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Yahoo Headline Sprint Nextel to eliminate 8,000 positions in the first quarter

3K views 23 replies 16 participants last post by  geko29 
#1 ·
#3 ·
As a sort of favor to yourself, if, like me, negative news related to the economy gives you a case of the howling fantods, under no circumstances would I recommend giving the Wall Street Journal 14 day free trial a whirl.

You’ve been warned.
 
#4 ·
sam said:
"In addition, Sprint said it would suspend paying 401(k) retirement matching funds."

Wow, I have never seen a company say that they are going to stop matching employee's 401Ks. It's a scary world we live in right now!

Sam
I'm in the 401k business. Most matches are discretionary and over half of my clients (businesses) are not matching in 2009.
 
#5 ·
My D-I-L's company has stopped contributing too.  A great many employers are backing out of this in order to cut costs.  Her company also announced that they will only allow health insurance for spouses if they do not qualify for their own through their employment.  Her insurance has always been better than my son's through his bank.  Now he has to change over to his own lesser coverage.  Things are getting tougher each day
 
#7 ·
My boyfriend had 17 years with a leading oil company.  About 4 years ago they outsourced his position.  All of the folks in his company that did the same job were let go in less than a year's time.  He then went to a smaller oil company.  Same thing.  He has a good degree, lots of knowledge, and has been job hunting twice now in the last 4 years.  He is in a good position once again, but needless to say, nervous. 
I'm afraid our economy is not going to get better in a few weeks.  My hometown lost nearly all of their jobs during the Clinton administration due to NAFTA.  It's still such a ghost town.  They were working on tourism, but with the economy the way it is now, that probably won't come to fruition.  Guess we all better tighten up our belts and get ready for a long ride.
 
#8 ·
beachgrl said:
My D-I-L's company has stopped contributing too. A great many employers are backing out of this in order to cut costs. Her company also announced that they will only allow health insurance for spouses if they do not qualify for their own through their employment. Her insurance has always been better than my son's through his bank. Now he has to change over to his own lesser coverage. Things are getting tougher each day
My company will allow you to cover your spouse, but you have to pay an extra $100 a month. My DH's insurance is more expensive than the extra $100, so we decided to go that route. We are both happy we have jobs right now. It is getting tough out there.
 
#10 ·
It's all awful...everywhere!!

Everyone is effected in some way; if they say they aren't...they are lying. My husband's company insurance plan now has us paying a $150 per person deductible PLUS 10% of everything we do. Doesn't sound like much???....10% of a $4000. MRI = $400 and the lovely $150 deductible = $550. YET they will cover part of a gym membership (prevention)...like an MRI isn't; we schedule them for kicks.

Co pays for RX 10, 35, 85...no generic brand; name brand only 100+ and all are for 30 days. If doc writes out for 90 you pay 3 copays; pharmacy will only give 30 at a time. I've started mail order prescriptions to try to save...and switched my allergy meds to OTC; which barely work.

We have stocks from back in the day; I no longer check them...I don't even want to know.

Going to get worse. My sis in law was with her company for 18 years...they picked up roots and moved overseas she got a month's notice. She's punching a cash register at the local WalMart...and she had a darn good job.
 
#14 ·
I was one of the "lucky" customers who got caught in the infamous credit union crisis in 1990 and all monies were frozen.  That was real fun.  We had to halt the building of our house as we had our construction loan with one of the affected credit unions.

Today it was announced that Home Depot is laying off 7000 employees. 
 
#16 ·
sjc said:
We have stocks from back in the day; I no longer check them...I don't even want to know.
I don't open the envelopes anymore either. I made the mistake of opening my kids's 539 plan info and was shocked of the hit it took so I no longer open anything from my 401K or smith barney.

my kids are in elem school and I'm not looking to need my stuff anytime soon so it'll turn around again before we need it and we'll forget all we lost.

I'm still glad I have a job, it's appointed so I'm "safe" for at least another four years.

Our tri-county mental health center went belly up and the 800 employees they had found out they lost their jobs by reading it in the paper. Who knows what's going to happen to all their clients that need mental health care.
 
#19 ·
It is stories like these that have me so thankful for my job, part-time as it is.

I was at my local shopping mall, which is really a community gathering place with stores and restaurants. I noticed one store had gone - the Shoe Pavilion and a restaurant had closed - Chili's. I've also heard or read a rumor that Appleby's may be facing a layoff. Hard to see how all these layoffs of hundreds and thousands is going to make the future better...

My observation for the day.

Marci
 
#21 ·
sjc said:
Everyone is effected in some way; if they say they aren't...they are lying. My husband's company insurance plan now has us paying a $150 per person deductible PLUS 10% of everything we do. Doesn't sound like much???....10% of a $4000. MRI = $400 and the lovely $150 deductible = $550. YET they will cover part of a gym membership (prevention)...like an MRI isn't; we schedule them for kicks.
Next time open enrollment comes around, check and see if they offer a high-deductible plan. We switched this year when my wife's HMO and PPO plans dropped to covering 90% and 75%, respectively, for in-network care. There's a $1500 per person ($3000 per family) deductible, after which they cover 100% of everything--period. No copays, nothing out of pocket. The premiums are lower (allowing you to put more into your HSA to cover the deductible expenses tax-free), and well visits are always covered 100% regardless of deductible.

In exchange for more up-front costs for routine medical issues, an HDP offers a guarantee that you'll never go bankrupt or lose your house because of medical bills--which is really what insurance is supposed to be anyway. That's why we switched. A few extra bucks a year for the mundane stuff (really isn't that much when you factor in the copays and higher premiums of the managed plans) we can afford. 10% or 25% of a half-million dollar hospital bill after I get hit by a bus or whatever, we can't.
 
#22 ·
Bacardi Jim said:
And almost all of those lost jobs will be right here in Little Rock.
JIM! I am in LR, too!!! How cool!

(Actually, I am about 15-20 mins NE of LR....GUESS!)
 
#23 ·
geko29 said:
Next time open enrollment comes around, check and see if they offer a deductible plan. We switched this year when my wife's HMO and PPO plans dropped to covering 90% and 75%, respectively, for network care. There's a $1500 per person ($3000 per family) deductible, after which they cover 100% of everything--period. No copays, nothing out of pocket. The premiums are lower (allowing you to put more into your HSA to cover the deductible expenses tax-free), and well visits are always covered 100% regardless of deductible.

In exchange for more up-front costs for routine medical issues, an HDP offers a guarantee that you'll never go bankrupt or lose your house because of medical bills--which is really what insurance is supposed to be anyway. That's why we switched. A few extra bucks a year for the mundane stuff (really isn't that much when you factor in the copays and higher premiums of the managed plans) we can afford. 10% or 25% of a half-million dollar hospital bill after I get hit by a bus or whatever, we can't.
I wish, our deductable is $2,000 and then 80% up to $5,000 copay, then it does 100%. It's better then nothing but you avoid the Dr.'s office for sure. Our company isn't big enough for most insurers, in fact last year only one company would even talk to us about coverage, this was the take it or leave it offer.
 
#24 ·
Gables Girl said:
Our company isn't big enough for most insurers, in fact last year only one company would even talk to us about coverage, this was the take it or leave it offer.
That's the trick. Insurance rates are set by law (so everybody has to charge the same for the same coverage), and commissions are paid by number of insureds, so salesmen at most of the big companies are only interested in the big fish. There are some out there that will work with you though. I won't shamelessly plug on the forum, but I work (in IT) for a payroll company that serves small businesses (generally under 100 employees, with 6 being the average) exclusively, and we offer insurance and 401k as optional parts of that package. PM me if you want some more info.
 
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