First job out of college- questions about benefits.

Awesome thread. A butt load of good financial advice from CheapAssGamers which really surprised me.. since you know, we're cheap.. gamers. Ahaha.

Anyway, not trying to go off topic of thread cap, but, does anyone have any recommendations for a daily personal finance website? Daily as in.. like an article or two a day, and personal as in written by some random person for the average person who offers some financial advice to improve one's net worth or equity? Of course, I googled this, but blogs and websites are a dime a dozen and I'm unsure of which to read daily on a casual basis. Personal favorite's and recommendations would be nice, and I'll make sure to give each a read. I read Free Money Finance once in a while.

Another question.. how much do you think a person who's about to turn 22 should have in their savings account? I live in California. Random I know, but I'm pretty worried about graduating next June and finding a job might be pretty rough especially in this economy (damned competitive in Orange County, for sure).

Woot.
 
[quote name='mis0']Anyway, not trying to go off topic of thread cap, but, does anyone have any recommendations for a daily personal finance website? Daily as in.. like an article or two a day, and personal as in written by some random person for the average person who offers some financial advice to improve one's net worth or equity? Of course, I googled this, but blogs and websites are a dime a dozen and I'm unsure of which to read daily on a casual basis. Personal favorite's and recommendations would be nice, and I'll make sure to give each a read. I read Free Money Finance once in a while.[/QUOTE]

www.daveramsey.com

[quote name='mis0'] Another question.. how much do you think a person who's about to turn 22 should have in their savings account? I live in California. Random I know, but I'm pretty worried about graduating next June and finding a job might be pretty rough especially in this economy (damned competitive in Orange County, for sure).[/QUOTE]

Step 1: $1000 in the bank.
Step 2: No debts except a mortgage.
Step 3: An emergency fund of 6-12 months of expenses.
 
[quote name='mis0']Awesome thread. A butt load of good financial advice from CheapAssGamers which really surprised me.. since you know, we're cheap.. gamers. Ahaha.

Anyway, not trying to go off topic of thread cap, but, does anyone have any recommendations for a daily personal finance website? Daily as in.. like an article or two a day, and personal as in written by some random person for the average person who offers some financial advice to improve one's net worth or equity? Of course, I googled this, but blogs and websites are a dime a dozen and I'm unsure of which to read daily on a casual basis. Personal favorite's and recommendations would be nice, and I'll make sure to give each a read. I read Free Money Finance once in a while.[/QUOTE]

Why I asked people on CAG: People here are cheap, but that also means many are frugal and have good financial knowledge. There are a ton of intelligent posters here and I've seen them offer great advice on issues such as this before. CAG has been my go-to site for serious life advice for years.

I read FMF too. It's... ok, but not great. I've seen some good advice but also a lot of dumb or obvious shit. I'd be interested in another good finance site as well. No worries on asking your own financial questions; as I said in the OP, anyone can ask their own related questions in this thread.
 
For my financial edification, I read:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/

I would stay away from I will teach you to be rich, Sethi's writing style comes off to me as way too arrogant and pandering to himself. Very narcisstic and door-to-door salesman-like. The two I linked are good guys that are normal folks who've experienced massive debt and recovered (leading to their financial insight), instead of some marketing major from Stanford like Sethi (the dude's way too smart to be fully transparent).

These blogs got me through my internship this summer, hah. I'm envious that you, DoK, had what seems to be an exciting / enjoyable internship that led to a job position -- perhaps I'm yet too young / no (marketable) skills for that same situation. All my internships seem to be resume fillers so far, which isn't a bad thing I suppose.
 
[quote name='c0rnpwn']For my financial edification, I read:

http://www.thesimpledollar.com/
http://www.getrichslowly.org/blog/

I would stay away from I will teach you to be rich, Sethi's writing style comes off to me as way too arrogant and pandering to himself. Very narcisstic and door-to-door salesman-like. The two I linked are good guys that are normal folks who've experienced massive debt and recovered (leading to their financial insight), instead of some marketing major from Stanford like Sethi (the dude's way too smart to be fully transparent).

These blogs got me through my internship this summer, hah. I'm envious that you, DoK, had what seems to be an exciting / enjoyable internship that led to a job position -- perhaps I'm yet too young / no (marketable) skills for that same situation. All my internships seem to be resume fillers so far, which isn't a bad thing I suppose.[/QUOTE]

I was in between my junior and senior years of college for the internship. Are you in college yet? What is your major? Also, it really varies from company to company and industry to industry if your internship is worthwhile. Take a look at polls and articles that list the companies with worthwhile internships. I am in accounting and the Big 4 accounting firms offer very worthwhile internships with great perks and pay (I got $18.50 an hour with time and a half for overtime and a free trip to Disney World at the end). There are probably more crap internships in non business or engineering majors, but it's worth a shot.
 
I'm a junior in college now, my previous internships were right after I finished freshman year and sophomore year -- first one was Wall Street during Lehman Bros. collapse (man was that a fun office environment that summer) but at a ratings firm (so while they weren't screwed by the collapses they were under heavy government scrutiny). The second was at good ol' GE across the pond in London, I was doing legal work.

My major...wait for it...Latin. Yeah, useless, but I love it -- gonna need to hit up law school or get an MBA. I'm not worried at all about my useless undergrad, unless you're in a very specific (and desired) field like you with accounting, college is the new high school.

This thread reminds me that I should probably start doing a cursory glance for internships this summer, hell maybe I can go back to Wall Street, they seemed eager to have me back (or so I heard from a colleague a year after my internship terminated).
 
Yeah if you were in the business field I could definitely hook you up with more specific information on good companies. However, definitely start looking for internships NOW. I was looking at this time the year for internships back in 2007. I got my internship in November for the following summer. Sounds like you got a very good start thus far though. Just keep it up.
 
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[quote name='Dead of Knight']I was in between my junior and senior years of college for the internship. Are you in college yet? What is your major? Also, it really varies from company to company and industry to industry if your internship is worthwhile. Take a look at polls and articles that list the companies with worthwhile internships. I am in accounting and the Big 4 accounting firms offer very worthwhile internships with great perks and pay (I got $18.50 an hour with time and a half for overtime and a free trip to Disney World at the end). There are probably more crap internships in non business or engineering majors, but it's worth a shot.[/QUOTE]

My mother is a partner for a firm part of Ernst & Young.

I can't really give you much advice on your retirement planning because I am in business for myself and go to medical school. Essentially all the money I make is what I save :bouncy:
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']Yeah if you were in the business field I could definitely hook you up with more specific information on good companies. However, definitely start looking for internships NOW. I was looking at this time the year for internships back in 2007. I got my internship in November for the following summer. Sounds like you got a very good start thus far though. Just keep it up.[/QUOTE]


Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I know I need these internships to diversify my skill-set and to see in which industry I would want to work. I know if I pursue an MBA I can definitely make it in the business world, same goes for law.

Generally question for the round table, if I'm applying for internships is a cover letter necessary? Or is it 'suggested' (i.e., necessary)? Never used one before, but I acquired those internships not through mainstream ways. Yep, I see that it's required, never mind.
 
On the career services site for my university, most employers (all the ones I looked at) did NOT want cover letters. Maybe because they get so many apps anyway from the site, they don't want to deal with an extra sheet of paper.
 
get rich slowly is a great blog and that guy is from Portland, Or.

My suggestion Dead, think about some mutual funds and a financial advisor. Even though the market is down most mutual funds are still doing decent.
 
Wish I took up accounting. My university has a great program and they only offer a minor to boot. This 9 course minor is hella sought after in many great companies here in Orange County.

I'm a dumbass Economics major (which I began with when I entered college) doubling in Political Science (picked it up to boost my shit show GPA).

Pretty damned worried because I hella messed around freshman year. Worked my ass off to bring my 2.1 GPA at the end of 1st year to my current 3.4. I've interned with a few fortune 500 companies, but cannot see myself living and working up the corporate ladder so my last option is grad school. Really scared shitless because I'm graduating in less than 9 months and I still don't know with certainty what awaits for me in the coming years. Perhaps getting my JD at a Top 30, making a modest 40-50k out of college, or working at the local Starbucks? Anything goes. fuckkk. Haha.

Currently sitting on $13k in the savings, a couple more thousand in the 401k with only about $3k in no-interest college loans. Financing my IS250 and the only other debt I have is about $1k on my credit cards. The job market is real competitive in Orange County so I haven't been able to land a decent part time office job or internship in the past year. God damned, I'm scared even talking about this, better go back to messing around in the actual gaming sub forums. Haha.

Anyway, I've favorited all the blogs recommended. I'll probably take a gander when time permits. Woo.
 
[quote name='mis0']Wish I took up accounting. My university has a great program and they only offer a minor to boot. This 9 course minor is hella sought after in many great companies here in Orange County.

I'm a dumbass Economics major (which I began with when I entered college) doubling in Political Science (picked it up to boost my shit show GPA).

Pretty damned worried because I hella messed around freshman year. Worked my ass off to bring my 2.1 GPA at the end of 1st year to my current 3.4. I've interned with a few fortune 500 companies, but cannot see myself living and working up the corporate ladder so my last option is grad school. Really scared shitless because I'm graduating in less than 9 months and I still don't know with certainty what awaits for me in the coming years. Perhaps getting my JD at a Top 30, making a modest 40-50k out of college, or working at the local Starbucks? Anything goes. fuckkk. Haha.

Currently sitting on $13k in the savings, a couple more thousand in the 401k with only about $3k in no-interest college loans. Financing my IS250 and the only other debt I have is about $1k on my credit cards. The job market is real competitive in Orange County so I haven't been able to land a decent part time office job or internship in the past year. God damned, I'm scared even talking about this, better go back to messing around in the actual gaming sub forums. Haha.

Anyway, I've favorited all the blogs recommended. I'll probably take a gander when time permits. Woo.[/QUOTE]

You should be grateful if you manage to get a crummy job like being cashier at starbucks after you graduate -- considering your major and the current job market.

How are you able to graduate debt-free with so much leftover savings? Wealthy parent or inheritance? If so, you should just take a year or two off
to have fun.
 
[quote name='rumblebear']You should be grateful if you manage to get a crummy job like being cashier at starbucks after you graduate -- considering your major and the current job market.

How are you able to graduate debt-free with so much leftover savings? Wealthy parent or inheritance? If so, you should just take a year or two off
to have fun.[/QUOTE]

I would be grateful for a Starbucks job. My roommate has been graduated almost a year and a half now and he's a barista at a local coffee shop. Best he can do until the economy gets better. We had similar majors as well (bullshit Social Sciences).

As for myself. I started receiving grants and scholarships after my GPA started improving dramatically. I will be getting a free ride this upcoming year with some extra cash per quarter to spend on housing and school expenses. I will most likely be spending the extra cash for LSAT prep courses, law school applications, and keep some extra to get me through the summer without working (if necessary) to prepare my applications, statements, and get my recommendations together. As for the college debt, I've been paying back whatever I borrowed whenever I had cash. Mind you, I only borrowed about $12k to star for first year so it wasn't that bad at all. Worked about 2 years an average of 30 hours a week to pay back what I can. Leaving the $3k remaining until I absolutely have to pay it back so I can have some options for investment if needed.

As for wealthy parents.. I wish! Haha. I'm a first generation college student and I'm not even a first generation American (immigrated here when I was a child). I only recently decided to pursue graduate school after the economy went to shit towards the fall last year. Didn't have enough time to think it over and prep for whatever so I will probably have to take a year off anyhow. I will most likely try to secure whatever job I can find to accumulate me cash for law school. I know for a fact that I will be in a shitload of debt come law school. Hopefully it will be worth it.. though I've heard that the abundance of lawyers is now baffling. But again, no other option for me, I'm screwed.

But yeah, we'll see how things come June 2010. I actually spent the past couple hours applying for some work-study jobs on campus. I was told by a friend that for one work study job in her department, almost 300 people applied. Scary stuff.
 
I remember something my economics professor once told me, that a degree in economics is only worth it if you want to teach it to other people.
 
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Yeah, you generally want to stay away from most social sciences unless you want to stay on through the Ph D and do research and teach.

There are exceptions, but the job market for most social sciences with just a BA/BS degree is pretty tight. But some places it helps--i.e. some Police departments won't higher without a bachelors now, so a Criminology and Criminal Justice degree can be helpful/needed in some areas--or for federal law enforcement jobs.

But something like Economics isn't much worth it without grad school. Which is a fine route if you're willing to do all the work. I just finished my Ph D in Criminology and started my Asst. Professor gig last month and love it. Work a ton, but tons of flexibility in what hours I work and what I work on.
 
Shit, I'm majoring English and it's mainly for trolling. Err I mean teaching. I don't expect to be a rich man, but I do expect to at least live a comfortable life. That and possibly teach in three countries so I have stories to tell my students.
 
or you can be like my older brother, do premed, med school... you will go about 200k in debt and work about 80-90 hrs week for about 35k for about 6 yrs.. but should pay off when he turns about 38! and starts making the big bucks... of course that amount of debt is just ridiculous
 
I had to set up benefits too at my job, and I'll admit I was really unsure at first what to do. I personally think I could have done a better job putting them together, but at least I'll learn for the future.

I went with an excellent health plan, where I'd just have to pay $10 for doctor visits and covered almost everything. It may have been expensive, but I feel its well worth it. Only thing that sucked was I had to choose a primary doctor and I have yet to have one where I live now.

I got dental insurance because it wasn't that much, but I have yet to use it (I kind of hate going to the dentist and I have yet to find one).

I also got vision insurance because it was just $0.44 a week from my paycheck, but I dunno if I'll ever utilize it (my vision isn't that bad). It gives you free lenses, cheap eye exam, + $120 off of frames or so every two years.

I also enrolled in other benefits that was cheap. I didn't enroll for some benefits due to the higher cost and didn't feel they were needed right away (like long term disability). I somewhat screwed up the savings plan and didn't do it how I wanted, but a small percentage is still being saved. Next year I'll change my savings around a bit.

Unfortunately for me, I was mostly on my own on enrolling benefits. Didn't know many at work, only asked my Dad about health insurance (since he dealt with most companies and knew which ones were good and which ones were not good), but everything else I pretty much did on my own. I feel I'll learn from experience.

Thankfully I'm not losing much each paycheck for benefits since I'm a single guy.
 
it all depends how you old you are.

I'm just had the profit sharing meeting I get 3% of my salary put into an account but I become vested after a year at 20% by the time its 5 years its 100% vested, that means I get 100% of the money when i retire etc

There's also a 403b centered around mutual funds through America Funds. I think I might try to put $100 a month toward that.
 
[quote name='Megalith']I've worked for a little over half a year and still haven't set up my 401k.

Am I fucked?[/QUOTE]

Not fucked...especially if you're still young. But the sooner you get it started the better since it's more time to save away money and have it earning returns.
 
Do it tomorrow, do it ASAP. Even if it's not the best plan, just get it started. Compounding interest is delicious
 
[quote name='HuBu']Also look into life insurance.[/QUOTE]

good idea. i have life insurance through my work, its $1.03 a month and pays up to 1 year salary if i were to die. i can pay more and get up to 4x my salary if i wanted. certainly a hell of a lot cheaper than going elsewhere.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']good idea. i have life insurance through my work, its $1.03 a month and pays up to 1 year salary if i were to die. i can pay more and get up to 4x my salary if i wanted. certainly a hell of a lot cheaper than going elsewhere.[/QUOTE]

Yeah its great if your have debts (ie a house), its just a method to making sure who ever you leave behind can manage things instead of going under. the younger you start the better the rate.
 
There's also some life insurance plans that will start paying out once you reach a certain age (62, 65 etc.) that you can look into. I'm not a big fan of those--but some are since it's a safety net if something happens to you as well as something that can be part of your retirement portfolio.
 
I dunno, I completely opted out of the life insurance because I have no debts or children, my fiance makes about the same salary as me, and I have the shitload of money in savings, so he'd be able to live comfortably even if I died. My parents (well, my dad) makes an absolute shitload in salary so they'd be fine as well.
 
my employer does not have a matching 401k so what i do is i dump 10% of salary into that, then i max the roth IRA by putting in $420/mo.

it's all in stocks since i'm probably not gonna see that money in 30 years anyway. for the roth i piled everything into S&P 500 index fund like warren buffett said. and for the 401k it's largecap + "socially responsible" fund.

generally what i hear in terms of saving method it should be prioritized like this:
401k, max matching
Roth IRA (if eligible)
401k or regular IRA
investment acct

and 2-3 months worth of emergency living expenses.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']I dunno, I completely opted out of the life insurance because I have no debts or children, my fiance makes about the same salary as me, and I have the shitload of money in savings, so he'd be able to live comfortably even if I died. My parents (well, my dad) makes an absolute shitload in salary so they'd be fine as well.[/QUOTE]I went with Life Insurance since it was only $0.79 out of my weekly paycheck.
 
There are jobs out there for Economics degrees. I have one and was offered a job as an Economist for the Department of Labor but ultimately ended taking a job for the Army doing contracts since all it required was a halfway decent GPA, and any degree as long as it had 24 business hours I believe. I have since transferred to doing logistics for the Navy. I started as a GS-7 (GS is the main Government pay system), after 1 year become a GS-9, 2 years a GS-11, and 3 years a GS-12 (which I expect to be about $80,000 per year in my area by the time I get there with annual raises). After that promotions are competitive. GS-13 is effectively the same job I do now with a fancier title but starts at $100kish by the time I'm eligible. After that come the management positions.

They match up to 5% of my pay into the 401K equivalent. I can put up to 15% of my pay in myself. We have decent health benefits and can pick from quite a few plans. Not fantastic, but nothing to sneeze at. Dental and vision are available as supplementary. I can retire at 57 with no penalties, earlier if they have an early retirement going at the time.

Secret clearance is required just in case you ever have to work with something classified, but considering I work with support equipment (stuff like tow tractors, spare parts, trucks, etc.) that is....unlikely. It's not hard to get though as long as you don't have any major screw ups on your record.

It's a pretty low stress job (contracts, however, was high stress) and I love it. I'd highly recommend checking out usajobs.com for Government internships.
 
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