Various politicos, pundits, and demagogues are asking if we’re better off now than we were four years ago. For moi? The answer his “hell, yes!”
How about yourself?
Four years ago today, I knew my job and the jobs of my four staff members (five, if you counted interns) would end in two and a half months. The nation was heading into the worst recession since the Great Depression, and I was heading into the most difficult financial times of my life.
I was struggling to pay off a $30,000 equity loan on my hugely devalued house, which would soon be worth less than I’d paid for a house with the same floor plan by the same developer in the same tract ten years before.
My life savings were down by about $180,000.
The house I’d helped my son buy at what we thought was near the end of a downtick was sinking below the waves, headed for Davy Jones’s Locker.
To pay off the home equity loan on my house, I was “noon-lighting” by teaching online upper-division writing courses on top of my regular job at the university. The Great Desert University caps its writing courses at 30, or 10 students more than NCTE recommendations allow, but it removes caps for online courses. Each class was double-enrolled, something I didn’t find out until two days before the semester started. I demanded pay for four sections and, to my amazement, got it. But the overload caused by the equivalent of five reasonably populated writing courses (120 students) on top of a full-time job was vast.
Got the loan paid off, though. 😉
As layoff day loomed, most employers didn’t bother to respond to applications. I couldn’t get hired for love nor money, whether in jobs that used my considerable experience and skills or in menial work. I couldn’t even get hired to drive the tourist train at the zoo!
I was forced to start Social Security benefits six years before I’d planned to do so; two years before I reached so-called “full” retirement age. It was that or draw down from my devastated retirement fund, something my financial manager strongly opposed. This resulted in much reduced Social Security payments, leaving me without enough cash flow to live on. There was a real possibility that, if I couldn’t find some kind of menial work, I would lose my paid-off home to county taxes, which I did not know if whether I could cover. Nor did I know whether I would be able to pay the utilities or cover routine maintenance on my home.
At the end of December, 2009, I just squeezed in under the wire to get the reduced rate for COBRA. Without it, I would have had to go bare, since I couldn’t have begun to afford the full freight. At the reduced amount, COBRA cost many times what I paid for the same insurance on the job, though it still was cheaper than Medicare, which mercifully kicked in just as my COBRA eligibility expired.
I finally did have to accept long-term part-time employment in a menial job, teaching junior-college freshman composition on an adjunct basis, despite having sworn, after the last time I taught freshman comp, that I’d never do it again. My classes filled up with scared, unemployed adults whose desperation was so solid you could reach out and touch it. Though I tried to put a bright spin on it—after all, I was grateful to have some income, even though it entailed hours of unpaid labor and paid all of $150/week per course—the truth is it’s exploitive, miserable work. Since then I’ve been living on net pay and $14,000 of emergency savings I had at the time I was laid off. And it hasn’t been easy.
Today things look a great deal better. Business is picking up, a fact reflected in the recent drop in unemployment. The economy is recovering from the real estate bust that dragged us all down: in these parts, real estate values have climbed almost 30% over the past year. The value of M’hijito’s house is now high enough that we would not have to bring an impossible sum to the table if he wanted to move; mine has now recovered enough value that if he got a job in San Francisco, where he would much prefer to live, I could sell my house, pay off the bloated loan on his, and move into it.
Friends in real estate, residential and commercial lending, renovation contracting, and travel report that things are picking up. A few are very busy, indeed.
My savings have recovered to the point where a 4 percent drawdown plus a modest income from freelance editing will support me in the same grand style I’ve enjoyed as an adjunct college instructor. In fact, it may allow me to cobble together a slightly larger income. It won’t be enough to live the life of a publishing magnate, but…neither will it require me to teach freshman comp.
Business is recovering enough that The Copyeditor’s Desk now has a steady flow of clients. Indeed, enough work is already coming in to share it with subcontractors, and it looks like some assiduous marketing will create further growth.
I can’t say everything is sweetness and light. Unless a miracle happens, I’ll never earn what my actual job brought in. In terms of month-to-month cash flow, I never will qualify as a member of the middle class again. And I can’t imagine how I’m going to afford to replace my 12-year-old vehicle, which surely won’t run more than another 40,000 or 50,000 miles. If I live to advanced old age, I probably will run out of cash. But things sure are better than they were four years ago!
How about yourself? Compared to four years ago, are you better off, worse off, or about the same?
Ahhh, the Mr and I were talking about this just the other day. Four years ago, we had both quit our jobs that were sucking our will to live on the verge of the “great recession”. Fast forward to now, and a LOT has changed. We are married, have a kitten, 3 properties, and excellent jobs. It’s definitely been a big four years for us, and though there were ups and downs in that time, there’s no question that we’re so much better off now than we were then.
Especially the kitten. What more does a person need to make their life better? 🙂
I’d have to generally say yes, although financially things are sort of neutral for me. The housing market was slower to hit bottom here and we’re still digging out. There are still plenty of foreclosures in Illinois, and I’m not sure if the market value of my house is near where it was when I bought it with my ex back in 2001.
I had to get a new mortgage on my own in 2009 when our divorce was final and I “bought out” his equity. (We had enough cash in the bank for him to take that as his share of the settlement, although it did leave me with only $1,000 in cash at the time.) Because the kitchen needed some work to support my plan of taking on roommates to help pay the bills, I arranged for a “cash-out refi” and used that equity to do the work. I can’t say I regret doing it, but if it weren’t for that cash-out move nearly four years ago I would have more than 20% equity in the house according to the last appraisal in December 2011. (We put down 20% in 2001 when we bought the house, but market values are still very low around here.)
Nonetheless, I am not underwater on my mortgage. 🙂 I have a very well-paying job with good benefits and can likely count on it since I’ve been there nearly 15 years. 🙂 Because of my frugal (yet still quite comfortable) lifestyle, I was able to save enough in year one post-divorce to have a six-month emergency fund, plus take a low-cost vacation. 🙂 The roommate plan worked very well, despite having one dud that I had to kick out. 🙂 I was able to save enough in year two post-divorce to take a splurge vacation. 🙂 I was able to save enough by year three post-divorce to sell off my 11-year old car and buy a very nice used Prius in cash. 🙂 And I have continued socking away roughly 15% of my income for retirement through all of this. 🙂
On a personal front, I am definitely better off since I ended a very frustrating marriage without anyone getting hurt badly, and I have an awesome new guy in my life who is now living with me and paying the rent that that roommates used to. 🙂 🙂
I think few people want to admit that they are better off now than they were four years ago. Of course, a lot of the people asking that question haven’t seen a dramatic change in their lives or income either.
I’m glad things are better for you!
I relate so much to Linda’s story. In the past four years I’ve managed to also leave a frustrating marriage without anyone getting badly hurt, I have a three year contract for my job at the university, my house is in my name only now at a much better rate than when I first took out the mortgage, I managed to go to India on my little salary, and I finally feel like the gears are starting to grind a little faster in the right direction.
On the other hand, I’m in more debt than I ever have been in my life and these are very challenging financial times for me and my teenage boy. I’m making only slightly more money than 4 years ago, but I’ve gotten smarter at finding money in different places.
The economy hasn’t mattered one bit to my circumstances, it would seem. It’s all been my own lessons learned and moves made to take care of my own business.
Interesting question. Tenured teacher who has seen tenured teachers (in eliminated programs) let go. Scary.
Salary: no raise (5 years)
Faculty who leave are not replaced so classes bigger and bigger. Numerous jobs added on: advising etc.
My retirement stash has recovered, but I beefed up my cash savings.
Still a Dem, however.
Oh, yes, much — but mostly due to my age/stage in life and not to the swerves of the economy.
Four years ago I had little to no savings. I had no credit card (couldn’t get one because I didn’t have a credit history). I had about $15k in undergraduate student loans. I was dusting myself off after a broken heart. I was slammed with choir rehearsals and work was starting to burn me out.
Now I’m still slammed with grad school and (less) rehearsal, but I have emergency savings and a budding 401(k) and IRA and I’m working on a down payment for a modest house in the next couple of years. I’m more than halfway done with grad school and have plans to pay off the student debt before interest accrues (undergrad was repaid before I applied to grad). I’m getting married in 11 days (and the wedding is paid for). My consumer credit history is three years old this week, and I haven’t made one late payment or carried a balance.
Most of that is a direct result of having had stable employment for all of the past 4 years. Being able to rely on my income makes saving — even in a high cost-of-living area — much easier, so I am grateful for the economy’s part in that. My partner hasn’t been so lucky, and I see how it has affected her negatively — including but not limited to financially. Nonetheless, we both vote on issues beyond the economy — I’d rather pay a bit more in taxes and have healthcare and be treated like a full human being, thankyouverymuch.
Sure, we’re better off, and we’ve worked hard at it. Personally we’ve done quite a bit better than before. In our industry, times are good with growth in the oil and gas sector, driven not in a small way by shale gas. Unemployment was around 6 percent this time four years ago, a bit higher now. Hard to find good qualified people back then, same now. Stock market recovered, interest rates still rock bottom. Wouldn’t ascribe any of the preceding to particular accomplishments or failures the presidential administration. I think I’ll write in a third candidate.