Has the government shutdown affected you?

[Vacation4us]

I don't think anyone is bashing federal workers in this thread.

The shutdown hasn't effected us personally and I am hopeful some value will come from this.

PS I spent Saturday attending the funeral of Ronil Singh. I highly recommend watching the YouTube video of the Modesto PD speaker. He was also the first speaker.

 

[target2019]

I'm woke enough to realize we're all connected. Even though I can't point to a specific, I know it is affecting us, and will grow in impact.

I don't have a specific example of being affected by shutdown, but I there is unrealized effect. For example, tax business where I expect to put in 200 hours work will be chaotic. IRS may have as many as 90% of its employees on furlough. It's going to have impact.

 

[target2019]

I don't think anyone is bashing federal workers in this thread.

The shutdown hasn't effected us personally and I am hopeful some value will come from this.

PS I spent Saturday attending the funeral of Ronil Singh. I highly recommend watching the YouTube video of the Modesto PD speaker. He was also the first speaker.

Some of us work with federal and defense workers. Even have a few in the family. Jokes about non-essential workers are offensive.

The employer tags workers as non-essential. When they go home to their families, they are very essential.

I'm fortunate to work in defense, where there is no shutdown.

 

[DrRoy]

Not directly, but I hate what I am hearing about troubles in the national parks.

 

[Amethyst]

Fortunately, DoD's funding was approved separately last fall. Your tax dollars are still funding military, DoD civilians, and many, many contractors who work to defend us all.

(I mean, those in the Federal workforce could say, during employment downturns, "Hmph, so, some anonymous megacorp people are out of work? They were mostly hired because they're related to the bosses...don't do anything but make power points and go on trips anyway." But that would be ignorant).

Some of us work with federal and defense workers. Even have a few in the family. Jokes about non-essential workers are offensive.

I'm fortunate to work in defense, where there is no shutdown.

 

[marko]

We went through TSA on Friday. SIL yesterday. The only change we could tell was that it all seemed a bit faster to go through security.

 

[imoldernu]

Sincere good luck. Hopefully this will blow over quickly. In case you missed this, check out the this link for an update as of 1 Jan 8, for some of the potential effects. http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f27/preparing-for-changes-95608.html#post2169470

 

[Gumby]

For all the metaphorical forests of paper and barrels of ink spent on what is going on in DC, my state and town government have a far greater and more immediate impact on my finances and my personal life in general. That said, I do w*rk collaboratively on some cases with the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission, and our joint cases currently are affected by the shutdown.

 

[iloveyoga]

Not directly, but I hate what I am hearing about troubles in the national parks.

Me too.

 

[phil1ben]

The longer this drags on, the more obvious this becomes.

Wouldn't it be nice if after this ends (and our borders are more secure) they use some of our tax dollars to CONFIRM/figure out what portion of the government is no longer needed (or was never needed in the first place) AND THEN TERMINATE IT. Yes, I realize terminate means firing people. It happens. Ask a Sears or GE employee.

If that occurs, this exercise was more valuable than anyone could have imagined.

 

[Amethyst]

Who is this "they"? If "they" are using tax dollars, then you've just created more government

Wouldn't it be nice if after this ends (and our borders are more secure) they use some of our tax dollars to CONFIRM/figure out what portion of the government is no longer needed (or was never needed in the first place) AND THEN TERMINATE IT. Yes, I realize terminate means firing people. It happens. Ask a Sears or GE employee.

If that occurs, this exercise was more valuable than anyone could have imagined.

 

[RunningBum]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weat...open-your-forecast-is-worse-because-shutdown/

Weather forecasting is affected by the shutdown, for the worse.

 

[Corporateburnout]

Yes.


Helping my sister with an IRS issue. She received a correspondence from them but there is no one at the IRS to answer any questions.

 

[Redbugdave]

I was an Essential Employee before I retired and went through shutdowns. It bothered me because the Non-Essentials got a free vacation out of it while I had to work. Everyone always got paid.

As to the shutdown affecting me now...it does not affect me at all. I also think the media is playing this thing up.

 

[audreyh1]

They were running one TSA precheck at ATL.

Eftps.gov still up and runnng happy to take my Q4 estimated tax payment.

Uh-oh DH needs to renew his passport this year.

 

[Aerides]

Most of us here are not affected, because we are not:

A small diner owner, operating within steps of a federal building now seeing 90% less daily traffic, or a waiter in that diner now going home each night with $10 in tips instead of $100.

A janitor who cleans the toilets in a federal courthouse who found out he wasn't getting paid anymore, right before christmas. He doesn't even work for the gov't, but his company's contract is on hold and there's no other place he's needed, and he won't get back pay...

A cashier at the gift shop in the National Gallery.

A young low income family wondering if their SNAP benefits will be in place next month.

A florist in DC who just had 4 weddings cancelled because the couples can't get licenses.

The father of 3 who goes home at night and his sons make a cruel joke that he's no longer essential to them either.

...

Just because it's not happening to me doesn't make me cavalier about it...

 

[Andre1969]

I'm a government contractor, so it has affected me, and I think this is going to be the first week that it really sinks in. I had requested off Christmas Eve and the day after, as well as New Year's Eve, so those weren't full work weeks to start with.

But, now that the festivities are over, and it's in its third week, it's starting to sink in. My uncle told me this is a good test run for what retirement is going to feel like, but I don't think so. For one thing, when you're retired, you don't take things one day at a time, knowing that you might get called back to w*rk the next day! Also, I would have waited until I was a bit more set, financially. In some ways, this is starting to feel like that movie "Groundhog Day", where the days get repetitive, and something needs to break the rut!

Financially, I'm doing okay, for now at least. They sent me home with a laptop, and we actually have funding through the end of January. There's just enough work that I can justify charging some time, and have to make up the rest with my vacation time. I had about 187 hours of leave saved up, just before Christmas, and still accrue 7.7 every two weeks, so I figure I should be able to last awhile. And then, I can go on unemployment. Hopefully, we'll have our leave reimbursed to us...that's what they did during the last shutdown in 2013.

Stock market wise, it's like nobody even noticed! From the low on Christmas Eve, I think I'm up around 8.3%, as of yesterday's close. I've "made" in gains, about 3x my take-home for the year! Of course, that doesn't actually count until you need it and cash it in, and what the market giveth, the market can taketh away...

 

[ShokWaveRider]

Not affected us personally. But I think it is another nail that makes us (USA) look progressively disorganized and detiorating to other civilized countries. Not to mention our international standing and reputation, and that affects all of us.

 

[Amethyst]

I was always emergency essential, too; felt the same as you did. Then again, I didn't work with anybody who was in dire straits by waiting for one paycheck (shutdowns were unknown, back when I had no safety net). If the shutdown stretches over two or more pay periods, some people (not those I work with ) will have to make tough choices.

Can't say for sure about the rest of the U.S., but it is naturally a big story in the D.C. metropolitan area.

I was an Essential Employee before I retired and went through shutdowns. It bothered me because the Non-Essentials got a free vacation out of it while I had to work. Everyone always got paid.

...I also think the media is playing this thing up.

 

[VanWinkle]

Not affected uspersonally. But I think it is another nail that makes us (USA) look progressively disorganized and detiorating to other civilized countries. Not to mention our international standing and reputation, and that affects all of us.

How we look to other countries is secondary to how we feel about ourselves.

 

[Amethyst]

Wow. My dad got laid off now and then, and we sure wouldn't have thought to make a joke about it. We wanted to live to adulthood.

M
The father of 3 who goes home at night and his sons make a cruel joke that he's no longer essential to them either.

 

[Amethyst]

Wow! You go, guy

I've "made" in gains, about 3x my take-home for the year!

 

[donheff]

I can see the effects all around despite the fact that I don't feel anything directly impacting me. But this question is a little like asking a bunch of 20 somethings if they felt effected by a big cut in Social Security. Eventually the effects filter out but initially only a few feel it directly.

For those who figure "what the heck, why end it, nothing has changed," consider the long term consequences. If the shutdown is not ended, eventually the "essential" workers who are working without pay will have no choice but to quit and seek paying work elsewhere. At that point your SS check would not go out and a whole load of other changes would rapidly catapult us into a financial crisis. Then we would all be effected dramatically. This kind of brinkmanship carries risks. And, if it gets played this far when the debt ceiling comes around, we would enter uncharted territory.

 

[Rex]

No impact and I like the idea of less gubment. Looks like we just did a test run to see if we could do without some gubment and save us some $$$. It worked.

 

[samclem]

Thread closed/redirect.

Moderator Note: Thanks for the participation here. As a thread on the same topic was already underway, please join the "Preparing for Changes" thread to continue discussion of the practical implications of the ongoing partial government shutdown. As always, please keep the discussion friendly, avoid unfair/unwarranted generalizations, and avoid partisan political brickbats.
Thanks,
samclem, for the moderator team.