Posted on 07/14/2011 1:45:59 PM PDT by wrhssaxensemble
So I recently graduated from law school and passed the bar exam in 2 New England states. I went to a public high school because it was all that my family could afford. Luckily my school was one of those rare public schools that offered exemplary education, often even better than the private schools in the area. During high school non-stop up until now I have worked at jobs, usually full time, in addition to school. Still broke, I went to my state's best public university. It was all that I could afford. I graduated summa and near the top of my class. I then went to law school and despite going to a lower ranked school because they offered me a substantial scholarship, I owe $100,000 in student loan debt. Other than that I have no debt. I paid off my credit cards before the bills became due and earned every penny beyond my student loans from working at numerous jobs.
I graduated near the top of my class from both the JD and an MBA program that I tacked on for only an extra semester of school. I kept costs low while in law school by living with family. In part it was great because it helped me financially but more so because it let me keep an eye on my elderly grandparents who had health difficulties. Now I am officially sworn into the bar and make $11.89 an hour with absolutely no benefits (no health insurance, etc.)beyond a very small amount I can afford to put into my 401(k).
I have a job lined up for the fall- I am very grateful for it as most of my friends don't have any- but the pay isn't nearly what most people would expect for an attorney. It is not enough for me to move out into my own place and be able to afford heat, electricity, food, etc. It would be enough but with taxes- 7.5% FICA, 28% Fed income tax and 5% state income tax- I can't afford it. On the other hand I am tired of having to rely on my family to survive. I am a grown man and should be able to go live on my own now.
By all intents and measures I think I have thus far followed all the rules one is supposed to. I stayed away from drugs, alcohol, casual sex, etc. and just tried to work hard and be a good christian. Now there's no jobs anywhere that would be enough to meet all my bills. I want to move to TX but it would require paying another $5000 to take a bar exam and I am not sure the job prospects are any better there.
Now I'm not stupid. I know the current debate is not fully over social security for the current elderly. The real issue for spending is in part over the fact nothing will be left when my generation is old enough. But what are the people in my generation supposed to do? Anyone? We are not all self-centered sex-obssessed morons in my generation. Yes some are but that would be akin to saying that I can blame all of the problems of today on every baby boomer because there are many selfish people in their generation.
I guess my point is how can I and people my age in similar circumstances survive in light of the government's enjoyment of destroying our future? A recap:
-the government undervalued higher education by demanding that social justice requires a higher ed for everyone - the government made loans thus jacking up the price of such a degree -the government said there weren't enough lawyers to provide social justice so demanded more law schools and lawyers - the government said everyone deserves a home regardless of whether they work for it, thereby causing the current economic mess we are in -the government spent excessively to "fix" the problem but just made it worse
How can someone like me who despite trying to do things the right way, to avoid government handouts, to work hard, to try to be a good christian survive when the government has forced us into working poor status and is trying to force us into dependence?
My nephew graduated in 2010 and has just gotten an "Intership" with a company through connections with friends.
Networking through friends and contacts is 90% of the work these days as businesses are flooded with resumes every day for every job.
What happened is that an all out assault on business is underway. Businesses are unsure of the new business regulations in the massive Obamacaren, environmental, and financial regulation bills. It would have been worse if the requirement to mail every financial transaction over $600 not been repealed, but the Trifecta against business continues.
Attempts to increase business taxation during these hard times is unabated. I need not say who is attempting to increase Business taxation - that is obvious.
All I can say, is to get into networking in a big way. Polish your skills and any anything that would make you stand out in the crowd. Take any volunteer or Internship possible.
Lastly (but I should have said firstly) get your family to pray and if they will not, learn to pray - specific targeted prayers of service. This may be more effectatious than one might expect.
I’ve considered it many times. Problem is I am just starting and have no reputation yet. I also don’t have any capital to start a group like that. Law firms and non-profit orgs are surprisingly capital heavy.
LOL!
(BTW, I was Army)
I have prayed in good times and bad. Sometimes I would see God' s hand right away. Sometimes not until later stages in my life. You have the whole world ahead of you. Keep your faith by action -pray seek and live in Him with Him in the Unity of the Holy Spirit. Also ask others for prayers. You can get good decent Christian prayer sites to pray for you. You should pray for others too. Give and it will be given back. I wish and pray thee well!!
Considering your degree and education, I would recommend looking to the SEC which is always looking for good lawyers who have a business background to go after dishonest investment brokers.
I would not hire you. That said go start your own business. After a couple of failures you will be ready for someone to hire you.
Oh and if you text more than three times a day, own an iPhone and are constantly on Facebook and Twitter stop it!!!
Live at home with the parents and don’t pay over the minimum on the student loan until you have saved at least 6 months expenses. Put one third of that in dollars, the rest in gold and silver.
After you saved that cushion, if you are in a 28% tax bracket, you make at least 80K AGI, which should be plenty to live on even after knocking a grand a month or more off on the student loans. The balance of your income might not get you a 3500 sq ft mcmansion, but an apartment or decent starter home and used car should be well in reach.
Get into risk management or compliance in an investment firm. Both are hot right now. Companies need help with this stuff. With a J.D. you bring something to the table.
You're gonna need both.
I’m no expert, but it seems to me that all you’d need to do is to pick a high profile fight to pick and pick it. You’d need to promote the case (and yourself) on a shoestring at the same time, but with the internet, you should be able to do that with some creative thinking. If you plan it right, it shouldn’t need to be much more than a one man show at the start.
Instead of a business plan, I’d come up with a ‘disruption plan’ and shop it around to at least a few like-minded folks who might be able to help either with time or money.
At this stage, all it costs is the planning time. :)
>>>It is not enough for me to move out into my own place and be able to afford heat, electricity, food, etc. It would be enough but with taxes- 7.5% FICA, 28% Fed income tax and 5% state income tax- I can’t afford it.
To be in the 28% marginal rate you must have taxable income over 83,600. That would be more than 70% of the households in this country. If that is nor enough to cover your rent, utilities and loans, I’d suggest you get a roommate.
No, $51,000 gross. I have an old beat up used car but it keeps dying- had to replace the transmission twice, new engine, new axle, new water pump, new battery, new timing belt, 2 new rims (apparently the model made by this later bailed out company just disintergrated after a while) and some other stuff I am sure I am forgetting. I am looking at small studios near work so I wont have to take an incredibly long train ride at 5am every morning (I have sleeping disorders so morning is particularly hard for me) but can’t even find that.
Sorry, I looked at the wrong rate table in section 1. I will only make $51k pre-tax and deductions.
Here is what I saw someone do 15 years ago. Graduated from Santa Clara (a so-so law school) with a JD and took a mediocre job, relying partly upon his new wife’s job as an elementary school teacher to pay the rent. Shopped for another job and took a transfer to Phoenix. Negotiated a company paid move package. Was able to buy a house with little down. Wife quit work.
Continued to shop for a job and took another company paid move to Kansas City where he bought another house and abruptly quit the new job when a firm in Texas offered him a better package. Don’t ask me how — he didn’t even have to pay back the KS firm for his move. !!! He stayed there all of a month.
Sold the house in KS and bought another in TX where he has gone on to a highly paid position with the TX firm, which is in insurance. I don’t think his furniture was even unpacked. I don’t know what he does for the TX firm, but he is rolling in dough. 6 years out of law school, and he had a wife, 3 kids, a gorgeous house, a company car (Lexus, of course), etc. And he strikes me as a dimwit.
Who knew that insurance companies needed lawyers and paid them so well?
I join everybody else here who recommends the military.
You won’t go wrong with your background. The military is clamoring for folks like you.
And you can write your own ticket after that.
(1) Save every nickel you can, get extra and part time work, and look for opportunities to make money. You might do appellate briefs on the side, or marketing studies using your MBA degree, or write for a legal publisher. Or maybe you will do menial work. In a pinch, you do what work you must to survive and get ahead.
(2) Develop specialized skills and knowledge as an attorney (or businessman) and find useful applications for them. That will require establishing yourself as an expert. Writing a Bar Journal article or for a local business publication will build your reputation and help bring in new opportunities.
(3) Constantly look to expand your network of contacts and your reputation as a reliable and steady worker. Politics and civic, professional, and volunteer organization memberships and work can widen your circle of acquaintances.
(4) Read and take to heart Ben Stein’s “Bunkhouse Logic.” Much of your angst is due to disappointed expectations. Ben Stein will cure you of that and school you on the old style American ideas and character traits that will give you the best chance to survive and prosper — and to dream and find happiness.
(5) And, to put it bluntly, get over yourself. Many millions of Americans are far worse off in life with more cause for complaint than you have. You though are intelligent, healthy, educated, and have the benefit of two valuable degrees and a professional ticket. A great many people would prefer to be in your shoes than in their own — and most everyone else would simply want to be young.
Thank you all for your comments thus far. For those of you who have recommended the military though, as much as I wish that was an option, it is not. I really wish I could serve my country but various physical disabilities keep me from serving because even as JAG you must pass various physical tests.
Rethinking that “not drinking and no casual sex” thing? Those days aren’t coming by again....
I don’t know of any generations in the past that would have as readily been afforded a subsidized undergraduate education and then the loans to add on graduate business and law degrees—so quit your whining!
So you aren’t making much money to start. This is an incredibly crappy economy and you’ve got yourself a job right out of law school—so quit your whining!
So you can’t afford your own place immediately out of school. You can either get an inexpensive apartment with a roommate or be ever so grateful that you have a family willing to let you live on their dime and stay with them—so quit your whining!
Will your new job give you an opportunity to get experience in an area you’re interested in pursuing in the future? If so, great. Work hard, learn lots and you’ll be moving on or up soon enough. If not, then you want to keep looking for a job in whatever that area is while working at the one you have. You should realize how very much easier it is to get a new job when you already have a job, like you have—so quit your whining!
I think part of the difficulty for young people today is that they expect to be funded right on through grad school and then plopped out immediately with just the right high-paying job. What was traditionally known as ‘paying your dues’ wasn’t spending a few extra years as a student, but starting out at or near the bottom, proving your worth as an employee and working your way up.
You’re in a great spot in a difficult economy, so count your many blessings and...
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