Well paid government employees who can't afford a one or two week shutdown

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The responses on this thread have me truly worried about the intelligence levels of federal workers.

As has been pointed out many times, the point of this thread is not about whether the shutdown is good or bad, or fair or unfair to federal workers. Op and others are in agreement that the shutdown is bad and unfair.

The issue is the number of people with six figure incomes who literally claim they cannot go without a paycheck for a few weeks because they do not have enough savings.

I will say that a six figure income in DC is not the same as in other places. Housing costs eat up so many people's extra money here.
When I lived in Atlanta I made a high five figure income and was saving like 2 and 3k a month plus I had a very nice house that spent like $150k for. My mortgage was very low.

Now I make six figures and I save less since living here. It's much harder for me to save here because my mortgage is a lot higher. It's pretty hard to find a decent home here for $150k. I know because I looked for months trying to find a fixer upper. I'll be fine though because I have three months of expenses saved up but it still sucks.

Now I do agree that folks need to save better. There is a risk of a shut down every year. People need to have savings beforehand. I don't know why folks haven't learned from the past years risk. Plus with all the talk of furloughs and RIFs, people need to definitely have a rainey day fund these days. I can bet that the same folks whining this year about being broke because of the shutdown will be whining next year for the same reason.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Well, my DH is a GS-15 and I work for a nonprofit. We cannot afford for my DH to not get paid. I don't think we live extravagantly but somehow cannot save much. Due to some unexpected expenses lately, we have only $2k in savings. We have 2 kids in elementary school. We cannot afford this at all.

That is crazy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your federal agency is still hiring, it's an emergency hire. All agencies are under hiring freeze.

Not the SEC. Not subject to shut down either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If your federal agency is still hiring, it's an emergency hire. All agencies are under hiring freeze.

Not the SEC. Not subject to shut down either.

DHHS is still hiring. Not much though.

[Anonymous]

The risk all Fed employees take for that comfy pension most of us in the corporate world do not even have as an option. Cry me a river.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The risk all Fed employees take for that comfy pension most of us in the corporate world do not even have as an option. Cry me a river.

Pensions were grandfathered out in 1983

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The risk all Fed employees take for that comfy pension most of us in the corporate world do not even have as an option. Cry me a river.

Pensions were grandfathered out in 1983

What?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The risk all Fed employees take for that comfy pension most of us in the corporate world do not even have as an option. Cry me a river.

Pensions were grandfathered out in 1983

News to me, I'm expecting my Fed pension tomorrow.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The risk all Fed employees take for that comfy pension most of us in the corporate world do not even have as an option. Cry me a river.

Pensions were grandfathered out in 1983

What?

If they were, why would people work there?? Surely isn't the pay!! I'm surrounded by retired federal employees, retired nice and young compared to the private sector, and on a federal pension.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My sister is 37 and single, a GS-14, and has no kids- she has close to $500k in savings and could certainly afford to weather a shutdown. BUT, accumulating all her savings has come at a cost to her, which she admits- she worries a lot about retirement and saving, and always has, because she doesn't anticipate ever getting married and she knows the only person she can rely on for retirement is herself. Worries about money keep her from doing a lot of fun things; even our dad, who retired at 49 (is now 69) and has been able to support himself and our mom on being thrifty, thinks that she needs to worry less about money and live her life more. So, she's on the opposite end of OP's spectrum of high earners who are spendy.

Tell your sister to start enjoying life. I'm a single mom with dependents who has a similar concern about needing to make sure I'm taken care of in my retirement years but also have to my kids to worry about.

Plus I had a sibling, who was a Fed employee, die at 36. He never got to use any of his savings and obviously didn't make it to retirement. There needs to be a balance of saving and spending. Speak to her about enjoying the now. Tomorrow isn't guaranteed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The risk all Fed employees take for that comfy pension most of us in the corporate world do not even have as an option. Cry me a river.

Pensions were grandfathered out in 1983

What?

If they were, why would people work there?? Surely isn't the pay!! I'm surrounded by retired federal employees, retired nice and young compared to the private sector, and on a federal pension.

Yes, they probably started their federal jobs before 1984

[Anonymous]

You can google federal pensions, they exist.

[Anonymous]

Yes but the Cush ones you see old people with today no longer exist. You had to get in before 1984

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am a 100K employee with an emergency fund and a spouse who will continue to work. We have no credit card or student loan debt, a good emergency fund and also short-term savings.

Here's how I will likely spend my time and money when the government shuts down.

At first it will feel like I have even more money than usual. I won't be hitting the food trucks for lunch, or grabbing a coffee at the deli in my building. I'll pick up my dry cleaning from the neighborhood dry cleaners, but won't need to drop off a new batch of shirts and suits. I won't have to take any taxis to off-site meetings, nor will I have to tip the guys who who park my car in my regular lot on the days I drive. We'll skip our regular pizza night at our small neighborhood pizza place--this will be a good time to pull some stuff out of the deep freeze and open some of the wine we never seem to drink.

After a few days, I'll forgo the $30 drop-in aftercare fee at my child's school since I'm home anyway. It will be fun to spend some extra time together even if we can't go to the zoo. We'll also save the $15 that we normally pay the dogwalker--she's expecting that more than a few people will be cutting back on her services. At this point I'll be looking for projects, so I'll get the spreader out and overseed my own lawn rather than calling my regular lawn service, saving $300. I won't have the neighborhood guy wash my car for $20 every week; it doesn't need it and it's an easy expense to eliminate. We'll put off replacing the shed this fall; the contractor we usually use for jobs like that will be happy to do it in the spring. We'll skip our regular weekend visits to Eastern market--luxuries like fresh flowers and fancy bread can wait until I go back to work. And I'll skip my bimonthly trip to the salon and do my own haircolor and pedicure--that's $110 plus tax and tip.

At no point will I be in danger of not paying my bills or my mortgage, but I will cut back on dozens of expenses that affect other people. How much do you think the dogwalker and the parking attendant have in their emergency funds? What about all the goods and services that they won't be able to afford because I didn't pay them? I will keep our housekeeper as long as I possibly can, but I know other people will need to cut back on her services. Now multiply those effects times hundreds of thousands of employees and you'll see why a shutdown is a terrible thing for everyone. We're not all spending our money on cheap Walmart crap or designer shoes, but in our neighborhoods.

Very well put.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Would you rather be like many private sector employees and unemployed. Federal employees are very lucky. Yes I'll be sad to lose some money, but I know way to many folks in the private sector who've been hit very hard in this economy not to thank my lucky stars for my fed job.

No, I am not thanking my lucky stars for my federal job. I have worked 70 hours in the past week, and this is typical of this year. I do not see my child awake on most weekdays. I am sick of workig this hard and being underpaid and underappreciated.

well then quit. there is a line of people that would love to have your job.

What part of "hiring freeze" do you not undertand? People who leave or retire are not being replaced. It's called attrition.

well do us a favor. save the government paying your salary and quit so we don't have to hear your whining.

Yup. Do you know how lucky you are to not have to worry about losing your job? If you hate it so much, quit and give the job to someone who will appreciate it.

Hiring freeze means nobody will get the job, idiot. PP would take a private sector job from someone else or remain unemployed. That's great for the economy, Einstein.

Such classy talk from the woefully ignorant.
If you're so underpaid and under appreciated, join the private sector. Don't want to lose the cushy security and benefits? Oh, right.