Coffee Break – Bingo Pumps

46 Comments

1. I’ve been eyeing these for a while. I’ve got a pair of Franco Sarto peep toes from several years ago that fit my feet perfectly. I just wish they came in a nude color rather than camel. I don’t think I need a camel pump, but the more I look at them… maybe…

   1. Oh, amazon has them in a lighter color than camel! But sadly sold out of my size.

2. Hi!
   Was wondering if anyone had suggestions for a relatively easy to do hairstyle for an out-of-town wedding this weekend? I have long (upper-mid-back) wavy thick hair, and hate traveling with an arsenal of hair tools and supplies but still want to look nice.

   1. My go-to: French twist. All you need are some bobby pins and maybe a few of those new spin pins, and if you want to get fancy, some volumizing spray for the crown of your head. Super easy and will stay nice and cool off your neck if it is hot.

   2. Get Goody Spin Pins and do a bun, or get the Goody Updo pin and do a French twist. Both are super easy – it takes approximately 30 seconds to do your hair.

   3. Go to youtube and find the videos for how to create updos with the Goody spin pins. They make it look pretty easy.

   4. I saw a woman with a side chignon the other day and was really taken by how elegant it looked. Reminded me of this link Kat posted a while back:

      https://corporette.com/2010/11/12/weekly-news-update-25/

   5. Just a general complaint that Goody products do not seem to be sold in my next of the woods (VT). And Amazon has a sketchy selection that is only available in blonde. Argh. I’m dying to get my hands on this mythical spin pin.

3. I know this isn’t a finance site, but anyone else having minor/major panics about the hit to their portfolio today/over the last week? Just wanted to commiserate and see how/what people are doing. Trying to debate whether to buy with what cash I have left, or if the markets are going to keep headed down. What’s a lawyer to do? Risk aversion is not serving me well here! I know, I know, markets come up in the long run, but this is my first major hit (I wasn’t in it in 2008), so trying to keep myself calm. And, I know, I know, I haven’t lost unless I’ve sold, but still! Ouch.

   1. I thought about being mildly panicked (risk-adverse lawyer as well), then decided I might as well toss a little more into my Vanguard account. I figured that it will go up eventually (if it doesn’t I’m far more screwed, regardless of the few thousand I just put in).

      My risk-averse self is still trying to decide how to distribute my savings, now that I have some. I’m really reluctant to give up the liquidity of my online savings account, but I know it’s not the ‘smart’ place to keep my money long term. I’m also debating just paying off my remaining law school loans (~ $30K) because the interest rate isn’t that great (~7%, I think) and I can without hurting my rainy day fund at all.

      1. I am in the same boat. Ridiculous amount in savings (mainly because I’d anticipated buying a place, then decided that renting isn’t so bad after all). I paid off my student loans first – fixed 8% rate was not so hot – and I have to say that the relief of not having that debt hanging over me is palpable. I’m now debt-free!

         I’ve been meeting with a financial advisor, who has recommended that I increase my personal liability insurance and consider a whole life insurance policy (which is the only place he is recommending that I put my money right now – he is not optimistic about the economy). I’ve toyed with the idea of these from time to time and am about to pull the trigger. Seems like if you frontload your contributions over the first 5-10 years or so you end up with pretty decent returns by retirement age. Thought I’d ask for people’s thoughts on these policies as retirement planning investments. I am no finance guru.

         1. Oh, and as to the state of the market – I refuse to check my 401(k)s – I figure they will bounce back in the next 30 years! Otherwise, I have nothing at risk in the market. Talk about risk-averse lawyer – I avoid debt like the plague, and my only investments are in retirement plans, low interest-bearing savings accounts, and my shoe collection.

            The state of the economy generally is alarming, though. We’ve seen a slowdown already in dealwork at my firm. Maybe it’s just the usual summer lull … maybe not. Definitely anxiety-inducing.

            1. “So, once you max out your 401(k) and IRA, what then?”

               I’d be surprised if anyone working in BigLaw could contribute to both her 401(k) and an IRA. Check out: http://www.smartmoney.com/retirement/planning/an-ira-primer-7957/

            2. You can, you just can’t have an extra-special IRA. You put in after tax money (only up to $5K or so per year, adjusted for cost of living increases) and your earnings accumulate tax-free until withdrawal.

         2. I asked the board about whole life several months ago. I probably had the same experience you did jcb – a financial advisor comes to the biglaw office and pitches business. He sits down, you go over your finances, and then he pushes whole life. It made total sense to me, but I guess I’m a little gullible. The ladies on this board were not impressed with whole life, nor was the preliminary research I did about it. Apparently, financial advisors make the most commission off of whole life. I ended up not doing it, but I’m not sure if I made the right move.

            And since I’m decades away from retirement, today seems like a good day to up the 401k :). Buy low!

            1. Totally! Not a bad idea re the 401(k).

               Those were my first two experiences with whole life policies, too – a couple of pushy agents coming to my office a few years ago. Isn’t that whole experience so offputting?! But, recently decided that I needed financial advice so I reached out to a guy who came highly recommended and has an independent agency – but is paid off of the products that he sells (though he can work with any company, so doesn’t push any one in particular).

               So, once you max out your 401(k) and IRA, what then? Put all of your cash into the market? That isn’t looking so rosy either. The whole life policy was explained to me as basically giving a slightly higher return in the end than a 30-year treasury bond but with more liquidity if needed in the meantime – and definitely not a good deal if planning for the next 5-10 years, but a good idea for the stable-value portion of a 30-year plan. I am gullible about these things though, too.

         3. Sounds like your financial advisor is banking on you knowing very littlemabout whole life policies. First, whole life policies are in almostnall cases a terrible financial move, but great for the advisors because nearly all of the premium for like the first 5 years go I his/her pocket. Second, the investment portion of a whole policy is invested where? Oh yeah, the stock market, so whatever risk you’d be taking in the market is the same, except you’ll be paying 1 or 2% off the top to the insurance company. And the kicker, ask your advisor what happens when/if you die? That would be your beneficiary gets the value of the insurance…but wait, what about the investment portion? In most instances, that stays with the insurance company.
            Do you have kids, or dependents? If not, you don’t need any life insurance, unless you have private student loans with your parents or someone else as a co-signor. Even then, you do much better to get a term policy and invest through a low cost company like Fidelity or Vanguard. Whatever risk you take, make sure there isn’t a middle-man taking a piece of it, or all of it…. Ask your advisor to specifically explain how he/she gets paid….. Or better yet do your own research. If you are independently wealthy and need some place to stash cash for tax purposes, then perhaps a whole policy would do, but in most cases, they are easy money to the advisor and a bad financial deal to the buyer.

            At any rate, unless you are retiring in the next 5 years, I wouldn’t worry about the sell off. People are panicking, but there is no where else to invest. That is why China etc… are complaining, but they aren’t selling…..

            1. What you said.

            2. No life insurance. Unless you have dependents who need INSURANCE. If you need to save or invest, use savings or investments, which life insurance is not!

            3. My father has almost all term life and is almost aging out of it. He is ferret stressed that if he overlives his insurance my mother (much younger then him) will not get any benefit from his paying years of premiums. I went with half and half that way I’m protected now if something happens and in the future.

            4. Ferrit=very. Hate spell correct

            5. I don’t know, weasels and stoats definitely need to be wary of life expectancy vs. the unpredictability of hawk and coyote attacks in determining which insurance to purchase.

            6. @Liz- life insurance is not a retirement plan. It’s insurance, you received the benefit of being protected in the event something happened to your dad during his years of having earning capacity, which is what life insurance is intended for. You won’t have anything to show for a whole policy either if you pass before you age out, and what will be left will be less than if you invested that same amount in a separate fund, because the insurance company will take their cut before it goes to your beneficiary. It’s your money and your choice, but by the time you age out of of your life insurance, you shouldn’t need it any more…..

         4. Same as what above said. I’ve got 2 little ones, and my father passed when I was young, so I’m very sensitive about insurance. I have term life for next 20 years, at which point, I expect my children to be able to support themselves.

         5. I know this is late, but your FA’s advice is absolutely terrible and I echo the posters’ comments below. Life insurance is not an investment, and neither is personal liability insurance (huh – why would you need this)? You should absolutely look for another FA. He is trying to take advantage of you.

      2. You’ll be very hard-pressed to get a safe 7% return on investment in this economy — so I’d recommend paying off your student loans as the way to go. I share your reluctance to give up the liquidity of online savings, but I think the way to address that is to make the payoff in chunks. $10K now; $10K in Jan. 2012 (if it still seems like a good thing to do); final $10K in late 2012.

         1. Not the OP, but wanted to say I like your chunks idea. I always tend to think of things as all or nothing – but doing it in stages makes a lot of sense.

      3. Yes, me to. I also LOST some money in my portfollio. I had my dad take some kind of action to HEDGE it, whatever he did I do NOT know, but I figure that after I get married, I will be abel to pool my loses with my husband, and we will know what to do.

   2. I’m having to restrain myself from checking the state of investments. I just keep thinking that they’re long term investments and the market will bounce back.

   3. It’s really freaking me out. I actually put in a buy order Friday after the first big drop, thinking I was getting a good deal. Today, not so much. I do think it’s a bit of an overreaction, but who knows. I did okay through 2008, but that’s only because I was able to hold on to some stocks until things came back up (although I’m still holding on to one stock that still hasn’t really come back – may have to just let that one go).

      All I know is that it’s got me too stressed about finances to buy these adorable mauve pumps. :(

   4. I’m tempted to buy now–stocks are on sale!

      I bought quite a bit from Nov.08-Aug.10 (that was scary) and used the profits for a down payment on a house–so there is something to buying while prices are low and selling while high (although I missed the peak but that’s OK too).

      But, then again, I’m rebuilding my emergency savings right now after the house purchase.

      Still, I am SO TEMPTED.

   5. Are we allowed to talk about politics here? If so, my response to Ouch is:

      “I haven’t been tempted to check my portfolio because I’ve been too busy panicking about the fact that I soon will be living in Mr. Perry’s Theocracy.”

      1. THIS!

   6. This is not because I have any sort of foresight but by mere happenstance. I was laid off late last year and I finally rolled over my old 401(k) into a rollover IRA this spring. I had about $15k in after-tax contributions in the 401(k) which I couldn’t roll-over, so I bought gold coins (it was totally random, friend of family was buying gold bars at the time, trusted the seller and asked me if I had any interest). So I feel like I don’t really need to see what’s going on w/ my IRA. But honestly, if I had a job, I probably wouldn’t care at all about what’s happening in the market.

      1. Gold is up to the same price per ounce as platinum ($1700 something), so good call.

         1. In 2008, my mom gave me some castoff gold jewelry to sell. I held onto it because I couldn’t figure out where to sell it (and also because my father had given it to her when they were married and it was sort of sentimental to me at the time). Now I’m thinking it’s time to sell it. Does anyone have any experience with selling gold jewelry? I’ve done no research and am skeptical of “Cash 4 Gold”-type places, but I really have no knowledge on the topic. If anyone’s done this and can offer some insight, I’d be very grateful! (I’m in San Francisco, if that’s at all helpful.)

4. Love Franco Sarto!! So comfy.

5. Can anyone comment on Franco Sarto sizing?

6. Has anyone ordered from Eyefly yet? How’s the frame/lense quality?

   I did a Warby Parker home try-on, but really wasn’t impressed with the colors or styles I chose. The quality seemed lacking as well. For example, the hinges didn’t have the flex feature that most brands have nowadays, and some of the frames were quite squeaky when bent, as if the lenses were about to pop out. If I was looking for occasional use reading glasses they would be fine, but I’m blind as a bat and hard on my frames.

   If I don’t end up using Eyefly, I was thinking of buying my frames from an online vendor and having my lenses done at my local Costco. Anyone have any Costco optical reviews?

   1. I’ve gotten contacts and glasses at Costo and have been perfectly happy with them. Their prices are great, service is pretty quick, and they offer all the options for types of lenses, coatings, etc., that I was interested in. I’ve been to the eye doctor there in the past too and had a pleasant experience, but switched to one near my office for convenience.

      1. Second all of this – definitely positive experience with Costco glasses/eye doctor.

   2. DH got prescription sunglasses at Costco – they did the frames and lenses for about $150. The service was excellent – they helped pick out the frames and lens color and features, and they were done in about a week. DH and I are both happy with his sunglasses.

      1. Thanks for the replies! I’m definitely going to check Costco’s prices next time I’m there!

7. Any advice on legal recruiting firms in the San Diego area? I’m currently at a 200+ attorney firm in the Midwest but I’m moving to San Diego in the fall. I would appreciate any recommendations on recruiters that have a good reputation in that area! Also, any advice about the legal market in San Diego, especially as compared to other cities in Southern California. TIA!

   1. From what I understand, the SD legal market is extremely insular, with the exception of the truly national law firms who act the same as they do everywhere. For non-national-biglaw firms, a lot more emphasis is placed on ties to SD, as opposed to impressive resumes, which is unusual for a city legal market. I have a few law school classmate friends from SD, and some who weren’t from there but moved there after graduation. Our well ranked school was not in SD. Even the from-there friends had a hard time getting interviews and offers because the employers (small and medium firms) were heavily biased in favor of from-there people who went to the local law schools (USD/TJ/CW) just like the partners did, despite those schools not being even tier 1. My not-from-there friends had a virtually impossible time and one gave up to come back up here. It is pretty strange market, actually, but a great place to live if you can crack into it!

      1. Thanks! We’re debating whether to try SD or somewhere else. This was very helpful.

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