Do you find gov't employees complain about money A LOT??

[Anonymous]

Eh, sounds like she's complaining because she's frugal (e.g townhouse at end of yellow line) and can't believe she's blowing hundreds each month on driving and parking.

I'm a govt attorney and think I'm fairly compensated but I've been known to complain about the cost of my parking spot

[Anonymous]

Most government attorneys aren't making 150-160K. A GS-15 is pretty hard to get. I'm tapped out at $115K, maybe $120 in another few years at my agency. We moved out to the burbs, and commute via publi city transportation. The only thing we complain about is student loans. And we went to state schools with scholarships. But, my govt attorney coworkers and friends don't sit around complaining about money all day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've found it to be the case since I moved here last year. Today I ended up stuck in a conversation with a friend complaining about things like paying for parking and toll for a week. Thing is she's an attorney making 150-160k in the gov't AND is single income/no kids AND worked in biglaw for 5-6 yrs pre-govt. I get that she's a GS attorney and is kind of maxed out on salary now, but from what I can see this isn't someone living the high life. For example - she bought a townhouse in Alexandria at the very end of one of the train lines; this isn't someone paying $3000/month for their luxury rental in Rosslyn. And yet to hear the complaining, you wonder - wow are things really tough or is it just that gov't workers complain about money bc that's what they're supposed to do to show everyone how much they are "sacrificing" for their job.

I thought I knew who you were complaining about until I got to the bit about the townhouse in Alexandria. The one I know lives in Rockville.

Yes, I know another GS attorney at $150k, also single with no kids. She inherited her paid-off house, so she has no mortgage. Yet all she does is complain to me (who makes 2/3 of her salary and has a mortgage) about how she can't afford to spend $750 (her share) on a one-week beach rental. I find it extremely irritsting (and insensitive to me, who earns less and has higher living expenses).

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's a Fed thing. I think it's making $150k thing. It sounds like a lot of money and it seems like you should be living more comfortably, but it's not enough to pay for the $1M+ house with a short commute.

If your friend is a GS scale Fed and lives near a metro, she should take metro. My husband is a Fed and his metro is paid for. He drives to a metro station and pays to park, but parking in Rosslyn is $8 a day and his commute is a few stops. Sure beats paying $16-25/day or waiting on a list for a monthly spot downtown. Sounds like your friend is more interested in complaining than solving her problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I suspect that this I very comparative. I work in a pot of government where there aren't many lawyers, and the GS pyramid has a broad bottom (so not a lot of people are making 150 -160k), and nobody complains about money. Nobody. There isn't an illusion that you can make a bunch more in the private sector because the alternative employers are mainly nonprofits or state and local governments. We complain about bureaucracy all the time, though.

This. I've seen a LOT more complaining from people making 150-160k (don't know why - often they have delusions of being paid 400k in the private sector for their civil rights work) than I have from people making 75k in the gov't - bc I think those people realize that in the private sector maybe they could squeak out 80-85k but would risk being in a place that does layoffs, doesn't have a 401k match etc.

People who make HHI 100-200k tend to be unhappier than other brackets because they're constantly comparing themselves to 1%ers while fearing having to live someday like the middle and working classes. It's statistically proven that people in the 100-200k range donate less to charity than families with higher OR lower HHIs. It's a sad greedy middle.

[Anonymous]

Part of it is the upper GS 15ers have been capped in their salary for a very long time now. So it's a combo of lack of increase while seeing other costs rise, so it feels a bit like decreasing wealth each year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Part of it is the upper GS 15ers have been capped in their salary for a very long time now. So it's a combo of lack of increase while seeing other costs rise, so it feels a bit like decreasing wealth each year.

Except that inflation has been nearly flat. My employer capped salaries for five years, and I didn't notice a change in my living standard at all. (Adter five years of that, I left, but I was capped at below $100k.)

[Anonymous]

I'm a fed and I don't complain.

But I have a lot of conservative family members who watch way too much Fox news. When we visit they often talk about my paid maternity leave, super high salaries and easy job. Their views are just so skewed. FWIW I actually took 6 weeks unpaid as part of my maternity leave and make 80k. My inlaws don't even think we should have access to things like the TSP/401k. So to counteract their viewpoint, I do emphasize the importance of my job, long hours and how we can't afford much. People like OP think all feds make 150k and that's very far from the truth.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm a fed and I don't complain.

But I have a lot of conservative family members who watch way too much Fox news. When we visit they often talk about my paid maternity leave, super high salaries and easy job. Their views are just so skewed. FWIW I actually took 6 weeks unpaid as part of my maternity leave and make 80k. My inlaws don't even think we should have access to things like the TSP/401k. So to counteract their viewpoint, I do emphasize the importance of my job, long hours and how we can't afford much. People like OP think all feds make 150k and that's very far from the truth.

This person actually makes 150-160k. Obviously it's different if you're making 80k supporting a family of 4 - rather than 150k supporting one.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Part of it is the upper GS 15ers have been capped in their salary for a very long time now. So it's a combo of lack of increase while seeing other costs rise, so it feels a bit like decreasing wealth each year.

Except that inflation has been nearly flat. My employer capped salaries for five years, and I didn't notice a change in my living standard at all. (Adter five years of that, I left, but I was capped at below $100k.)

Federal employee health premiums rose over 28% in six years. Day care costs rose. As did college tuition. Ten year inflation rate is over 28%.

[Anonymous]

Op- your friend was holding it together well. If I only made $150k-$160k, I think I would kill myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op- your friend was holding it together well. If I only made $150k-$160k, I think I would kill myself.

I was doing OK when I made $75k 10 years ago. No thoughts of suicide at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Op- your friend was holding it together well. If I only made $150k-$160k, I think I would kill myself.

How pathetic to only value your life if you make more than 90% of people in the richest country in the history of the planet.

[Anonymous]

I am a fed -- so obviously come into contact with many feds and don't know anyone complaining. I feel like I am well compensated (and not a GS-15 either).

[Anonymous]

Fed family here. We don't complain about money; we enjoy our jobs and feel well compensated. We complain about being Congress' punching bag. Also about bureaucracy as mentioned above.