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First day at the new job

Yesterday was my first day at the new job. First three hours were spent at HR going through a benefits presentations and creating my employee file.

Benefits Summary:

Great medical, dental, and vision plan. Only $120 a month for me and my daughter. Even though I have been used to paying zilch on the medical coverage front, the $120/month is a lot better than I thought. Hit the nail on the head here or way off?

The company is only offering 2% towards my 401K and there is no additional match. I think I am going to elect to have 0% of my salary applied to my 401K. There is 2.5 months left on the contract which equates to about 5 paychecks. The company's retirement plan only allows roll overs if the account is more than $1000. Any account below that will be required to cash out. Even if I do the same percentage of contribution I did with my old employer (4%) and plus the 2% from the current employer, $840 max would be contributed to my 401K by the time the contract ends. So I see no reason to contribute if I will have to take a 30% penalty on my money when I can take it home and only deal with a 16% tax. I have 31 days to make a final decision on this but I don't think I will need it.

I also get $25K in life insurance and $25K in ADD.


I have only been working with them 2 days and I have already been to 3 meetings. The position is going to be more challenging than my last job but I am excited and can't wait to really dig myself into it. Sounds scary I know. LOL! But I do love a challenge. I was given a schedule with 3 tasks to complete and I have already completed the first one this morning. I started the second assignment on my list and it is going to be a doozy. :-D

I went ahead and calculated how much each of my pay checks will be. Based on those calculations I should have around $9068 total saved to my emergency fund come October 17th. I am going to work on bringing in some extra income of the side also.

I updated my resume on a few job sites and also applied to the company taking over the contract in October. I have already gotten 2 job offers from the online job sites but I had to turn both down. They both wanted me to start right away and it wouldn't be professional of me to quit a job I just started. I want to maintain a good rapport with all past employers. It is still good to know that my resume is getting such good feedback.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I probably need to catch up on old posts because I have many questions:

1 - why did you accept a new job knowing you would get laid off in 2.5 months?

2 - do you get the 2% employer contribution whether you contribute or not? or is that a dollar for dollar "match" of your first 2% contribution? if the latter, i'd still contribute at least 2%. it's an immediate 100% return, it lowers your tax liability, and it's FREE money.

besides, i'm sure you have a good answer to question #1, so what are the odds of you being let go and having to cash out?

3 - you updated your resume on a few job sites and received 2 job offers already? without an interview? you accepted a position and turned them down without weighing all options and comparing all offers?

4 - how do you know which company is taking over the contract in October? source selection is sensitive information so the new incumbent wouldn't be announced until the contract is awarded and all offerors have been notified.

5 - if you do have insider information, why didn't you pursue a job with the company that will take over the contract in October to ensure stability?

6 - $120/mon for family coverage isn't bad. i pay $92 biwkly. but then again, paying $120 when you used to pay $0 sucks - period. however, the quality of coverage is equally (if not more) important than the monthly premium price. so only you can determine if it's a good deal or not.

at any rate, congrats on your new gig! i hope you followed the right opportunity and not just (what appears to be) "temporary" dollar signs.
Dimples said…
@ single ma


You know I'm gonna have to answer via post right? LOL!! I gotta make sure I come correct on them to so I don't get my neck chopped. :-)
Unknown said…
I'm still doing my get it D dance. I'm proud of you like you were my flesh n blood. I like your drive and I pray that God continues to bless you with opportunities to grow and excel.


D.C. Out
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