Check out these hilarious fictitious office memos that people wish they had the heart or cojones to send, courtesy of Salon. I love the first one, from self-employed person to client. Although I think I like this “memo” best:
To: People who use the “priority” header in their outgoing email
When you set “priority” to “high” or “highest,” please do so only on the basis of the message’s likely priority to its recipient(s), not its priority to you. Taking your best guess is OK.
February 25th, 2007
“If you work for yourself, aren’t you throwing away your retirement?”
A producer from Seattle’s KING5 TV news asked me this when we were prepping for my February 16 morning spot.* My answer: Hardly. Workers under 40 are lucky if they get a 401k at all — especially one with employer matching. And pensions? They’re pretty much extinct, unless you work for the government.
If you’re not getting a 401k with employer matching, you’re basically in the same boat as a self-employed person: You still have to siphon money from each paycheck for your retirement fund, even if it’s one you get through an investment firm like Fidelity or Vanguard. (I use the latter.)
Why the hell am I thinking about this on a Sunday, when instead I could be scrambling to rent the last few Oscar-nominated flicks I haven’t seen? Because I contributed to Your Money 2007, a Seattle Times special section that came out today. Basically we hooked up a handful of readers with certified financial planners, gave them the money makeover of their lives, and then wrote about it for all the world to see.
Working on this project made me realize that I’m a bit behind where I need to be with my retirement savings, especially since I’ve been self-employed forever and am single. If you’re self-employed, too, or thinking about joining the ranks of solo workers, here are some resources that can help you get a better handle on your long-term savings:
*Sorry, no video from le TV spot. But my mom and friend Diane swear I did great.
February 25th, 2007
