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2506 on: June 21, 2020, 09:54:13 AM »
Due to travel bans, many of my expat coworkers have not been able to return to China. I found out today that some of them continue to:

- Run their AC and dehumidifier 24/7 = $200/month
- Pay their ayi to air out the house and dust and empty the dehumidifier = $1000/month


They are paying $1200/month to basically prevent mold from forming. The local way of preventing mold is to open all the windows to create air circulation. The day before you return, you send the ayi to do a full wipe down/cleaning. If you want to keep ayi employed out of compassion, you send ayi in everyday to clean and air things out, and you save yourself $200/month in electricity costs to cool an empty apartment.

I am sure my house will be a mess when I return.
Closed all windows, switched off power supply (except for refrigerator) as I left China for a 1 week vacation in mid-Jan.
5 months later, there are no signs of international flights starting from India.

I hope Covid situation in India will improve in Q4 2020.

Freedomin5

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2507 on: June 21, 2020, 04:08:51 PM »
Due to travel bans, many of my expat coworkers have not been able to return to China. I found out today that some of them continue to:

- Run their AC and dehumidifier 24/7 = $200/month
- Pay their ayi to air out the house and dust and empty the dehumidifier = $1000/month


They are paying $1200/month to basically prevent mold from forming. The local way of preventing mold is to open all the windows to create air circulation. The day before you return, you send the ayi to do a full wipe down/cleaning. If you want to keep ayi employed out of compassion, you send ayi in everyday to clean and air things out, and you save yourself $200/month in electricity costs to cool an empty apartment.

I am sure my house will be a mess when I return.
Closed all windows, switched off power supply (except for refrigerator) as I left China for a 1 week vacation in mid-Jan.
5 months later, there are no signs of international flights starting from India.

I hope Covid situation in India will improve in Q4 2020.

Yikes. I just checked and there are flights in August flying to China from Mumbai with a layover in Japan. Most of the expats returning home after their contracts ended have been routed through multiple cities.

In other related anti-Mustachian news, several expats here have decided to charter their own plane to fly themselves and their families back to the states next month, as they have been unable to find commercial flights. The word on the street is that tickets will cost somewhere between $2K-$10k per person. It’s nice when you have money.

Mairuiming

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2508 on: June 21, 2020, 11:46:13 PM »
Yikes. I just checked and there are flights in August flying to China from Mumbai with a layover in Japan. Most of the expats returning home after their contracts ended have been routed through multiple cities.

Airlines are taking bookings without any visibility when government will allow flights to be operational. When date of flight approach, airlines hand out a coupon saying you can travel on the said ticket anytime during the next 1 year (of course if price at that moment is higher you have to pay the difference, if price is lower you won't receive a refund). Few activists approached court and court advised airlines to extend coupon validity from 1 year to 2 years.
In Feb, I booked a crazy connecting flight flying through India-Sri Lanka-Malaysia-Hong Kong-China. Whenever flights are operational either I have to take this back breaking journey or say goodbye to USD 250 ticket. (most likely the latter)

In other related anti-Mustachian news, several expats here have decided to charter their own plane to fly themselves and their families back to the states next month, as they have been unable to find commercial flights. The word on the street is that tickets will cost somewhere between $2K-$10k per person. It’s nice when you have money.

Perhaps ticket cost is paid by their employer.

Several employers have an exorbitant support package for expats in China.

My employer provides following perks for expats in China (unfortunately I am a local hire with no benefits):

1. Rent is covered by employer. One can choose a house with bedrooms equal to number of family members plus one. My expat supervisor lives on an island. Employer pays rent USD ~55k per year.
2. Company car with a driver (USD ~40k per year)
3. Child education paid for in an international school (USD ~35k per year per child)
4. International health insurance (USD ~3k per year per family member)
5. One return ticket per year for entire family (most expats avail this benefit to return home during festive season)
6. 30 paid leaves per year additional to China statutory requirement

Kudos to you if you are an expat in China.

If house rent, commute, child education and health insurance is paid for, one can easily save 90+% of salary and give FIRE a solid boost.

Mairuiming

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2509 on: June 28, 2020, 09:40:55 PM »
Due to travel bans, many of my expat coworkers have not been able to return to China. I found out today that some of them continue to:

- Run their AC and dehumidifier 24/7 = $200/month
- Pay their ayi to air out the house and dust and empty the dehumidifier = $1000/month


They are paying $1200/month to basically prevent mold from forming. The local way of preventing mold is to open all the windows to create air circulation. The day before you return, you send the ayi to do a full wipe down/cleaning. If you want to keep ayi employed out of compassion, you send ayi in everyday to clean and air things out, and you save yourself $200/month in electricity costs to cool an empty apartment.

I am sure my house will be a mess when I return.
Closed all windows, switched off power supply (except for refrigerator) as I left China for a 1 week vacation in mid-Jan.
5 months later, there are no signs of international flights starting from India.

I hope Covid situation in India will improve in Q4 2020.

Yikes. I just checked and there are flights in August flying to China from Mumbai with a layover in Japan. Most of the expats returning home after their contracts ended have been routed through multiple cities.

In other related anti-Mustachian news, several expats here have decided to charter their own plane to fly themselves and their families back to the states next month, as they have been unable to find commercial flights. The word on the street is that tickets will cost somewhere between $2K-$10k per person. It’s nice when you have money.

It seems I managed to kill this thread with too much information.

Freedomin5

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2510 on: June 28, 2020, 10:16:22 PM »
Or maybe everyone has been WFH and hasn't heard any good "Overheard at Work" stories lately.

I have one that happened last week. Some of my coworkers are organizing fun activities for expats who are staying in China over the summer. One of these activities is a tour of breakfast foods in Shanghai. A quick search online shows that the price per person for the tour is USD$75. They take you to try 10 different breakfast foods -- all of which I've tried already from the side of the street as they make great grab-and-go breakfast foods. However, the foods in total cost at most ~USD$15, even when you buy them from the priciest neighborhood in Shanghai.

I think I will be skipping this tour.

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2511 on: June 29, 2020, 02:44:18 AM »
Or maybe everyone has been WFH and hasn't heard any good "Overheard at Work" stories lately.

I have one that happened last week. Some of my coworkers are organizing fun activities for expats who are staying in China over the summer. One of these activities is a tour of breakfast foods in Shanghai. A quick search online shows that the price per person for the tour is USD$75. They take you to try 10 different breakfast foods -- all of which I've tried already from the side of the street as they make great grab-and-go breakfast foods. However, the foods in total cost at most ~USD$15, even when you buy them from the priciest neighborhood in Shanghai.

I think I will be skipping this tour.

I don't think the point of the tour is to get your belly filled.
Still that is a lot of money.

Regarding the overheard: Yes, I think so many are working in the home office that a lot is talked about. Like how super cheap that car on sale was, so I just got two in case one breaks down.

lemanfan

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2512 on: June 29, 2020, 02:58:11 AM »
May I bend the rules and talk about a neighbor of my parents?

Due to the restrictions, a retired neighbor of my parents said "It's weird with this isolation - I have so much money left each month.  I don't know what to do?  Should I give it away?".


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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2513 on: June 29, 2020, 05:39:49 AM »
Well one of my coworkers just bought a used porches because it was a good deal at $28,000.  And granted for the car it was a “good deal“ but they already have 4 cars for 4 people.

talltexan

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2514 on: June 29, 2020, 06:42:06 AM »
It'd be interesting to see that driveway.

markbike528CBX

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2515 on: June 29, 2020, 03:00:25 PM »
Well one of my coworkers just bought a used porches because it was a good deal at $28,000.  And granted for the car it was a “good deal“ but they already have 4 cars for 4 people.

Are they going to park the Porsche on one of the porches?   (ducks and rolls....... )

I'm not normally a grammar nazi, honest, but I do one an example of a fine piece of Finnish car-making, a Porsche Boxster from Uusikaupunki .

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2516 on: June 29, 2020, 03:21:50 PM »
Yikes. I just checked and there are flights in August flying to China from Mumbai with a layover in Japan. Most of the expats returning home after their contracts ended have been routed through multiple cities.

Airlines are taking bookings without any visibility when government will allow flights to be operational. When date of flight approach, airlines hand out a coupon saying you can travel on the said ticket anytime during the next 1 year (of course if price at that moment is higher you have to pay the difference, if price is lower you won't receive a refund). Few activists approached court and court advised airlines to extend coupon validity from 1 year to 2 years.
In Feb, I booked a crazy connecting flight flying through India-Sri Lanka-Malaysia-Hong Kong-China. Whenever flights are operational either I have to take this back breaking journey or say goodbye to USD 250 ticket. (most likely the latter)

In other related anti-Mustachian news, several expats here have decided to charter their own plane to fly themselves and their families back to the states next month, as they have been unable to find commercial flights. The word on the street is that tickets will cost somewhere between $2K-$10k per person. It’s nice when you have money.

Perhaps ticket cost is paid by their employer.

Several employers have an exorbitant support package for expats in China.

My employer provides following perks for expats in China (unfortunately I am a local hire with no benefits):

1. Rent is covered by employer. One can choose a house with bedrooms equal to number of family members plus one. My expat supervisor lives on an island. Employer pays rent USD ~55k per year.
2. Company car with a driver (USD ~40k per year)
3. Child education paid for in an international school (USD ~35k per year per child)
4. International health insurance (USD ~3k per year per family member)
5. One return ticket per year for entire family (most expats avail this benefit to return home during festive season)
6. 30 paid leaves per year additional to China statutory requirement

Kudos to you if you are an expat in China.

If house rent, commute, child education and health insurance is paid for, one can easily save 90+% of salary and give FIRE a solid boost.
I’m curious what kind of jobs and companies have expat packages like that because wow... I have zero desire to go to China again but that is so generous I would be tempted.

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2517 on: June 29, 2020, 03:22:53 PM »
Well one of my coworkers just bought a used porches because it was a good deal at $28,000.  And granted for the car it was a “good deal“ but they already have 4 cars for 4 people.

Are they going to park the Porsche on one of the porches?   (ducks and rolls....... )

I'm not normally a grammar nazi, honest, but I do one an example of a fine piece of Finnish car-making, a Porsche Boxster from Uusikaupunki .
I admit, it took me a moment also. “Maybe they are adding on a deck?”

Freedomin5

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2518 on: June 29, 2020, 03:30:46 PM »
Well one of my coworkers just bought a used porches because it was a good deal at $28,000.  And granted for the car it was a “good deal“ but they already have 4 cars for 4 people.

Are they going to park the Porsche on one of the porches?   (ducks and rolls....... )

I'm not normally a grammar nazi, honest, but I do one an example of a fine piece of Finnish car-making, a Porsche Boxster from Uusikaupunki .
I admit, it took me a moment also. “Maybe they are adding on a deck?”

It’s the sign of a true Mustachian who has no need of spelling luxury brands.

Freedomin5

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2519 on: June 29, 2020, 03:41:59 PM »
Yikes. I just checked and there are flights in August flying to China from Mumbai with a layover in Japan. Most of the expats returning home after their contracts ended have been routed through multiple cities.

Airlines are taking bookings without any visibility when government will allow flights to be operational. When date of flight approach, airlines hand out a coupon saying you can travel on the said ticket anytime during the next 1 year (of course if price at that moment is higher you have to pay the difference, if price is lower you won't receive a refund). Few activists approached court and court advised airlines to extend coupon validity from 1 year to 2 years.
In Feb, I booked a crazy connecting flight flying through India-Sri Lanka-Malaysia-Hong Kong-China. Whenever flights are operational either I have to take this back breaking journey or say goodbye to USD 250 ticket. (most likely the latter)

In other related anti-Mustachian news, several expats here have decided to charter their own plane to fly themselves and their families back to the states next month, as they have been unable to find commercial flights. The word on the street is that tickets will cost somewhere between $2K-$10k per person. It’s nice when you have money.

Perhaps ticket cost is paid by their employer.

Several employers have an exorbitant support package for expats in China.

My employer provides following perks for expats in China (unfortunately I am a local hire with no benefits):

1. Rent is covered by employer. One can choose a house with bedrooms equal to number of family members plus one. My expat supervisor lives on an island. Employer pays rent USD ~55k per year.
2. Company car with a driver (USD ~40k per year)
3. Child education paid for in an international school (USD ~35k per year per child)
4. International health insurance (USD ~3k per year per family member)
5. One return ticket per year for entire family (most expats avail this benefit to return home during festive season)
6. 30 paid leaves per year additional to China statutory requirement

Kudos to you if you are an expat in China.

If house rent, commute, child education and health insurance is paid for, one can easily save 90+% of salary and give FIRE a solid boost.
I’m curious what kind of jobs and companies have expat packages like that because wow... I have zero desire to go to China again but that is so generous I would be tempted.

Almost all the MNCs have packages like that. Out of my circle of acquaintance...Ford, GM, Disney, major American hotel chains like Marriott, embassies and consulates, all the retail and investment banks like HSBC, major accounting firms, major law firms, big pharma...The return ticket is typically for business class seats. Some employers will also contribute to a retirement plan for you. The packages are easily worth $500k to $1M in salary and benefits.

Most of the people with the packages are in a leadership position, like General Manager, or head of a particular car parts division, etc. Many of them are engineers, esp. the ones in the car companies.

All the major international schools also offer the above package for their teachers, minus the car and driver. And they only cover economy class seats.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2020, 04:30:06 PM by Freedomin5 »

Feivel2000

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2520 on: June 29, 2020, 04:05:06 PM »
Something minor... Co-worker is pregnant and now announced that she'll also get a boat.
But they're both making good money and thanks for being in Germany her job is still secure. But still... Not sure how intensive they'll use it.

Fomerly known as something

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2521 on: June 29, 2020, 07:28:26 PM »
Well one of my coworkers just bought a used porches because it was a good deal at $28,000.  And granted for the car it was a “good deal“ but they already have 4 cars for 4 people.

Are they going to park the Porsche on one of the porches?   (ducks and rolls....... )

I'm not normally a grammar nazi, honest, but I do one an example of a fine piece of Finnish car-making, a Porsche Boxster from Uusikaupunki .
I admit, it took me a moment also. “Maybe they are adding on a deck?”

Stupid autocorrect.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.

TheFrenchCat

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2522 on: June 29, 2020, 08:01:21 PM »
Something minor... Co-worker is pregnant and now announced that she'll also get a boat.
But they're both making good money and thanks for being in Germany her job is still secure. But still... Not sure how intensive they'll use it.

Did she say how big of a boat?  I wouldn't want something that needs a ton of maintenance while I had a newborn.  On top of them being money pits.  My dad just told me he's decided to downsize his boat, so that's great!

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2523 on: June 30, 2020, 10:38:59 AM »
Ha auto correct did that to me here the other day when I tried to write porsche. It was something about someone wanting a luxury Porsche but came out luxury porch. I left it because DAMN! Who doesn't want a luxury porch? I mean what better place for an early retiree to spent their day ranting at the young uns (who are probably older than you) to get the hell off their lawn from.

Ts ts, that just shows the inadequate commoner mind of the nouveau riche.

A luxury porch has an automated yelling machine so that the butler does not have to step out and confront the unsightly plebs!

markbike528CBX

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2524 on: June 30, 2020, 01:27:59 PM »
Ha auto correct did that to me here the other day when I tried to write porsche. It was something about someone wanting a luxury Porsche but came out luxury porch. I left it because DAMN! Who doesn't want a luxury porch? I mean what better place for an early retiree to spent their day ranting at the young uns (who are probably older than you) to get the hell off their lawn from.

Ts ts, that just shows the inadequate commoner mind of the nouveau riche.

A luxury porch has an automated yelling machine so that the butler does not have to step out and confront the unsightly plebs!

I guess I need a automated luxury porch to yell at people who don't pick up the dog poo.   
We even have free, biodegradable doggy poo bags in a dispenser on a sidewalk corner of our property.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2525 on: June 30, 2020, 09:00:57 PM »

We even have free, biodegradable doggy poo bags in a dispenser on a sidewalk corner of our property.

Ugh, I just got triggered remembering the last two weeks someone has been putting their dog poop in my can after collection.  Not poop bags, poop wrapped in some kind of unenclosed plastic.  I don't leave my cans out an unreasonable amount of time, but even so I think it's a bit rude to put even fully tied bags in someone's recently collected can (thereby allowing the smell to smoulder for an entire week... I don't have an issue tossing it in the night before collection).  But on top of that these aren't even tied.  Luckily I do have a dog and stick it in one of his poop bags and my can already gets a nice stinky must going all week.  However, I feel bad for non-dog household who this culprit might terrorize.  Sorry for the rant I just don't get people sometimes.  Just use an actual bag!  It's like someone got a sale on those little wax paper squares they use in the donut case.   

Fomerly known as something

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2526 on: July 01, 2020, 05:11:26 PM »
Actually speaking of the porch.  My boss who can’t afford to max out his 401k is getting a $28,000 screened porch.  The on I want but am not getting because it’s not in the budget since I max out my 401k. 

I have to confess, I consoled myself with finally buying the Kayak I’ve been lusting after for 2 years.  (I live less than a mile from a gorgeous flat water river that I saw a bald eagle on last week).  It was not $28k

okisok

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2527 on: July 03, 2020, 09:07:34 PM »
I was working at a different location with a supervisor I wasn't familiar with. She spent most of the day trying to figure out why she hadn't gotten her stimulus check yet. Phone, email, the works. The rest of the day was spent talking about various fast food & fast casual food places where the employees know her by name, and her favorite orders from each because she doesn't cook and eats all of her meals out.
So I figured she spends more than $1,200 PER MONTH eating out, if she eats out every meal...But she was very upset that she hadn't gotten this one payment because she needed it to pay bills. 

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2528 on: July 03, 2020, 10:23:27 PM »
~facepalm~

Valley of Plenty

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2529 on: July 04, 2020, 11:55:31 PM »
I was working at a different location with a supervisor I wasn't familiar with. She spent most of the day trying to figure out why she hadn't gotten her stimulus check yet. Phone, email, the works. The rest of the day was spent talking about various fast food & fast casual food places where the employees know her by name, and her favorite orders from each because she doesn't cook and eats all of her meals out.
So I figured she spends more than $1,200 PER MONTH eating out, if she eats out every meal...But she was very upset that she hadn't gotten this one payment because she needed it to pay bills.

Ah yes, the classic "I can't afford the things I need but I still manage to buy the things I want" consumer.

I wish those people were the exception, but they seem to be the rule.

AMandM

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2530 on: July 05, 2020, 10:43:35 AM »

Ah yes, the classic "I can't afford the things I need but because I still manage to buy the things I want" consumer.


FTFY

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2531 on: July 06, 2020, 08:10:27 AM »
Between the basic income stats reported by our gov't, the things people say and do with their money - I'm no longer surprised that a large percentage of people can't raise $400 on short notice or that median incomes are so low or that personal debt is so high. Delayed gratification is apparently a super power.

Way back at the beginning of DW and my personal finance education via MMM and other sources - we were frequently surprised. No as much lately.

bluebelle

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2532 on: July 06, 2020, 08:59:46 AM »
Between the basic income stats reported by our gov't, the things people say and do with their money - I'm no longer surprised that a large percentage of people can't raise $400 on short notice or that median incomes are so low or that personal debt is so high. Delayed gratification is apparently a super power.

Way back at the beginning of DW and my personal finance education via MMM and other sources - we were frequently surprised. No as much lately.
I sometimes (okay, often), think questions are slanted to evoke the response desired.   If the question asked me "if you had an unexpected $400 charge, do you have enough in your chequing account to cover it", the answer is NO if I'm feeling very literal that day.   They didn't ask me if I have a metric shit ton of money somewhere else, and a very decent pay cheque ever two weeks.   Although, I do suspect that most people have to answer NO because they really don't have a spare $400 anywhere.....and that truly saddens me for society as a whole.

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2533 on: July 06, 2020, 09:12:35 AM »
Between the basic income stats reported by our gov't, the things people say and do with their money - I'm no longer surprised that a large percentage of people can't raise $400 on short notice or that median incomes are so low or that personal debt is so high. Delayed gratification is apparently a super power.

Way back at the beginning of DW and my personal finance education via MMM and other sources - we were frequently surprised. No as much lately.
I sometimes (okay, often), think questions are slanted to evoke the response desired.   If the question asked me "if you had an unexpected $400 charge, do you have enough in your chequing account to cover it", the answer is NO if I'm feeling very literal that day.   They didn't ask me if I have a metric shit ton of money somewhere else, and a very decent pay cheque ever two weeks.   Although, I do suspect that most people have to answer NO because they really don't have a spare $400 anywhere.....and that truly saddens me for society as a whole.

Yep, that survey has been greatly misinterpreted.

From the Cato Institute (https://www.cato.org/blog/it-true-40-americans-cant-handle-400-emergency-expense-0):

Quote
The question was about how people would choose to pay a $400 “emergency expense” — not whether or not they could pay it out of savings (or checking) if they wanted to. Respondents were also free to choose more than one way of paying the extra $400 (“please selects all that apply”), so the answers add up 143% rather than 100%. Even if 100% said they could pay an extra $400 with cash, there could still be more than 40% who would choose a different method.

It turns out that 86% would pay cash or charge it and then pay off the bill at the next statement (many consumers autopay credit card bills from checking accounts). Some (11%) said they might borrow some or all of it from a friend or family member, but that probably means a spouse or parent in most cases (respondents included full‐​time students).

From that, it looks like the actual number is 14%.

And if you're worried about source bias, Bloomberg had a similar article, but it's behind a paywall.

bluebelle

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2534 on: July 06, 2020, 09:24:50 AM »

Yep, that survey has been greatly misinterpreted.

From the Cato Institute (https://www.cato.org/blog/it-true-40-americans-cant-handle-400-emergency-expense-0):

thanks for the link.....I hadn't thought of that....If I was asked how I would pay for something, credit card is my go to choice because:
1) someone else's money for a month when paid off in full
2) convenient
3) points
4) ease of expense tracking - I download it every month

sherr

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2535 on: July 06, 2020, 09:52:41 AM »
You see very similar slant any time they talk about saving's rates. I have $0 in a savings account, why would I? But I'm not poor by any stretch of the imagination.

economista

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2536 on: July 06, 2020, 12:11:08 PM »
This morning in the wall street journal an article said 59% of working age people don't have any money in a retirement account, and then later on in the article they said if families have savings at all, it is most often in a retirement account. Those statements put together show how dire the situation is. It doesn't surprise me at all though because I'm from a family where savings, especially retirement savings, are unheard of. The mindset is that retirement savings = social security, and you just plan on working until you can't possible work any longer and then dying.

Here's the article but it is behind the paywall.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/states-take-aim-at-people-with-no-retirement-plan-11593945474?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2537 on: July 06, 2020, 12:56:44 PM »
This morning in the wall street journal an article said 59% of working age people don't have any money in a retirement account, and then later on in the article they said if families have savings at all, it is most often in a retirement account. Those statements put together show how dire the situation is. It doesn't surprise me at all though because I'm from a family where savings, especially retirement savings, are unheard of. The mindset is that retirement savings = social security, and you just plan on working until you can't possible work any longer and then dying.

Here's the article but it is behind the paywall.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/states-take-aim-at-people-with-no-retirement-plan-11593945474?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1

I'm genuinely interested in this topic so I went looking. I couldn't find a non-paywalled version of the article, nor was the actual source data from the National Institute on Retirement Security obvious. But I did find something similar from NIRS, which maybe is the source data, which claims that 40% of over-60s only receive income from Social Security, not from pensions ("DB" or "Defined Benefit Plans") or 401k/403b/IRAs ("DC" or "Defined Contribution Plans"). Another NIRS tidbit is that among Boomers - who are approaching retirement age if not already there - the wealthiest 25% own a whopping 91% of the money, and the bottom 50% only own 2%.

If that's true then that really is devastating. Especially for the Boomers, who have no time left to "make up for it".

economista

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2538 on: July 07, 2020, 06:44:55 AM »
@sherr - I’m on my iPad right now which doesn’t offer a print to pdf option, but if I remember when I’m on the laptop later I’ll try to make a pdf and send it to you. I was also able to pull up the study that value came from, but there is no way to share it on here, although the print to pdf might work there too.

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2539 on: July 07, 2020, 07:45:17 AM »
I’d really love to read it too, if it’s not too much trouble.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2540 on: July 07, 2020, 01:44:04 PM »
I'm genuinely interested in this topic so I went looking. I couldn't find a non-paywalled version of the article, nor was the actual source data from the National Institute on Retirement Security obvious. But I did find something similar from NIRS, which maybe is the source data, which claims that 40% of over-60s only receive income from Social Security, not from pensions ("DB" or "Defined Benefit Plans") or 401k/403b/IRAs ("DC" or "Defined Contribution Plans"). Another NIRS tidbit is that among Boomers - who are approaching retirement age if not already there - the wealthiest 25% own a whopping 91% of the money, and the bottom 50% only own 2%.
I wonder if the shift is because the bottom 50%, having started out with less, have expended more of their financial assets, while those who started out with more still haven't worked through it.  E.g. if I start out with $2 and my friend starts off with $8, he has 80% of the money and I have 20%.  If we both spend $2, now he has 100% of what's left.  I guess I'm not sure if it should bother me to see that sort of shift.

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2541 on: July 07, 2020, 02:08:49 PM »
I'm genuinely interested in this topic so I went looking. I couldn't find a non-paywalled version of the article, nor was the actual source data from the National Institute on Retirement Security obvious. But I did find something similar from NIRS, which maybe is the source data, which claims that 40% of over-60s only receive income from Social Security, not from pensions ("DB" or "Defined Benefit Plans") or 401k/403b/IRAs ("DC" or "Defined Contribution Plans"). Another NIRS tidbit is that among Boomers - who are approaching retirement age if not already there - the wealthiest 25% own a whopping 91% of the money, and the bottom 50% only own 2%.
I wonder if the shift is because the bottom 50%, having started out with less, have expended more of their financial assets, while those who started out with more still haven't worked through it.  E.g. if I start out with $2 and my friend starts off with $8, he has 80% of the money and I have 20%.  If we both spend $2, now he has 100% of what's left.  I guess I'm not sure if it should bother me to see that sort of shift.

Even if that is the cause, running out of money 5 years into retirement and relying solely on SS is surely undesirable.

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2542 on: July 07, 2020, 02:12:12 PM »
This morning in the wall street journal an article said 59% of working age people don't have any money in a retirement account, and then later on in the article they said if families have savings at all, it is most often in a retirement account. Those statements put together show how dire the situation is. It doesn't surprise me at all though because I'm from a family where savings, especially retirement savings, are unheard of. The mindset is that retirement savings = social security, and you just plan on working until you can't possible work any longer and then dying.

Here's the article but it is behind the paywall.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/states-take-aim-at-people-with-no-retirement-plan-11593945474?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=1

I'm genuinely interested in this topic so I went looking. I couldn't find a non-paywalled version of the article, nor was the actual source data from the National Institute on Retirement Security obvious.

Economista pointed out off-line that the source data is from this NIRS article, I didn't find it earlier because I didn't go back to 2018.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2543 on: July 08, 2020, 09:03:37 AM »
I'm genuinely interested in this topic so I went looking. I couldn't find a non-paywalled version of the article, nor was the actual source data from the National Institute on Retirement Security obvious. But I did find something similar from NIRS, which maybe is the source data, which claims that 40% of over-60s only receive income from Social Security, not from pensions ("DB" or "Defined Benefit Plans") or 401k/403b/IRAs ("DC" or "Defined Contribution Plans"). Another NIRS tidbit is that among Boomers - who are approaching retirement age if not already there - the wealthiest 25% own a whopping 91% of the money, and the bottom 50% only own 2%.
I wonder if the shift is because the bottom 50%, having started out with less, have expended more of their financial assets, while those who started out with more still haven't worked through it.  E.g. if I start out with $2 and my friend starts off with $8, he has 80% of the money and I have 20%.  If we both spend $2, now he has 100% of what's left.  I guess I'm not sure if it should bother me to see that sort of shift.

Even if that is the cause, running out of money 5 years into retirement and relying solely on SS is surely undesirable.
Certainly it's undesirable, but it doesn't necessarily point to an injustice IMO.  As much as it has metastasized into our culture, SS was never meant to be a sole source of support in retirement.

sherr

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2544 on: July 08, 2020, 09:13:12 AM »
I'm genuinely interested in this topic so I went looking. I couldn't find a non-paywalled version of the article, nor was the actual source data from the National Institute on Retirement Security obvious. But I did find something similar from NIRS, which maybe is the source data, which claims that 40% of over-60s only receive income from Social Security, not from pensions ("DB" or "Defined Benefit Plans") or 401k/403b/IRAs ("DC" or "Defined Contribution Plans"). Another NIRS tidbit is that among Boomers - who are approaching retirement age if not already there - the wealthiest 25% own a whopping 91% of the money, and the bottom 50% only own 2%.
I wonder if the shift is because the bottom 50%, having started out with less, have expended more of their financial assets, while those who started out with more still haven't worked through it.  E.g. if I start out with $2 and my friend starts off with $8, he has 80% of the money and I have 20%.  If we both spend $2, now he has 100% of what's left.  I guess I'm not sure if it should bother me to see that sort of shift.

Even if that is the cause, running out of money 5 years into retirement and relying solely on SS is surely undesirable.
Certainly it's undesirable, but it doesn't necessarily point to an injustice IMO.  As much as it has metastasized into our culture, SS was never meant to be a sole source of support in retirement.

Yes, that's my point. SS was not meant to be the sole source of support in retirement. And if it is, for half of the people, then the current system is obviously broken and needs to be changed.

DadJokes

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2545 on: July 08, 2020, 09:37:10 AM »
I'm genuinely interested in this topic so I went looking. I couldn't find a non-paywalled version of the article, nor was the actual source data from the National Institute on Retirement Security obvious. But I did find something similar from NIRS, which maybe is the source data, which claims that 40% of over-60s only receive income from Social Security, not from pensions ("DB" or "Defined Benefit Plans") or 401k/403b/IRAs ("DC" or "Defined Contribution Plans"). Another NIRS tidbit is that among Boomers - who are approaching retirement age if not already there - the wealthiest 25% own a whopping 91% of the money, and the bottom 50% only own 2%.
I wonder if the shift is because the bottom 50%, having started out with less, have expended more of their financial assets, while those who started out with more still haven't worked through it.  E.g. if I start out with $2 and my friend starts off with $8, he has 80% of the money and I have 20%.  If we both spend $2, now he has 100% of what's left.  I guess I'm not sure if it should bother me to see that sort of shift.

Even if that is the cause, running out of money 5 years into retirement and relying solely on SS is surely undesirable.
Certainly it's undesirable, but it doesn't necessarily point to an injustice IMO.  As much as it has metastasized into our culture, SS was never meant to be a sole source of support in retirement.

Yes, that's my point. SS was not meant to be the sole source of support in retirement. And if it is, for half of the people, then the current system is obviously broken and needs to be changed.

Or a lot of people are idiots who will sacrifice their future by spending every dollar they make now. Even when confronted with hard truths, they would rather blame the system than take responsibility for their own future.

sherr

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2546 on: July 08, 2020, 09:48:41 AM »
Or a lot of people are idiots who will sacrifice their future by spending every dollar they make now. Even when confronted with hard truths, they would rather blame the system than take responsibility for their own future.

I believe that a good system provides good outcomes for the majority of people, by definition. If it does not provide good outcomes for the majority of people, only for the, say, top 10% like you and me, then it's a bad system.

You can point to individual people and say that individual people should take more responsibility for their situation etc etc etc all day long, and I'd probably agree with you. But if most people are getting screwed, then it's not an individual problem, it's a systemic problem.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2547 on: July 08, 2020, 09:57:02 AM »
Even if that is the cause, running out of money 5 years into retirement and relying solely on SS is surely undesirable.
Certainly it's undesirable, but it doesn't necessarily point to an injustice IMO.  As much as it has metastasized into our culture, SS was never meant to be a sole source of support in retirement.

Yes, that's my point. SS was not meant to be the sole source of support in retirement. And if it is, for half of the people, then the current system is obviously broken and needs to be changed.
[/quote]If, by "the current system is obviously broken," you mean "decades of consumerism and well-intentioned but misguided expansions of social welfare have led half of baby boomers to abandon responsibility for their own retirement finances," then I agree.  Instead of politicians promising that Uncle Sam will take care of you, let's instead make sure that people understand that SS *isn't* meant to support you.  Sadly, that doesn't make for a very effective campaign slogan...

sherr

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2548 on: July 08, 2020, 10:04:07 AM »
If, by "the current system is obviously broken," you mean "decades of consumerism and well-intentioned but misguided expansions of social welfare have led half of baby boomers to abandon responsibility for their own retirement finances," then I agree.  Instead of politicians promising that Uncle Sam will take care of you, let's instead make sure that people understand that SS *isn't* meant to support you.  Sadly, that doesn't make for a very effective campaign slogan...

I'm legitimately curious what your actual practical suggestions are. Take SS away entirely and just tell people to "figure it out"?! Or... what exactly? There is a problem here that we both agree is a problem. What is your preferred solution?

LennStar

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Re: Overheard at Work 2
« Reply #2549 on: July 08, 2020, 10:54:48 AM »
Not to mention that there is the simple but important bit that the current SS system (in various form over the countries) is also a product of the 1929 economy crisis.

For example, you could have saved as much as you wanted, if you suddenly pay in billions, your savings are worth less than the paper it's printed on. As long as your "security" is money based, it is risky.

That is why I like the much insulted German system. It is based on actual production. And let's face it, underproduction was not exactly a problem in the west for the last half century.

And telling people to figure it out... to know how well this works, just look at the people enthusiastic about how good a work Trump has done and that vaccines just make you sick.