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Sportin' Wood
03-05-2007, 08:50 AM
Why People can be so stupid.
A Rant:
Last week I recieved notice that Our Company is way top heavy with its 401 K program. We put a 401 K in place for our employee's and match them 50%. We retroactivated eligibilty so more people could take advantage.
I will now have to take money out of my personal account(401K) because we have so little participation and pay a hefty fine.
We are ok with paying the fine but if only management is going to participate there are better ways for us to do that then a 401K. That being said we sent our middle management out to ask if any of the 30% of eligible employee's and those that will be eligible would like to participate, or if we should discountinue the company match 401K all together.
3 Employee's wanted to keep it. The rest said they have no disire to use a 401K program, and don't care. All 3 are in management.
WTF is wrong with people? It free money?
Its Pretax, and it changes their check like $12.00?
The more I work at being in business the more I see that there are really two kinds of people in the world...Winners and losers!
So bye bye 401K I just got a raise!:D Dumbasses!
Next stupid people question....
How is it that stealing the equity out of your home , buying another home in a different state and walking away from your Ca. home leaving the mortgage in default is some how a good idea? or for that matter renting in another state?
I'm starting to hear people talk about this and know at least one who allready bought a house in Co. and is packing as we speak. Good thing the loan biz is tightening up because there are a lot of dumbies talking about this and " The better life style" it will offer them. How is fawling up your credit and moving out of state with no job a better life style?
Man people are acting the fool right now!

HocusPocus
03-05-2007, 08:59 AM
i don't know what to tell you, it amazes me daily the things most people do or don't do.
i couldn't imagine not taking advantage of a 401k program but the hardware stores we have employee a little over 100 people out of those only 4 use the program in place. figure no one cares about their future.
How is it that stealing the equity out of your home , buying another home in a different state and walking away from your Ca. home leaving the mortgage in default is some how a good idea? or for that matter renting in another state?
I'm starting to hear people talk about this and know at least one who allready bought a house in Co. and is packing as we speak. Good thing the loan biz is tightening up because there are a lot of dumbies talking about this and " The better life style" it will offer them. How is fawling up your credit and moving out of state with no job a better life style?
for the second question it pissed me off also and i know 2 that are doing just that. they seem to think its funny and im sure the idea will be spreading. :mad:
Man people are acting the fool right now!
panic????? desperation?? clueless??

superdave013
03-05-2007, 09:14 AM
I think allot of those people don't understand the plans and or don't trust the man. At least that's the way it was at the last shop I worked at.
They switched plans and some guy came out and explained to our shop workers. Most of those guys didn't speak very good English and every one of them had the deer in the headlight look. These were guys who cash their checks because they don't trust the man or his banks. They damn sure didn't understand nor trust this clown in a suite. lol
So I called my dad who has been a broker longer then I've lived. Ended up putting him on speaker with all the shop guys (99% straight from Mexico) around. He explained it on a level they could understand. And explained how compounding interest works. And he worked for a different firm so it's not like he had anything to gain. All but 2 signed up.
Every year I'd get our choices and fax them off to my dad. He'd fax it back with where he would put his money. I'd pin it up by the time clock and call it "Dick's picks". In the 16 years I worked there he sure helped allot of people save some money.

Stingray69
03-05-2007, 09:14 AM
Guys I worked with always packed the 401K, then took out loans to race .... and shit.

brianthomas
03-05-2007, 09:24 AM
Why People can be so stupid.
A Rant:
Last week I recieved notice that Our Company is way top heavy with its 401 K program. We put a 401 K in place for our employee's and match them 50%. We retroactivated eligibilty so more people could take advantage.
I will now have to take money out of my personal account(401K) because we have so little participation and pay a hefty fine.
We are ok with paying the fine but if only management is going to participate there are better ways for us to do that then a 401K. That being said we sent our middle management out to ask if any of the 30% of eligible employee's and those that will be eligible would like to participate, or if we should discountinue the company match 401K all together.
3 Employee's wanted to keep it. The rest said they have no disire to use a 401K program, and don't care. All 3 are in management.
WTF is wrong with people? It free money?
Its Pretax, and it changes their check like $12.00?
The more I work at being in business the more I see that there are really two kinds of people in the world...Winners and losers!
So bye bye 401K I just got a raise!:D Dumbasses!
Next stupid people question....
How is it that stealing the equity out of your home , buying another home in a different state and walking away from your Ca. home leaving the mortgage in default is some how a good idea? or for that matter renting in another state?
I'm starting to hear people talk about this and know at least one who allready bought a house in Co. and is packing as we speak. Good thing the loan biz is tightening up because there are a lot of dumbies talking about this and " The better life style" it will offer them. How is fawling up your credit and moving out of state with no job a better life style?
Man people are acting the fool right now!
Can't you roll your 401K balance into an IRA or Roth IRA and avoid the penalties?

duner21
03-05-2007, 09:34 AM
I am having the same problem here at my work. There are 20 of us who are getting money back because we maxed out our 401k. They cannot get enough of the people to sign up. My taxes were almost done and now i have to wait because it is becoming taxable income for 2006.

MikeF
03-05-2007, 09:35 AM
Every year I'd get our choices and fax them off to my dad. He'd fax it back with where he would put his money. I'd pin it up by the time clock and call it "Dick's picks". In the 16 years I worked there he sure helped allot of people save some money.
How can I get one of those lists?! :D What would it cost? :)

blown65
03-05-2007, 09:41 AM
Its funny, here if you put in 3% it matches 3%. Put 5% it matches 4%. Ironically, quite a few put 3% in.
I just wish they would raise the cap on what you put in a yr.

superdave013
03-05-2007, 09:52 AM
How can I get one of those lists?! :D What would it cost? :)
the list of options would come from your 401K plan.

superdave013
03-05-2007, 09:55 AM
Can't you roll your 401K balance into an IRA or Roth IRA and avoid the penalties?
I htink he is talking about his company paying the penalties. Something to the effect that they have to many chiefs and not enough injuns in the plan.

SummitKarl
03-05-2007, 10:17 AM
How is it that stealing the equity out of your home , buying another home in a different state and walking away from your Ca. home leaving the mortgage in default is some how a good idea? or for that matter renting in another state?
I'm starting to hear people talk about this and know at least one who already bought a house in Co. and is packing as we speak. Good thing the loan biz is tightening up because there are a lot of dumbies talking about this and " The better life style" it will offer them. How is fawling up your credit and moving out of state with no job a better life style?
Man people are acting the fool right now!
I hear ya..one of my neighbors has done the same thing...we both bought our homes at the same time and for the same price, (same size home and lot), he has now borrowed himself 90% loan to value on a house that has tripled in value sense he bought it...thats a $1400 a month payment :jawdrop: for roughly the same house I am paying $400 a month for and I am at roughly 25% loan to value, he did this to by a home out of state and move there...well his out of state home closes escrow this month.. and there is yet to be a for sale sign in front of his current house, I know he can't afford this being as he hasn't worked in 6 months, just had a new baby, oh yea and bought himself a new Mercedes. WTF!!!!!
yup you got it he's moving out of state F'ing up his credit and walking away from the house here in Havi....and oh yea the girl he just married and had a kid with.....has done the same exact thing with her home here in Havasu, only she bought a Yukon and a set of implants:rolleyes: oh I forgot to mention SHE is a loan officer in town so you know how they got the money:rolleyes:
one of us worked our butt off the other did not, one of us is well on our way to being done with our mortgage, the other is about to move to another state with no job and become cash based for the rest of his life.
one of us might just have a new rental property soon;) the other...well... stupid is as stupid does:D

nodigg
03-05-2007, 10:17 AM
Jeff, I have the same rant!
I've had the same problem at one of my companies for years. I get a check back each year. Just can't get people to take adavantage and tak care of themselves. Seems so many of us live for today. You explain the tax advantages and how its their money and they can take loans to themselves and pay THEMSELVES interest instead of a bank and use it for education or health emergencies...blah, blah, blah. Even if a company does not match it makes SSSSOOOOOOO much financial sense. The tax advantage alone makes it worthwhile. But in the end, you can't expect everyoone to make wise financial choices, they want it done for them without ANY effort or sacrifice on their part I feel.
:confused:

blown65
03-05-2007, 10:22 AM
Jeff, I have the same rant!
I've had the same problem at one of my companies for years. I get a check back each year.
I'm so glad we changed ours so I dont have to take money back anymore. For a while I was lucky to put 1k a yr into our fund. :mad:

C-2
03-05-2007, 10:30 AM
Next stupid people question....
How is it that stealing the equity out of your home , buying another home in a different state and walking away from your Ca. home leaving the mortgage in default is some how a good idea? or for that matter renting in another state?
I'm starting to hear people talk about this and know at least one who allready bought a house in Co. and is packing as we speak. Good thing the loan biz is tightening up because there are a lot of dumbies talking about this and " The better life style" it will offer them. How is fawling up your credit and moving out of state with no job a better life style?
Man people are acting the fool right now!
That's just their way of hiding the fact they can no longer afford their Cali mortgage and massive CC/Heloc debt and need to bail.
With all the loans adjusting, they have priced themselves out of their existing mortgage, and since they can walk away from it without recourse...they are.
Yeah, Cali sux arse. GTF out, we won't miss you. ;) Ballers falling daily, lol

little rowe boat
03-05-2007, 11:04 AM
Many people don't understand. All they see is that their paycheck will be a little smaller, due to their contribution. They don't see the free money side of it. That is one of reasons why the rich get richer and poor get poorer.

rampgirl-top
03-05-2007, 01:57 PM
401k's were what motivated me 15 yrs ago to start saving. Our company matches upto 4%. I put in 5% and they put in 4% of every paycheck. I am leaving the company this friday and will either roll it into the next jobs 401K or into my ira. Either way it was still pain free savings!!!:D

Sportin' Wood
03-05-2007, 02:21 PM
The big sell is its pretax... Well, there are other programs out there that are pre tax and I don't have to jump through hoops to take it with me when I leave.
Forensic
Honestly I think that is the big problem with my work force.
Loyalty is gone, gone are the days of retiring with a company you grew, worked, and saved with. Society is looking for the bigger better deal.
I wonder if its a conflict of interest if I start cashing payroll checks for an 8% fee? Most my Employee's pay the Arab down the street 10%. This is how screwed the middle class is. Most of my Field guys make between $18-$24.00 an hour, but there credit is so screwed up they can't have a bank account. Its a friggen joke. They give away more then the 401K would take out of the check. They some how have nice trucks?:confused:

Sportin' Wood
03-05-2007, 02:28 PM
That's just their way of hiding the fact they can no longer afford their Cali mortgage and massive CC/Heloc debt and need to bail.
With all the loans adjusting, they have priced themselves out of their existing mortgage, and since they can walk away from it without recourse...they are. We know somebody doing this too. The grass is always greener on the other side.
Yeah, Cali sux arse. GTF out, we won't miss you. ;) Ballers falling daily, lol
I watched this happen in the 90's also. Worked stopped and We had to struggle to make a Mortgage payment. I was in the 60 day late colum for at least a year. It really put the hurt to my credit score I remember people telling me I screwed up and should have let the bank take the house as it would have been better for my credit score...... Funny my credit score did not mean crap when I had a fat down payment for the next house when the market rebound happened. I could just not walk out on the loan and Rent was damn near what my mortgage was anyway? Dominoes pizza, mowing yards and lots of side jobs.
I knew this market would slow down at some point and people would just walk away from from the Cash cow they milked.

909punk
03-05-2007, 02:51 PM
damn.. where do you work.. do you need an internet business guru? hell..i'll pay myself.. just match 50% my 401k participate.
:)

superdave013
03-05-2007, 03:23 PM
Honestly I think that is the big problem with my work force.
Loyalty is gone, gone are the days of retiring with a company you grew, worked, and saved with. Society is looking for the bigger better deal.
I wonder if its a conflict of interest if I start cashing payroll checks for an 8% fee? Most my Employee's pay the Arab down the street 10%. This is how screwed the middle class is. Most of my Field guys make between $18-$24.00 an hour, but there credit is so screwed up they can't have a bank account. Its a friggen joke. They give away more then the 401K would take out of the check. They some how have nice trucks?:confused:
That loyalty goes both ways too. Lots of companys are not even close to loyal like they used to be. Just sign of the times and the way it is I guess.
But I disagree with your middle class comment. I think middle class people deposit their checks, low class people cash them. And I've know more then one low class person driving a nice new truck.

Sportin' Wood
03-05-2007, 03:49 PM
That loyalty goes both ways too. Lots of companys are not even close to loyal like they used to be. Just sign of the times and the way it is I guess.
But I disagree with your middle class comment. I think middle class people deposit their checks, low class people cash them. And I've know more then one low class person driving a nice new truck.
Speaking of loyalty Heres an example of loyalty going both ways. Its old news but interesting enough that some may not have seen the true Lennar yet.
The following article appeared on the front page of today's San Diego Union Tribune's Business Section:
Lennar asks contractors for discounts on finished work
By Roger Showley
STAFF WRITER
March 2, 2007
Lennar Corp., San Diego County's top home builder last year, is asking its framers, plumbers and other contractors to reduce their bills by as much as 20 percent for work under way or already completed or face exclusion from bidding on future jobs for the next six months.
Through a state trade association, the contractors are fighting the highly unusual request by asking state Attorney General Jerry Brown and local district attorneys to investigate Lennar's action for possible criminal charges under laws relating to extortion.
In similarly worded press releases issued this week, the action was compared to extortion by Cees Molenaar and Beth Curran, executive directors, respectively, of the San Diego and Orange County- Inland Empire chapters of the California Professional Association of Specialty Contractors.
But so far, according to Lennar, most of the builder's contractors are going along with the requested cuts in invoices.
“This is a business proposition,” said Lennar's southwestern U.S. regional vice president Jeff Roos. “For an immediate reduction, you will continue to stay on our bid list. If you're not interested, we're happy to pay you.”
He said he had not seen the contractors' complaint letter to the legal authorities and declined comment on the charge of possible extortion.
After the Lennar letters went out in January, the specialty contractors group, based in Sacramento, sent letters to the state attorney general and several local district attorneys asking for an investigation.
“We believe this potentially criminal act is a flagrant example of the abuses of power builders exercise over trade contractors,” wrote Brad Diede, the specialty contractor organization's executive vice president.
Diede said San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis declined to investigate, while several other offices have not yet decided what they will do. A representative of Dumanis said the office does not comment on possible investigations.
It is not unusual to negotiate new terms on future contracts, Diede said, but contractors have never been asked to take less after the work has been completed.
Molenaar said in an interview that San Diego contractors are afraid to publicly object to Lennar's demands.
“We want the public to understand that it's this builder that's the issue,” he said. “We're not fighting all the builders. Our members see this as retribution and don't want to deal with any retaliation.”
Paul Tryon, chief executive of the San Diego County Building Industry Association, whose membership includes both builders and contractors, said he had never heard of builders seeking discounts from contractors after work has been completed. But he predicted that the local building slowdown would end relatively soon as inventories of unsold homes evaporate.
Miami-based Lennar, which reported in January its first quarterly loss in nearly a decade, left it to its regional presidents to work out the details of achieving cost savings from local contractors.
A letter sent to contractors elsewhere in the state specified contractors should reduce their invoices by a set percentage – Roos said it ranged from 5 percent to 20 percent – or “be excluded from work for a minimum of six months.”
But Jennifer Bonasia, division president for San Diego, was not as direct in a letter that set no fixed reduction but instead invited contractors to individual meetings “to strategize together how we can stay active in San Diego in 2007.”
“We have a mandate from our corporate office to reduce the costs on contracted work pertaining to all invoices received after Jan. 15,” she wrote. “These homes that are closing now in most cases are still closing at a net loss and thus forcing us to reduce what we are able to pay to our trade partners.”
According to San Diego-based MarketPointe Realty Advisors, Lennar was the top builder in the county last year with 611 sales, representing 6.5 percent of the market. As of Dec. 31, the company had seven projects with 58 homes for sale and 214 remaining for development in two detached-and five attached- housing projects.

Scream
03-05-2007, 04:24 PM
Why People can be so stupid.
A Rant:
Last week I recieved notice that Our Company is way top heavy with its 401 K program. We put a 401 K in place for our employee's and match them 50%. We retroactivated eligibilty so more people could take advantage.
I will now have to take money out of my personal account(401K) because we have so little participation and pay a hefty fine.
Next stupid people question....
How is it that stealing the equity out of your home , buying another home in a different state and walking away from your Ca. home leaving the mortgage in default is some how a good idea? or for that matter renting in another state?
Man people are acting the fool right now!
Hey Jeff,
Regarding the 401K...have you ever thought of a simple IRA plan, it's similar but I don't think you have the same restrictions to qualify on participation. We have a Simple IRA plan and we don't get too much particapation from the rank and file, but from mid to upper mgmt, we get 100%. Just a thought.
On question #2, this sounds a lot like what happened during the Real Estate market in the mid 90's. There were tons of Repos and such, houses being boarded up left and right, not to mention the knuckleheads (no affiliation with anyone with same screen name...)that bled the equity from their homes and filed bankruptcy. During the 90's many folks quit claimed to thier mortgage holders, who lost money on the transactions because the homes were not worth what were owed to the lenders. The Lenders would sell the homes, eventually, and bill the difference to the previous homeowner. What a racket. Had some friends in that situation, ended up coughing up an extra 20 G's to get out of the old mortgage.
Oh, and by the way, nice Mr. T impersonation.
Scream

Sportin' Wood
03-05-2007, 05:34 PM
Hey Jeff,
Regarding the 401K...have you ever thought of a simple IRA plan, it's similar but I don't think you have the same restrictions to qualify on participation. We have a Simple IRA plan and we don't get too much particapation from the rank and file, but from mid to upper mgmt, we get 100%. Just a thought.
On question #2, this sounds a lot like what happened during the Real Estate market in the mid 90's. There were tons of Repos and such, houses being boarded up left and right, not to mention the knuckleheads (no affiliation with anyone with same screen name...)that bled the equity from their homes and filed bankruptcy. During the 90's many folks quit claimed to thier mortgage holders, who lost money on the transactions because the homes were not worth what were owed to the lenders. The Lenders would sell the homes, eventually, and bill the difference to the previous homeowner. What a racket. Had some friends in that situation, ended up coughing up an extra 20 G's to get out of the old mortgage.
Oh, and by the way, nice Mr. T impersonation.
Scream
Thanks Matt, We have a plan for the management, just ranting about stupid people:D

H20 Toie
03-05-2007, 07:11 PM
I had the same problem at my company so we did a safe harbor which means i contribute to the employees a set amount but even if they don't put there own money in, that way whoever wants to can still put in 100%
It's hard to understand why everyone doesn't put in the max but that's life

78Southwind
03-05-2007, 09:38 PM
I think allot of those people don't understand the plans and or don't trust the man. At least that's the way it was at the last shop I worked at.
They switched plans and some guy came out and explained to our shop workers. Most of those guys didn't speak very good English and every one of them had the deer in the headlight look. These were guys who cash their checks because they don't trust the man or his banks. They damn sure didn't understand nor trust this clown in a suite. lol
So I called my dad who has been a broker longer then I've lived. Ended up putting him on speaker with all the shop guys (99% straight from Mexico) around. He explained it on a level they could understand. And explained how compounding interest works. And he worked for a different firm so it's not like he had anything to gain. All but 2 signed up.
Every year I'd get our choices and fax them off to my dad. He'd fax it back with where he would put his money. I'd pin it up by the time clock and call it "Dick's picks". In the 16 years I worked there he sure helped allot of people save some money.
Bingo *Education*