My thrilling career in finance

[resonant]

I'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.

Comments

[starwatcher]

.
Hee! My dad, sis and I went through Muleshoe, TX, just last week. (It's on the route between Clovis, NM and Lubbock, TX.) As kids, one bright wag among us "changed" the name to Donkeyslipper. Sis didn't remember that, but Dad and I did. <g>
.

[celli]

I am endlessly fascinated by other people's, well, everything. Money stuff tells you SO MUCH about how people live, how they feel about themselves & the people around them and...yeah. So cool.

[out_there]

4. People who report monthly incomes of five figures still sometimes take out a loan to buy Christmas present.

Wow. I guess a larger income probably also comes with higher standard of living/debt commitments, and probably higher expectations for presents, but still. Yeesh.

[rusty76]

I'm from Round Rock, and the spousal unit is from Big Springs. No shortage of odd names in this state....

[resonant]

My home state of North Carolina gave us Lizard Lick and Fuquay-Varina, but nothing beats the South Carolina hamlet of Pickens Nose.

[merrily]

I had a terrible, terrible job for a while processing mortgage applications, and I learned lots! (while trapped in a windowless basement room) Mostly, I read divorce papers. It was fascinating. Also sad. But fascinating! I learned what various famous Canadians get paid, and I was shocked.

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.

Good for you! For a while, I did this every 6 months. It was mostly an exercise in negotiation, since I don't carry a balance, and therefore I didn't have a LOT of power, but you can get quite a few good deals out of it, if you keep asking! (better card w/ annual fee waived, lower interest rate, free balance transfers, etc)

[resonant]

Of all things! But I guess that unlike all the various places named Washington, Muleshoe is going to stick in your mind ...

[resonant]

I said to someone in the office, "Oh, it's a tax form. I like doing tax forms," and she looked at me like I was crazy, because for our purposes a tax form is just like any other form -- figure out what loan it goes with, enter the active date and the expiration date, click Done -- and then she said, "Oh, because you always know exactly where the date and the ID number are."

No, because people put their salaries and their investments and the names of their children on them!

[resonant]

I know! I mean, at that salary you could have spent the year putting quite a bit in your Christmas Club account each month.

[resonant]

I've encountered a few divorce papers, including one that was a transcript of a hearing with a mediator. It was curiously focused on preventing either of them from publicly defaming the other; some context would have been really interesting.

[celli]

YES. THAT.