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Secretaries make at MOST $15/hour today. Explain how a CURRENTLY EMPLOYED SECRETARY MAKING $15/hour can buy a house, amass $125K in savings and secure a pension of $30K to $40K, used in the other example.
Depends upon where you work. Many secretaries today make more than $15/hr.
This is in one of the most expensive cities in the country that also takes care of its retirees very, very well. Cherry picked example vs. what most admin work gets and bennies.
This is in one of the most expensive cities in the country that also takes care of its retirees very, very well. Cherry picked example vs. what most admin work gets and bennies.
Yes, but their statement that it depends on where you work and many (e.g., not most) secretaries make more than $15/hr is accurate while the statement that "secretaries make at most $15/hr today" is totally false. Of course there are secretaries that make more than $15/hr, especially if they have years of experience. Every administrative assistant at my federal agency in Albuquerque starts at more than $15/hr as do those who work for our government contractors. And that is less than we pay in DC, California, etc. Large corporations probably pay more than $15/hr too.
However my older sister retired after more than 30 years as an administrative assistant in Louisiana, a very poor state, at $33K a year. But she retired with a pension and $150K in a retirement fund as well as owning her own home in Louisiana and she was single. The woman knew how to handle her money.
How does a secretary afford to own a house debt-free and then amass $125K in savings? And then have a pension on top of that?
That is not poor. Not even CLOSE to being poor. Not even in the same continent as poor.
I'm beginning to wonder about these posters.... and what they are posting. Hmm ...
She inherits the house from her family. Poor to me. She couldn't afford dental in most years, she went without, only recently she added on for treatment. The pension comes with her work for 30 plus years, she currently makes about $57k a year. This is HCOL area. You can wonder all you like. That's what I know about her situation. Oh, she may have small savings with her 401k at work to get matching. If I thought she was rich, I wouldn't waste my money treating her out to lunch every time I go out with her.
Maybe you can learn something without taking a jab at people. I have nothing to gain about bragging about my ex-secretary.
I wish I could rep The Shadow more often. He/she saves me SO much typing. Exactly. At most $15/hr? If you are a temp your whole life, yes, you WILL never have a secure retirement. Thats life. Of COURSE there is more poverty and less jobs than 25 years ago, per person. I never argue that. Our government has made it much harder to keep the status quo, much less get ahead. Agree to the teeth. The states that voted Trump in sent it loud and clear to the Dems and GOP that don't have a clue as to whats going on. Its the JOBS, stupid!
I HAVE traveled all over the US, for work and to look at jobs. I worked in the Midwest outside Detroit for years.
Remember shock comedian Sam Kinison? One of his bits for starving people in the desert was "Move to where the FOOD IS!!! Do you know what this is? SAND! Do you know what grows in sand? NOTHING!" I have little sympathy (sorry) for people that cry "No jobs where I live" . Guess what? There were no jobs where I lived either. So I moved to where the jobs were. Multiple times. Until I found the career and location that met my long term needs. Like Shadow said..Thats what you have to do. My wife same thing. Otherwise, you reap what you sow. Maybe it's cruel and heartless. But it is reality. Like saying its not fair that only smart people become doctors, lawyers and engineers. Not fair! Why can't below or average intelligence people have great jobs in demand and make lots of money. They can't. They have to get lucky. Or work harder and save harder. It IS what it IS.
My wifes ex-MIL is a legal immigrant from Cuba, that came over in 1962, and cleaned houses for cash until she learned enough english and used her spanish to finally get a job doing menial work at a hispanic run airline. She is not particularly smart. But she knows what it takes and how much hard work it would take to make to work. She worked her way UP to a secretary with no more than a grade school education. Sure things WERE different then. A barely liveable house cost $12k near the airport back then. She had a garden and fruit trees. She had 4 other people living with her BESIDES the mother and son she supported (she divorced her husband while he was in prison). The other 4 paid some rent to help pay off the house in 10 years. (1977) . Hardly "right after WWII".
The 4 people often changed, and were usually distant or somewhat near relatives. They converted the garage in to an efficiency apartment. Every cent saved went in to CDs. The house has almost no modern updates until very recently, which I did and she paid for over time. Sacrifice. She sacrificed in our eyes, but she always said that compared to Cuba, she lived like a queen. She only retired because they forced her to. Work is what you do to survive. She pays 3 different local people in the neighborhood to do odd jobs for her. Cut the grass, grocery shop, clean house. Etc. They are truly poor and never complain. They are glad to be alive and live where they live.
(Not that it's relevant to this thread, but she also lost all her savings to her drug addict son spending it, until he died 3 years ago, drug related. Like Insaid, she is not particularly smart, especially when it came to her son. So its not a peaches and cream happy ending story. We saved her house for her, and see she is taken care of as best we can. And she insists on trying to give us money.)
Last edited by Perryinva; 01-10-2017 at 08:04 PM..
I wish I could rep The Shadow more often. He/she saves me SO much typing. Exactly. At most $15/hr? If you are a temp your while life, yes, you WILL never have a secure retirement. Thats life. Of COURSE there is more poverty and less jobs than 25 years ago, per person. I never arhue that. I HAVE traveled all over the US, for work and to look at jobs. I worked in the Midwest outside Detroit for years.
Remember shock comedian Sam Kinison? One of his bits for starving people in the desert was "Move to where the FOOD IS!!! Do you know what this is? SAND! Do you know what grows in sand? NOTHING!" I have no sympathy (sorry) for people that cry "No jobs where I live" . Guess what? There were no jobs where I lived either. So I moved to where the jobs were. Multiple times. Until I found the career and location that met my long term needs. Like Shadow said..Thats what you have to do. My wife same thing. Otherwise, you reap what you sow. Maybe it's cruel and heartless. But is is reality. Like saying its not fair that only smart people become doctors, lawyers and engineers. Not fair! Why can't below or average intelligence people have great jobs in demand and make lots of money. They can't. They have to get lucky. Or work harder and save harder. It IS what it IS.
My wifes ex-MIL is a legal immigrant from Cuba, that came over in 1962, and cleaned houses for cash until she learned enough english and used her spanish to finally get a job doing menial work at a hispanic run airline. She is not particularly smart. But she knows what it takes and how much hard work it would take to make to work. She worked her way UP to a secretary with no more than a grade school education. Sure things WERE different then. A barely liveable house cost $12k near the airport back then. She had a garden and fruit trees. She had 4 other people living with her BESIDES the mother and son she supported (she divorced her husband while he was in prison). The other 4 paid some rent to help pay off the house in 10 years. They had a (1977) . Hardly "right after WWII". The 4 people often changed, and were usually distant or somewhat near relatives. They coverted the garage in to an efficiency apartment. Every cent saved went in to CDs. The house has almost no modern updates until very recently, which I did and she paid for over time. Sacrifice. She sacrificed in our eyes, but she always said that compared to Cuba, she lived like a queen. She only retired because they forced her to. Work is what you do to survive. She pays 3 different local people in the neighborhood to do odd jobs for her. Cut the grass, grocery shop, clean house. Etc. They are truly poor and never complain. They are glad to be alive and live where they live
And, that is really the bottom line.
The poorest people in this country are probably rich compared to most people in third world countries.
I could probably find enough change in my sofa, or the streets, collect bottles to turn in for cash and walk to McDonalds to buy dinner off the dollar menu. Not saying that's an ideal life, but people need to put things in perspective.
The prosperity this country enjoyed after World War II when the rest of the world was in ruins, is a very unique situation that we may never see again.
People need to deal with what is and plan accordingly rather than sitting around moaning that things are harder now than they were before.
So she retired almost 25 years ago? Not even close to being representative of today.
Secretaries make at MOST $15/hour today. Explain how a CURRENTLY EMPLOYED SECRETARY MAKING $15/hour can buy a house, amass $125K in savings and secure a pension of $30K to $40K, used in the other example.
Explain how your wife's ex MIL who stopped working 25 years ago managed to save "a couple hundred K" in a pre-401K era.
This should be the fantasy retirement board. No one has been able to show mathematically how low wage jobs miraculously turn into hundreds of thousands of dollars at retirement. As my math teachers used to say, "Please show your work."
You are projecting this rate from your area. My kid,26 hired someone last year in a secretary position and she was paid at least $17 an hour with 1 month vacation a year. She also has a college degree, in fact fresh out of college. It's not a fantasy because you refuse to see that areas that have more jobs opportunities can afford to pay higher. It's no a fantasy board no matter how many times you say it. Your hostile is tiring.
Look my first job out of college back in 1982 already paid me $24k a year. You might think I'm lying too. That was like 35 years ago in Boston area. So of course things have changed as in inflation.
My secretary is 65, was worrying that she might not be able to make ends meet when she retires and that's why she has not retired. She doesn't even break even right now even at $57k. She has a degree, not non college educated. She was a teacher before.
Last edited by NewbieHere; 01-10-2017 at 08:30 PM..
I'm not debating the try to get ahead plan or cut back when you need to plan. My point is that people are saying flat out that I know this secretary who retired and has a couple hundred thousand saved and a paid off mortgage. Riiiight. So yes, I'd love to see those numbers.
Read my post, she is not a young person. She is 65. Not retire yet. I wrote the poorest person I know, I never said she retired. Read carefully before you get all emotional and complain about getting stuck at $15/hour job.
This is in one of the most expensive cities in the country that also takes care of its retirees very, very well. Cherry picked example vs. what most admin work gets and bennies.
So is LA area.
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