Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13252781 times)

Mesmoiselle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20850 on: September 18, 2018, 12:41:45 PM »
CW: "We are all only a couple paychecks away from being homeless."

Everyone in the room makes over $80k/year. No one questioned the statement.

Cry for help?

pbkmaine

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20851 on: September 18, 2018, 01:19:39 PM »
CW: "We are all only a couple paychecks away from being homeless."

Everyone in the room makes over $80k/year. No one questioned the statement.

Cry for help?

I was in a lunchroom where this was said. I pointed to the lunch I brought from home and said: “Not me!”

Kitsune

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20852 on: September 18, 2018, 01:52:31 PM »
CW: "We are all only a couple paychecks away from being homeless."

Everyone in the room makes over $80k/year. No one questioned the statement.
You didn't question it?  No one else did for the same reason.

Say something to CW privately.  Keep your mouth shut about finances in a room full of coworkers

It may depend on the company and its culture, but I've never found it unsafe to say something about "it depends on your priorities, I suppose, but I wouldn't want to live that way because it sounds stressful.

I mean, *homelessness*? Unless the group is predominately early-career, low-asset, student-loan-burdened people in their 20s, or people who are recovering from horrific setbacks, being that close to homelessness is a sign of extremely bad planning and spending decisions.

Nobody on this forum really foresees a day when our level of frugality becomes mainstream, however I don't see anything wrong with suggesting that living on the financial edge is really messed up.

I've actually found a lot of job safety in being able to say (or strongly insinuate) "actually, I don't NEED this job. I have savings/we can make ends meet on one salary, I'm not stuck here and can leave anytime. So no, I won't falsify financial documents for a publicly-traded company/work every evening and weekend/listen to Unreasonable Coworker scream at me because 'that's just how she is' and you won't manager her." (All actual examples)

Some managers seem to rely on the knowledge that employees are broke and need the money so bad that they'll put up with ludicrous treatment.

Of course, I'm from Quebec, so baseline better job security than in the states, and I'm not afraid of being let go because of this.

YoungGranny

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20853 on: September 19, 2018, 12:19:35 PM »
Just overheard a co-worker talking about their new lease on a SUV....$600 a month! I'm so far down the rabbit hole of mustachianism that's actually unfathomable to me. I mean that's also just about my half of the mortgage each month simply can't imagine spending that much on a car....

Also realizing I spent much less than that on my bike that's gotten me to and from work successfully for a few years now. Just genuinely shocked if that's a going rate for leasing a vehicle.

dreadmoose

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20854 on: September 19, 2018, 01:38:08 PM »
Just talked to an old boss that was delighted to tell me about a new property that he bought on a lake 2300 kilometers away (that is only accessible by boat).

"It was a great deal, I had to cash out my RRSP's to do it but I figure I have 10 years of work left no matter what and my life insurance will cover my family if anything happens to me"

I had trouble keeping it positive through him telling me his kids are getting close to self-sufficient, that they'll have to fly out there to enjoy it over the next 10 years and through the fact that he wasn't going to retire to it but simply keep it as a place to visit forever as it's too impractical to live there...

I guess I don't know the details but can't really imagine it makes financial sense to cash out RRSP's with 10 years til retirement to buy a vacation property a minimum $500 per person flight away. Let alone the fact he is probably making above $200,000 a year and doesn't have anything saved outside of his RRSP's.

Davnasty

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20855 on: September 19, 2018, 02:32:51 PM »
Just talked to an old boss that was delighted to tell me about a new property that he bought on a lake 2300 kilometers away (that is only accessible by boat).

"It was a great deal, I had to cash out my RRSP's to do it but I figure I have 10 years of work left no matter what and my life insurance will cover my family if anything happens to me"

I had trouble keeping it positive through him telling me his kids are getting close to self-sufficient, that they'll have to fly out there to enjoy it over the next 10 years and through the fact that he wasn't going to retire to it but simply keep it as a place to visit forever as it's too impractical to live there...

I guess I don't know the details but can't really imagine it makes financial sense to cash out RRSP's with 10 years til retirement to buy a vacation property a minimum $500 per person flight away. Let alone the fact he is probably making above $200,000 a year and doesn't have anything saved outside of his RRSP's.

Sometimes we post here because of little things that make no sense like buying coffee when there's free coffee. Other times it's because of the outrageous numbers for large purchases. The toughest ones to hear are the people with little saved for retirement when they could have been just fine if they had put away even a small percent in their retirement funds.

But this one has everything.

bluebelle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20856 on: September 19, 2018, 02:55:12 PM »
CW: "We are all only a couple paychecks away from being homeless."

Everyone in the room makes over $80k/year. No one questioned the statement.
You didn't question it?  No one else did for the same reason.

Say something to CW privately.  Keep your mouth shut about finances in a room full of coworkers

It may depend on the company and its culture, but I've never found it unsafe to say something about "it depends on your priorities, I suppose, but I wouldn't want to live that way because it sounds stressful.

I mean, *homelessness*? Unless the group is predominately early-career, low-asset, student-loan-burdened people in their 20s, or people who are recovering from horrific setbacks, being that close to homelessness is a sign of extremely bad planning and spending decisions.

Nobody on this forum really foresees a day when our level of frugality becomes mainstream, however I don't see anything wrong with suggesting that living on the financial edge is really messed up.

I've actually found a lot of job safety in being able to say (or strongly insinuate) "actually, I don't NEED this job. I have savings/we can make ends meet on one salary, I'm not stuck here and can leave anytime. So no, I won't falsify financial documents for a publicly-traded company/work every evening and weekend/listen to Unreasonable Coworker scream at me because 'that's just how she is' and you won't manager her." (All actual examples)

Some managers seem to rely on the knowledge that employees are broke and need the money so bad that they'll put up with ludicrous treatment.

Of course, I'm from Quebec, so baseline better job security than in the states, and I'm not afraid of being let go because of this.

I try to operate under the tag line of "I need a job, just not THIS job".  It's a mindset that keeps me from being pushed around too much.  I still remember saying to an old boss who was being particularily shitty - "if you're trying to get me to quit, say so, and I'll be gone in 30 minutes, and I'll have another job by the time I hit the lobby".....he was alot better (for a while, hence "old boss")

Prairie Stash

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20857 on: September 20, 2018, 08:23:11 AM »
Just talked to an old boss that was delighted to tell me about a new property that he bought on a lake 2300 kilometers away (that is only accessible by boat).

"It was a great deal, I had to cash out my RRSP's to do it but I figure I have 10 years of work left no matter what and my life insurance will cover my family if anything happens to me"

I had trouble keeping it positive through him telling me his kids are getting close to self-sufficient, that they'll have to fly out there to enjoy it over the next 10 years and through the fact that he wasn't going to retire to it but simply keep it as a place to visit forever as it's too impractical to live there...

I guess I don't know the details but can't really imagine it makes financial sense to cash out RRSP's with 10 years til retirement to buy a vacation property a minimum $500 per person flight away. Let alone the fact he is probably making above $200,000 a year and doesn't have anything saved outside of his RRSP's.
$200,000 income - so theres at least a 42% tax on his withdrawal. The withdrawal is added on top of his working income. So a $100,000 property would take $172,000 from his RRSP to cover.

I'm sure it was a good deal! I love paying massive taxes on a deal...

talltexan

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20858 on: September 20, 2018, 09:51:02 AM »
why wouldn't you finance with that kind of tax implication on a cash deal?

dreadmoose

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20859 on: September 20, 2018, 11:50:59 AM »
why wouldn't you finance with that kind of tax implication on a cash deal?

I didn't want to dig into it too much but from knowing him I assume he head to pull the down payment out of his RRSP's and will have a mortgage on the property as well.

The more I think about it the worse it gets. I can't imagine he paid cash for a property while making all those other mistakes.

DutchGirl

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20860 on: September 22, 2018, 12:59:39 PM »
At my employer's headquarters, they're experimenting with having a barista at a mobile "coffee bar" during some hours of the day. Coffee is going to cost between 1.50 and 2 euros, depending on how fancy you want it to be. So that's okay-ish.

I do plan on trying it once when I visit the headquarters (normally I don't work there). But I think there will be plenty of folks who will go there every day or multiple times per day.

All the while there are also coffee machines that produce reasonable quality coffee, espresso, hot water and some other options, a rich choice of 12 different types of tea - all of these drinks are for free. Plus the break rooms have multiple fridges for any other drinks or food you might want to bring in with you. Two nice supermarkets within walking distance...

Steeze

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20861 on: September 22, 2018, 08:48:18 PM »
The guys at work are over thier crypto histaria, not a single person involved came out ahead.

Now their conversation has turned to weed stocks. They are excited about the huge gains and are piling in extra cash to take advantage of the opportunity.

I asked them how they choose which one to buy and got answers such as "must be trading at less than 10$ a share" and "this one has a cool name" and "this company has some technology that extracts stuff like THC"

I asked them if they were concerned about earnings at all, and said they should be considering the p/e ratio not the quoted price. Too bad these companies have negative earnings or are trading at 1000x.

They think I am from the stone age for indexing.. it's hard to watch people making less than me throw thier money away on a hope of getting rich.

They would be better off buying real weed and just having fun on the weekends. Sad.

nouveauRiche

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20862 on: September 23, 2018, 05:21:26 PM »
They would be better off buying real weed and just having fun on the weekends. Sad.

Ha ha ha.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20863 on: September 23, 2018, 08:07:58 PM »
The guys at work are over thier crypto histaria, not a single person involved came out ahead.

Now their conversation has turned to weed stocks. They are excited about the huge gains and are piling in extra cash to take advantage of the opportunity.

I asked them how they choose which one to buy and got answers such as "must be trading at less than 10$ a share" and "this one has a cool name" and "this company has some technology that extracts stuff like THC"

I asked them if they were concerned about earnings at all, and said they should be considering the p/e ratio not the quoted price. Too bad these companies have negative earnings or are trading at 1000x.

They think I am from the stone age for indexing.. it's hard to watch people making less than me throw thier money away on a hope of getting rich.

They would be better off buying real weed and just having fun on the weekends. Sad.

Plus it seems like they are super late to any good trades that existed

« Last Edit: September 23, 2018, 08:11:07 PM by dragoncar »

Linea_Norway

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20864 on: September 24, 2018, 01:33:32 AM »
Not a case of shame, but just worry.

One of my colleagues is leaving the company soon for a new job. His wife has become permanently incapable of working, so he is now a single earner. She gets a certain disability income which is lower than her former job. The colleague is in his new job getting a salary that is higher than his current and it even compensates for his wife's lower income. So far so good. They also have 2 children. The new job is a further away than his current job, but there is a good train connection.

This summer they spontaneously bought another house. They just moved in last weekend. The house was more expensive than their previous, but with the new salary, this went well. They just had to sell the old house. Several weeks/months have passed now and the old house hasn't sold. There is just no one coming to the viewings. My colleague is getting a bit anxious. They are now lowering the advertising price of the old house.

I know from experience that selling a house late, will make that the new person moves in later, and that you get your money later. All that time, you will have to finance that old house with a mortgage. In my colleague's case, a temporary second mortgage.

I am getting a bit nervous on his behalf. I have mentioned the idea of renting our the old house for some period, which might be better than not selling it. He will also be totally depending on that new high salary. As his wife has fatigue, he is also the one who needs to do all the work at home. I am wondering whether the new job with higher responsibility, the longer commute and all the work at home won't wear him out. And now a house that doesn't sell as well on top of that.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2018, 03:41:44 AM by Linda_Norway »

Imma

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20865 on: September 24, 2018, 03:33:39 AM »
Not a case of shame, but just worry.

One of my colleagues is leaving the company soon for a new job. His wife has become permanently incapable of working, so he is now a single earner. She gets a certain disability income which is lower than her former job. The colleague is in his new job getting a salary that is higher than his current and it even compensates for his wife's lower income. So far so good. They also have 2 children. The new job is a further away than his current job, but there is a good train connection.


This is such a sad story. They were faced with setbacks, found a way to recover from that, and now they're making their life intentionally harder than it could be. They're doing it to themselves, but all you want to say is probably "noooooooooooooooooooooo".... :(

Davnasty

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20866 on: September 24, 2018, 07:45:33 AM »
The guys at work are over thier crypto histaria, not a single person involved came out ahead.

Now their conversation has turned to weed stocks. They are excited about the huge gains and are piling in extra cash to take advantage of the opportunity.

I asked them how they choose which one to buy and got answers such as "must be trading at less than 10$ a share" and "this one has a cool name" and "this company has some technology that extracts stuff like THC"

I asked them if they were concerned about earnings at all, and said they should be considering the p/e ratio not the quoted price. Too bad these companies have negative earnings or are trading at 1000x.

They think I am from the stone age for indexing.. it's hard to watch people making less than me throw thier money away on a hope of getting rich.

They would be better off buying real weed and just having fun on the weekends. Sad.

Oh geez, I've got one of these and they like to give me frequent updates on how their pot stock is doing. They asked a lot of questions about what I do with my money because they know I'm interested in investing but despite my advice that buying individual stocks based on legalization in Canada and some article you read is a very bad idea, they went for it anyway. Not a lot of money so not too big of a deal but the worst part is... It's up >100% in the last 6 weeks. He's pretty confident this $500 investment will be worth $10,000 in 10-20 years. This short term (very)good luck is teaching the wrong lesson.

Oh, and this isn't fun money "invest 1-10% of your savings" kind of stock picking. This is everything they've saved outside of a 401k after working here for more than a year. Fortunately they did take the advice to contribute enough for the full match and not just the 100% matched portion.

Oh, and that reminds me of some more bullshit. They asked our 401k advisors what to invest in to make as much money as possible in a short period of time. This of course, is their stated investing strategy - I guess you gotta play catch up when you have 0 retirement savings in your 40's... But anyway, the advisors response was to go heavy in the BlackRock Health Sciences fund with ~1% fees because "healthcare costs are going up". We also have VFIAX and Vanguard target retirement funds available.
« Last Edit: September 24, 2018, 07:54:19 AM by Dabnasty »

economista

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20867 on: September 24, 2018, 08:30:22 AM »
My husband recently started a new job and they have a 401k plan that kicks in after 6 months. Their company matches 4% and you are auto-enrolled in 4%, so if you don't want the free money you have to go in and change it. On Friday a few of my husband's team members were talking about it and putting notices on their calendars to go in and change their contributions on the day they hit their 6 months, because they can't imagine living with smaller paychecks than they get now. My husband pointed out to them that they are leaving free money on the table by not even contributing up to the match, but they said it doesn't matter because they have bills and can't possibly live without that money. (I calculated it out and 4% pre-tax is $83 per paycheck for them - all new employees have the same salary on his team). My husband pointed out to them that he is changing his to contribute 10% right off the bat, and then once we get a handle on the expenses associated with our new house it will likely go up from there. They told him he is crazy. He decided it wasn't a good idea to tell them that I contribute over 10% to mine, and that our goal for 2019 is to max out both of them! He is an entry level job even though he is 37 - his coworkers are all really young, with most of them being just out of college. Hopefully his good habits will start to rub off on them.

carolinap

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20868 on: September 24, 2018, 11:48:05 AM »
Overheard with friends, but we really don't need another thread

Me and some friends were in a friends' house, watching a game on TV. The refrigerator wasn't working so Friend A offered to pay for ice to be delivered. My friends are the type that wouldn't bother and wouldn't pay for it but she insisted and pay for it. It was probably R$ 30 for ice.

Then after the game we were deciding how to go home, what was the easiest way to the subway, etc. Friend A says she doesn't know how to take the subway anymore, didn't do that in the last 8 years, even if we live in a city with good and reliable public transportation. She offered to take a cab (R$ 55, as opposed to the R$ 6 bus+subway alternative) and give a ride for me and another friend, and she would pay. We accepted.

In the cab she was talking (not bragging, it was something normal for her) about expensive restaurants, wines and the international honeymoon she had this year. I could get the sense that her lifestyle is really really expensive.

But also, she said she worked 10+ hours a day and would tomorrow (sunday), and didn't like here current workplace.

For me it wasn't a "shame and comedy" moment, just a realization that this was the kind of work-life balance I don't want for me. It's difficult for me to believe that people are truly happy this way, R$ 300 dinners can't compensate that kind of workload.

Digital Dogma

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20869 on: September 24, 2018, 12:12:21 PM »
I was going through my usual routine, gassing up the truck to get from one work location to another, and heard this conversation that made me think nothing other than "OH SHIT" for the next five minutes.

Person 1 - Oh yea, the government has been looking at all my accounts now.

Person 2 - Why do they need to know what you have in your account?

Person 1 - Well I got my social security disability payout and they said it was only supposed to be for medical expenses, so I went ahead and bought a handicap accessible house. My lawyer said it wasn't supposed to be used for that, but there's nothin' they can do about it now because I spent it all and its gone! Right?

honeybbq

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20870 on: September 24, 2018, 01:24:17 PM »
Not a case of shame, but just worry.

One of my colleagues is leaving the company soon for a new job. His wife has become permanently incapable of working, so he is now a single earner. She gets a certain disability income which is lower than her former job. The colleague is in his new job getting a salary that is higher than his current and it even compensates for his wife's lower income. So far so good. They also have 2 children. The new job is a further away than his current job, but there is a good train connection.


This is such a sad story. They were faced with setbacks, found a way to recover from that, and now they're making their life intentionally harder than it could be. They're doing it to themselves, but all you want to say is probably "noooooooooooooooooooooo".... :(

I would assume perhaps there were medical issues involved and maybe they needed a new house that helped ease constraints of his wife's condition (e.g. maybe ground floor master, etc).

I don't really see anything anti-mustachian or comedic when tragedy strikes and people try to deal with it. Not everybody has the money to float 2 houses.

carolinap

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20871 on: September 24, 2018, 02:56:07 PM »
I was going through my usual routine, gassing up the truck to get from one work location to another, and heard this conversation that made me think nothing other than "OH SHIT" for the next five minutes.

Person 1 - Oh yea, the government has been looking at all my accounts now.

Person 2 - Why do they need to know what you have in your account?

Person 1 - Well I got my social security disability payout and they said it was only supposed to be for medical expenses, so I went ahead and bought a handicap accessible house. My lawyer said it wasn't supposed to be used for that, but there's nothin' they can do about it now because I spent it all and its gone! Right?

this is terrifying, this is like a "The Office" moment, when Michael Scott does this terrible naive financial choices

Goldielocks

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20872 on: September 25, 2018, 01:02:32 AM »
what's a social security benefits payout?  How large could it possibly get?

Vibrissae

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20873 on: September 25, 2018, 09:18:35 AM »
I asked them how they choose which one to buy and got answers such as "must be trading at less than 10$ a share" and "this one has a cool name" and "this company has some technology that extracts stuff like THC"

That's some sophisticated stock picking, right there.

Sibley

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20874 on: September 25, 2018, 11:17:52 AM »
I asked them how they choose which one to buy and got answers such as "must be trading at less than 10$ a share" and "this one has a cool name" and "this company has some technology that extracts stuff like THC"

That's some sophisticated stock picking, right there.

The one and only time I've been roped into a work fantasy sport thing, I picked all the players based on how cute they were. One day, there was a discussion about methods for picking players. Bunch of elaborate spreadsheets, detailed research, etc. Then there's me (middle of the league) and one other woman, who was #1 or 2 in the league. How'd we pick? Cuteness/attractiveness. For baseball, she had better taste than me. Everyone else who put all this time and effort in just groaned.

Kitsune

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20875 on: September 25, 2018, 01:58:41 PM »
I asked them how they choose which one to buy and got answers such as "must be trading at less than 10$ a share" and "this one has a cool name" and "this company has some technology that extracts stuff like THC"

That's some sophisticated stock picking, right there.

The one and only time I've been roped into a work fantasy sport thing, I picked all the players based on how cute they were. One day, there was a discussion about methods for picking players. Bunch of elaborate spreadsheets, detailed research, etc. Then there's me (middle of the league) and one other woman, who was #1 or 2 in the league. How'd we pick? Cuteness/attractiveness. For baseball, she had better taste than me. Everyone else who put all this time and effort in just groaned.

To be fair, a friend trying to get me into hockey made a powerpoint presentation of Crosby and Towes's tushes. *shrugs* It worked. A+ asses. And hockey, in the end, is super fun, especially in person, and WNHL tickets are affordable.

Dave1442397

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20876 on: September 25, 2018, 05:37:01 PM »
The one and only time I've been roped into a work fantasy sport thing, I picked all the players based on how cute they were. One day, there was a discussion about methods for picking players. Bunch of elaborate spreadsheets, detailed research, etc. Then there's me (middle of the league) and one other woman, who was #1 or 2 in the league. How'd we pick? Cuteness/attractiveness. For baseball, she had better taste than me. Everyone else who put all this time and effort in just groaned.

One of my co-workers got pressured into joining the fantasy football league. He was from Hong Kong, and had only been in the US a few years and knew nothing about football. Boy, were they pissed when he won over $1,000 by picking teams based on their uniform colors every week :)

MissNancyPryor

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20877 on: September 25, 2018, 05:50:18 PM »
I was going through my usual routine, gassing up the truck to get from one work location to another, and heard this conversation that made me think nothing other than "OH SHIT" for the next five minutes.

Person 1 - Oh yea, the government has been looking at all my accounts now.

Person 2 - Why do they need to know what you have in your account?

Person 1 - Well I got my social security disability payout and they said it was only supposed to be for medical expenses, so I went ahead and bought a handicap accessible house. My lawyer said it wasn't supposed to be used for that, but there's nothin' they can do about it now because I spent it all and its gone! Right?

this is terrifying, this is like a "The Office" moment, when Michael Scott does this terrible naive financial choices

“I DECLARE BANKRUPTCY!!!”

AMandM

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20878 on: September 25, 2018, 06:12:32 PM »
The one and only time I've been roped into a work fantasy sport thing, I picked all the players based on how cute they were. One day, there was a discussion about methods for picking players. Bunch of elaborate spreadsheets, detailed research, etc. Then there's me (middle of the league) and one other woman, who was #1 or 2 in the league. How'd we pick? Cuteness/attractiveness. For baseball, she had better taste than me. Everyone else who put all this time and effort in just groaned.

One of my co-workers got pressured into joining the fantasy football league. He was from Hong Kong, and had only been in the US a few years and knew nothing about football. Boy, were they pissed when he won over $1,000 by picking teams based on their uniform colors every week :)

In our extended-family football pool, I pick the teams that I want to win, my niece picks by cuteness of mascot, and my son-in-law picks by which mascot would prevail in a fight. We're not the bottom of the table.

barbaz

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20879 on: September 26, 2018, 01:01:04 AM »
I asked them how they choose which one to buy and got answers such as "must be trading at less than 10$ a share" and "this one has a cool name" and "this company has some technology that extracts stuff like THC"

That's some sophisticated stock picking, right there.
This seems to be a popular strategy...

https://www.businessinsider.de/long-blockchain-company-iced-tea-sec-stock-2018-8?r=US&IR=T

Quote
When this ice tea company stuck the word 'blockchain' in its name, its stock skyrocketed by nearly 500%.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20880 on: September 26, 2018, 01:38:27 AM »
I asked them how they choose which one to buy and got answers such as "must be trading at less than 10$ a share" and "this one has a cool name" and "this company has some technology that extracts stuff like THC"

That's some sophisticated stock picking, right there.
This seems to be a popular strategy...

https://www.businessinsider.de/long-blockchain-company-iced-tea-sec-stock-2018-8?r=US&IR=T

Quote
When this ice tea company stuck the word 'blockchain' in its name, its stock skyrocketed by nearly 500%.

Pretty sound strategy .  My post count has doubled since I added the blockchain

BuffaloStache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20881 on: September 26, 2018, 01:54:15 PM »
I appreciate the dedication, dragincar...

My company offers a very nice "stock purchasing plan", where employees who buy stock get a pretty nice "match" (the company buys stock in employees name). I overheard 2 co-workers talking about it today, and learned that both of them use the stock purchase plan as a "savings account like", and sell almost all of their stock frequently after they/the company purchases it. When I asked about the tax implications, one of them said he "hadn't even thought about it yet"...

ysette9

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20882 on: September 26, 2018, 02:10:11 PM »
My husband found out the hard way that you have to wait one year AND one day to sell stock in a similar plan to avoid STCG taxes. Arg!

elliha

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20883 on: September 27, 2018, 08:34:12 AM »
I have been wondering how my very spendy colleague could afford several trips out of the country, designer shoes and handbags and such and thought that maybe her dad was paying. Nope. She appearently just did it the old fashioned way and maxed out all her credit cards. She now has to save on things to afford her credit card bills. I am glad she understands now that she has reached the max of what she can spend but she has already paid for her trip to to "meet the spring in Paris" so I am not sure if she will be learning very much from it. It is also at least her second time in her life reaching the point where she cannot put more on credit cards and still afford to live. She is actually quite nice as a person so I don't wish her ill but I really would like her to wake up and realize that she is the typical example of "champagne spending on a beer budget". Yes, she loves to drink actual champagne too, I guess you are all not very surprised.

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20884 on: September 27, 2018, 08:35:17 AM »
Just overheard a co-worker talking about their new lease on a SUV....$600 a month! I'm so far down the rabbit hole of mustachianism that's actually unfathomable to me. I mean that's also just about my half of the mortgage each month simply can't imagine spending that much on a car....

Also realizing I spent much less than that on my bike that's gotten me to and from work successfully for a few years now. Just genuinely shocked if that's a going rate for leasing a vehicle.

And bicycle upgrades are often ~$20 or so depending on your needs or expectations. I used to think the cost of a $1K ebike was astronomical until I considered people spend far more on cell phones (fancy phone plus data contract) or car payments (couple month's worth will buy a cheap ebike). Heck one set of tires for the average SUV can be the same cost as an ebike.

I'm on the second season with my "cheap" ebike. Cheaper than a gym membership, has been alot of fun letting people test ride it, learned a ton while building it and maintaining the bike its attached to, etc. Has been fun seeing people do the quick comparison math. Its not just about the value of the saved gasoline. I've only saved $300 worth of gasoline.  The hills around here are no fun.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2018, 08:45:07 AM by Just Joe »

coldestcat

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20885 on: September 27, 2018, 10:48:57 AM »
What kind of eBike do you have? Any recommendations? I think there was a thread about them but I dont remember which section it was in. I have an electric car so that already gets rid of the gas problem but the 20 minutes drive to work in a bit of traffic would only take 30 minutes on a bike (less on an eBike im assuming), so im interested in picking one up to reduce wear and tear on car + not be sitting in traffic.

Just Joe

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20886 on: September 27, 2018, 02:47:55 PM »
I have the most experience with this one: "Lunacycle (factory: Bafang) BBSHD middrive 48V 14AH kit" You supply the bike and install the kit yourself. I'm riding a former mtn bike I already owned converted to more of a commuter/utility bike with smooth tires, fenders and a rack with panniers. 35 miles (PAS) or 35 mph (throttle) but not both. A smallish person ought to get more speed and range easily.

I also have about 50 miles on a "Jueshuai 48V 500W electric bike with s900 LCD display mountain ebike". 25 mph (throttle) or 40 miles (PAS level 1). Alibaba and Aliexpress sells them straight from the factory. Good bike. Hub motor drive. Plenty of power for an average sized person even in the hills. Parts are very easy to source all over the web if anything ever needed repair. Some parts like the brakes are easily found Tektro disc brakes (replacement pads are very common). Frame has tabs all over for fenders and racks. Not really a mtn bike in my opinion. More of a general purpose bike. Upgrade the handlebars to something more swept back for ~$30 from any bicycle catalog. Origin8 has a nice handlebar for this.

Amazon sells Ancheer and Nakto 36V / 250W bikes at prices around $650 or so. Look at Stark brand. These are slower but probably perfectly good for people in the flatlands although there are YouTube videos by a guy living in Las Vegas who hits the trails on his Ancheer mtn bike (dirt roads with some rock) and it does fine. I have no experience with these brands personally but I wanted to point out the more economical brands I've seen.

Everything was 25% cheaper until recently when Trump's team applied tariffs to all sorts of imports. The domestic ebike industry pointed out that the tariffs just make things more expensive for us consumers. No factories are likely to be built to manufacture bicycle things in the USA just b/c of the tariffs.

Anyhow - these bikes are great things for people who live in hilly places. I ride for fun, commute and do errands with mine.

There are many websites to read: ElectricBikeReview, Endless-Sphere, ElectricBike.com - and many others. They taught me that some bikes cost $15K or more. Wow.

Shivan

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20887 on: October 02, 2018, 09:21:40 AM »
It's a shame that coworkers can berate me for bicycling without a helmet, but it's not socially acceptable for me to say "At least I don't take a CAR to work EVERY DAY like a CLOWN who's KILLING yourself from lack of exercise, not to mention the effect on your finances and the environment!"

I'm a red panda

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20888 on: October 02, 2018, 09:33:30 AM »
It's a shame that coworkers can berate me for bicycling without a helmet, but it's not socially acceptable for me to say "At least I don't take a CAR to work EVERY DAY like a CLOWN who's KILLING yourself from lack of exercise, not to mention the effect on your finances and the environment!"

Still stupid to not wear a helmet.  I hope one of those clowns never accidentally hits you. My husband's head is thankfully not splattered all over an intersection near our house due to a helmet.


Mesmoiselle

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20889 on: October 02, 2018, 09:54:03 AM »
Here to add to the pile about helmets! Husband hit last December from behind. Vehicle going less than 35 mph. One broken leg, some internal bleeding that did not end up needing surgical intervention,  road rash, and multiple facial lacerations. The helmet was smashed in. That could have been my husband's skull.

AMandM

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20890 on: October 02, 2018, 12:45:19 PM »
It's a shame that coworkers can berate me for bicycling without a helmet, but it's not socially acceptable for me to say "At least I don't take a CAR to work EVERY DAY like a CLOWN who's KILLING yourself from lack of exercise, not to mention the effect on your finances and the environment!"

One stupid choice being socially acceptable doesn't make a different stupid choice smart.

I have a friend who once rode without a helmet--she figured she didn't need it, she was just going a short distance slowly at the beach. She was hit by a car and spent months in rehab, unable to go to work, unable to drive a car or a bike, unable to read or watch tv or do anything visual. Now she's like the prophet Jeremiah about wearing helmets!

honeybbq

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20891 on: October 02, 2018, 12:53:21 PM »
It's a shame that coworkers can berate me for bicycling without a helmet, but it's not socially acceptable for me to say "At least I don't take a CAR to work EVERY DAY like a CLOWN who's KILLING yourself from lack of exercise, not to mention the effect on your finances and the environment!"

Still stupid to not wear a helmet.  I hope one of those clowns never accidentally hits you. My husband's head is thankfully not splattered all over an intersection near our house due to a helmet.

+1 Very very stupid.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20892 on: October 02, 2018, 01:25:42 PM »
Please stop calling people stupid without evidence to back it up. We have several anecdotes presented here that tell us nothing about the injury mitigation potential of helmets. Here's some actual studies...

http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1012.html

that still fall short in giving us any certainty on whether helmets are a net life saver or injury reducer. I'm sure they've saved lives in some cases but the data suggest they've taken them in others.

My opinion is that you are probably better off wearing a helmet in most scenarios but it is not a forgone conclusion.

If you'd like to discuss bicycle safety further, I'm sure there's a thread out there for you :) No need to proselytize and insult here.
« Last Edit: October 02, 2018, 02:06:10 PM by Dabnasty »

eljefe-speaks

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20893 on: October 02, 2018, 01:43:06 PM »
I asked them how they choose which one to buy and got answers such as "must be trading at less than 10$ a share" and "this one has a cool name" and "this company has some technology that extracts stuff like THC"

That's some sophisticated stock picking, right there.

The one and only time I've been roped into a work fantasy sport thing, I picked all the players based on how cute they were. One day, there was a discussion about methods for picking players. Bunch of elaborate spreadsheets, detailed research, etc. Then there's me (middle of the league) and one other woman, who was #1 or 2 in the league. How'd we pick? Cuteness/attractiveness. For baseball, she had better taste than me. Everyone else who put all this time and effort in just groaned.

Perhaps the same genes that make a guy cute also make him stronger, taller, etc., and generally more athletic. The strategy might not be that bad.

I'm a red panda

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20894 on: October 02, 2018, 01:47:56 PM »
Please stop calling people stupid without evidence to back it up. We have several anecdotes presented here that tell us nothing about the injury mitigation potential of helmets. Here's some actual studies...

http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1012.html

that still fall short in giving us any certainty on whether helmets are a net life saver or injury reducer. I'm sure they've saved lives in some cases but the data suggest they've taken them in others.

My opinion is that you are probably better off wearing a helmet in most scenarios but it is not a forgone conclusion.

If you'd like to discuss bicycle safety further, I'm sure there's a thread out there for you :) No need to proselytize and insult here.

Many of the accidents cited are at speeds greater than 50 MPH. 
I think nearly every example in this thread was under 40.  Do you have data that shows helmet use is of no use in those cases?

Davnasty

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20895 on: October 02, 2018, 02:30:42 PM »
Please stop calling people stupid without evidence to back it up. We have several anecdotes presented here that tell us nothing about the injury mitigation potential of helmets. Here's some actual studies...

http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1012.html

that still fall short in giving us any certainty on whether helmets are a net life saver or injury reducer. I'm sure they've saved lives in some cases but the data suggest they've taken them in others.

My opinion is that you are probably better off wearing a helmet in most scenarios but it is not a forgone conclusion.

If you'd like to discuss bicycle safety further, I'm sure there's a thread out there for you :) No need to proselytize and insult here.

Many of the accidents cited are at speeds greater than 50 MPH. 
I think nearly every example in this thread was under 40.  Do you have data that shows helmet use is of no use in those cases?

No, but that wasn't my point. My point was that empirical evidence does not support the notion that bicycle helmets make you so much safer that not wearing one is a stupid decision. In fact based on most of the studies I've read, helmets do in fact provide some additional protection when one is involved in an accident, that website seems fairly biased but provides a good compilation of studies. But what if wearing a helmet increases your odds of being in an accident in the first place?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-helmets-attract-cars-to-cyclists/

Also, I don't see where you're getting the >50 mph figure. The "Whole Poulation Data" section doesn't take speed into account at all. The North Wales incident in 2006 involved a car traveling at around 50mph, is that what you're referring to?




I'm a red panda

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20896 on: October 02, 2018, 02:58:34 PM »
Please stop calling people stupid without evidence to back it up. We have several anecdotes presented here that tell us nothing about the injury mitigation potential of helmets. Here's some actual studies...

http://www.cyclehelmets.org/1012.html

that still fall short in giving us any certainty on whether helmets are a net life saver or injury reducer. I'm sure they've saved lives in some cases but the data suggest they've taken them in others.

My opinion is that you are probably better off wearing a helmet in most scenarios but it is not a forgone conclusion.

If you'd like to discuss bicycle safety further, I'm sure there's a thread out there for you :) No need to proselytize and insult here.

Many of the accidents cited are at speeds greater than 50 MPH. 
I think nearly every example in this thread was under 40.  Do you have data that shows helmet use is of no use in those cases?

No, but that wasn't my point. My point was that empirical evidence does not support the notion that bicycle helmets make you so much safer that not wearing one is a stupid decision. In fact based on most of the studies I've read, helmets do in fact provide some additional protection when one is involved in an accident, that website seems fairly biased but provides a good compilation of studies. But what if wearing a helmet increases your odds of being in an accident in the first place?

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/strange-but-true-helmets-attract-cars-to-cyclists/

Also, I don't see where you're getting the >50 mph figure. The "Whole Poulation Data" section doesn't take speed into account at all. The North Wales incident in 2006 involved a car traveling at around 50mph, is that what you're referring to?

I skimmed it, but it seemed there were multiple references to helmets not helping at high speeds.  I'm going to agree with that. If you get hit while someone is barreling you down at highway speeds, you're fucked.

marty998

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20897 on: October 02, 2018, 03:29:33 PM »
The one and only time I've been roped into a work fantasy sport thing, I picked all the players based on how cute they were. One day, there was a discussion about methods for picking players. Bunch of elaborate spreadsheets, detailed research, etc. Then there's me (middle of the league) and one other woman, who was #1 or 2 in the league. How'd we pick? Cuteness/attractiveness. For baseball, she had better taste than me. Everyone else who put all this time and effort in just groaned.

One of my co-workers got pressured into joining the fantasy football league. He was from Hong Kong, and had only been in the US a few years and knew nothing about football. Boy, were they pissed when he won over $1,000 by picking teams based on their uniform colors every week :)

In our extended-family football pool, I pick the teams that I want to win, my niece picks by cuteness of mascot, and my son-in-law picks by which mascot would prevail in a fight. We're not the bottom of the table.

My cousin did this once - she was 6 and she won her school's tipping comp (900 kids aged 5-12). A Shark eats a Rooster, a Bronco stomps on a Bulldog.

A Storm simply destroys everything so she just kept tipping Melbourne. Happy coincidence that the Melbourne Storm won the trophy that year...

Kyle Schuant

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20898 on: October 02, 2018, 08:54:27 PM »
empirical evidence does not support the notion that bicycle helmets make you so much safer that not wearing one is a stupid decision.
Obviously there is some benefit. But while individuals consider individual risk, societies must consider the public good. And if you actually mandate helmets, then cycling drops in frequency.

Given that cars produce pollution, cost a lot of money, and that well over half the population is obese or overweight, doing things which encourage people to move their bodies rather than press a pedal seems like an overall benefit. By mandating helmets, we reduce the number of head injuries, but increase the number of people with type II diabetes, hip replacements, heart disease and so on. Being active carries risks, but so does being inactive.

If we consider just head injury, then there is actually a strong argument for mandating helmets in cars. But interestingly, nobody is calling for that. It would be inconvenient, and we can only inconvenience pedestrians and cyclists, not drivers.

Future generations will be curious about our worship of cars.

Alfred J Quack

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #20899 on: October 02, 2018, 09:51:06 PM »
empirical evidence does not support the notion that bicycle helmets make you so much safer that not wearing one is a stupid decision.
Obviously there is some benefit. But while individuals consider individual risk, societies must consider the public good. And if you actually mandate helmets, then cycling drops in frequency.

In my country biking is easy with bike paths and drivers that actually look out for bikes. Nevertheless, I agree with your point on the use of bike helmets. The use of helmets is widespread  (and you
are actually belittled if you don't wear one) among racers though not for general traffic. This boils down to basic attitude and general knowledge, it took about 15 years for moped helmets to become totally accepted and even there you still see some idiots riding without...

Unfortunately, I grew up biking without a helmet, never gave it much thought and currently recovering from an accident (with probable brain injury as a result). Wearing a helmet would have likely reduced the damage somewhat and thus some critical thinking up front might have reduced the resulting damage enough for me...