<p>Consolation, I feel your pain. This could happen to any one of us at this difficult time. </p>
<p>I was laid off once and had to take a $6.50/hour job so I do understand the pain. That is one of the reasons we live way under our income level. </p>
<p>My best wishes to you and yours.</p>
<p>Consolation, I, too, am speechless over your description of your circumstances. I really hope that you end up with your best-case scenario.</p>
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<p>Not at all! My very talented and well-educated husband is in the same predicament. The psychic and emotional toll it is taking on him is hard to watch.</p>
<p>We are fortunate that I fell into a career in mid-life. It was luck, pure and simple. And who is to say how long this company will be in business?</p>
<p>Any one of us can be in your shoes at any time. And I’m hoping fervently that those shoes of yours become more comfortable soon.</p>
<p>Consolation, you must live in a very depressed area. I doubt if anyone here thinks you and your H are screw-ups. How about preparing other people’s taxes? I bet your H could make some decent money doing that beginning in January.</p>
<p>Consolation, your situation is why I stated earlier that my friends and I all realize that we are far better off than many. My heart goes out to you and your family. I hope things get better for you soon.</p>
<p>Consolation-
So sorry to hear of your situation. That is awful. FWIW, I am not sure what kind of tutoring your H does, but $20/hr is probably way below what he should be charging. Around here, private tutors (for, for example, HS subjects, SAT etc) get anywhere from $60/hr to $120/hr, depending on background, expertise, etc)</p>
<p>We are considering ourselves very lucky this year. DH is a self-employed architect (see mathmom and mafool above) and is virtually unemployed, as all local residential work is at a standstill. He does still teach as an adjunct at the local cc and has recently picked up 8 hrs per week in a 1099 consulting position.</p>
<p>But earlier this year, after being laid off from a design firm I had been with for 13 years, I found a dream job at twice the salary in a very successful firm. I WILL be getting a bonus for the first time in either of our lives (likely around 10% of salary) as well as a (estimated) 5% raise as of the first of the year. In addition, at my year-end review, I was told that the firm is looking forward to promoting me to a more senior position as soon as the appropriate projects present themselves.</p>
<p>The bonus, as others have stated above, is that prior to this job we were paying $1300 per month for health and prescription insurance; now we get both (and dental) through my employer for a contribution of about $220 per month (pretax!).</p>
<p>Our company has had to lay off about 200 salaried employees. It is very sad. That doesn’t include the plants we have had to close. Our business depends on new housing starts. Oh wait- there AREN’T any!<br>
However, there may be modest bonuses for those of us who are left who are on incentive plans. I have mixed feelings about it. With a salary freeze and people out of work, part of me thinks the board should not approve even modest bonuses. On the other hand, we do want to keep good people and it is a nice reward for those of us who now have a lot more work to do.
That said, I thank God several times a day for the job I have. (which I love)</p>
<p>A slight detour–not a hijack:</p>
<p>Our business is in the very enviable position of having several new accounts. To satisfy the requirements of those accounts, my dept needs more “resources.” (We laid some people off not too long ago) I am in charge of the department and will receive a significant promotion this year; that promotion assumes an increased degree of responsibility for the outcome and costs. I am thinking of declining the promotion (or, more immediately, telling my supervisors I may do so) if we do not have the personnel to meet the needs. </p>
<p>Is this stupid?? Should I post this somewhere else?</p>
<p>Ok, last night after reading Consolation’s post, I couldn’t even think of what to say. I’ll try now. The answer is I’m not sure about bonuses this season. At my office (commercial real estate leasing/management/construction supervision), bonuses are quarterly. The 1st three quarters of 2008 were actually pretty good and the 4th started out fine. Literally, as of last Monday, our normally crazy phones stopped ringing. I’m hoping everyone took an early vacation, but during those 5 days we didn’t even get the normal complaint calls from current tenants. It was a VERY strange week - felt like the week between Christmas and New Years. It scares me a little. We are a small company and as far as I know, my job is safe (been there 23 years).</p>
<p>The downturn comes at a terrible time. H just found a full-time job with benefits and a company vehicle - although it’s in another city 4 hours away and we won’t realize the full benefits due to some dual living expenses 
- after 2.5 years of underemployment. He’s the degreed one. I have some college, no degree, but have always been the steadily employed one. With both of us working, finally, I’d hoped to start beefing up dwindling savings, look at saving for some much neglected home maintenance, and maybe even making the payments (when they start to come due) on D’s small undergrad loans because she’ll have huge medical school debt starting in 2010.</p>
<p>If my bonuses wind up being less, or nothing, we’ll be back to square 1, but we’ll be employed.</p>
<p>First…thank you again Dad II, for starting another one of you compelling threads.</p>
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<p>Does the above mean that the person will AT LEAST earn $100K per year with the potential to earn $60K more? Wow…I’m on a fixed salary with no potential for any kind of bonus or increase. Like others, I’m thankful for my job and so is DH. </p>
<p>When I think “bonus” I think “bonus”…not part of the salary. We do not rely on DH’s bonus’s at all in our budget calculations because we have no idea what (or if) they will even happen year to year. Some years he has gotten them and some years not. I can tell you that when he gets a bonus, it is usually used for deferred maintanence or to fulfil a need that might otherwise not happen. </p>
<p>We don’t use them for luxury vacations or the like. </p>
<p>If DH gets a bonus this year (big if), it will be used to pay college tuitions and we will be grateful to have this.</p>
<p>After all…a BONUS is on top of your earnings. (And yes, I understand PFP…but it’s not solely commission…some jobs really are).</p>
<p>Yep. A sizeable one.</p>
<p>Nice sensitivity, Mr. Payne.</p>
<p>Mafool, I guess you need to figure out if your position will be secure if you decline the promotion. It would be understandable if they need to put you in the senior position and have you take on more responsibility and work for you to be a keeper. But in some cases you may dodge a bullet in the lower position if, say, it came without P and L or other responsibility.</p>
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I answered the question, nothing more or less.</p>
<p>My husband and I are both self employed and so the concept of a bonus is foreign to us. Early in my career, I was a teacher. No bonuses in that either.</p>
<p>Self-employed here too----no bonus, no sick day, no benefits (except getting to make my own hours and have no one bossing me around…priceless! :))</p>
<p>Our company has a “bonus” program that is tied to customer service, reliability, and safety measures. For years I have been just rolling over any bonus we receive into the 401(k), it is only a couple of percent but a nice boost. Problem is, I have only gotten one base salary increase in all those years, so as far as what is being used for my pension goes my real-value salary has decreased. I may decide to start taking future bonuses in a check (after significant withholding), but I think if one more employee slips on a paper clip that will be their excuse to give us nothing this year…</p>
<p>H has generally received a bonus, but his current company does the bonuses in the first quarter of the new year. In the past, we used his bonuses to fund our kids’ college accounts. His bonus would generally cover one or two semesters of college for our kids, who did not overlap and who did not qualify for FA.</p>
<p>We do not know if the expected bonus will come through this coming year. H is in the investment field, but he and his particular department/area of specialization (not stocks) actually did well this year. However, his employer is certainly impacted by the general economic situation. </p>
<p>My feeling is we will be OK if the bonus does not happen early next year; it just means that we will have to withdraw from savings for the following semester instead of paying with the bonus. All I care about is that his job is secure. He had a one-year period of unemployment back in 2002 and we have been **very **grateful he was able to eventually land another good job in his field. We hope he can work until he chooses to retire, but no guarantees of that, or of anything else.</p>
<p>I definitely feel for others who are underemployed or unemployed and struggling through this economy. There is nothing like having gone through that to develop empathy for others undergoing such a challenge. And it so often simply is due to the way the ball bounces, rather than the individual’s talent or work ethic, etc. </p>
<p>I hope that there is good news for all in the coming year.</p>
<p>2008 bonus will probaly be OK (the first 9 months were very good … Q4 terrible). The 2009 bonus is looking like a few trips to McDonalds at this point.</p>