Has the Government shutdown...................

BrandNewFabulousMe

People should be prepared for emergencies. No savings account? Forget luxury/nice things until you have one.
Ideally, you should have a year's take home salary in cash at a minimum.

I know that sounds impossible, but for many, it's really the difference over a few years of buying non-name brand, or skipping Starbucks.

Plenty of people I know "can't afford to save" waste $200-300 a month on coffee, donuts, video games, name brand stuff, etc.


Have lived like this my whole life. Still get to enjoy nice things.
And when the wife was out of work for a year, we were fine.

while I won't completely disagree, I think 1 year is probably overkill and a bad move. You should likely have 3 months in fully liquid savings, 3 - 6 month beyond that in 3 to 6 month plans which you can draw on within 3 month with little or no penalty and what you do beyond that to keep solvent in a long term situation without a job is up to you. The reason I think overkill is that savings earns only about 1 to 2% while you can find some nice mid-term programs that will get 3 to 4%. Sure this is putting the money at risk to some extent but a better option than just sitting on in a savings account.

I will completely agree on the statement of buying things we can't afford though. The pennies add up over time, a penny here and a penny there and you can build a nice safety net, and it should be a top priority. It is hard when you feel like you are just getting by month to month but every dollar you can squirrel away is a dollar you will have when you really need it.

I agree with the latter part of this. There are ways I can save more money by getting rid of certain things or being more away by shopping less expensively. You are right about that. Pennies do add up!

GetSoda

And, in the long run, I'll be screwed by the ACA. :[

Yep, we all will be...

ACA is projected to raise my insurance by $600-900 a month while reducing the quality of my coverage. So I'll be living off of top ramen and worse health care for the forseeable future.

nomeejerome

:huh:

TheSlorax

This exactly. Everyone should have at least 3mo pay saved up. We don't because we've been struggling after my husband UNEXPECTEDLY got out of the Army and Veterans disability benefits are a joke. If you've had a steady job for 20 years you SHOULD be able to have enough money in savings to pay your bills. I know we would have.. Shoot my husband was in the Army for 6 years.. We had 10k in savings (not as much as we wanted) and lived off that for quite a while.

lol.

"everyone should have at least 3mo pay saved up. except for me."

Everyone SHOULD. Not everyone CAN. If you've had a steady job for 20 years I don't see why you CAN'T.

We DON'T at the MOMENT because my husband is a disabled veteran and has had a hard time finding a JOB.

]

then shouldn't you be working? I don't really mean that, I'm just showing you how this presumption thing works. I don't know anything about you or your situation. If I said that I would not have all the facts and I would be making a judgement based on my beliefs and what I think is true. Just as you do not know anything about the woman from the OP.

Mia_RagazzaTosta

It's really idiotic to say what people should or shouldn't do with their money or to assume you know what they do with it just because you've been given one teeny tiny detail about them.

Judgey Wudgey was a Bear....

I'm not judging. I'm stating simple facts that you'd think they'd have enough savings to cover their mortgage. If not, If they're military most loaners are helping them out.

I know USAA gave us our paycheck last time the gov shut down.

I remember when I was 23 and thought I knew everything, too.

Yeah, I'm young and stupid.

I never called you stupid. But to assume someone older than you doesn't have more life experience, hasn't seen more than you, been through more is a little presumptuous. Don't you think most people realize they should have savings? It doesn't always work out that way. Life happens. That's where age comes in, get back to us in about 15 years. Guaranteed your tune will have changed.

All of that.

And for the record, I never said stupid anywhere. Just be careful up on that high horse, Lurve.

da_bears10089

affected you or someone you know personally? My DW is a civilian government worker who got to go back to work this past Monday. We're fortunate that we don't have to dig into our savings to make it now, but there are lots of people I know who will be greatly affected till it gets resolved. One isn't going to be able to pay her mortgage after being with the government 20 years.
Others I know have had to cancel sessions with me (I'll be fine because there are other members who want my services).

Opinions?

Why can't she pay her mortgage? If she's been w/ the government that long shouldn't she have some savings?

We were affected the last time they had a shut down... and if they're still shut down come the first I guess we will be then if they cut into veterans benefits. I hope we still get disability and BAH because if not we'd be screwed.

government workers aren't rolling in the dough. Our state employees don't make all that much, but they have fully paid health insurance. Some of them are pulling in less than $2500 a month. Depending on what other kinds of bills you have, that might not be a lot to work with.

Blondiegrl11

It's really idiotic to say what people should or shouldn't do with their money or to assume you know what they do with it just because you've been given one teeny tiny detail about them.

Judgey Wudgey was a Bear....

I'm not judging. I'm stating simple facts that you'd think they'd have enough savings to cover their mortgage. If not, If they're military most loaners are helping them out.

I know USAA gave us our paycheck last time the gov shut down.

I remember when I was 23 and thought I knew everything, too.

Yeah, I'm young and stupid.

I never called you stupid. But to assume someone older than you doesn't have more life experience, hasn't seen more than you, been through more is a little presumptuous. Don't you think most people realize they should have savings? It doesn't always work out that way. Life happens. That's where age comes in, get back to us in about 15 years. Guaranteed your tune will have changed.

I didn't assume anything you're assuming I assumed.

You keep saying that people who have worked for 20 years should have savings, that's an assumption. Yet, you just said you can't because of xyz. Ever think for a minute that maybe xyz happens to everyone?

sobriquet84

Funny how you get "dumber" the older you get...I was a frickin genius at 23

lol, love this.

i cringe at some of things i spewed on myspace threads back in the day...

Courtney011691

How is thinking someone thats worked somewhere for 20+ years should have money in savings to pay 1 mo mortgage judging??

I don't have a savings. We live paycheck to paycheck. I'm the last person to judge. However, You would THINK that someone that's been somewhere for 20+ years would have enough money to pay their mortgage. THAT'S ALL. That's not judging. Judging would be like "WTF DID SHE SPEND ALL HER MONEY ON! RAWR" NOT what I'm saying.

The thing is, everyone has different circumstances. Just because someone has worked at a job for 20+ years does not = money in savings for one month's mortgage. Many people back home (rural northern Michigan) have worked the same job most of their lives and still live paycheck to paycheck. So many things have happened that they can't save up.

Examples:
- vehicle breaks down (or the more likely - hit a deer and totaled the car)
- hot water/furnace/stove/fridge/etc. broke and needed to be repaired/replace
- kids are in college and need help with expenses
- parents are still paying on their own student loans.
- real example - > the mom had a brain aneurysm, was flown to the University of Michigan for treatment. Has been there going on two months. U of M is 4 hours from their home so the family has been staying in hospital hotels and paying out of their pocket for hotel and food costs. They can't work right now so they have no income. Two months of hotels have completely drained their savings.

The list goes on. You really can't make the generalization that people working at a job for 20+ years should have enough money in savings. You don't know their situation.

Holly_Roman_Empire

Funny how you get "dumber" the older you get...I was a frickin genius at 23

lol, love this.

i cringe at some of things i spewed on myspace threads back in the day...

Myspace! [cringe] Hahaha

sobriquet84

This exactly. Everyone should have at least 3mo pay saved up. We don't because we've been struggling after my husband UNEXPECTEDLY got out of the Army and Veterans disability benefits are a joke. If you've had a steady job for 20 years you SHOULD be able to have enough money in savings to pay your bills. I know we would have.. Shoot my husband was in the Army for 6 years.. We had 10k in savings (not as much as we wanted) and lived off that for quite a while.

lol.

"everyone should have at least 3mo pay saved up. except for me."

Everyone SHOULD. Not everyone CAN. If you've had a steady job for 20 years I don't see why you CAN'T.

We DON'T at the MOMENT because my husband is a disabled veteran and has had a hard time finding a JOB.

oh dear lord. i give up.

jenn26point2

Good grief. People living paycheck to paycheck may have honest to goodness reasons for doing so. Fresh out of school? elderly parents to take care of? Childcare expenses? Childcare expenses for children with disabilities? Etc. Someone may have legitimately just blown through their reserves for a perfectly good reason (like their car just died, or need a new roof). Who are you to judge them as daft?

To call people daft for living paycheck to paycheck is passing judgement on folks you don't even know. It'a short sighted and makes you a massive d-bag.

THIS

Everyone fails to remember that we civilian (non contract) government employees already lost 6 days of work this year (some lost more based on when their summer furlough started before it was ceased). The 4 days I lost earlier this month equates to 10 total days off of work. That is 2 weeks worth of pay. I had to dip into savings. I drained our savings making up the difference.

We are middle class. Most weeks we scrape by. We're trying to prepare for our future via Dave Ramsey's advice. His advise is to pay off first, THEN save (with the exception of the $1,000 emergency fund, which does NOT replace my wages - it helped, but we still suffered). Now that $1,000 emergency fund is empty thanks to my previous 6 days off work. I have nothing for the 4 days I lost last week.

If the VA can't make it's disability payments on the 1st, I will also not be able to make my mortgage payment. I don't have the luxury of USAA providing me with a paycheck to tide me over. I have the misfortune of waiting until an appropriations bill is available to pay my wages for this week - which could mean no paycheck on the 25th.

No one has any right to judge anyone else's financial well-being. You have no idea what they have been through or what they're dealing with.

PS, my boss, a GS-15 with 34 years of service makes $150k a year - not quite $200... she's well off, but very few people make it to that level. Most of our 20 years of service civilians here are only making 80k a year. A small drop in the bucket to what our military make for doing the same job. AND they don't receive housing allowances, free health insurance, subsistence allowances or a commissary with no sales tax. Nor do they get to buy vehicles sales tax free, etc, etc, etc. You can't compare military to civilian - that's like comparing apples to oranges. I've been on both sides - active duty military and civilian, so I do know a thing or two about the pay and benefits packages.

_Tink_

... I'm thinking you don't know how much government workers make. Also, a lot of people's savings are in 401ks/IRAs/other assets that are not liquid because they have a steady job and know there will be a paycheck coming. That is, unless the government gets shut down, and who expected that?

Sorry but anyone who doesn't have a savings or any amount of money stashed away some where that is liquid, available and accessible because "they have a steady job and know there will be a paycheck coming" is rather daft. I had a steady job and a paycheck coming and yet I still had my 401(k) and a savings account because I don't believe in living paycheck-to-paycheck (which if you have nothing saved that's what you're doing) for one and two I didn't live in a fantasy bubble where I believed "it can't happen to me" because guess what? It CAN! (Thankfully it didn't and I quit my job to start my own business but believe me that savings came in very handy when my husband struck out on his own fifteen years ago).

And Romney expected the Government shutdown. I believe he said that if Obama was reelected that people should be prepared for a Government shutdown.

I respect you very much for having a plan, however I don't think it's fair to call those without savings daft. I had a liquid savings outside of my 401k, but that went quickly when my ex walked out on me. I was stay at home mom with no job. Luckily I was able to find a job within a month and I am not on welfare. However, becuase of circumstance I no longer have a savings. I don't have the mentality of "It's can't happen to me" becuase I do struggle every week, and I do try to put a little aside each pay check. Sometimes it lasts sometimes it doesn't. I have a plan in place for the future of my savings, but right now there are other bills my money is going towards. Does that make me daft? Not at all, it makes me appreciate having my job and it forces me to understand what is essintial to survive and what isn't.

You're also not in your 40s and have been working the same job for 20+ years.. I'd think with 20+ years of the same job under your belt you'd have some savings...

SAHM getting walked out on =/= working for 20+yr

You are correct. My point was more that sometimes it's circumstances that deplete savings. I know many people bring it on themselves. My sister for example is a military wife. Her husband has been in service for 18 years now. They have nothing saved they are always too broke to do anything, and yet when he deployed in June he told her to buy 3 new things....she bought a king sized bed for herslef, a new fridge becuase her ice maker was broken, and an Ipad. Yet when her daughter wanted to go to senior prom they couldn't afford the dress. That is daft!
The poster who used that statement didn't specify 20 years. Others did, but the post I repsonded to did not. Again, I very much respect those who do have a savings becuase it gives me hope for my financial future.

No, He did say she'd been working there for 20 years. But some people are just stupid with money.. Hard to feel bad when they fall on hard times when you KNOW they should be fine.

You don't "KNOW" anything about other people's personal financial issues.

da_bears10089

I am a contract employee paid BY THE MILITARY. i can tell you i make far from $200K a year. Try 30K.

You cannot compare deployed civilian contractors to the rest of the federal government employees because they do make a ridiculous amount of money. There is also more to the federal government than deployed soldiers.

Holly_Roman_Empire

It is huge that federal workers are being furloughed, but can I get a shout-out for those that are relying on meals on wheels or WIC?

Or on a completely different note, the couple that had to MOVE THEIR WEDDING because they couldn't get married in the national park they were originally set on? How much would that suck?!

RunsOnEspresso

I have a friend who is out of work currently. I feel for those people. What do you do all day? You don't want to go out and spend money on things/activites because who knows when you will be paid next? And you don't want to waste your savings on movies or clothes when you still have bills to pay. I think I'd be very bored after 2-3 days, which my friend is.

As far as the rest of the things going on in this thread... I work for the government (not Fed) and finally got a (small) raise after five years at the same rate of pay (all the while costs of everything went up). I am lucky that my pay wasn't cut or that I didn't have to take furlough days. Many government employees have had salary cut over the last 5 years or so. It makes it difficult to save and yes, even after cutting out all the "extras". I gave up a lot of things to make sure I could pay bills and save money. I currently have 3-4 months in savings and my SO has probably 5-6 months in his savings. I try to save more (set aside money every paycheck) but I feel I finally get comfortable and something happens. There goes that extra cushion I built up. It is not always easy; we should all take a moment to remember that. It has been difficult for many since about 2008. I struggled for a few years and I had savings and gave things up to try to save more.

Holly_Roman_Empire

I have a friend who is out of work currently. I feel for those people. What do you do all day? You don't want to go out and spend money on things/activites because who knows when you will be paid next? And you don't want to waste your savings on movies or clothes when you still have bills to pay. I think I'd be very bored after 2-3 days, which my friend is.

This! My dad is having a really hard time not going out and spending money, but he hates just sitting inside watching TV all day. It's awful.

Tropical_Turtle

affected you or someone you know personally? My DW is a civilian government worker who got to go back to work this past Monday. We're fortunate that we don't have to dig into our savings to make it now, but there are lots of people I know who will be greatly affected till it gets resolved. One isn't going to be able to pay her mortgage after being with the government 20 years.
Others I know have had to cancel sessions with me (I'll be fine because there are other members who want my services).

Opinions?

Why can't she pay her mortgage? If she's been w/ the government that long shouldn't she have some savings?

... I'm thinking you don't know how much government workers make. Also, a lot of people's savings are in 401ks/IRAs/other assets that are not liquid because they have a steady job and know there will be a paycheck coming. That is, unless the government gets shut down, and who expected that?

I work in mortgage and it's been pretty tough with all of the government programs we utilize, but luckily investors are making exceptions for some things. Otherwise we wouldn't be funding anything and there would be a lot of people not able to pay their bills, myself included.

I do know how much they make.. My husband was in the Army for quite a while. People who've been in for 20+ years do pretty well.
edit:
I also know that last time USAA paid all the military members a few days late since the government didn't pay out. I also know that during these times, most lenders don't tack on fees for military.

Military pay and civilian pay are very different. Civilian pay is capped once you reach the top tier for your grade, and if she's a lower grade then she could still be making a very moderate income, even after 20 years. And civilians don't get benefits like BAH to cover housing costs.

I have a friend whos husband (contracted civilian)did the same exact thing as someone in my DH's unit.. Her DH got $200,000 a year while deployed.. and My DH and his buddy got $45,000-50,000 while deployed...

They are still being paid by the MILITARY...........

at 200k a year they should have no problems making a decent savings.

Please tell me which CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT workers make $200k. Far and few between. Your friend was a "civilian contractor" being paid by the MILITARY. That was my point.

And, do keep in mind that even 200k a year in this area of CA is basically middle class. So if that is the only income for a large family, savings might be less than you may think because of the cost of living here.

I live and work in CA and savings of any sort with what I make is dang near impossible. I make $35K a year (when the state is not placing me on furlough and taking away up to 15% of my paycheck). As stated above - you see what CA's middle class is, so I am no where near that. Right now I would love to see our leaders live off what I do and see what they can do with it, which I doubt is much. Shoot right now my bills are paid, and for the rest of the month (yes month - because I only get paid once a month) I have $20 left.

aelphabawest

I live in D.C. and almost all of our parks are closed and the city is in danger of shutting down itself because we only have so much in reserves as Congress approves our budget, too. Which means pretty soon there'll be no trash pick up, no libraries, no weddings, etc.

Also, I have to deal with Republican relatives *****ing about "Why won't the democrats compromise on this ultimatum we've given them? Never mind that repealing the ACA has failed 40 odd times, we're going to hold the government hostage until we get what we want waaa waaa." Get a lesson on democracy, Tea Partiers. That's not compromise.

LurveTheDoctor

It's really idiotic to say what people should or shouldn't do with their money or to assume you know what they do with it just because you've been given one teeny tiny detail about them.

Judgey Wudgey was a Bear....

I'm not judging. I'm stating simple facts that you'd think they'd have enough savings to cover their mortgage. If not, If they're military most loaners are helping them out.

I know USAA gave us our paycheck last time the gov shut down.

I remember when I was 23 and thought I knew everything, too.

Yeah, I'm young and stupid.

I never called you stupid. But to assume someone older than you doesn't have more life experience, hasn't seen more than you, been through more is a little presumptuous. Don't you think most people realize they should have savings? It doesn't always work out that way. Life happens. That's where age comes in, get back to us in about 15 years. Guaranteed your tune will have changed.

I didn't assume anything you're assuming I assumed.

You keep saying that people who have worked for 20 years should have savings, that's an assumption. Yet, you just said you can't because of xyz. Ever think for a minute that maybe xyz happens to everyone?

I know **** happens. It happened to us when my DH got out of the military and we had to live off savings for a while. It took almost 2 years for them to start paying his disability. And it's been hard. So, I KNOW crap happens. I also like to think that after my husband has been at the same job for 20+ years that we'd have a little bit saved up. As does all 40+ year olds I know. So, Maybe it's a central US thing where things are cheaper... Who knows.