What are the benefits of joining a credit union versus opening a bank account?
It must be said that whether the financial institution you are dealing with is a for-profit operation or a cooperative, there is definitely a great need to abide by sound business practices.This means that when they need to have a customer base that can pay all the costs of operating the institution, including a profit margin to cover losses. Now a bank also aims to generate income to be distributed to shareholders while a cooperative should strive to do what best serves its membership, rather than what best serves its shareholders.It should be noted, however, that a bank might operate with greater efficiency, so that the bank’s customers are actually getting better served.However, when you enter into an agreement with the bank, you are two parties on opposite sides of a contract. It is not unreasonable for the terms of these contracts to favor the bank, perhaps in a way that’s not obvious to the customer.Now I’m not going to tell you that every credit union has terms that are as fair and transparent to the customer as they could possibly be, but to the extent that they’re creating tricky terms in their agreements, they’re violating the spirit of the credit union. There are likely to be at least some activist members of the credit union who would call out egregious practices, in a way that shareholders would not call out similar operating practices in a bank.So you still need to understand the terms of how your credit union’s offerings work, and you shouldn’t assume that they’re going to waive every fee you incur that you’re unhappy with. But you should reasonably expect that their perspective in dealing with you is to help you understand what best meets your needs than what best meets their needs, and that seems like a pretty important place to start your relationship with a financial institution.
I'm a federal employee working during the shutdown who is running out of money to drive to work, buy food, pay tuition, and pay my bills. Is there any public assistance available for me? Can I take out a loan?
Several financial institutions, notably Navy Federal Credit Union, have programs to financially assist those caught out by the government shutdown.
Will the US Navy Active personnel still get paid, despite the current government shutdown?
As of December 31st, 2018 the US Government is only on a partial 25% shutdown. Due to the foresight, DOD and VA are not going to be affected by the shutdown. Department of Homeland Security is effected and there was the fear that the Coast Guard would not be getting paid until the shutdown ended. Navy Federal Credit Union, Chase, and a few other larger banks were willing to offer Active Coast Guard personnel interest-free loans up to 6k to help these service member. Now though according to Army Times the Coast Guard service members will be getting paid.
Why can't furlough Federal workers simply take out a loan as US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggests?
Responding to: Why can't furlough Federal workers simply take out a loan as US Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross suggests?Thanks for the A2A, Larry.Michelle Buehlmann provided a list of almost all the reasons that came to mind for me. But let me add some additional considerations.I’ve read about how bankers and financial types feathered their own nests even as they screwed customers with mortgages a decade ago. Ross presumably has good connections with people in the banking business, but although I am not among the victims of the bankers I sure can understand why some might not trust them.While not being a victim of that crisis, the gig economy that arrived forcefully with the crisis left me feeling buffeted for a few years. If I were facing that shutdown situation, I would be quite uncomfortable adding another creditor. The gig experience left me feeling each paycheck might be the last for a while. Save some for retirement? Nope—might need it to pay the mortgage or buy groceries next week or next month.I’ve been in the management of a failing business, and taking collection calls from creditors really messed up a lot of days. The lack of control was a very frustrating and dispiriting sensation. Taking out a loan while being powerless to influence your future or having control over it just strikes me as living far more dangerously than I would care to.
Why were employees of federal contractors excluded from receiving back pay in the 2019 govt shutdown?
A person who works for a contractor does not have the same employee rights and benefits.Also the contractor may have other contracts that they can assign their workers to during a furlough.It has been the policy to give Federal employees retroactive pay after a shutdown is over .They are full time salaried employees who expect to return to their jobs and are financially dependent on the paycheck.Most federal employees are also represented by unions with bargaining power .Some contracts are temporary and employees get work on other projects by the hour until the shutdown is over.They have no political leverage .Most importantly contract employees are not government employees.They are paid by the contractor and are not govt employees.The question I have is why pay 400,000 furloughed federal employees that were laid off when their their jobs were classified as not -essential ‘What if the employees found a temporary job or applied for unemployment benefits during the 35 day furlough.I don’t think a private company would pay them if they had a disruption in their business and had to temporarily lay off their employees.There’s only one rational answer.The Shutdown served the political interest of both and so does giving furloughed employees retroactive pay.It’s all politics!
What can federal workers do to generate some side cash amid the government shutdown?
Not a lot. There are a lot of outside jobs that federal employees can do, but almost anything that touches on the kind of work you do for the government needs to be approved by the agency ethics officers. They check for conflicts of interest between the job you want to do and the work you do for the government. If you are working as an engineer for the government, for istance, that does not mean they you can’t have an outside job as an engineer, but they have to make sure that there is no conflict between the two jobs. The government does not allow you to work on outside jobs that can influence, or be influenced by the way that you do your government job.There are some kind of jobs that clearly don’t conflict. You could probably get a job in retail without any conflict, and most artistic pursuits are probably ok.The problem is that during a shutdown there is nobody working that can do the approval even for jobs that would be approved.
What's your view on Trump's comment: "I just really appreciate the fact that [federal workers] have handled Government shutdown so incredibly well. And many of them agree with what we’re doing"?
Would people do without pay to facilitate Gileadism? I don’t think so and even Gileadists would want to get paid. Trump is deluded and clearly is controlled by Tea Party Gileadist filth. If left unchecked, this carry on could lead to revolutions and civil war. If Trump cannot rule America for the moderate majority and only seems capable of siding with the Gileadist minority, then he needs to be replaced by someone who can represent most Americans.