Big tech companies are still trying to rally workers back into physical offices, and many workers are still not having it. Based on a recent report, computer-maker Dell has stumbled even more than most....
It leaves dell with employees who do their job and have a life outside of work. They will put their hours in but not much more. They do not recommend change or new ways of getting things done, because they don't care. They will do the minimum and punch the clock for years until they find another better paying job.
At the same time my student loans were at 8% interest. Guess who cashed out every 401K as I changed jobs every couple of years early in my career. I used it to pay off student loans and purchase my first home.
The sad fact is that it's expensive to be broke. If your debt to income ratio is high, creditors fuck you over. Paying down those student loans has paid me back several times over in lower interest loans for cars and our mortgage
I didn't really start saving money until after I was 30. To be honest I really didn't start making a decent wage until I was 35. To put it into perspective, I put more into my retirement account per year now than I would have in 5 years from 20-35 years old.
Employers demonstrated their infidelity to their staff by paying loyal workers, on average, 7% less than new hires — 20 years ago, salaries were largely the same between new and longtime employees.
Want to have fun. Look up where you lived as a young adult and calculate how much it would cost today.
First wage out of college 28K. In two years it was up to 42K. Since it was a government job, I can look up the wage today. Start is at $37K, in two years its $55K
Studio apartment $650/month then, $1,800 now for the same place. Included heating and electricity and a awesome view from the 22nd floor.
Car with 30K miles on it, $185/month plus $50/month insurance. Now $550/month plus $200/month insurance.
Groceries $150/month (I ate well). Now $400/month.
Student loan, $50/month. Now $200 per month.
Phone (landline). $40/month. Now $60/month cell phone.
Take home when I started, around $1650/month. Expenses $1,125. 2 years later when I was making 42K, take home was around $2,450. I paid off the student loans, the most of the car, and had a ton of fun, traveled, dated, and eventually got married.
Today take home would’ve around. $2,150/month and the cost of living as I did would be around $3,010. Even after 2 years I could barely squeak by with around $3,200/month take home.
Facetious argument. Try asking what I included in my estimates.
Look up a basic midrange plan on a major carrier plus data, $45 with taxes & a cost average for $500 phone across 3 years ($13.88). Comes to around $60.
As for the car, without asking what type of vehicle I was pricing out and the loan terms you have no clue. Think midrange with 700 credit score (recent college grad without any credit history to speak of). I was at 11.5% interest, on my first vehicle and a 8.5K loan over 5 years = $186.75 payment. Average price of a midrange low mileage vehicle today of the same quality is around $27K (looking to buy one for my teenager). With an 8.5% interest rate 5 year loan that comes to… $553.95 per month…
Your 45K car for around 600 indicates your loan is around 41K and you decided to take a longer than 60 month terms. Likely an 84 month term ($613.80/month) at 6.75% interest for 790+ credit. Which was not even offered 20+ years ago because it’s a stupid thing to do. A 41K loan at 60 months would be $841.18 at 8.5% interest rate FYI.
48 years old, currently have no investments. My net worth is my car and the clothes on my back, and I don’t ever want to be in this situation again....
There are three things that I prioritized before investing extra in retirement (after taking advantage of the match 401K funds of course).
Emergency funds/large purchase saving, owning my home, and debt elimination.
It sounds like you have the last one taken care of. Next I would build up an emergency fund and then purchase a home.
Purchasing a home is essentially locking in a cheaper flat rate rent long term. Rental rates in my area are around $1500 per month. My mortgage that I started 15 years ago is $1100. For a home like mine, rents are running closer to $4000. My income in the past 15 years has steadily increased but my monthly bill remains the same. This gives me a steadily increasing amount of income to invest. Of course the best time to buy a home in recent memory was around 2009-2010 after the crash.
Wood flooring needs to acclimatize to the environment for a few days before being installed (shrinks/swells with the moisture in the air).
Vinyl flooring are designed to latch together. Every board has to be completely seated and latched together. The only way to fix it now is to pick it all up and try again.
My school district is one of the few that pays a competitive wage to be private industry to their teachers in the U.S. The local teacher unions are extremely strong and have had numerous strikes over the years.
They unionized the non-certificated staff and they have gone on strike as well.
This past summer they were getting 100+ applicants for every open teacher position. Every open position is filled easily.
When I had a 1hr commute through heavy city traffic, I needed a break when I walked in the door. It took me at least an hour to get up the energy to do anything. Most of the time I would sip coffee while pretending to read e-mails or talk to coworkers. My body might be there but I wasn’t doing anything. So the company was paying for my recovery time from the “work” of the commute.
I don’t know why any company would push an employee into a long commute if it’s not necessary. It costs the company a ton of money in productivity.
It’s the problem with companies focusing on time spent, not productivity. I can waste a ton of time and get nothing done if I am so inclined.
From what understand that is following the U.S. tax code. The commute from your home to your assigned work location is considered the employees responsibility. If they are temporarily assigned to another location further away, the difference in mileage is considered a business expense. In some states they are required to pay the employee. In others it’s an allowable wage theft, the company claims the mileage and doesn’t reimburse the employee.
I drive a work vehicle. I have to declare how many personal miles I used the vehicle for yearly. Personal miles are all non-company related miles and the commute to my primary office. This benefit is considered income and taxed.
Currently my primary office is my home so 95% of my miles are business. At my last job they assigned my primary office to one 20 miles away (even though I was only there 1 day every 2 weeks). As such 20% of my miles were personal. A real dick move in my opinion but perfectly legal.
Most of the empty office spaces are in the traditional downtown highrise locations. These locations traditionally have had low vacancy rates of 5-10%. Post pandemic the rates have risen sharply with over 30% vacancy in some markets.
When you move away from these downtown locations the vacancy rates are in the 8-15% range. Still higher that pre-pandemic but still sustainable and profitable for landlords.
Personally I predict a rise for smaller office spaces intermixed with residential locations. The traditional demand for the expensive downtown highrise office will permanently be reduced. Most of that space will need to be converted to residential in the future.
Dell said return to the office or else—nearly half of workers chose “or else” - Workers stayed remote even when told they could no longer be promoted. ( arstechnica.com )
Big tech companies are still trying to rally workers back into physical offices, and many workers are still not having it. Based on a recent report, computer-maker Dell has stumbled even more than most....
Poll: 61% of young adults confess they are not saving for retirement ( medium.com )
Gen Z is unhappier at work than any other generation. Here are the two things they want. ( www.businessinsider.com )
Employers demonstrated their infidelity to their staff by paying loyal workers, on average, 7% less than new hires — 20 years ago, salaries were largely the same between new and longtime employees.
The majority of Americans are not engaged at work, 70% of managers have no training to lead a hybrid team and it could be killing employee engagement ( www.cnbc.com )
A billionaire wrote this letter to Google a year ago. How likely is that Google's layoffs and actions since then are at least partly because of this? ( lemmy.world )
The data is in: Return to Office policies don't improve employee performance or company value, but controlling bosses don't care ( www.businessinsider.com )
cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/10481867...
Can you offer investment advice? I'm debt-free, about to start earning $2k more per month than I need to survive. Please offer any suggestions for optimal investment method(s).
48 years old, currently have no investments. My net worth is my car and the clothes on my back, and I don’t ever want to be in this situation again....
Gaps in floating floor ( lemmy.world )
I DIY’ed the floor in my bedroom but I’ve got gaps like the one pictured in a few spots. What’s the best way to close these up?
31-year-old teacher quit her job. Now she works at Costco—and boosted her income by 50%: ‘I've never been happier' (these are not feel good stories, this is sad) ( www.nbclosangeles.com )
Bosses and workers still can’t agree on whether the commute is part of the work day, and it’s creating a $578 billion productivity problem ( fortune.com )
Return-to-office orders look like a way for elite, work-obsessed CEOs to grab power back from employees ( www.businessinsider.com )
White-collar workers temporarily enjoyed unprecedented power during the pandemic to decide where and how they worked.