Dad's Life Hacks: No. 2 - Income

Last hack we reviewed the basics about bills, outgoing money. For this hack, we look at the other side of the equation, income. In order to pay bills, you need a job or hobby that pays you money. Now that you are growing into adulthood, you are going to apply for those jobs. Here are some tips:

First job; for your first job, don't worry too much about the pay. The purpose of the first job is to get used to working and to learn about career paths. The lessons to learn are getting to work on time, working an eight-hour day with one-hour lunch, receiving a paycheck, getting along with your co-workers, and learning the key elements about the job. If you learn these lessons, then your first job will be successful.

My first career job, Civil Engineer at Bechtel

Mastering the Interview; in order to get that job, you need to be at your best in your interview. As a person who used to hire new engineers, here are elements I looked for in a potential employee:

• Dress appropriately - is this candidate properly dressed? If the candidate is applying for a professional job, I expect the candidate to dress like a professional (the standard for that profession - coat, tie, slacks, dress shoes). 
• Resume consistency - does the listed experience match what the candidate says? If you list a previous project or experience on your resume, be prepared to explain in detail what your role was in that project or experience. What the interviewer wants to know is how you contributed to the project, small or large, and that you just did not add that to your resume because you heard about the project. So, talk about how you came up with the idea for creating holiday treats to fund the robot project, about how you met with the school board to get the mural approved; don't just say you were on the robot team or mural team.
• Be curious - is the candidate interested in the work? Interviewers are impressed when candidates ask questions about the job or the work environment. So, ask the interviewer what a typical day would be like if you get hired for the position, ask who your supervisor will be if you get hired, ask what does the interviewer think would be qualities for the ideal employee for the position. The interview is a conversation between you and the interviewer, don't be afraid to ask him/her questions too.
• Be polite - does the candidate have good manners? I don't have to explain this to you. After the interview is over, it is nice to send an email or note to the interviewer thanking him/her for the opportunity to interview.           

Next job/promotion; after you have worked a while, you will be in the position to move on to the next job or a promotion at this job. At this point, you will be in a position to negotiate your pay. Here are tips on negotiation:

• Research - find out what the average pay is for that next position or promotion. You can find out average pay from various professional publications or talk to your co-workers in that role. You should go into that next interview with knowledge about the pay range for that position and what you would be willing to accept.
• Negotiate - if you get an offer that is lower than the pay you wanted, do not be afraid to ask for more. Explain how your experience ideally matches what is required of the role, explain how your other experience adds breadth to that role, and/or explain how your skills/knowledge can improve the function of that role. You should be able to explain why your requested pay is justified. 
• Walk away - if the hiring manager is "low-balling" you on pay, be prepared to walk away. When a company is hiring, it is an investment for both the employer and employee. If they do not want to pay decently, it is very likely you will not be treated well if you get hired. Do not sell yourself short if you think that you are getting low-balled by the hiring manager and they are not willing to negotiate.     

Now, when you get that first big paycheck, don't spend it all right away. Take about 10% and save it into an investment or savings account. We'll talk about Saving/Investing in a future Life Hack. Let me know if you have any questions.

Dad's Life Hacks: No. 1 - Bills

My daughter said to me the other day, "I'm not ready to get my own apartment. Like, how do you even pay bills? I've never even paid a bill." That got me thinking that I should really give my kids some lessons in everyday living, some tips to get along in our world. But, given that we are so busy, my tips will be recorded here in my blog so they can get to it when they are ready and have the time. 

So, Life Hack No. 1 - Bills:

Bills are what you pay for services or products that you use. At the coffee shop or store, you pay the cashier in cash (or debit/credit card). But for the home, you are sent a bill that you pay with checks (or debit/credit cards). In the old days, you wrote a note on a piece of paper called a "check" that tells your bank who you are paying and how much. A check looks like this:

The blue texts are what you fill in, signature in lower right

These days, banks prefer you pay online so that they don't have to process all those pieces of paper checks. For online payments, you set up a list of payees (companies or people you are paying) with the companies' account numbers and addresses. When the company sends you a bill, you go online and pay them through your bank's online Bill Pay and it's done. No more pieces of paper. Here is a typical online banking Bill Pay screen:

Fill in the boxes and click "Make Payments"

There are major categories of bills: home (rent/mortgage), utilities (water, power, garbage), insurance (health, auto, home/rental), credit (loans) and taxes (income/property). 

Home: this is usually the biggest of your monthly bills. Try to keep this amount to no more than 30% of your total monthly income. If your rent/mortgage is greater than 30%, you might consider moving to a cheaper or smaller place or buying a smaller house. 

Utilities: these are the services you use to be comfortable at home. For water (including sewage) and garbage, you really do not have much choice to keep these amounts low. You have to drink water, flush toilets, and take your garbage away. You might be able to minimize water usage by reducing your landscape watering, but generally the water bills are pretty low. For power, natural gas and electricity, you have more control in how much you pay. Make sure to turn off lights when you are not in the room, use major appliances when the power rates are low (late in the night or early in the morning), and keep your thermostat colder than is comfortable without a sweatshirt. Don't get too comfortable.

Insurance: you need insurance for those accidents in life that could bankrupt you. If you get sick, health insurance will cover your doctor's bills. If you have an auto accident, auto insurance covers damages and medical costs. If a fire burns up your house, homeowners (renters) insurance pays for the lost items. Without insurance, you can go bankrupt if you have to use your savings to return to normal.

Credit: these are bills for items you purchased with a loan, like using a credit card. If you buy a car on credit, you pay a smaller down payment (say 20%) and pay off the remainder of the car in monthly payments including interest. The remainder is called the "balance". If you use credit cards to buy daily items (dinners, coffee, clothes), make sure to keep the balance low enough so that you can pay off the balance right away. Credit card interest is very high and it will cost you much more than the original cost if you carry your balance past the first due date. Pay off the balance as soon as you get the bill.

Taxes: at the end of the year, you will have to pay taxes. Taxes are for the teachers, firemen, policemen, soldiers, and other government services to live comfortably and safely in your country. Most of your taxes are taken out of your bi-weekly paychecks and you just have to file a report to certify that you have paid the correct amount of taxes. However, there are times when you make more money than has been taken from your paycheck and you have to pay the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) more than what was taken. 

If you are comfortable keeping track of your own finances, then a tax software (TurboTax) is what you need to manage your annual taxes. The IRS also has free software on their website if your taxes are not too complicated. If your taxes are very complicated, you will need an accountant to file your taxes for you. Your accountant will still require you to bring all your receipts and financial documents so they can file correctly.

OK, let me know if you have any questions.

   

 

    

SIP-n-Sketch: New project, Self-portraits

Hi Sketchers:

For the new project starting Friday, 1/22, we will be sketching self-portraits. So, find your favorite photo, set up your canvas or stretch your paper, and we start sketching on Friday. 

I'm using this photo for my self-portrait:

See y'all on Friday

CoWaBunGA

SIP-n-Sketch: SF Cityscape with BB cables, 01/2021

My sketch class attendees shamed me into finishing my sketch. They completed their sketches last Friday. Ooo, those sketchers are so good! Anyway, here is mine:

SF Cityscape w/ BB cables, acrylic & pencil on paper, 1/2021

Next sketch project for SIP-n-Sketch is self portraits. So, bring a photo of yourself and join us as we sketch self-portraits starting on Friday, 1/22/2021.