Government Shutdown and Finances , observation and effect on DMV area
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Anonymous
We already are. Many have left for Europe and other countries. |
Anonymous
Many? Come on you may know a couple of people but that's not a viable option for the vast majority of people. |
Anonymous
They didn't say they don't have savings. They are being fiscally sound. When you don't have a job/are not getting paid, you cut back everything to the bare minimum you can manage. So yeah, I wouldn't be planning any vacations/travel, would stop eating out, would minimize all expenses that I could. Even if you have savings, most people only have 6months at most and you don't want to blow thru that at your normal 100% spending, if you can cut a ton and stretch it to 12 months or more |
Anonymous
There is no way to really know how many people are considering options abroad and how many would actively consider it if they had an option. But I do know that there are many upper middle class types at my company who are aggressively trying to get permission to work overseas or, even better, relocated on the company’s dime. And when I say “aggressively” I mean it. Anyone who is paying attention realizes it is time to hedge your bets on America’s future. We have two middle school aged kids and I would do anything to work from another country for a few years so that my kids could have an experience that would broaden their horizons and enable them imagine a potential future in another country. Irrational escapism? Maybe. |
Anonymous
When it comes to restaurants and takeout, I feel many of them have had themselves to blame. I'm looking at you reastauants that hiked prices a ton during Covid and sneakily added "convenience" and "service" and "covid safety" fees and "offer me" the opportunity to tip for every single takeout trip where the lowest tip suggested is 22%. We eat out rarely now and I won't go back to places that do the things above. |
Anonymous
| It's very dependent on your neighborhood and there are a lot of bubble UMC 'hoods like mine where you would never know anything has changed. I'm talking parts of AArlington, Old Town/Del Ray/Shirlington areas, parts of McLean for sure and along Ashburn. There's a HUGE gap of UMC who are still doing great. Esp working in pvt industry, you hear about high profile layoffs like Amazon, etc but in reality, I know nobody who has been impacted among any of my 2 kids' friends families in school, club sports or my network/circle. I think there's a lot of pain coming for ALL of us next year and the smart ones will already be prepping for belt tightening but currently, I see a lot of restaurants still crowded. I took my kid out for a late dinner post soccer practice on a Monday night around 730p and the Japanese restaurant was jammed pack like if was Saturday. |
Anonymous
| ^I think those in the Fed are really vulnerable but on some level, this shutdown will end. Ultimately, people will get paid and services will NEED to continue on some level - more a question on timing. I don't think Trump has the capacity as much as he'd like to shut down everything for good forever. So... to answer your question OP - I don't think that anything beyond 90 days is really going to move the needle in having people actually relo. Next year when everything is sky high, maybe based on standard of living costs zooming across the board, but no, I do not think the impact of this shut down is permanent and will impact people to leave DMV geography. Where would they actually go so much better unless it's a standard of living adjustment - mortgages are still high and instability is more or less prevalent across the board. Maybe they move for another job at hand but if you're not employed currently, the best course of action is patience until you get your job back. |
Anonymous
I sure talk about it all the time!!!  If I could, I would get my family the hell out of dodge. My 14 yr old 9th grader has always stated he wants out. He will study abroad and is grateful for studying another language. More motivation to keep up the academics to study abroad in college I'll be following closely LOL
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Anonymous
| I'm not a fed, but what I'm seeing is that the feds I know are largely (understandably) irritated and frustrated about the whole situation. The excepted ones are mad about having to work without being paid. The furloughed ones are having a good time actually but also feeling guilty for having a good time. The people that I see really struggling financially are the people who used to work for the feds (babysitter, etc) who started out lower income to begin with and are facing a loss of income but don't have special loans, food distributions, etc. It's a tough situation and I hope everyone gets through without too much damage. |
Anonymous
| I went for my mani pedi yesterday. My nail tech now works 4 days a week, fewer appointments. Clients are stretching out appointments or diy. He said restaurants around McLean and out to the western burbs are very empty. |
Anonymous
That's because you only know the ones with money. Go talk to some low earning feds who are worried about making rent. JFC. |
Anonymous
I think it's smaller local eateries that are hurting while larger popular restaurants are doing quite well. And some days are busier than others. Steak houses and Tysons parking lots look full. We went to pick up from the bakery next to Patsy's on a regular weekday evening and were shocked how busy the restaurant was, we could barely find parking. |
Anonymous
Unless you have family overseas or dual citizenship you cannot stay long there. I know families that did long stays overseas with kids in school and all came back. It's not a permanent solution, just escapism and adventure. Go for it. |
Anonymous
Plus private industry isn't really doing this well either, lots of mass layoffs announced. Not going to say this is out of the ordinary compared to other years with layoffs, most big companies announce them periodically, but it's just the trend over the years that keeps on going. Currently most of the US states top 3 employers are healthcare, government and education. This should tell you something. Whenever people get deluded about the role of government in the economy they don't realize how many private industry employers either directly or indirectly rely on government programs and subsidies. Grass is only greener if you are moving somewhere much cheaper where you also have connections like family and friends and whatever jobs you can get will support you. |
Anonymous
Those who aggressively pursue this are already dual citizens, have a second home overseas or are married to a dual citizen. There are many such people here. I know people who left, they know they can leave when things get tough and then waltz back if there is any positive change that would benefit them. Which if fine as long as you leave your well paying job for whoever is going to remain here. If you insist on keeping it and getting the same wage then good luck, because you have to be pretty irreplaceable to not be treated as a foreign worker (which you essentially become). If you don't have dual citizenship already, then yeah, you are just dreaming  If you have enough money for an investor visa then you are likely doing ok here anyway.
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