SavvySugar

Another Reason to Revise Your W-4: CA Withholding Returns

SavvySugar — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 09:30:18 -0800

Taxes may be one of life's sure things, but tax returns are another story. California's in big budget trouble (read: the state is teetering on tapped-out), and the controller's office is making the only choice it sees feasible for the current situation. In order to meet debt obligations and school spending requirements, CA has decided to withhold state tax refunds for individuals and businesses that overpaid in 2008.

For those of you who aren't CA residents like me and the other Sugar girls, your states should be sending refunds per usual. While state refunds are usually much smaller than federal refunds, this piece of news serves as another reason to update your W-4 form. Why pay more taxes than necessary, when that money could be growing throughout the year in an interest-bearing savings account? Talk to Human Resources about updating your W-4; it can be revised any time.

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Schwarzenegger Terminates Full Salaries of State Employees

SavvySugar — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:02:27 -0700

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is a man of his word this week. His threat to significantly cut the salaries of 200,000 state employees if lawmakers failed to produce a budget turned into reality when he signed an executive order reducing their pay to $6.55 an hour. The Governor's order also eliminates more than 20,000 state jobs, saying the state can't pay its bills without a budget.

Today, I am exercising my executive authority to avoid a full-blown crisis and keep our state moving forward. This is not an action I take lightly, but we do not have a budget, and as governor, I have a responsibility to make sure our state has enough money to pay its bills.

Needless to say, state employees facing enormous pay cuts are not happy about the situation. Karen Bass, the speaker of the State Assembly, shows her solidarity with the workforce: "It is an unwise and unfortunate move to cause economic strife to public servants and their families who are working hard and playing by the rules."

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Schwarzenegger's Wage Threat: A State Employee's Reaction

SavvySugar — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 04:00:51 -0700

As California Democrats and Republicans struggle to find a satisfactory compromise and seal the deal on a new and overdue state budget, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's frustration has risen to the point of making threats. He's considering an executive order that would reduce 200,000 state employees' salaries to the $6.55 per hour federal minimum wage, which CitizenSugar points out is $1.45 less than the state's minimum wage.

A good friend of mine happens to be a hard-working California state employee, so I asked him for his thoughts on the governor's threat and how it would affect him should the order go through this week.

SavvySugar: How would something like this affect the public sector?

State Employee: I think it is a fair assumption that state employees do not jump into the public sector expecting some great financial windfall as a result. No, most people are doing it for a sense of security. Every month you are going to get your paycheck and you are going to get it on the first or the 30th and that's it. Likewise, you are going to have not just financial security, but job security. In general terms a concept such as the one which Arnold is proposing would overthrow one big benefit of being a public sector employee.

See his thoughts on the concept of Arnold's threat and how he'd personally be affected when you read more.

SS: What's your opinion on the concept in general?

SE: The fact of the matter is these are hard financial times for many people and by cutting people's salaries, in some cases up to 90 percent, you are putting their livelihood in dire straits and for what purpose? Stymieing the ability for 200,000 state employees to subsist on their own financially seems like a very backward way to help quell the budget crisis.

SS: How would you be affected? Does the fact that your salary would be paid retroactively make it no big deal?

SE: For me personally, I have enough savings that I could stand a few months without making my regular hourly pay, but it would be tight. I actually figured out what my pretax paycheck would be under the governor's proposal of lowering the salary to $6.55 an hour, and it comes out to $1135 a month. My paycheck after taxes would pay rent and that's it. No food, no water bill, no electric bill, nothing, just rent.

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Cool Job: Nina LaCour, Author

SavvySugar — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:27 -0700

Whether you love heading into work every day or dread the alarm each morning, hearing about people who love what they do is always inspiring. In our new Savvy series, Cool Jobs, we’ll talk to real women who have turned their passion into a very cool career.

Oakland native Nina LaCour always knew she wanted to be a writer, but over the past two years, she’s made that dream a reality. Nina’s debut young adult novel, Hold Still, was released by Dutton (a division of Penguin) last week, and she’s already signed on for a second novel.

Tell us what a typical day looks like for you.
I teach high school in the mornings, so my workday begins at 7:45. For a few hours, I sit around a big table with between 10 and 14 students per class and talk about books. When I get home I need a little while to wind down from teaching, so I use that time to answer interview questions for YA bloggers and get in touch with my agent or the people at Penguin about book stuff. They are all in New York, and I'm in California, so these calls have to take place early in my day.

No matter how often I do it, it takes me a little while to settle into writing. Usually I'll begin by reading over my newer scenes or notes. I also keep an ever-changing outline up on my wall, so I keep track of what I've written and what I need to write, and I'll cross scenes out if I decide that I'm taking a different direction. And then, finally, I start typing. I'm a slow writer, so on a good day I'll get one or two pages written. On a slow day I might just end up revising existing scenes or writing a bunch of notes, or working forever on one important paragraph.

To hear more about Nina's cool job, keep reading

Believe It or Not, It's Another CA Gold Rush

SavvySugar — Sun, 30 Mar 2008 07:01:14 -0700

While there's nobody living that can deliver first hand accounts of the California gold rush that happened 160 years ago, we're quite familiar with the history of settlers moving West in search of golden fortune. The population surge had such an impact on CA that it was prompted into early Union admittance as the 31st state, transformed cities like San Francisco and Sacramento into centers of commercial activity, and gave the state a reason to advance its agriculture practices.

If the original gold rush completely transformed California, then what would happen if there was a sequel? We may find out soon enough, because the dramatic rise in gold's price has caused some people to gear up for another rush on the metal. According to Harrigan McGregor, owner of GoldFeverProspecting.com, a mining equipment retailer in northern California, "This is the second big California gold rush. We’ve had a lot of phone calls from people who are quitting their jobs and prospecting full-time.” Talk about risky business.

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Gay Marriage Ban Hurts California Businesses

SavvySugar — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 07:00:01 -0800

After a busy Summer of fulfilling orders for flowers and cakes to be showcased at same-sex weddings all over California, vendors are now seeing their business cut at the worst possible time. Voters passed Prop. 8, which effectively bans same-sex marriage in the state, and the demise of gay marriage is unfortunately hurting the businesses that supported same-sex couples.

Merchants like San Francisco florist Christopher Burnett have expressed the economic impact Prop. 8 is already having: "I have done a gay wedding every week. And so it’s very disheartening, because other business is very slow." Mayor Gavin Newsom conceded that Prop. 8 is only good for Massachusetts and Connecticut, the two states where gay marriages are still legal and will likely see a boost in the number of same-sex weddings. Opponents of Prop. 8 have appealed to the California Supreme Court to reverse the measure, but until that happens, vendors expect business to be slow.

Do you know any couples who had to cancel their upcoming wedding because of Prop. 8?

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News Flash: California Foreclosures Jump 261 Percent

SavvySugar — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:02:17 -0700

Last quarter's real estate reports are in and the results aren't pretty. They revealed the number of foreclosures in California compared to the same time period last year rose 261 percent (no, that's not a typo). Such a dramatic situation comes with a scarily simple story: Buyers got into the housing market during the boom, usually financing their purchases with more than one loan, and have rather swiftly been crushed by the bust.

During the second quarter 63,061 homes were foreclosed, up 33 percent from the first quarter of this year. Home prices have continually fallen, making it difficult for homeowners to sell their homes and have enough to completely repay debt. Most of the defaulted loans were made between September 2005 and November 2006.

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Who Has the Longest and Shortest Commutes in the US

SavvySugar — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:30:10 -0700

Southern California is notorious for its insane traffic; drivers there might be pulling out their hair, but the average commuting time is surprisingly not the worst in the nation. The US Census Bureau declared that commuters from East Stroudsburg, PA spend the longest time getting to work, averaging 40.6 minutes each way, typically driving to their jobs in the NYC area.

Other commuters who work in NYC can empathize; residents in White Plains, NY and Wayne, NJ have the second-longest commute, averaging 36.9 minutes. Those times are much greater than the national average of 25.5 minutes. On the flip side, the shortest commute goes to Grand Forks, ND where workers drive an average 14.3 minutes to work, followed by Cheyenne, WY (14.9 minutes) and Roswell, NM (15.7 minutes).

How long does it take you to get to and from the office?

Credit Limit Cut? Your State of Residence Could Be the Reason

SavvySugar — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 10:30:39 -0700

When it comes in the form of credit cards, plastic is dramatic. There are always consumers in the news discussing how they've been mistreated by a credit card carrier, and there seems to be an endless stream of hidden policies that rear their harmful heads when customers least expect it.

Take the case of Paul Smith (not of kitschy designing fame), a San Diego resident who was alarmed when his credit card limit was recently reduced from $7,000 to $1,400. Smith's credit score is 751 and he couldn't think of a reason why the company would take such rash action, so he called the carrier (HSBC) to get some answers.

A representative told Smith the action was "due in part to the financial situation in California. Also in Nevada, Florida and Arizona." If credit cards aren't all about personal finances, the credit cards sure are full of surprises.

The 10 Best Paid Cities in the World

SavvySugar — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:15:45 -0700

There's more to purchasing power than the gross number on your paycheck. Nobody knows that better than residents of Copenhagen, who earn more before taxes on average than any other city in the world. However, after accounting for taxes, hours worked, social security contributions, transportation, and the cost of groceries and household items, workers in Copenhagen have weaker purchasing power compared to cities where the average gross pay is less.

The UBS Prices and Earnings report factored in the necessary pieces to determine which cities are the best paid in the world. Find out the 10 cities where purchasing power is strongest when you read more.

Zurich, Switzerland
Geneva, Switzerland
New York, New York
Dublin, Ireland
Luxembourg
Copenhagen, Denmark
Los Angeles, California
Oslo, Norway
Helsinki, Finland
Miami, Florida