General Adulthood, Planning for the Future: Business, College, Budgeting, Investments, etc! $$$ - General

[QUOTE=Boss;51969839]I just dont put myself in a position where I'm taking on more than I'm willing to put up with. My first proper career job it happened and I ended up demanding a pay hike and got it. Its only work and you come to realize regardless of how much effort you put in now, it isn't going to go away and people wont remember you for it when you've gone. If you really want to put effort into organizing you're work, look into delegation if your company is failing to recognize your utilization is over 100%. If you aren't in a position to delegate just fuck it off until it forces managements hand to act.[/QUOTE] I mean it's given to me, they're my clients. It's just the busy season after everyone's budgets cleared up so they're down to do projects, it's temporary. That's why I'm looking for ways to manage it. Anyways I've only been here 5 months and started out as the highest paid person in my position so I'm hesitant on asking for a raise quite yet.

[QUOTE=Levelog;51969846]I mean it's given to me, they're my clients. It's just the busy season after everyone's budgets cleared up so they're down to do projects, it's temporary. That's why I'm looking for ways to manage it. Anyways I've only been here 5 months and started out as the highest paid person in my position so I'm hesitant on asking for a raise quite yet.[/QUOTE] Being the highest paid person doesnt mean shit to you, update the CV now. There is no harm at all window shopping. If you feel your time being spent working at the company is worth more, speak to the boss and get the wheels in motion.

[QUOTE=Boss;51970116]Being the highest paid person doesnt mean shit to you, update the CV now. There is no harm at all window shopping. If you feel your time being spent working at the company is worth more, speak to the boss and get the wheels in motion.[/QUOTE] Okay but my whole underlying point is that I feel overwhelmed but it's a known temporary situation. I'm very happy with where I work overall and I'm rather happy with my current pay. I'm asking for advice on management of a large workload.

Hey guys I need your opinion. My friend had a degree. He's currently unemployed, and wishes to work with either 7-11 or KFC/Mc Donalds at retail/grunt position. He refuses to try managerial position because he prefer not to take substantial responsibilities for the time being. He asked me whether he should present his degree at the interview. I told him no because there's some stories among my clients that they would avoid showing their degree/master when applying for menial/low position jobs, because the middle-management guys would not prefer someone 'smarter' than them to come aboard the ship, or acting smart. They would prefer silent slave-worker. The problem is that he's not exactly a fresh graduate. After graduating, he took another degree that he likes (?marine biology). Currently he's 27-28? The employer will bound to ask him what is he doing after he graduate from high school. What is your opinion regarding this? Should he bring along his degree for the interview?

[QUOTE=hakimhakim;51970205]Hey guys I need your opinion. My friend had a degree. He's currently unemployed, and wishes to work with either 7-11 or KFC/Mc Donalds at retail/grunt position. He refuses to try managerial position because he prefer not to take substantial responsibilities for the time being. He asked me whether he should present his degree at the interview. I told him no because there's some stories among my clients that they would avoid showing their degree/master when applying for menial/low position jobs, because the middle-management guys would not prefer someone 'smarter' than them to come aboard the ship, or acting smart. They would prefer silent slave-worker. The problem is that he's not exactly a fresh graduate. After graduating, he took another degree that he likes (?marine biology). Currently he's 27-28? The employer will bound to ask him what is he doing after he graduate from high school. What is your opinion regarding this? Should he bring along his degree for the interview?[/QUOTE] how the fuck did he make it to ~6 years past getting a degree and his best opportunity is KFC

[QUOTE=LordCrypto;51971544]how the fuck did he make it to ~6 years past getting a degree and his best opportunity is KFC[/QUOTE] Dance/Drama major or something equally niche coupled with the inability to market his degree in terms of skills that employers want probably. If there's one thing I learned when studying film, it was how to take my "useless" degree and sell my self to literally any employer based on generic skills that employers look for and how my degree qualifies me for whatever despite not actually doing so.

Dunno why he is wanting to apply in fast food; that is generally something people do for cash while they are a student, not after (apparently two) degrees.

[QUOTE=Mr Kotov;51972126]Dunno why he is wanting to apply in fast food; that is generally something people do for cash while they are a student, not after (apparently two) degrees.[/QUOTE] Generally it's something people do when they're bum out of luck and starving otherwise. Fast food blows dick.

All that education and no common sense.

[QUOTE=F.X Clampazzo;51971668]Dance/Drama major or something equally niche coupled with the inability to market his degree in terms of skills that employers want probably. If there's one thing I learned when studying film, it was how to take my "useless" degree and sell my self to literally any employer based on generic skills that employers look for and how my degree qualifies me for whatever despite not actually doing so.[/QUOTE] I used my animation degree to work in the industry as an artist for three odd years, then ask for training in a managerial position for three years in another company, with the goal that I could actually be a competent senior artist and (if possible) be on a path to lead an art department of my own in the future so that I'm not only grounded in doing art stuff, but also how to manage teams, work on PMP's, work with teams, that sort of thing. I've worked in studios where senior artists who were very skilled in their profession were promoted to a level where they were expected to do less hands-on art related work and more managerial work and sucked at it. I didn't want to be one of those so I'm kinda glad I took this path - made me realize that I was right to hate managerial work (:v:) but now I understand their stresses too - clients can be enormous indecisive cocks sometimes and the team doing stuff are so far removed from the shitbagging that they look at managers with loathing. :v: One thing I've realized is that doing just a singular job, all your life, without a good mentor or a personal drive to learn things that could help boost your career, is just a bad way to go. [editline]18th March 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=_RJ_;51967516]It depends on how the landlord arranges things. If there's a deposit then you'd probably just pay first+last month minus the deposit. From what I understand the landlord deposits both the first and last month and you get interest from the last month's amount (interest is paid every month, but you don't actually get it until the last month, i.e. 12th month after the start of your rent). Come the last month you'll either get the interest paid to you, or it'll come as a discount to your next month's payment. The reason last month is taken upfront is if you decide to leave early and send your notice, at that point your last month's payment is already made. Just keep in mind this applies to Ontario, I'm not sure about other provinces. Here's more info: [url]http://www.ontariotenants.ca/law/lastmonthsrent.phtml[/url] Also here's another handy website for a bunch of random info on things in Canada, I always end up coming across them on Google (see their forums section): [url]http://www.redflagdeals.com/[/url][/QUOTE] Hey man, thanks for all of this and for the CIC links! I've been checking them all out and they're pretty concise and helpful! I also got a notification that IRCC has several programs funded to help immigrants look for jobs, look at their CV's and give them references to help them with their job search, which is pretty cool. Just waiting on my Passport Request (PPR) notification to come through before it's all finalized. Seriously, Canada's got what has to be one of the most painless ways to plan immigration ever :smile: I'm currently reading up on how to apply for a SIN and an OHIP once I'm there (though I think the OHIP is more long term because it requires me to be there for about three months to get OHIP). Also need to figure out how to convert my existing Indian driving license to a G license in Canada as well - apparently, I need to get some letter from the corrupt-as-fuck RTO here in India, so that's always a joy :/

Tempted to get an Irish passport / dual citizenship. Dad was born in Ireland so I'm eligible, more for paranoid thoughts about brexit and a stupid tax / fee to travel around the EU if you're from the UK. Part of me still thinks that it actually won't happen

[QUOTE=Boss;51978368]Tempted to get an Irish passport / dual citizenship. Dad was born in Ireland so I'm eligible, more for paranoid thoughts about brexit and a stupid tax / fee to travel around the EU if you're from the UK. Part of me still thinks that it actually won't happen[/QUOTE] No harm in getting it, unless there's some sort of double taxation sadness associated with getting an Irish passport. If India allowed dual citizenship, I wouldn't mind retaining it and keeping a future Canadian one.

Well, I'm officially open for business. I'm fully licensed, enrolled with the MLS, have access to the Realtor SUPRA key system, can schedule showings, have my business cards, some promotional stuff, etc. I was even able to secure my own office out of my broker's new building. Now to tirelessly hunt for clients so I don't starve to death and lose my house. <:o] Real(ty) talk: if any of ya'll happen to know anybody who is thinking of buying or selling property within the continental US in the next few months, give me a shout. Even if they don't live anywhere near me, I can at least reach out through my network and help them find a well-regarded and high producing local agent. If they like the cut his jib and choose to do business with him, I can earn a referral fee for the effort -- paid out by the agent, not your people. That's only [I]if[/I] they choose to do business with him, and if he successfully helps them with their real estate needs, of course.

I was just thinking about asking you how that was going today, too. What name did you end up choosing if you don't mind posting it on here? [editline]19th March 2017[/editline] I'm really interested in starting a business at some point but I want to learn more about [I]how[/I] other than the generic stuff you find after a few minutes of google. Like, yeah I know I gotta have a plan and should talk to a lawyer but what [I]else[/I], like paperwork and what not? Is it just as simple as filling out the forms with the state/whatever else and then buying an office/whatever space you need for it?

[QUOTE=OvB;51981533]I was just thinking about asking you how that was going today, too. What name did you end up choosing if you don't mind posting it on here? [editline]19th March 2017[/editline] I'm really interested in starting a business at some point but I want to learn more about [I]how[/I] other than the generic stuff you find after a few minutes of google. Like, yeah I know I gotta have a plan and should talk to a lawyer but what [I]else[/I], like paperwork and what not? Is it just as simple as filling out the forms with the state/whatever else and then buying an office/whatever space you need for it?[/QUOTE] I'm not sure how it would work for other kinds of businesses. I know that registering an LLC is as simple as having a lawyer draft up all the paperwork and submit it on your behalf. costs a few hundred bucks. With that, you can go open a business account at a bank, and presumably start doing business as your entity. Beyond that, you might need insurance, possibly some kind of license, etc. Probably varies a bit depending on where you're operating and what the nature of your business is. Real estate differs a bit from state to state, but it's pretty heavily regulated. Lots of hoops to jump through. Here in Missouri, you have to take a ten day licensing class, pass the state and national licensing exams, take a 24-hour real estate practice course to make sure you haven't somehow forgotten the material from your exams and previous classes, select a real estate broker to work under, have that broker file your license with the Missouri Real Estate Commission, and finally submit an application with the appropriate board of Realtors to get your access to the Multiple Listings Service, the SUPRA key system for entering listed properties, and all your various Realtor tools. After that, you're technically in business, and can start taking on clients and acting as a real estate agent. I also wanted an office to work out of, of course, so that I could take clients to a professional setting for closings, buyer agency meetings, etc. Plus, being in an office environment just helps me work better. When I'm at home, it's too easy to get distracted, and there's nobody to help hold me accountable. In the office, I can focus on my work, run questions by my colleagues or my broker, receive daily training sessions and advice, blah blah blah. On top of that, being in the office grants me access to office equipment, marketing materials, stuff like that. Plus, I needed marketing materials, so I commissioned some work from a crowdsource design website (DesignCrowd.com, I think). A couple hundred bucks bought me 115+ submissions, with multiple revisions, which was a great deal.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51981472]Well, I'm officially open for business. I'm fully licensed, enrolled with the MLS, have access to the Realtor SUPRA key system, can schedule showings, have my business cards, some promotional stuff, etc. I was even able to secure my own office out of my broker's new building. Now to tirelessly hunt for clients so I don't starve to death and lose my house. <:o] Real(ty) talk: if any of ya'll happen to know anybody who is thinking of buying or selling property within the continental US in the next few months, give me a shout. Even if they don't live anywhere near me, I can at least reach out through my network and help them find a well-regarded and high producing local agent. If they like the cut his jib and choose to do business with him, I can earn a referral fee for the effort -- paid out by the agent, not your people. That's only [I]if[/I] they choose to do business with him, and if he successfully helps them with their real estate needs, of course.[/QUOTE] Dude, a helpful hint if you can - if you can budget for SEO in your advertising, throw some serious dosh in there. I'm not kidding, it's one of the best decisions I helped make for the current place I work at and you can get some cheap companies working out of India doing it for you as well for peanuts. Forget adwords, just focus on hyperlocal search terms for you/your website to hit top listing and you'll be getting a lot of passive leads without lifting a finger. [editline]19th March 2017[/editline] [QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51981618]I'm not sure how it would work for other kinds of businesses. I know that registering an LLC is as simple as having a lawyer draft up all the paperwork and submit it on your behalf. costs a few hundred bucks. With that, you can go open a business account at a bank, and presumably start doing business as your entity. Beyond that, you might need insurance, possibly some kind of license, etc. Probably varies a bit depending on where you're operating and what the nature of your business is. Real estate differs a bit from state to state, but it's pretty heavily regulated. Lots of hoops to jump through. Here in Missouri, you have to take a ten day licensing class, pass the state and national licensing exams, take a 24-hour real estate practice course to make sure you haven't somehow forgotten the material from your exams and previous classes, select a real estate broker to work under, have that broker file your license with the Missouri Real Estate Commission, and finally submit an application with the appropriate board of Realtors to get your access to the Multiple Listings Service, the SUPRA key system for entering listed properties, and all your various Realtor tools. After that, you're technically in business, and can start taking on clients and acting as a real estate agent. I also wanted an office to work out of, of course, so that I could take clients to a professional setting for closings, buyer agency meetings, etc. Plus, being in an office environment just helps me work better. When I'm at home, it's too easy to get distracted, and there's nobody to help hold me accountable. In the office, I can focus on my work, run questions by my colleagues or my broker, receive daily training sessions and advice, blah blah blah. On top of that, being in the office grants me access to office equipment, marketing materials, stuff like that. Plus, I needed marketing materials, so I commissioned some work from a crowdsource design website (DesignCrowd.com, I think). A couple hundred bucks bought me 115+ submissions, with multiple revisions, which was a great deal.[/QUOTE] BDA, if you can, look up and see if there's any co-working office spaces in your area that you could rent out affordably.

[QUOTE=snookypookums;51981957]Dude, a helpful hint if you can - if you can budget for SEO in your advertising, throw some serious dosh in there. I'm not kidding, it's one of the best decisions I helped make for the current place I work at and you can get some cheap companies working out of India doing it for you as well for peanuts. Forget adwords, just focus on hyperlocal search terms for you/your website to hit top listing and you'll be getting a lot of passive leads without lifting a finger. [editline]19th March 2017[/editline] BDA, if you can, look up and see if there's any co-working office spaces in your area that you could rent out affordably.[/QUOTE] Yeah, I'll definitely be looking in to point one the moment I have some income. I'm using a "farm zone" tactic of real estate marketing, wherein I focus the large majority of my marketing efforts within a small geographic area, such as one particular neighborhood. I become first of mind in that area, hopefully landing most of the listings in it since residents think of me as the local expert. So, long tail search engine optimization could go a long way for me! Facebook advertising is a very affordable tactic for small local businesses, too. As for point two, I'm only spending about $90/month to rent my office at the brokerage, which ain't too darn shabby at all. I'll probably stick it out here!

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51982462]Yeah, I'll definitely be looking in to point one the moment I have some income. I'm using a "farm zone" tactic of real estate marketing, wherein I focus the large majority of my marketing efforts within a small geographic area, such as one particular neighborhood. I become first of mind in that area, hopefully landing most of the listings in it since residents think of me as the local expert. So, long tail search engine optimization could go a long way for me! Facebook advertising is a very affordable tactic for small local businesses, too. As for point two, I'm only spending about $90/month to rent my office at the brokerage, which ain't too darn shabby at all. I'll probably stick it out here![/QUOTE] Also, if it helps, try to see if you can be present for local Home Owner Association meetings and the like - could help build strong connections. :smile:

That's a good idea! I haven't thought to check on local HOA's in my potential farm zones yet. I'll add that to the research list.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51982795]That's a good idea! I haven't thought to check on local HOA's in my potential farm zones yet. I'll add that to the research list.[/QUOTE] I like your approach, it definitely sounds solid for someone who wants to be the trustworthy source of dealings, especially for big decisions like a house. :smile: Try targeting churches and the like in your farmhouse areas as well. Speak with the priests (common source of information and comfort for the pious taking big decisions in their lives). Oh, another thing to see is if there's any agency who happens to be selling "lists" of contact details of folks in your target areas as well. When I help out in sales, one of the first things we do is profile leads, tag them under various categories to see which ones are whales worth going after vs. small fish who'll bolt at the first ripple. Allows you the chance to customize a pitch to a potential home owner if you know what their tastes are like before hand. Also, make sure your website has a captcha-protected way for folks to reach out to you via message. I highly recommend using a free CRM (like Zoho CRM, for instance) to manage leads coming in. Ideally, a good CRM will also be able to remind you to follow up with folks automatically or even send out automated responses as well on your behalf to keep the lead fresh (should they choose to engage). Also, on the SEO front - you don't need to invest in it right away, but another cheap and easy way to game the system in your favour is to start a blog with a bunch of articles catering to real estate, but tailormade for your "farmhouse areas". Why? As you say, long tail keywords are your friend. Best part is you can write a bunch of average-ish articles (or have someone ghost write them for you),automate the uploads to a weekly basis, if possible. Google looks at relevance and periodicity as key markers of content when ranking them - fresh content and relevant content to a search gets high priority, so if you want to game the results for, say, "real estate agent hamptons", write 10-20 articles about the hamptons, have them deploy automatically once a week and within a month or so you should start seeing stuff rise. You can even do some basic SEO tracking yourself : There's a tool called RankTracker that allows you to see keyword performance on Google relative to your website, i.e. where does your website rank when someone searches for "widget". You can then draw up a list of keywords you want to target, run them through the app after entering your website and watch the rankings. Essentially, everything off the first page is useless. It'll be good practice for you to understand the nature of the SEO before you let some third party company handle it for you so you know they aren't fucking around. Basically, try to make it as easy as possible for you to get passive leads for business as you can while working on presence-based lead generation (i.e. you actively going out and connecting with folks in your farmhouse areas). It'll definitely help you a lot and sets the groundwork once you have more of a budget to hook this stuff up to a system that you or any of your potential hiree's can handle without a problem. Gives you a better, effective way to monitor leads coming in, their status and even mail trails. I speak from experience because I was the guy that did the setup for my current company and pretty much tend to the system from time to time. We end up getting 10 or so leads a day without actually doing anything except basic SEO.

That's basically exactly what I had in mind, yeah! I intend to try to establish a rapport with local first responders, educators, religious leaders, volunteer groups, and any other notable folks. I'll set up a local Facebook group and a blog where I'll feature cool things going on the area, interviews with the aforementioned people, etc. As my marketing budget increases beyond "whatever I can scrape together on credit," I'd also like to host small events like community barbeques, Easter egg hunts, etc. I've identified the broader area, a specific school district, that I'd like to target, but I still need to narrow down my specific farm zone to well defined neighborhood or subdivision -- about a thousand homes. I'm looking at price ranges, turnover, demographics, competition, etc to determine my ideal zone. I want one that's busy, but not already "owned" by another realtor doing the same thing. If I choose right, I should be able to maximize my marketing dollars and brand recognition.

[QUOTE=Big Dumb American;51983529]That's basically exactly what I had in mind, yeah! I intend to try to establish a rapport with local first responders, educators, religious leaders, volunteer groups, and any other notable folks. I'll set up a local Facebook group and a blog where I'll feature cool things going on the area, interviews with the aforementioned people, etc. As my marketing budget increases beyond "whatever I can scrape together on credit," I'd also like to host small events like community barbeques, Easter egg hunts, etc. I've identified the broader area, a specific school district, that I'd like to target, but I still need to narrow down my specific farm zone to well define neighborhood or subdivision -- about a thousand homes.[/QUOTE] That sounds like a pretty solid plan - I'd strongly suggest using any freely-available census data to profile and segregate based on household income and plan approaches accordingly. Based on that, do an A/B approach to see which lead generation methods work on which demographic set. Some respond to more direct "meet and greet"'s, some do better with a word to the minister/priest. The best way to do a broad-spectrum approach though, is to sit down and analyse the conversation you want potential clients to have with you and work backwards to find pathways. Are they going to google for real estate agents? Are they going to talk to someone first to see if they know anyone - if so, who and why? Or is there someone they already go to? Study the competition, see what they do and copy it, but better. I'd be careful with the events thing, though - if you're just doing it for funzies, that's cool, but outside of that, in my opinion and experience of trying it, it tends to be moocher central and it just ends up attracting waaaay more fluff that concrete leads. Hell, I'd even go so far as to say it drives away actual leads while you're drowning in opportunists who aren't interested in the shtick, they just want that free food. A good approach to consider would be more targeted - find out it's someone's birthday? Send a gift basket with a handwritten card. Effective use of money that you can budget for, on people who're likely to word-of-mouth your services to a wider audience for certain. This is exactly where stuff like CRM's are great to keep a track of people. People tend to remember unique actions of gifting vs stuff like "BDA's awesome cookout" because there's a whole lot of socializing going on there that you aren't a part of. Also useful tactic for you is to curry favour with any and ALL tradesmen in the area. These are the guys who work on said houses - plumbers, electricians, painters, builders, you name it. These guys are likely to be golden resources for giving you the heads up that someone's looking to move to new digs or they're putting their place up and giving her a last once over. Hit all the unions if you can.

[QUOTE=snookypookums;51981957]Dude, a helpful hint if you can - if you can budget for SEO in your advertising, throw some serious dosh in there. I'm not kidding, it's one of the best decisions I helped make for the current place I work at and you can get some cheap companies working out of India doing it for you as well for peanuts. Forget adwords, just focus on hyperlocal search terms for you/your website to hit top listing and you'll be getting a lot of passive leads without lifting a finger. [/QUOTE] Seconding this. My work has pretty much completely switched to inbound marketing and it's a godsend.

Anyone have any solid, straight forward accounts or avenues to contribute to 401k? I'm a 23 year old Electrical Engineering graduate (I am employed), I know I'm planning on working til I'm 70 with a 20 year long retirement. I've already done the math to plan on living at $50k/year ([URL="https://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2016/01/25/heres-what-the-average-retired-americans-budget-lo.aspx"]Which seems slightly above average for most retirement budgets[/URL]) for my last 20 years. Thus have $1M in 401k when I turn 70. When I crunched these numbers (Dec 2016), I searched to see typical interest rates and choose 6% (Which seemed like the worst case scenario). Because I have some student loans I need to start paying off in June (Which should take me 2-3 years to pay off completely), I figured that I just contribute about $150/mo to the 401k for those first few years and then contribute ~$400/mo until I'm 70. So basically, all I'm really asking for is A) My math correct & B)Where and how can I get a 401k setup?

Does your employer offer a matched contribution?

[QUOTE=Boss;51984504]Does your employer offer a matched contribution?[/QUOTE] AFAIK no.

Your #1 mistake is thinking $50,000 will be worth what it is today in 50 years. Tip: it'll be worth much, much less. [editline]21st March 2017[/editline] Also I don't think you can just get a 401k, your employer has to offer it or you need to be self employed. Roth might be open to anyone?

[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;51984184]Anyone have any solid, straight forward accounts or avenues to contribute to 401k? I'm a 23 year old Electrical Engineering graduate (I am employed), I know I'm planning on working til I'm 70 with a 20 year long retirement. I've already done the math to plan on living at $50k/year ([URL="https://www.fool.com/retirement/general/2016/01/25/heres-what-the-average-retired-americans-budget-lo.aspx"]Which seems slightly above average for most retirement budgets[/URL]) for my last 20 years. Thus have $1M in 401k when I turn 70. When I crunched these numbers (Dec 2016), I searched to see typical interest rates and choose 6% (Which seemed like the worst case scenario). Because I have some student loans I need to start paying off in June (Which should take me 2-3 years to pay off completely), I figured that I just contribute about $150/mo to the 401k for those first few years and then contribute ~$400/mo until I'm 70. So basically, all I'm really asking for is A) My math correct & B)Where and how can I get a 401k setup?[/QUOTE] thats a very low budget and you could definitely be contributing more if you're EE employed in the US. if ur employer doesn't do a 401k open an IRA and max it for 5500. without seeing ur loan amount and rates its hard to prioritize but for me i have about 14k @ average of 4% so i'd rather max out my retirement accounts and pay the minimums on student loans. but for sure that will not be enough for retirement, especially if its 1m in future value..

Speaking of 401k's, I now qualify for my work's. They match up to 5% so I obviously am wanting to do at least 5% but I'm trying to do the math right now. The one thing I really am trying to make sure of, I have about $300 a paycheck reimbursed from expenses like miles driven, parking, etc. The 5% that I put pre-tax from my paycheck is just 5% on my base pay, right? Not that the extra ~$30 will be a big deal a month but I've got my extra money pretty well balanced out between savings and donations that I can write off so I want to be sure.

Life can be frustrating but it feels good when things move forward [img]https://i.imgur.com/S1REtJ2.png[/img] Next up, find my ass a job for the summer