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Twitter Layoff Started Today

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Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#201

Post by vorpalhex »

solardev wrote: post #145
vorpalhex wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think treating our fellow humans like humans is more valuable than assuming they aren't capable of basic finance. Put another way, people will behave as you treat them. Treat them like they are fools who can't do finances and they will behave that way. Expect them to do basic financial behavior and they will. We literally make financial literacy courses free, online, without any need to even sign up. They will teac…

As someone who is financially illiterate, but doesn't have the time or knowhow to separate the good ones from all the spam out there... can you recommend any good courses?

MoneySmart - the official government course that covers the basics: https://www.fdic.gov/resources/consumers/money-smart/teach-m... It's intended to be instructor led but all the resources are available on that page. It is not an overwhelmingly thrilling course but it will get you through the material.

The PersonalFinance Wiki for the /r/PersonalFinance subreddit is actually very nice and covers a lot of common situations: https://www.reddit.com/r/personalfinance/wiki/commontopics

Investopedia maintains an excellent and well written dictionary on financial terms, with a mix of articles. I use this website heavily: https://www.investopedia.com/financial-term-dictionary-47697... They have a personal wealth section here: https://www.investopedia.com/personal-finance-4427760 and a good place to start is: https://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/09/financial-respon...

If you want a software aid, YNAB is pretty good and is based on a solid set of principles. https://www.youneedabudget.com/the-four-rules/ Obviously lots of other options exist to manage your money and YNAB is not the only option, but it's a good one.

If a resource suggests any kind of particular stock picks, crypto or other "investments", it's bad. It exists to sell you a product.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#202

Post by TimPC »

marcins wrote: post #166
TimPC wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly if you’re paying a mortgage at current rates, 6 months income is an excessive amount to hold out. Assuming that’s $100k, you’re paying somewhere around $5600/year by not paying down your mortgage more aggressively. I have a lot of sympathy for someone who’s plan for savings was “if I get fired I can”: (1) use my severance money (2) sell my stock (3) get a loan against my home Only blackout periods blocked (2…

Does the US not have Mortgage Offset Accounts? An offset account is essentially a normal transaction account tied to your mortgage, but every dollar in the account "offsets" the mortgage balance for daily interest calculations. My "emergency fund" is just in one of my offset accounts, so it's saving me on my mortgage interest.

This sounds like a useful banking product but unfortunately in Canada and the US they mostly try and get us to pay the mortgage quicker and then borrow money back at a higher rate if we need to. I think this product would lead to people not using other loan products and never overpaying on their mortgage (why would you if you can offset the interest?)

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#203

Post by Consultant32452 »

onionisafruit wrote: post #64
redact207 wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"recruitment", since labelling humans as resources is apparently inhumane

I still prefer the old word, "Personnel". I never understood rebranding to Human Resources.

Too many people identify as non-persons.

I'm not sure if I'm joking either.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#204

Post by rufus_foreman »

actually_a_dog wrote: post #76
falcolas wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What stops them from moving to another part of the country? Cost. Paying early termination on your rental contract. Paying to move. First, last, and a cleaning deposit at your new place. Stocking a new place with perishables. An easy 3+ grand to move to an inexpensive town. Loss of salary/job opportunities. You won't have the same job opportunities, nor salary ranges, if you live in a less expensive part of the cou…

> An easy 3+ grand to move to an inexpensive town. I think 3 grand is probably an underestimate for any significant move. It cost me $1k to move ~2.5 miles across town the last time I moved.

I've done both, decades ago one of my college friends had the theory that, "If it doesn't fit in your car you don't own it". Moving cost was absolutely determined by the price of gasoline.

And I've spent what, $5,000 to send a couple pieces of furniture across the country for a move because they weren't replaceable, and I had the money.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#205

Post by FireBeyond »

falcolas wrote: post #57
throwaway5959 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest total comp was in excess of $200k/year. If you can’t have 6 months in cash sitting in a high yield savings account on that, there’s no amount of severance that will help you.

Let's pretend some of these SF twitter employees have families. $4k in rent monthly, 4k in general living expenses (these are based off median figures available publicly) A bit over $96k in living costs. Assuming that $200k in total comp includes about 25% in stock (based off publicly reported comp packages for twitter employees), and a combined state/federal 35% tax rate... They have no spare money to save without a…

Even at 25% stock, it's actually closer to $120K take home based on tax bracketing.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#206

Post by lbotos »

TimPC wrote: post #141
throwaway5959 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest total comp was in excess of $200k/year. If you can’t have 6 months in cash sitting in a high yield savings account on that, there’s no amount of severance that will help you.

Honestly if you’re paying a mortgage at current rates, 6 months income is an excessive amount to hold out. Assuming that’s $100k, you’re paying somewhere around $5600/year by not paying down your mortgage more aggressively. I have a lot of sympathy for someone who’s plan for savings was “if I get fired I can”: (1) use my severance money (2) sell my stock (3) get a loan against my home Only blackout periods blocked (2…

Why in the US should one pay down their mortgage more aggressively in an inflationary environment? Their debt is getting cheaper.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#207

Post by SoftTalker »

solardev wrote: post #145
vorpalhex wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think treating our fellow humans like humans is more valuable than assuming they aren't capable of basic finance. Put another way, people will behave as you treat them. Treat them like they are fools who can't do finances and they will behave that way. Expect them to do basic financial behavior and they will. We literally make financial literacy courses free, online, without any need to even sign up. They will teac…

As someone who is financially illiterate, but doesn't have the time or knowhow to separate the good ones from all the spam out there... can you recommend any good courses?

You don't need a course.

Save money from each paycheck. If you're just starting, put this into an emergency fund (savings account) until you have 6 month's take-home pay saved.

Then start savings in equities. You should diversify this, i.e. in low-fee index funds. Do this in an IRA or other tax-advantaged plan your employer might offer. Don't watch this too closely or try to time the market. Just invest with every paycheck.

Understand the time value of money. Don't go into long term debt for short term needs or consumables. Live below your means so you can save more and maximize compounding gains in savings/investments.

Do these things and you are well ahead of most people. If you want to get more sophisticated at that point, look for courses or professional advice, but remember pros rarely beat the market.

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#208

Post by abeppu »

throwaway5959 wrote: post #5
stocknoob wrote: post #2

“ many of these folks won’t be able to sell the shares they earned. The money they need pay bills and keep them afloat if and until they get new employment. When severance ends, that’s it.” It’s Twitter’s responsibility to not only offer severance, but make sure employees keep an emergency fund?

Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest total comp was in excess of $200k/year. If you can’t have 6 months in cash sitting in a high yield savings account on that, there’s no amount of severance that will help you.

You and a bunch of others in the thread are starting from the presumption that these people were very well compensated. But we don't have to make _only_ assumptions, you can look up some perhaps stale and perhaps biased self-reported numbers. The most convenient of these to access for recruiters at twitter (who seem to be the ones impacted) guess a median compensation of 137K, with around 94k of that as base. I think that base is just about at median income for SF for a single earner (though of course they could live elsewhere).

Other people in this thread are talking about what I understand to be hypothetical engineers with 400k compensation, and it sounds like that doesn't describe this situation.

https://www.glassdoor.com/Salary/Twitter-Recruiter-Salaries-... https://sfmohcd.org/sites/default/files/Documents/MOH/BMR%20...

Re: Twitter Layoff Started Today

#209

Post by FireBeyond »

qbasic_forever wrote: post #16
throwaway5959 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously. I wouldn’t be surprised if the lowest total comp was in excess of $200k/year. If you can’t have 6 months in cash sitting in a high yield savings account on that, there’s no amount of severance that will help you.

The median home value in SF is ~$1.5 million. A typical mortgage on a home like that is ~$4-5k per month. So you're assuming folks have $25-30k in liquid cash hanging around all the time. Not unrealistic but certainly not everyone working at tech companies there has that kinda cash. And that's before you factor in other costs like property taxes, insurance, etc. that you'll need to cover too.

You are not getting a mortgage in that range on that house unless you're putting 600-900K down.
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