Issues

Tales from the Wallet: Tax-Savvy Investments

by Kat on 01/25/2012 · 124 comments

in Home Ownership, Investing, Money, Tales from the Wallet

Something I’ve been thinking a lot about since I read it is this Mint article on “The Value of Tax-Deferred Savings.” According to the article, “[u]nless you make enough money to max out all of your tax-advantaged accounts (401(k), IRA, 529, HSA, and the like), it rarely makes sense to do any investing outside them.” (Please note, I am not a financial adviser — this is all just my personal knowledge, so take it with a grain of salt.) (Pictured: Marc by Marc Jacobs – Turnlock Shine Long Tri-fold (Electric Teal) – Bags and Luggage, on sale at Zappos from $198 down to $150 today. Lots of great sales on Marc by Marc Jacobs stuff on Zappos today, actually.)

To be honest, the value of tax-deferred investing isn’t something I understood until really, really recently. So I thought we’d review some of the main vehicles for tax-savvy savings here, answering — for each, the main questions on everyone’s mind:

What’s the advantage?
How much can you put into it?
Who can use it?
Can you use it to put a downpayment on a house, or pay for something else big (wedding, car, schooling, etc)?
When can you take it out?

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Open Thread: What Are Your Best Self-Defense Tips?

by Kat on 01/23/2012 · 196 comments

in After-Work Activities, Commuting, Lifestyle, Travel

Self defense is not the most fun subject, but it’s been on my mind a bit and I thought it would be a good topic to talk about. As I’ve been getting back into running, I finally got a Road ID (which is every bit as awesome as I thought it was when I first heard about it). If you missed the post, it’s a simple bracelet you wear on your wrist that has your name and some “in case of emergency” contact numbers. I was telling a male friend about my Road ID, and he was incredulous about it — “That’s such a dark way to go through life, always worried about being attacked!” He continued to chide me about it, and after thinking a second or two I said, “Dude. You’re saying this because you’re a guy. This is kind of what it’s like for chicks all the time — you always have to be aware of your surroundings, and make sure you’re parking in a well-lit spot, and have your keys out before you get to your apartment, and so forth.” (Pictured: Hiyah, originally uploaded to Flickr by DRSPIEGEL14.)

Maybe my parents were extra dark and overprotective to raise me that way. I remember when I first moved to New York (in 1997!!) they advised me to “never get on an elevator with a man, alone.” That one seemed a little crazy and hard to follow anyway (if a guy got on mid-ride, was I supposed to get out of the elevator and wait for the next car?), but that rule totally went out the window when I went to my first sample sale. Sketchy freight elevator to go up to a warehouse-type loft? Well, I thought, as long as there’s a good sale behind it it’s fine. After all, the fashion editors I worked for heard about it by fax — what could possibly go wrong?

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Office Decor: How Nice is Too Nice?

by Kat on 01/17/2012 · 81 comments

in Comfort, Office Decor, Professionalism

Reader L wonders “how nice is too nice” for an office…

I will be moving into an corporate environment soon after being a teacher for several years. I have a fabulous office and would like to really make it a place I enjoy being, however I have noticed that the other women in the office (including my boss) don’t personalize their spaces much. Would it be a faux pas to put more effort into my office than they do? Help!

I’ve worked with some people — both women as well as men — who hired a decorator to come in and “do” their office, and I’ve worked with people who seemed totally content to work amidst a flurry of papers, brown file boxes, and the occasional book strewn about. So for my $.02, it is totally personality-based and you should decorate your office how you want. (Pictured: IMG_5626, originally uploaded to Flickr by invent.) That said, however, there are a few limits that you should consider…

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The Sick Coworker You Don’t Know Well

by Kat on 01/12/2012 · 37 comments

in CoWorker Problems

Reader S wonders what to do about an ill officemate she doesn’t know very well…

I have an office etiquette question. I work in a large office suite and am on nodding acquaintance with a woman on the other side of the floor. Recently she has started wearing a head scarf, and once I saw her without one, and she has lost all her hair.

Should I just ignore this? Or a general “everything OK?” and let her disclose what she’d like?

Hmmn. I think this really depends both on the office as well as what you know of this woman. My gut is telling me to continue your relationship as normal rather than say anything — smile, make chitchat, and see if she brings it up. I think my reasoning is going like this: if you don’t talk to the woman much now, and then you start this conversation and she says something like “well yes, actually, I have cancer and have six months to live,” then what are you going to do with that information? Be her best friend? Go back to not talking to her? It seems selfish to bring it up to satisfy your own curiosity. (Pictured: Scarves, originally uploaded to Flickr by theqspeaks.)

On the other hand, if it’s a smaller office and the woman doesn’t have many people to talk to, you may want to broach the subject if you’re ready to be the person she can lean on at the office. The next time I saw her — in the coffee room, washing your hands in the ladies room, whatever — I might go one of two routes, and say something like “How are you feeling?” — or something very casual, such as “that’s a beautiful scarf — is it silk?” Or something like that, and see where the conversation goes.

I’m curious, readers — what do you think? Do you think the coworker should know Reader S is concerned and has noticed — or that Reader S should mind her own business?

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When You’re Held Back Because You’re Too Good

by Kat on 01/10/2012 · 60 comments

in Business Etiquette, Career, CoWorker Problems, Success, Transitions

Have you ever been denied a promotion because you were too good at your current job? Reader N suspects this may be what’s at play at her workplace, and wonders what she can do about it.

I just read your article “Getting the Work You Want” and I wanted to ask a follow up question. I’ve found myself in a position of getting passed over for moving into a complex litigation team, despite having openly expressed my interest, and my superior agreeing that I would be better used in that area. (I’ve had this reinforced by rave reviews for my senior attorneys and from fellow co-workers who I’ve helped out.)

From what I can tell, it seems that my superiors (and theirs) place more value in the fact that I can manage my workload and simultaneously back up three to four people at a time. I’ve backed up coworkers in the complex team, too, but as for moving up with them permanently… nothing.

So what’s a girl to do when I have spoken up and asked… and nothing happens? Have I shot myself in the foot by having quality and quantity? Should I just take the rave reviews and recommendations and look for work elsewhere?

Fabulous question. There are a million reasons why people don’t get jobs and promotions — including not being right for them. That said, something I’ve seen happen is when a boss keeps a “good worker” in the trenches because his or her own life is made so much easier by the worker. The boss knows the job will get done, and done well. He or she doesn’t have to hire or train anyone new. It’s great! For the boss, that is. For the worker (which may be Reader N, here) you don’t grow at all. For a particularly selfish boss, he or she may also try to restrain you from working with other people, give you lackluster reviews or recommendations to keep you with them, and maybe even talk down to you to make you question whether or not you “deserve” better than your current job. (Pictured: Held back, originaly uploaded to Flickr by Matthew Wilkinson.)

This is one of the reasons why it’s so important to be the master of your own career. You need to be the one constantly assessing where you are — and speaking up until you get to where you should be, even if that makes you feel pushy. If you do find yourself in a situation where a boss is holding you back, in my opinion, there isn’t much you can do about it beyond getting away from the the toxic personality. And if that means taking a new job, so be it.

However, I would give every boss the benefit of the doubt — once. For example, here, Reader N says “from what I can tell” — N, have you spoken to your superiors about why you didn’t get moved to the area you wanted? This is a 100% valid question. Approach it with a learning mindset — be as far from “entitled” as you can be. Frustrated is fine — exacerbated even — but be careful about crossing into “angry and emotional.” Sit down with your superiors, show the different ways that you made your preference known, the positive feedback you got, and then express your confusion over the lack of movement that followed. I’d also ask when you can next expect to be moved to your preferred area.

Once you have their official answer, look at it objectively. Maybe you were lacking a certain skill. Maybe Person X had more of the skills needed. Maybe they wanted to keep you in your current department until a particular big project finished. Maybe a more formal process is required for a move like the one you want. Whatever they say, try to make sense of it. It’s still fair for you to get angry, and it’s still fair for you to look for a new job — but it’s also fair to say “Oh, that’s what happened,” and then sit tight until the next window of opportunity arrives.

Readers, have you ever been held back because you were doing too good of a job? What did you do about it? What is your general approach if you don’t get a promotion you’ve lobbied for?

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Battling Burnout

by Kat on 01/09/2012 · 43 comments

in After-Work Activities, Burnout, Career, Stress, Transitions

Are you feeling burned out by your career — even if you’ve only been at it for a few years? A month or so ago a reader sent me a link to this article on career burnout for the under 30 set, and it seemed to generate a lot of discussion on Twitter/Facebook — and my link last Friday to the Men’s Health article on how to recognize and cure career fatigue (including some, er, interesting advice, such as “get laid more”) seemed to generate even more discussion. So let’s talk about this — have you felt burned out? What have you done to correct the issue, if anything? We’ve talked about this a bit before in my post about how I got my own groove back after feeling out of sync with my career and life, but let’s discuss more today. (Pictured: Burn Out, originally uploaded to Flickr by mikecogh.)

If your career exhausts you, here are some of my top tips to help start the journey back from burnout…

1) Recognize that your job is not your career, and your career is not your life. This is a mantra I repeat to myself sometimes when I’m feeling burned out. Whatever you’re doing right now, it’s just a job — maybe it’s a piece in your overall career, maybe not. And if you’re really depressed, remember — neither your job nor your career are your life. Still, try to see the value in your current job. For example, it helps you meet your financial obligations. At least ten other people would be thrilled to have it. You’d be even more depressed if you were out of work.

2) If your job is the problem… Figure out what about your job bores you or makes you unhappy. Is it a personality conflict? A particular task that you dread? Or are you just not excited by anything you do? If you can narrow down what stinks, it helps you assess what you need to do to make it better. Would a new job help matters? Or can you reconnect with this job in a way that would excite you, such as by taking on new responsibilities or working with different people? You can also revamp your routine, restyle your office, or reengage with your profession again, as I’ve advised before.

3) If your career is the problem… Advice I’ve gotten myself (and agree with) is that you don’t get to say your career is the problem until you’ve held at least 2 or 3 jobs in your career. Maybe that’s more than you want to invest in a career that you know is wrong for you, but — particularly if you have spent money on education for this career — then you owe it to yourself to try other aspects of the career. If you’re absolutely, definitely sure it’s your overall profession that’s making you unhappy, figure out what you need to take the next step towards Plan B.

4) If you know what Plan B is… start moving towards it. Start meeting people. Come up with an action plan. What’s the next step? Is it another degree? A new job? A “bridge” job? One friend knew she wanted to leave the law and work in public relations, and she found her first job doing public relations for a law firm. Another friend of mine recently decided she wants to open a gourmet barbecue business, and she and her husband have a five-year plan mapped out (starting with trying out lots of different barbecue recipes and visiting big barbecue cities).

5) If you have no idea what Plan B is (beyond “not this”)… you need to assess your finances and your life to figure out how adventurous you can be. How much debt do you have — and how much can you knock out if you buckle down and save? How much do you have in savings — could you take six months to yourself to figure out what you might want to do in life (and then enough in savings to hold you over until you find a new job in that career)? (With today’s economic climate, this probably means having about two years of living expenses. (In some circles, you’ll hear this referred to as “F-you money” — how much money do you need before you can say “F-you” to your current boss?) Could you take a job that requires less time of you (but allows you to meet your financial obligations) until you figure out what Plan B is? If none of these seem likely, I can think of two things you might try to speed along the process of figuring out Plan B:

- Reconnect with yourself. This is what I was getting at when I wrote about how I took a humor writing class that helped me get my groove back. You may regain some of the self-respect you may have lost over the years, or you may get in touch with a more optimistic or hopeful version of yourself. (This kind of gets back to the idea that your job is not your life — make your life outside of work as excellent as it can be by doing the things you love. It may lead to a Plan B or it may not, but at least you’ll be enjoying your life again.)

- Start thinking like an entrepreneur. One of my favorite suggestions here is to start subscribing to the magazine Inc. — even before I knew what kind of business I wanted to start, I subscribed to the magazine and found myself looking at the world with fresh eyes. Even now, I’m always inspired to hear about how someone launched a multi-million dollar company with no more than $3,000, and I love a recurring feature where they take a snapshot of daily life (e.g., the tennis court) and point out all the different businesses involved backstage. There are lots of women-centric groups out there if you’re more comfortable with that, too, such as Ladies Who Launch, Savor the Success, or MomInventors.

6) Whatever you do, at least the very least, fake interest in your current job (as the Men’s Health article also advised). Arrive on time. Be sociable. Look as professional as possible. Smile.

Readers, what have you done when you’re suffering burnout? How have you battled burnout?

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