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My thrilling career in finance
Jan. 9th, 2014 08:21 pmI've never worked in the finance industry before, and it doesn't suit me in so many, many ways, but I am learning some very interesting things from reading the loan documents I'm indexing.
1. Banks make better offers (on loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc.) all the time. The documentation will say "in response to competitive pressure" -- this means that they didn't want the customer to take a better deal elsewhere.
When I realized this, I immediately called up my credit card company and asked them to match the offer I had from the local credit union -- and they told me no. But my new philosophy is that it never hurts to ask.
2. Salaries vary more than I could have imagined possible. I was surprised that some fields paid so well (veterinarians, for instance, and at least one deputy sheriff), but more often surprised that others paid so badly (teachers are shamefully underpaid and educational paraprofessionals even more so, as are counselors and home health aides).
3. If you're going to be a waiter, apparently the place to make the big bucks is at a casino restaurant.
4. People who report monthly incomes of five figures still sometimes take out a loan to buy Christmas present.
5. Children's names are on tax forms, and people name their children some really strange things. Sticking only to the car theme, for instance, over the course of one week I saw children named Lexus, Jag, and Pacer.
6. Towns are also named very strange things. Favorite so far: Muleshoe, Texas.
7. If you want to get to know the economy of a new town, or get an idea of what various organizations pay, a temp job in a loan company (with access to the application & tax documents in the database) is very helpful.
1. Banks make better offers (on loans, mortgages, credit cards, etc.) all the time. The documentation will say "in response to competitive pressure" -- this means that they didn't want the customer to take a better deal elsewhere.
When I realized this, I immediately called up my credit card company and asked them to match the offer I had from the local credit union -- and they told me no. But my new philosophy is that it never hurts to ask.
2. Salaries vary more than I could have imagined possible. I was surprised that some fields paid so well (veterinarians, for instance, and at least one deputy sheriff), but more often surprised that others paid so badly (teachers are shamefully underpaid and educational paraprofessionals even more so, as are counselors and home health aides).
3. If you're going to be a waiter, apparently the place to make the big bucks is at a casino restaurant.
4. People who report monthly incomes of five figures still sometimes take out a loan to buy Christmas present.
5. Children's names are on tax forms, and people name their children some really strange things. Sticking only to the car theme, for instance, over the course of one week I saw children named Lexus, Jag, and Pacer.
6. Towns are also named very strange things. Favorite so far: Muleshoe, Texas.
7. If you want to get to know the economy of a new town, or get an idea of what various organizations pay, a temp job in a loan company (with access to the application & tax documents in the database) is very helpful.