Are YOU better off than you were four years ago?

[katietornado]

We are better off. H got a raise and bonus this year, and has been with his job 5 years now. I got a new job paying over 20% more than my previous job. We are now homeowners, and our house is worth more than we paid for it in 2009. Our investments are doing very well (retirement, stocks, mutual funds) and we have more in savings than ever. Part of the improvement is that we moved from Santa Clara county, CA (HCOL and 8.7% unemployment) to Ohio (LCOL and 6.5% unemployment).

[pedanticwench]

Well, I still have the same job as I did four years ago and so does H. We've both gotten small raises, but only in the past year.

My wages were cut by 10%, then re-upped to 5%, then some other shit went down that I don't feel like getting into but basically I've never gotten back the full 10% I was making and I don't know if I ever will, even with yearly raises.

So, do I think we're better off? Not really. We just managed to make it through the worst... hopefully.

[4speedy]

Sept 17, 2012 9:14:02 GMT -5 cookiemdough said:

4speedy the mortgage story is awesome. Good for you! It does make you wonder why the people that work at the bank couldn't figure it out themselves but I am glad that someone was actually heard for a change.

Oh, but it didn't end there. Once it got resolved in our favor, it all happened so quickly, none of it was documented. A year into our modification, Citimortgage came back and said we had to redo the whole thing because the process was not followed correctly. So I had to resubmit all of our paperwork again. They did mention the threat of foreclosure again because at that point, we had paid a years worth of payments at the reduced amount, so we were not current with what our full payment would have been prior to the modification. We were told we would have to have a 3 month trial period at the lower rate to make sure we were good candidates for the mod program, DESPITE the fact that we had made payments under the modification program for 12 months at that point. So at the end of those three trial months, we were put back into the que to get the modification, which we already had, into underwriting. We were approved and then it took ANOTHER 3 months to get the documentation to make it all official and legal. the second time around, it took them 9 months to work through the process for a modification that we already had.

[teflep]

Sept 17, 2012 9:15:01 GMT -5 shadow said:

I'm waayyyy better off. Probably b/c of the crisis, DH was able to buy his company for practically nothing and make a crapload of money. Since Obama was inaugurated I went from living in a TH to a much larger home, got married, had 2 kids, got a nicer car, quit my job. Under Bush, I lived in a studio apartment and was single w/ no money. All b/c of who was president. Anecdotes ftw!

wait, this is because of the president, or am I missing something as it sounds like it isn't because of him?

[MrsAxilla]

Yes, by a long shot.

[cookiemdough]

Sept 17, 2012 10:02:22 GMT -5 teflep said:

Sept 17, 2012 9:15:01 GMT -5 shadow said:

I'm waayyyy better off. Probably b/c of the crisis, DH was able to buy his company for practically nothing and make a crapload of money. Since Obama was inaugurated I went from living in a TH to a much larger home, got married, had 2 kids, got a nicer car, quit my job. Under Bush, I lived in a studio apartment and was single w/ no money. All b/c of who was president. Anecdotes ftw!

wait, this is because of the president, or am I missing something as it sounds like it isn't because of him?

What? You dont think Obama promised voters a husband? : )

[wawa]

Yes I guess? 4 years ago we were planning a wedding, had just bought a house and MH had just taken a pretty massive paycut. Since then we both passed a major certification exam and got raises to go with it, and I switched jobs and got a raise when I did so.

MH's pay is finally back roughly equal to where it was before the paycut. Which is nice, but it sucks that we were just making up lost ground all this time. Both of our companies are hiring though, and friends in the industry are all moving up the ladder so things in general are looking good. (civil engineering)

[casmgn]

Yes, I've nearly doubled my salary and we own a home.

[heyjude]

Short answer: yes.

Long answer: yes but there have been some rocky times along the way. While I get raises or promotions annually DH's job situation has been stagnant. We own a house now but the value has gone down. We now have a kid but daycare costs are extreme. Personal time....what's that?

None of this is attributable to Obama. This is just life.

[somersault72]

No, but that's because I am divorced now. That fucked up my finances royally.

[starlily]

Sept 16, 2012 20:19:49 GMT -5 @lauriergirl28 said:

Interesting to read that the majority of posters are better off now than 4 years ago. I'd be curious to know for how many of us, that had to do with age as much as anything (ie used to be in school or just graduating) or just our particular fields.
I don't know if its possible to find out WHY most of us are better off, but its certainly interesting to me.

Well, I'm in my mid-30s so it didn't have much to do with age for me. I just happened to be very lucky ten years ago and got hired as an attorney with civil service protection. Our office didn't reach the point of layoffs, but they were discussed, along with furloughs. By that point though, I had enough seniority to be topped out on the pay scale and not worry about layoffs.

[marynjoe]

Sept 17, 2012 9:52:58 GMT -5 4speedy said:

Oh, but it didn't end there. Once it got resolved in our favor, it all happened so quickly, none of it was documented. A year into our modification, Citimortgage came back and said we had to redo the whole thing because the process was not followed correctly. So I had to resubmit all of our paperwork again. They did mention the threat of foreclosure again because at that point, we had paid a years worth of payments at the reduced amount, so we were not current with what our full payment would have been prior to the modification. We were told we would have to have a 3 month trial period at the lower rate to make sure we were good candidates for the mod program, DESPITE the fact that we had made payments under the modification program for 12 months at that point. So at the end of those three trial months, we were put back into the que to get the modification, which we already had, into underwriting. We were approved and then it took ANOTHER 3 months to get the documentation to make it all official and legal. the second time around, it took them 9 months to work through the process for a modification that we already had.

Sadly, I figured this would happen. I knew your first post sound too easy and made too much sense.

[eliseb0323]

No. H and I have both been working a long time. We probably make a little more than we did 4 years ago, but it's mostly because I went from part-time work to full-time work. Our pay has been frozen for 2 years, and our health costs, food costs, taxes, gas costs, have all gone up. Our childcare costs have gone down a bit, because our kid has gotten older and is now in school.

[Mrs.Syntax]

We are in the "no" category. DH lost his job at a hedge fund (he wasn't a big-time account manager or anything - just a computer programmer) and he started his own business as a result, but he's still making less than he did in 2008. I got a new job in 2008 but the firm had pay freezes and no bonuses for the next 2 years (I quit in 2010). We had to move and took a huge loss on the sale of our condo. We still have most of our savings, but haven't been able to get ahead of where we were.

[ESF]

Yes, I'm better off. Four years ago, I had no job and law firms were collapsing left and right. Now I have a job I like. I'm still not exactly where I wish I was, but for that, I blame W, Reagan and their Supreme Court picks, who have spent the last four years making my practice area their whipping post.

We don't own a home. The falling home prices have actually made me feel like my situation has improved because not only does it make home ownership more attainable, but it makes me feel better about my SL debt. It saved me from buying a house and losing money on it, and I no longer feel like the only person in debt up to their eyeballs on something that hasn't turned out to be worth the investment. Misery loves company. LOL.

[cbwm1]

Yup.

We've doubled our salaries in the last four years.

However, we're kind of in this bubble with the industry that we're in, and our jobs aren't going anywhere anytime soon. While we were super poor for awhile right after our son was born, we're in such better shape now, and it's only going to get better.

[jlt19]

I don't know how we're not, but we're not, LOL!

We now have 2 small kids in daycare, but I guess we do make a bit more $ and save less. I'd say we're about equal, which in our industry (construction) is a good thing!

[rootbeerfloat]

Yes, even with the second kid. H was laid off in Aug 2008. He wound up taking a job with a real estate agent who specializes in short sales. Their office is extremely busy. And I'm also making more, even though I've endured furloughs/pay reductions and increased insurance premiums as a state employee, due to a change in position. We've also refinanced our mortgage twice.

[SmartyCat]

No:
-DH was laid off in 2009, and has a job only because he was willing to completely change industries and start from scratch; his income is still nowhere near what it was.
-We bought our house near, but not at, the bottom of the market. Right now it's probably just getting back to being worth what we paid for it.
-Ditto investments - just now in the ballpark they were in mid-2007, which is a loss when you factor in foregone growth and continued contributions.

Yes:
-DS launched his adult life in some of the worst circumstances for his age group in decades. He's on his own, doing well, and our expenses have dropped due to one less person in the household and on our insurance/phone plan/etc
-After a rocky year of furloughs (but no salary cuts) at my office in 2009, my salary has continued to improve since.
-Mortgage interest deduction plus slashed income = hella lower taxes
-Since major life changes seem to be fair game here: we've gone from an 800 SF condo with three adults in it to empty nesters with a yard and room to move around in the house. We have a vegetable garden bringing in too many heirloom tomatoes as I type this. DS is getting married in November to someone we adore, and I was able to carry him on my health insurance two years longer than before.. I'm not hyperventilating over the specter of Sarah Palin in the White House. I was able to fire a nightmare employee. I'm sleeping exponentially better.

Financially: not where we want to be. Quality of life overall: better.

[sonrisa]

Absolutely. Four years ago DH was a resident. Now he isn't. We own a house and while I'm not currently contributing financially (mostly pro bono work) it is entirely by choice.

[Deleted]

no, but I was living the LIFE 4 years ago. We were expats whose company paid for just about everything.

Now we have 1.5 kids and H is starting his own business, so we live off a teacher's salary.