Ladies and gentlemen, Many people in my mom’s group just got cut. For example, one woman has been with the firm for over 20 years and got escorted out by security without a single warning. My mom has been working there for almost 15 years and has been a hard working and loyal employee the entire time. She is fearing every day that she’s going to get cut, which means she’s going to have to move out of the house (my childhood house) and otherwise dramatically change her lifestyle. She is in her early 50s. Too young really to live off retirement savings, especially since they were devastated by the recent downturn. Too old to get a new job. She wants to go on a vacation and relax. My question, should she just say no to work?
JohnThainsLimoDriver Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My boss told me to short some subprime mortgages > in 2007 but I said screw that, I’m on my lunch > break, have that guy John Paulson do it for you. > Wonder how that ever turned out. No one messes > with my breaks, vacations, tennis lessons, etc. > Much more important than making a lot of money and > retiring young. This was helpful, especially the last two sentences, thanks!
Sorry to thread jack, but working in the tax business has shown me how awful some people really have it. While there is a sample bias since this firm has more expensive fees than say, H&R Block, nonetheless I have seen plenty of examples where Wall Street is hitting Main Street. About 50% of tax returns have unemployment assistance documents. I have seen many (10-20%) dumping their 401ks and taking the penalty. I am shuddering at this action since our country may be in for another bailout with retirement down the road now that social security is gone, and many are cashing out to make ends meat these days. I have seen fire sales of homes and trade downs. Also refinancing is very common which can lower monthly payments, but at the expense of hefty upfront fees. I have done tax returns with people leveraging the sh!t out of their homes with 3-5 lines of credit. There is a limit to this interest deduction, which people usually never hit. Now we need to exercise caution, which I was told never used to be the case. Some people are submitting their credit card interest paid under the assumption it is tax deductible (its not, and has not been since the 80s except in some cases of business deductions). I’m seeing a massive float on credit cards which just spells trouble. As a good pal once said to me, “Credit is one wh0re that I won’t fvck with.” Overall, I go home depressed more often than not. Regardless that I do not know these people other than on paper, it really kills me how hard some have it and that at one point I was whining about how much I thought my life sucked. I do not even want to think what working at H&R Block would be like. The other day on the radio I heard an advertisement that, “Yes, you are qualified for a loan if you own a car, come to title-pawn today!” This practice is illegal in my location, but the ad is for a title pawn in the neighboring state. People who are literally at the end of their rope can get a loan for 10% of the bluebook value of their car, and if they miss a payment, their car is repossessed. Ugh, Sorry for the thread jacked rant, but I truly hope we are at a bottom!
work is for wimps
yeah, this is why i dislike another thread of the same name - which also could be construed as an implicit brag i didn’t vote for Obama and didn’t consider myself a Democrat (leaning more towards Republican if anything) - however i do agree with him that a strong America needs a strong middle class. free markets and capitalism are hilarious concepts when those with the most power do not play by the rules thanks for your post, ditch!
Ditch, Depressing indeed. Could it be that people who don’t file their own tax return are less financially responsible than those who do file their own return… thus you’re seeing the “other half?”
Many of these clients would probably have trouble with TurboTax. Many have self-employed income, LLCs/Partnerships, rental properties, Schedule Cs, etc. These returns are a bit more complex than I used to see at H&R Block. H&R Block employed idiots to input data into a TurboTax interface. Very few, if any, of the employees were qualified to offer tax advice to someone with a small business, estate planning, trusts, and so forth. I was the only one in the office with a four-year degree. What I’m saying is anyone who walks into H&R Block is just as qualified as the ‘tax specialist’ to input their data in the tax interface. Not all is lost; I have seen some sole proprietors doing very well. However many small businesses are taking a hit with this economy. In an email the other day, someone wrote in asking the partner what the “Obama Effect” will be on his partnership! The draw from retirement funds to pay current expenses has me worried though. I foresee a massive problem in our midst with people unable to retire. Knowing our government, a retirement bailout will be the next big thing to secure baby boomer votes.
The place where I work they have fired 40-60 people in my dept last year. After that firing they outsourced my dept. to another company and cut benefits and salary. Many people left on their own. I’ve seen people in my dept. be lazy and not do work. Talk with friends on the phone for the majority of the shift, take longs breaks, and not pick up work. It’s really amazing that they haven’t fired people for poor performance. However, it’s a different story for us. They promised us they wouldn’t cut people or change things until the summer. I expect they will cut people. However, for your mom I don’t think she should do this. They might fire her for poor performance and she might not get unemployment.
i was just very disturbed when visiting my parents and hearing my mom talk on the phone with her co-worker who was fired (that sits in the cubicle next to my mom) - the co-worker was in the same boat as parents with kids my age (mid 20s), crying her eyes out and extremely depressed just one case of millions i suppose
sublimity Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- >which also could be construed as an implicit brag Agreed. May be thats the only thing they have to brag about, lol.
Sorry to hear of those misfortunes. The tone of my prior post was not intended to be boastful, and I’m certain that most people didn’t receive it that way. Have a good weekend.
dammit! what a let down, i wanted to fight : )
Well, I think there’s a time and place for a good fight. However, I also recognize this is a sensitive time for many people, so I apologize if anyone may have taken offense from what was said earlier.
What does your mom do? Where is she located at? There was an article in the NYT saying that older people are getting hired more than younger people in their 20’s. It was because they had more experience, showed up to work more (not take fake sick days), and were more reliable. I know someone that took money out of her 401k and took the cash. She said it was better than letting it go to zero. It shows how stupid these people are. However, what do I know? I heard that during the great depression stocks fell 95% and with Soros and some other famous financial person saying that we are in the fifth inning of the banking crisis maybe we have more to go? 
I would also suggest your mom to look for other work. One thought, I know someone that in his early fifties go back to school for nursing. I’m thinking about looking for another job too right now.
@ CFAdummy my mom works at a big bank in IT, though she started entry level as a portfolio accountant dad works as an unskilled laborer in a factory, that’s about to close any time now - they only give him work an average of 4 days/week i think it’s impractical for both of them to change careers due to the language barrier (we’re immigrants) and age (my dad’s in his early 60s with a very low five figure retirement). in fact, their combined retirement savings are probably mid-five figures, ugh. hopefully with my CFA (in a few years) + phd, i can support both my parents all the more reason for me to work very very very very hard
Sublimity, what do you do for work? Sorry to hear that, if they have language barriers then it will be hard to find a job. How does your mom do IT and have a language barrier? Your mom sounds intelligent. Which state are they in now?
i’m a graduate student now yeah, my mom’s pretty smart, just not very ambitious for some reason. (she was ambitious enough to be only one of a wide group of friends/family who were also immigrants to get a college degree - probably just to get away from working in factories or sewing together little craft things for ~$0.01 each) because of the language barrier, she didn’t feel comfortable going up the ranks. i don’t know exactly what she does, except that she codes/tests firm-specific financial software
Sublimity, I think you should encourage your mom to look for another job if she is let go. She seems smart and has varied experience. Even if one can get by financially, chances are that somebody who has worked hard for most of their life won’t be too happy being at home full time all of a sudden. Especially when its not out of choice and they haven’t had time to prepare themselves mentally. And if a general disinterest in everyday things and lack of motivation sets in, it is harder to get back into a full time employment etc. If she is not very confident about her language skills, maybe she can start networking within the same language speaking community. You never know, what can comes up.
sublimity, is your mom hot? Sorry I just had to throw that in… but seriously, I enjoy sublimity posts, you learn what type of person he is (whatever that personality test type he mentioned), you also learn he’s an aetheist (of some sort), etc. I’m sure your mom will be ok, she is just worried she’ll follow in her colleague’s footsteps, may not happen.