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

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I get what you are saying, OP. They say they have no money saved, but then spend on dinner and going out.

So how many dinners out add up to two months of living expenses? Several thousand?

Yes, people should live within their means and yes people should have savings. But this "if you didn't buy lunch once a week you'd have nothing to worry about" logic is completely disconnected from the cost of things. Real wages are falling relative to the cost of living. People make less, in adjusted dollars, than their parents did. Housing and food and childcare cost more than they did, and the minimum you feel you need to do for your kids (years of ECs leading up to college applications, for example) is higher. Maybe don't shake fingers at people who are getting squeezed by that, especially people who took jobs that serve their country.

- person who only has a house and savings because govt is my second career

It’s not just the twice a week lunch.
It’s the twice a week lunches, a few times a week drinks and dinner, coffee, treats, hair and nails, subscriptions. It adds up. And yes, it can add up to thousands of dollars.

Can’t put my finger on what I want to call it, but it’s like an entitlement of small luxuries.

I'll put my finger on it: You have created a hypothetical person to judge - an imaginary person who has kids and a job but also somehow goes out a few times a week for drinks? and coffee and lunch? and hair and nails, is that weekly too? - so that you can feel better about yourself and safe from the misfortunes that have befallen others. If they are bad, then surely you are safe, right?

These people are not imaginary. They are very much real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people lie about their finances. If they're well paid and claim that they're financially struggling because of the shutdown, they're probably lying. I understand why they do it -- better to have people feel sorry for you than to be jealous of you. I believe almost nothing that other people tell me about their finances.

Agreed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We have no issues with savings and have plenty. But if the shutdown goes on longer, we’d have to take money out of stocks or CDs which would incur fees or taxes owed.

I too am wondering why more feds aren’t better savers. I feel like my coworkers save though. I mean I look at our parking lot and it’s completely full of mid level, several year old cars. Coworkers also don’t live in nice neighborhoods and most are in older townhouses. I assume most of them have plenty of savings due to all of that?

I know someone who did a lower ranking Fed job for many years while their Fed spouse advanced the ladder. Long story short, got divorced. I do not envy that at all. Finally found a better fed job in December then was RIF'd in February. Got another job this summer, now there's a shutdown. Kids are involved. Have some compassion.

[Anonymous]

[list]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

This is part of the problem. A GS-15 alone makes almost $200k (assuming step 7 or higher). Only 12% of American families of 4 make this. Assuming your nonprofit pays you $100k, you are in the top 5% of what an American family of 4 earns. If you live in DC, people may be more understanding of the high cost of living, student loans, etc. But, 95% of American families make less and are definitely not going to believe you can't manage to save anything.

I don’t understand PP either. Spouse is a GS15, and I SAH. Two kids. We have lots of savings in addition to investments. The kids do activities, and we travel, but overall fairly frugal. Drive cars for 15+ years, shop at thrift stores for some things, don’t eat out much, etc. But I don’t see how someone making more money living in the same place with same number of kids can have almost no savings, unless they suffered a catastrophic event.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not being smug. I'm genuinely confused how people taking home five to eight thousand a month, have no kids, have no major medical expenses, and have paid off most or all of their student loans cannot save enough for a one month emergency fund.

I am a gs 13. After paying for the best health insurance and putting sevenpercent into my 401k, I take home 4400 a month. I spend two thousand on housing, and otherwise spend between six hundred to 1400 a month (300 student loan payment). I save at least a thousand a month without even trying hard.

That's a helluva long list of qualifiers. I'll bet you your right index finger that most people in this area have one or more of those extraoridinarily common expenses.

You are being smug. You know perfectly well you're being smug.

I am not talking about all government employees, or all well paid ones. I am talking about my friends and some of my coworkers, who fit the description above.

I guess you should ask them then. How would we know?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most people lie about their finances. If they're well paid and claim that they're financially struggling because of the shutdown, they're probably lying. I understand why they do it -- better to have people feel sorry for you than to be jealous of you. I believe almost nothing that other people tell me about their finances.

Glad that works for you.

[Anonymous]

A lot of MAGA clowns think that every Fed is a GS-15. Plenty of our support staff are GS-10 or lower with spouses earning the same.

[Anonymous]

I will say this again - TSA makes $43,000 per year, maybe a little more with locality pay. Does anyone really think two TSA employees married with kids aren’t stressed right now?

[Anonymous]

I’m a high earner gs but only recently promoted and with kids in daycare I am panicked. Savings are for mortgage. I hate this.

[Anonymous]

its stressful. maybe they can weather it, but they are worrying and spending a lot of energy thinking a lot about their finances. they have not lost their job, but suddenly they are not being paid and there is no clear end in sight. going out to lunch makes them feel better because they have time on their hands but then they feel guilty for spending money. they know others have it worse. but that does not make it better. so they need to vent to someone… and you are supposedly their friend.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I will say this again - TSA makes $43,000 per year, maybe a little more with locality pay. Does anyone really think two TSA employees married with kids aren’t stressed right now?

OP is talking about G13+.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People without adequate emergency funds simply spend too much relative to their incomes. Failing to constrain spending to an appropriate level is the problem. No matter how little you make, you have to spend less than that on housing, cars, vacations, kids' activities, recreation, etc. It's not complicated, but it requires discipline. And for those who argue they have uninsured medical expenses which excuse a lack of savings, no that is no excuse - you, too, can spend less on housing, on cars, etc. You may want a shorter commute, or a nicer place to live, or a nicer car, or a vacation, but you can only afford what your income allows relative to your expenses. Failing to save for your future and for emergencies is simply a choice, not something imposed on you by a cruel world.

Feel better? Hope you or your family don't get cancer and lose your health insurance.

You don't have to lose health insurance, but it may be expensive if it's no longer partially subsidized by an employer. That means you spend money on health insurance instead of on other things. Prioritizing other expenses over health insurance is a choice. Not taking a job which offers medical insurance because you'd prefer a different job is a choice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not being smug. I'm genuinely confused how people taking home five to eight thousand a month, have no kids, have no major medical expenses, and have paid off most or all of their student loans cannot save enough for a one month emergency fund.

I am a gs 13. After paying for the best health insurance and putting sevenpercent into my 401k, I take home 4400 a month. I spend two thousand on housing, and otherwise spend between six hundred to 1400 a month (300 student loan payment). I save at least a thousand a month without even trying hard.

That's a helluva long list of qualifiers. I'll bet you your right index finger that most people in this area have one or more of those extraoridinarily common expenses.

You are being smug. You know perfectly well you're being smug.

I am not talking about all government employees, or all well paid ones. I am talking about my friends and some of my coworkers, who fit the description above.

I guess you should ask them then. How would we know?

So they tell you everything about their finances?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People without adequate emergency funds simply spend too much relative to their incomes. Failing to constrain spending to an appropriate level is the problem. No matter how little you make, you have to spend less than that on housing, cars, vacations, kids' activities, recreation, etc. It's not complicated, but it requires discipline. And for those who argue they have uninsured medical expenses which excuse a lack of savings, no that is no excuse - you, too, can spend less on housing, on cars, etc. You may want a shorter commute, or a nicer place to live, or a nicer car, or a vacation, but you can only afford what your income allows relative to your expenses. Failing to save for your future and for emergencies is simply a choice, not something imposed on you by a cruel world.

Feel better? Hope you or your family don't get cancer and lose your health insurance.

You don't have to lose health insurance, but it may be expensive if it's no longer partially subsidized by an employer. That means you spend money on health insurance instead of on other things. Prioritizing other expenses over health insurance is a choice. Not taking a job which offers medical insurance because you'd prefer a different job is a choice.

Bad luck will find you someday.

[Anonymous]

It's the carried interest trade game. They took out mortgages instead of paying them off promptly, they invested the money. It's not liquid.

That's the problem, they have money just not liquid.