Author Topic: Overheard at Work  (Read 13267576 times)

Albert

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5900 on: December 15, 2014, 01:00:13 PM »
And even more to the point, labeling your budget and savings rate as "proper" with no other factors taken into consideration is stupid.  Is a young man with a wife and 3 kids, all with medical problems, and who is making $22k a year not have a "proper" budget if his savings rate is below 30%?  If you are a professional athlete making $10M/yr and saving 30%, is that a "proper" budget?  The whole concept of 30% being a proper savings rate is completely arbitrary.

Proper or not proper, who cares? A guy making 10M/year and saving 30% is in a fantastic shape financially. I'd sign up to that.

arebelspy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5901 on: December 15, 2014, 01:14:34 PM »

And even more to the point, labeling your budget and savings rate as "proper" with no other factors taken into consideration is stupid.  Is a young man with a wife and 3 kids, all with medical problems, and who is making $22k a year not have a "proper" budget if his savings rate is below 30%?  If you are a professional athlete making $10M/yr and saving 30%, is that a "proper" budget?  The whole concept of 30% being a proper savings rate is completely arbitrary.

Proper or not proper, who cares? A guy making 10M/year and saving 30% is in a fantastic shape financially. I'd sign up to that.

And when their earning power is gone in 5 years and they've only saved 2-3x their annual expenses (after 5 years of saving 30%)?   

Are they still in fantastic shape?
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frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5902 on: December 15, 2014, 01:25:58 PM »
And even more to the point, labeling your budget and savings rate as "proper" with no other factors taken into consideration is stupid.  Is a young man with a wife and 3 kids, all with medical problems, and who is making $22k a year not have a "proper" budget if his savings rate is below 30%?  If you are a professional athlete making $10M/yr and saving 30%, is that a "proper" budget?  The whole concept of 30% being a proper savings rate is completely arbitrary.

Proper or not proper, who cares? A guy making 10M/year and saving 30% is in a fantastic shape financially. I'd sign up to that.

Until he loses his job and has $7M/yr in expenses to cover.  That's gonna eat his savings very fast.  That's my entire point, it's foolish for the guy making $10M/yr to inflate his expenses to what anyone deems a "proper" budget.   

Albert

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5903 on: December 15, 2014, 01:51:36 PM »

And even more to the point, labeling your budget and savings rate as "proper" with no other factors taken into consideration is stupid.  Is a young man with a wife and 3 kids, all with medical problems, and who is making $22k a year not have a "proper" budget if his savings rate is below 30%?  If you are a professional athlete making $10M/yr and saving 30%, is that a "proper" budget?  The whole concept of 30% being a proper savings rate is completely arbitrary.

Proper or not proper, who cares? A guy making 10M/year and saving 30% is in a fantastic shape financially. I'd sign up to that.

And when their earning power is gone in 5 years and they've only saved 2-3x their annual expenses (after 5 years of saving 30%)?   

Are they still in fantastic shape?

Correction = he is in fantastic shape as long as he is capable of reducing his spending to normal affluent person's level once his spending power is gone. I think I could do that hence my comment on signing up. Percentages is all good and nice, but absolute numbers matter too. 

mm1970

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5904 on: December 15, 2014, 01:55:29 PM »
Quote
Your formulation ("errors they seen") is categorically wrong (i.e. not standard English).

and it makes my eyes burn and my  ears hurt.  "I seen, you seen, they seen, we seen!"  AHHHHH MAKE IT STOP.

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5905 on: December 15, 2014, 06:51:19 PM »
Quote
Your formulation ("errors they seen") is categorically wrong (i.e. not standard English).

and it makes my eyes burn and my  ears hurt.  "I seen, you seen, they seen, we seen!"  AHHHHH MAKE IT STOP.


Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5906 on: December 16, 2014, 08:54:15 AM »
So this weekend, I was helping out a friend of SO's Aunt fix his 401k. Saved him $300/yr in fees and gave him a better portfolio than he had for the low cost of $25 as well as letting him know his options with regards to getting that money out. He's still "employed" but not getting paid 'cause he can't do carpentry any more from an injury. He can't get unemployment unless his company lets him go, but they are willing to spend money retraining him to do office work by taking some classes. He wants to get SSDI, which he may or may not get. Anyways, I went through his basic options with the 401k (not much, sadly, but far better than your average person). So after we're done, he says he's got to go drive an hour+ to go have barbecue at some flea market or whatever. Him talking about it means he goes there kinda often, at least 2x a month. He's considering taking out money from his 401k, paying penalties and all of that, so he can pay living expenses... he's not looking at the other end of the equation! I will have another meeting with him when he figures out what he's going to be doing (have company let him go for unemployment he's "entitled" to, get SSDI, etc). I may have to kindly suggest that he learn how to play defense sooner rather than later.

AAAAAAAAAH!

So wanted to head-table when he said that. HE also mentioned some dumb conspiracy theory about Illuminati or somesuch bullshit. There may be no helping this guy from himself.

MayDay

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5907 on: December 16, 2014, 10:18:34 AM »
I'm working a seasonal job at a retail company's shipping/logistics center.  We basically put on shipping labels, and load the packages into Fedex trucks for 10.20 an hour.  You can imagine the quality of employee that this generally attracts.  Almost no one has a college degree.

One of my coworkers graduated May with a publishing degree from a small private liberal arts college (for all I know she had a full scholarship).  I asked if she was hunting for publishing jobs.  She said no.  She hasn't bothered because she needs to save up money BEFORE SHE EVEN BOTHERS TO APPLY because she wants to get a job in NY and it will cost a lot to move.  And she'll need a car. 

I didn't try to explain that perhaps she might at least consider looking for publishing jobs locally so that she could get some experience, some interview practice, etc.  And perhaps make more than 10.20 an hour in a seasonal job that's about to end.  Instead I focused on the car.  I started off with "You probably don't need a car in NYC".  Then I segued into "if you rent an apartment, it'll be much cheaper if you don't need parking".  Then I finished with suggesting Zipcar.

She had never heard of Zipcar and was not convinced that she could live without a car.  In NYC.  Head::desk.

Pooperman

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5908 on: December 16, 2014, 10:23:09 AM »
I'm working a seasonal job at a retail company's shipping/logistics center.  We basically put on shipping labels, and load the packages into Fedex trucks for 10.20 an hour.  You can imagine the quality of employee that this generally attracts.  Almost no one has a college degree.

One of my coworkers graduated May with a publishing degree from a small private liberal arts college (for all I know she had a full scholarship).  I asked if she was hunting for publishing jobs.  She said no.  She hasn't bothered because she needs to save up money BEFORE SHE EVEN BOTHERS TO APPLY because she wants to get a job in NY and it will cost a lot to move.  And she'll need a car. 

I didn't try to explain that perhaps she might at least consider looking for publishing jobs locally so that she could get some experience, some interview practice, etc.  And perhaps make more than 10.20 an hour in a seasonal job that's about to end.  Instead I focused on the car.  I started off with "You probably don't need a car in NYC".  Then I segued into "if you rent an apartment, it'll be much cheaper if you don't need parking".  Then I finished with suggesting Zipcar.

She had never heard of Zipcar and was not convinced that she could live without a car.  In NYC.  Head::desk.

Try living WITH a car in NYC. It's actually quite hard.

gimp

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5909 on: December 16, 2014, 10:41:45 AM »
Right? Living with a car in older big cities tends to be hard. In NYC though, pain in the ass, even out in Brooklyn or wherever. (I guess not so bad in Queens.)

thd7t

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5910 on: December 16, 2014, 11:17:15 AM »
I'm working a seasonal job at a retail company's shipping/logistics center.  We basically put on shipping labels, and load the packages into Fedex trucks for 10.20 an hour.  You can imagine the quality of employee that this generally attracts.  Almost no one has a college degree.

One of my coworkers graduated May with a publishing degree from a small private liberal arts college (for all I know she had a full scholarship).  I asked if she was hunting for publishing jobs.  She said no.  She hasn't bothered because she needs to save up money BEFORE SHE EVEN BOTHERS TO APPLY because she wants to get a job in NY and it will cost a lot to move.  And she'll need a car. 

I didn't try to explain that perhaps she might at least consider looking for publishing jobs locally so that she could get some experience, some interview practice, etc.  And perhaps make more than 10.20 an hour in a seasonal job that's about to end.  Instead I focused on the car.  I started off with "You probably don't need a car in NYC".  Then I segued into "if you rent an apartment, it'll be much cheaper if you don't need parking".  Then I finished with suggesting Zipcar.

She had never heard of Zipcar and was not convinced that she could live without a car.  In NYC.  Head::desk.
I've bolded what I think might be the important bit, here.  She might not know about living in a city with a car, but she seems to be doing the responsible thing regarding her lifestyle.  Looks more like long-term thinking.  It will probably also give her a chance to find out what she really needs.

merula

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5911 on: December 16, 2014, 12:13:24 PM »
I've bolded what I think might be the important bit, here.  She might not know about living in a city with a car, but she seems to be doing the responsible thing regarding her lifestyle.  Looks more like long-term thinking.  It will probably also give her a chance to find out what she really needs.

It seems to me that long-term thinking would be focused on maximizing earning potential, especially when in the short term, her job opportunity is seasonal and coming to an end.

aetherie

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5912 on: December 16, 2014, 12:20:55 PM »
One of my coworkers just bought a Tesla. I don't know much about his financial situation, other than that he's an upper-level engineer who probably makes $150-200k, so it's possible this was a well thought out, responsible purchase... but I doubt it.

However, he took us all for short rides around the parking garage today and man, that is the coolest, most futuristic car I've ever seen.

thd7t

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5913 on: December 16, 2014, 12:29:41 PM »
I've bolded what I think might be the important bit, here.  She might not know about living in a city with a car, but she seems to be doing the responsible thing regarding her lifestyle.  Looks more like long-term thinking.  It will probably also give her a chance to find out what she really needs.

It seems to me that long-term thinking would be focused on maximizing earning potential, especially when in the short term, her job opportunity is seasonal and coming to an end.
Agreed, but given that she's planning a move and recently out of college, she's likely minimizing expenses while preparing for that.  The seasonal job highlights that.  I just don't think that saving money is something to criticize, in the context of this forum.  I agree with others that she's naive about needing a car, but otherwise, there are lots of ways to make money on a short term basis and if you know you're moving, tying yourself up in a permanent position doesn't help anyone.

geekette

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5914 on: December 16, 2014, 12:32:14 PM »
A friend of mine's father bought a Tesla.  He's 87.  Financially, it's a "why not" for him, and when he passes it down a generation, it'll probably be pretty low mileage!

My friend's husband helped him "program" the darn thing.  Apparently there are pages of options, including a "creep" mode to get into the garage without ramming the back wall.  And what happens when they update the OS? 

gimp

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5915 on: December 16, 2014, 01:16:31 PM »
When they update the OS... you keep your settings but get bugs fixed and maybe new features. What're you getting at?

dandarc

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5916 on: December 16, 2014, 01:20:57 PM »
When they update the OS... you keep your settings but get bugs fixed and maybe new features. What're you getting at?
That's not what happened with my wife's Macbook Pro - much much slower.  Be a shame if that happened to a Tesla.

frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5917 on: December 16, 2014, 01:22:02 PM »
A friend of mine's father bought a Tesla.  He's 87.  Financially, it's a "why not" for him, and when he passes it down a generation, it'll probably be pretty low mileage!

My friend's husband helped him "program" the darn thing.  Apparently there are pages of options, including a "creep" mode to get into the garage without ramming the back wall.  And what happens when they update the OS?

Hopefully they don't take the MS approach.  We know your car was functioning just fine, but we totally changed the OS and it's not compatible with your current car.  Also you owe us more money.  Also we arbitrarily changed the location of every setting you have memorized, even though it offers no advantage to do so, and no you don't have the option to customize it like it was before.  Also we added tons of bugs to make it significantly less stable.  We found 1 security hole too, so instead of fixing it we changed the whole OS to one with 10 security holes.  Also you owe us more money.

homehandymum

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5918 on: December 16, 2014, 01:31:43 PM »
I've bolded what I think might be the important bit, here.  She might not know about living in a city with a car, but she seems to be doing the responsible thing regarding her lifestyle.  Looks more like long-term thinking.  It will probably also give her a chance to find out what she really needs.

It seems to me that long-term thinking would be focused on maximizing earning potential, especially when in the short term, her job opportunity is seasonal and coming to an end.
Agreed, but given that she's planning a move and recently out of college, she's likely minimizing expenses while preparing for that.  The seasonal job highlights that.  I just don't think that saving money is something to criticize, in the context of this forum.  I agree with others that she's naive about needing a car, but otherwise, there are lots of ways to make money on a short term basis and if you know you're moving, tying yourself up in a permanent position doesn't help anyone.

As someone who was a career 'groundbreaker' in my family (finished high school was the groundbreaking bit, let alone the going to university and getting a post-grad), I can say it if f*cking hard to make good decisions.  You don't know what you don't know, and if no-one in your family can slip you that information in a way that makes real, believable sense to your young brain, then it doesn't happen.

There are plenty of things that I can look back and say "huh, would have done that differently", but you just do the best you can with what you've got.

AlanStache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5919 on: December 16, 2014, 02:27:20 PM »
Two CWs, both want puppies. I'm all for rescue. We're in Chicago, Illinois.
...
Another one, visiting from Texas office (when there's staff with nothing at all to do in the Chicago office), leaving today after a week here:
CW1: My flight doesn't leave until 9pm.
Me: Can you change it?
CW1: I don't know. It's ok.
CW2: How are you getting to the airport?
CW1: I don't want to take the Blue Line [inexpensive transit which goes directly to the airport], I'm going to take a cab.
CW2: I understand, a cab is safer.
Me: ......


Oh dear lord, I was under the impression that my coworker's were semi-decent with money.

I'd take a cab too if I was traveling on business.  Flying is enough of an ordeal I think it's fair for my employer to minimize inconvenience

Mass transit can be very intimidating for those who have not used it much, as can plain old walking.  With my phone or someone to read a paper map I would not think twice about driving anywhere-anytime in the right side of the road world on a moments notice in most any car.  Few months ago I spent probably 45min online working out how to take the subway from down town DC to National, subways are just something I have not done much of.  Also had to make a cheat sheet.  Here it was 45$ vs 4$ of my own money so clearly I put in the time.


Albert

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5920 on: December 16, 2014, 02:36:45 PM »

Mass transit can be very intimidating for those who have not used it much, as can plain old walking.  With my phone or someone to read a paper map I would not think twice about driving anywhere-anytime in the right side of the road world on a moments notice in most any car.  Few months ago I spent probably 45min online working out how to take the subway from down town DC to National, subways are just something I have not done much of.  Also had to make a cheat sheet.  Here it was 45$ vs 4$ of my own money so clearly I put in the time.

Wow. Using subways is the easiest thing in the world as long as you understand the language and even without if there are signs in latin letters. Buses tend to be a lot more complicated, particularly for a first time visitor.

solon

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5921 on: December 16, 2014, 02:42:57 PM »
Hopefully they don't take the MS approach.  We know your car was functioning just fine, but we totally changed the OS and it's not compatible with your current car.  Also you owe us more money.  Also we arbitrarily changed the location of every setting you have memorized, even though it offers no advantage to do so, and no you don't have the option to customize it like it was before.  Also we added tons of bugs to make it significantly less stable.  We found 1 security hole too, so instead of fixing it we changed the whole OS to one with 10 security holes.  Also you owe us more money.

NO! No Mac vs. PC wars! What is this, 2004?

(Besides that, you're wrong.)

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5922 on: December 16, 2014, 02:44:12 PM »

Mass transit can be very intimidating for those who have not used it much, as can plain old walking.  With my phone or someone to read a paper map I would not think twice about driving anywhere-anytime in the right side of the road world on a moments notice in most any car.  Few months ago I spent probably 45min online working out how to take the subway from down town DC to National, subways are just something I have not done much of.  Also had to make a cheat sheet.  Here it was 45$ vs 4$ of my own money so clearly I put in the time.

Wow. Using subways is the easiest thing in the world as long as you understand the language and even without if there are signs in latin letters. Buses tend to be a lot more complicated, particularly for a first time visitor.

Yeah I know transit here well, which is why I would drive or shuttle since I know how much transit will add to my travel time and how hard it can be to maneuver bags out of a crowded car

galliver

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5923 on: December 16, 2014, 04:22:47 PM »

Mass transit can be very intimidating for those who have not used it much, as can plain old walking.  With my phone or someone to read a paper map I would not think twice about driving anywhere-anytime in the right side of the road world on a moments notice in most any car.  Few months ago I spent probably 45min online working out how to take the subway from down town DC to National, subways are just something I have not done much of.  Also had to make a cheat sheet.  Here it was 45$ vs 4$ of my own money so clearly I put in the time.

Wow. Using subways is the easiest thing in the world as long as you understand the language and even without if there are signs in latin letters. Buses tend to be a lot more complicated, particularly for a first time visitor.

Yeah I know transit here well, which is why I would drive or shuttle since I know how much transit will add to my travel time and how hard it can be to maneuver bags out of a crowded car

I come from a country where most people rely on PT and don't have a car. Nonetheless, I had to spend like 30 mins+ over Thanksgiving convincing my dad that it would be quite simple (and cheap) to get to the airport via PT (they were headed out for a 5 day visit to a friend the next week). It's a 1-mi walk to the station and then 2 trains (one transfer). Easy peasy, less than an hour all told (less than driving in rush hour would have been, plus the parking savings!). He thought it would be This Huge Deal. I guess it's basically force of habit. My dad hasn't really taken transit since we moved to the US 20 years ago. Personally, I find it This Huge Deal every time I have to take the car for a day by myself, like if I have a doctor's appt or errands to run. I enjoy going out to the mountains/hiking, taking roadtrips, I like that it saves us time on errands; but I hate personally dealing with driving and parking. I genuinely prefer the bus or biking.

I realize it's a regional thing (rural areas don't have PT to speak of) but I really thing it's a shame that some people never get that experience, that it's never normalized, and they end up being irrationally afraid of it. Most fears (getting lost, being late) can be mitigated with planning or a backup plan (e.g. taxi). Also helps to talk to the drivers; if you're going somewhere new, most I have met will tell you if you're going the right direction and even tell you when your stop is coming up.

AlanStache

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5924 on: December 16, 2014, 06:26:54 PM »

Mass transit can be very intimidating for those
...
Here it was 45$ vs 4$ of my own money so clearly I put in the time.

Wow. Using subways is the easiest thing in the world as long as you understand the language and even without if there are signs in latin letters. Buses tend to be a lot more complicated, particularly for a first time visitor.

Yeah I know transit here well, which is why I would drive or shuttle since I know how much transit will add to my travel time and how hard it can be to maneuver bags out of a crowded car

I come from a country where
...
 most I have met will tell you if you're going the right direction and even tell you when your stop is coming up.

Like many things, using public transit is all about exercising muscles.

Dr. Doom

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5925 on: December 16, 2014, 07:26:44 PM »
Today I'm at work and get called into someone else's office to take a look at a technical issue they're seeing on a mainframe.  (I'm in IT)

I bring my laptop to make it easier for me to troubleshoot whatever problem it is that they're seeing.  First thing out of CW's mouth was: "Every day it's something, isn't it?  I wish this job would calm down and get easier but it never does."  <I take this to be her polite way of saying:  I'm sick of my job.  This is consistent with her personality - she constantly whinges about how stressed out and busy she is.>

Anyway s, I place my laptop down on their desk, lid open.  I'd forgotten that I had a browser window open and guess what site's homepage I was on? 

CW:  Should I even ask what that is?  Mister Money's Mustache?
Me:  Money. Singular.  (I hurriedly close the browser window.)
CW:  What's that all about?
Me: Nothing.
CW: No, tell me.  I want to know.
Me:  All right.  In a nutshell, it's a site devoted to teaching people how to suck the maximum amount of joy out of life before croaking.
CW: Hm, that's weird.  Then why is "Money" in the title?  And what's up with the mustache?
Me:  Oh, that's because the way to be happier for most people is to save a lot of money so they can afford to stop working or move to a lower paying job that you like more. Most people aren't happy at work.  The mustache is a play on the word 'stash,' because you have to have a pile of dough in order to free yourself.
CW:  Don't tell me you're one of those frugal people.  I can't stand them.  They deprive themselves of the fun of life by not spending anything and then pretend like they deserve a medal for being freaks.
Me:  <Death stare.>

Next time this lady's problems are going to the bottom of my queue.

zataks

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5926 on: December 16, 2014, 07:36:02 PM »
I didn't know we're getting medals for this! =)

Cheddar Stacker

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5927 on: December 16, 2014, 07:48:28 PM »
Today I'm at work and get called into someone else's office to take a look at a technical issue they're seeing on a mainframe.  (I'm in IT)

I bring my laptop to make it easier for me to troubleshoot whatever problem it is that they're seeing.  First thing out of CW's mouth was: "Every day it's something, isn't it?  I wish this job would calm down and get easier but it never does."  <I take this to be her polite way of saying:  I'm sick of my job.  This is consistent with her personality - she constantly whinges about how stressed out and busy she is.>

Anyway s, I place my laptop down on their desk, lid open.  I'd forgotten that I had a browser window open and guess what site's homepage I was on? 

CW:  Should I even ask what that is?  Mister Money's Mustache?
Me:  Money. Singular.  (I hurriedly close the browser window.)
CW:  What's that all about?
Me: Nothing.
CW: No, tell me.  I want to know.
Me:  All right.  In a nutshell, it's a site devoted to teaching people how to suck the maximum amount of joy out of life before croaking.
CW: Hm, that's weird.  Then why is "Money" in the title?  And what's up with the mustache?
Me:  Oh, that's because the way to be happier for most people is to save a lot of money so they can afford to stop working or move to a lower paying job that you like more. Most people aren't happy at work.  The mustache is a play on the word 'stash,' because you have to have a pile of dough in order to free yourself.
CW:  Don't tell me you're one of those frugal people.  I can't stand them.  They deprive themselves of the fun of life by not spending anything and then pretend like they deserve a medal for being freaks.
Me:  <Death stare.>

Next time this lady's problems are going to the bottom of my queue.

This is a nightmare scenario for me. Once a month I will come back from getting a cup of coffee to find the mmm site up, or a net worth spreadsheet, or a confidential piece of paper face up on my desk. I need to prepare myself for this conversation just in case. And also, be more careful when I leave my desk.

You handled it well doom.

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5928 on: December 16, 2014, 08:07:19 PM »
I didn't know we're getting medals for this! =)

I wonder how much the metal component of those medals will be worth if we melt them down? Should probably be part of the FIRE calculation.

Dr. Doom

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5929 on: December 16, 2014, 08:09:36 PM »
Thanks Cheddar.  Believe me, the mistake of having MMM up was not intentional - I do not advertise this part of me in the workplace and I'll be keeping a closer eye on this in the future.

I did more than stare at her, btw -- I ended up saying the blandly defusing phrase "To each his own" and just fixed her issue (which, it turned out, she had inadvertently caused herself by running a sloppy killall command on the server...   Hah!  Love it when I show a fellow techie that they shot themselves in the foot.  I know, I'm sick that way.)

All of that being said, if she came to me tomorrow and asked for more info, I'd do a total 180 and warmly engage her.  Just sort of doubt that's going to happen.  And if it did, I might come to this thread and delete posts so she wouldn't be able to figure out who I am.

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5930 on: December 16, 2014, 08:16:47 PM »
CW:  Don't tell me you're one of those frugal people.  I can't stand them.  They deprive themselves of the fun of life by not spending anything and then pretend like they deserve a medal for being freaks.

Wow I'm not even sure if I could respond to that one.  Probably something like 'so you're happy with your financial situation and the degrees freedom you have in your life?'  Since most aren't maybe follow it up with 'then why would you look down on those that are?'  But in real-time I'd probably be dumbfounded.  I never think of things in the moment.

Dr. Doom

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5931 on: December 16, 2014, 08:37:43 PM »
I never think of things in the moment.

Same here.  I'm also very conflict-averse, and did my best to just let her surprisingly in-your-face remarks slide.  Really, I was shocked at the aggressiveness, overall. Usually people at work watch what they say so we can all get along, being that we're stuck together.

Although, now that I think about it, I've also observed this lady make "aggressive atheist" statements in the past (in quotes because I'm borrowing a phrase from a recent MMM forum thread) so maybe I shouldn't have been caught so off-guard -- she seems to have a poor verbal filter and a desire to get into it with people.

I bet that as a child she wouldn't have been able to wait a while in order to get two marshmallows instead of one.
« Last Edit: December 17, 2014, 07:55:44 AM by Dr. Doom »

notquitefrugal

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5932 on: December 16, 2014, 09:05:23 PM »
It's that time of year again where people are discussing all the TVs and Xboxes and computers they're going to buy once they get their tax returns.  I have nothing to contribute to the conversation since I actually claim all my exemptions.

I will likely owe a few thousand dollars, and probably a penalty for underpayment of estimated taxes, on top of that, thanks to getting a better paying job and thus losing the Affordable Care Act advance premium tax credit I had planned on. It definitely works out for the better in the long run, though!

zephyr911

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5933 on: December 17, 2014, 07:25:51 AM »
I do real estate as a side job. We downsized and rented out our old place in late October, so I was our agent and earned a decent commission ($3k+). Since this was essentially play money and I didn't need it for anything, I asked to defer the commission till next year, for tax purposes.
Our office admin walked me through the fairly simple process of requesting this deferral, then tried to talk me out of it, because of Christmas! I insisted we were making enough and that stuff was all taken care of, but she had a hard time with it.
Even if I needed this money, I can't imagine being so strapped that I couldn't stretch for 60 days to earn a 40% return on it.

zephyr911

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5934 on: December 17, 2014, 07:31:41 AM »
I will likely owe a few thousand dollars, and probably a penalty for underpayment of estimated taxes, on top of that, thanks to getting a better paying job and thus losing the Affordable Care Act advance premium tax credit I had planned on. It definitely works out for the better in the long run, though!
If your tax liability goes up substantially from one year to the next, you're typically exempted from underpayment penalties (for the first year). The math is built into the system and I've seen it work - I had a layoff year where I got 100% of my withholding back, and the next year I grossed six figures and owed a few grand after rental and other business deductions. I had taken advantage of the situation to request 0 withholding from my primary job, and had only a little at my other job, but my penalties were zeroed out because of my previous year's zero liability.
This doesn't apply to *all* situations, obviously, but it does help in many cases.

Timmmy

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5935 on: December 17, 2014, 07:40:09 AM »
I will likely owe a few thousand dollars, and probably a penalty for underpayment of estimated taxes, on top of that, thanks to getting a better paying job and thus losing the Affordable Care Act advance premium tax credit I had planned on. It definitely works out for the better in the long run, though!
If your tax liability goes up substantially from one year to the next, you're typically exempted from underpayment penalties (for the first year). The math is built into the system and I've seen it work - I had a layoff year where I got 100% of my withholding back, and the next year I grossed six figures and owed a few grand after rental and other business deductions. I had taken advantage of the situation to request 0 withholding from my primary job, and had only a little at my other job, but my penalties were zeroed out because of my previous year's zero liability.
This doesn't apply to *all* situations, obviously, but it does help in many cases.

You are correct.  Check out the link below that explains it briefly.

http://www.easyestimatedtaxes.com/estimated-tax-resources/safe-harbor-rule.html

frugalnacho

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5936 on: December 17, 2014, 07:54:05 AM »
Hopefully they don't take the MS approach.  We know your car was functioning just fine, but we totally changed the OS and it's not compatible with your current car.  Also you owe us more money.  Also we arbitrarily changed the location of every setting you have memorized, even though it offers no advantage to do so, and no you don't have the option to customize it like it was before.  Also we added tons of bugs to make it significantly less stable.  We found 1 security hole too, so instead of fixing it we changed the whole OS to one with 10 security holes.  Also you owe us more money.

NO! No Mac vs. PC wars! What is this, 2004?

(Besides that, you're wrong.)

I hate macs.  PCs are superior in my opinion, I just hate MS and the way they operate and constantly force unnecessary upgrades into their OS and office.

infogoon

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5937 on: December 17, 2014, 08:25:24 AM »
Hopefully they don't take the MS approach.  We know your car was functioning just fine, but we totally changed the OS and it's not compatible with your current car.  Also you owe us more money.  Also we arbitrarily changed the location of every setting you have memorized, even though it offers no advantage to do so, and no you don't have the option to customize it like it was before.  Also we added tons of bugs to make it significantly less stable.  We found 1 security hole too, so instead of fixing it we changed the whole OS to one with 10 security holes.  Also you owe us more money.

NO! No Mac vs. PC wars! What is this, 2004?

(Besides that, you're wrong.)

I hate macs.  PCs are superior in my opinion, I just hate MS and the way they operate and constantly force unnecessary upgrades into their OS and office.

"I'm a Mac."

"And I'm a PC!"

"And since most users spend 95% of their time in a web browser these days, it doesn't really matter."

auntie_betty

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5938 on: December 17, 2014, 08:36:18 AM »
CW: Yeah, my remortgage goes through today, just in time for Christmas so money to spend! Cash back (I assume she means equity release) and pay the same as before as the interest rate is lower. It's a no brainer.
Me: Yes, I suppose it is.

CW is a director earning $130-150k a year. I couldn't bring myself to say anything pithy. I'm sorry, I failed :(

LibrarIan

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5939 on: December 17, 2014, 08:44:32 AM »
Was at a work lunch yesterday (company paid for it) with the six other people on my team. Lunch conversation turned to cars and then to paying for cars.

Coworker 1: We just had our second child, so now we have to get a van. We're going to have a car payment again.

Coworker 2: Oh, I don't need to have kids to buy new rides (laughs). I just bought [new pricey Lexus] and my payments are through the roof (laughs again)!

Coworker 3: I can top that. I gave my old car to my mom but I'm still paying it off. So I had to buy a new car. Two payments for me!

Me: *silence*

Le Barbu

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5940 on: December 17, 2014, 09:12:10 AM »
Was at a work lunch yesterday (company paid for it) with the six other people on my team. Lunch conversation turned to cars and then to paying for cars.

Coworker 1: We just had our second child, so now we have to get a van. We're going to have a car payment again.

Coworker 2: Oh, I don't need to have kids to buy new rides (laughs). I just bought [new pricey Lexus] and my payments are through the roof (laughs again)!

Coworker 3: I can top that. I gave my old car to my mom but I'm still paying it off. So I had to buy a new car. Two payments for me!

Me: *silence*

I think we are a bunch of MMM using *silence* as our contribution to CW's conversations since it's so often related to buying stuff of any kind

dragoncar

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5941 on: December 17, 2014, 09:20:38 AM »
I didn't know we're getting medals for this! =)

You have been awarded MMM gold -- it gives you access to the MMM lounge, the option to beta test new features, and increases your SWR by 5 basis points.

hdatontodo

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5942 on: December 17, 2014, 09:50:53 AM »
... I couldn't bring myself to say anything pithy. I'm sorry, I failed :(

Thats ok

What is it the Harley Davidson folks say? "If I have to explain it, you wouldn't understand."

or Jay Leno telling a joke no one gets, and instead of explaining it just says "old joke" and moves on.

Maybe we need a 20 second elevator pitch like every $x you spend today is Y number of years you'll have to keep working or $Z you won't have in your retirement. I've heard Suzy Orman say something like taking a $10K european vacation takes $30K out of your retirement.

RWD

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5943 on: December 17, 2014, 10:01:20 AM »
Maybe we need a 20 second elevator pitch like every $x you spend today is Y number of years you'll have to keep working or $Z you won't have in your retirement. I've heard Suzy Orman say something like taking a $10K european vacation takes $30K out of your retirement.

Of course the numbers Y and Z here depend on the individual person's current expenses, income, savings (and/or debt), and how long they have until retirement...

hdatontodo

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5944 on: December 17, 2014, 10:09:16 AM »
Maybe we need a 20 second elevator pitch like every $x you spend today is Y number of years you'll have to keep working or $Z you won't have in your retirement. I've heard Suzy Orman say something like taking a $10K european vacation takes $30K out of your retirement.

Of course the numbers Y and Z here depend on the individual person's current expenses, income, savings (and/or debt), and how long they have until retirement...

Good point.

Also maybe we could tell someone that nets $100/day pay that that $400/month car payment could be 4 extra days they take off every month w/o pay.

sol

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5945 on: December 17, 2014, 11:58:17 AM »
Maybe we need a 20 second elevator pitch like every $x you spend today is Y number of years you'll have to keep working or $Z you won't have in your retirement.

Here's my early retirement elevator pitch:

Quote
How much are you saving for retirement?  For most people, every extra 1% they save cuts about two years off of their working career.  Would you take a 1% pay cut to get a two year paid vacation? How about a ten percent pay cut to get a twenty year paid vacation?

Of course that math only works for people who currently have very low savings rates, which is most people.  If they're already saving 50% then each additional 1% is only worth about six months.

jda1984

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5946 on: December 17, 2014, 12:27:05 PM »

Here's my early retirement elevator pitch:

Quote
How much are you saving for retirement?  For most people, every extra 1% they save cuts about two years off of their working career.  Would you take a 1% pay cut to get a two year paid vacation? How about a ten percent pay cut to get a twenty year paid vacation?


I like it sol!

RyanAtTanagra

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5947 on: December 17, 2014, 01:00:01 PM »
How much are you saving for retirement?  For most people, every extra 1% they save cuts about two years off of their working career.  Would you take a 1% pay cut to get a two year paid vacation? How about a ten percent pay cut to get a twenty year paid vacation?

Damn that's a punch to the gut

UnleashHell

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5948 on: December 17, 2014, 01:34:51 PM »
I've heard Suzy Orman say something like taking a $10K european vacation takes $30K out of your retirement.

I should tell that to my BIL. maybe next time he'll get married when I get around to retiring. Selfish git going and getting hitched..

jinga nation

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Re: Overheard at Work
« Reply #5949 on: December 17, 2014, 02:43:35 PM »
CW (standing next to my table, speaking in a hushed voice): I'm gonna do what you did.
Me: What did I do?
CW: You sold your place (this is a townhouse I bought, cleaned up, rented out, and eventually sold due to progressively bad Nazi HOA)
Me: Yeah, but make sure you get a good price. Sell high, buy low.
CW: It's overseas, ya'know.
Me: Where?
CW (hushed): Dubai
Me: Oh boy! How are the prices?
CW (shakes his head): They're OK. But I'm going to cash out and buy something around here (Florida metro).
Me: You're a couple of years too late. 2010-2013 was buying season. 2014 prices went hot hot hot, ain't nothing nice to buy. Even shitholes have high prices. You won't make money on a flip. Ask Bob. (Bob is another co-worker with 15 years of RE renovating and flipping experience, a guy I consider a font of knowledge.) And if you do find something, start small, and in an area that you know. There's plenty of RE in the area you live.
CW: Yeah, maybe I'll buy a multi-family property.
Me: OK.... (turned around and sighed heavily). Mental facepalm.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!