What to do when you get a return offer?
Curious as to the best advice as to what to do after the return offer. What exactly should a rising senior be doing from now until they start working in 2021. For example, when should someone start looking for an apartment. When should someone start strategizing how they're going to invest in their 401k. How much should one save before they graduate? Should someone start preparing for their full time role during their senior year?
Just curious on what certain "adult" things one should prepare before they go off and live independently.
bump, also curious
bump
Relax you just got offered to start your career and you’ve got about 10 months to chill - grab a beer... or 20 and start enjoying senior year
Circle back on this once you’ve crossed the commencement floor for your diploma
This is all NYC based, pre-COVID advice. No one knows what next summer will look like with COVID and i can't speak to anything not NYC.
These are reasonable questions. If you're NYC based, the market for finding in apartment is stupid fast so there is no point in seriously looking until a month before you need to move in at most. You can, however, casually browse street easy to see what kinds of units are going for what kinds of prices in locations of interest. Doing this will help you narrow down your budget and location so that you can go into it focused and get your apartment done. In normal circumstances, it is not uncommon to find and apply for your apartment within 2 hours of searching. That's how fast it goes in the summer time. Not sure if COVID dynamics will change things next summer and can't speak to any city beside NY.
A solid amount to have saved up is ~$5,000. Most apartments will want one month's rent as security deposit, so if your average midtown spot for a 1br flex with a roommate runs you ~$1800, you and your roommate will be expected to put up $3600 a piece. The remainder is a cushion until you start getting your real paychecks.
You can think about how to invest your 401k now, though my advice to most monkeys on here is to just throw it all in equities and mostly in US large cap (S&P 500 index and the like). You have a long investment horizon and can weather numerous economic downturns. No real need to go with a target date fund or any real bond allocation IMO.
Other adult things; download budgeting apps like Clarity and Mint today, and start getting used to which one you like to help track your spending. Get a credit card or two to start building credit. Aside from all that, enjoy your senior year, whatever it looks like in the COVID world.
Thank you exactly what I was looking for. very informative.
Curious on the last part about building credit. Are credit cards necessary to build credit? Would it be advantageous to not have one in any situation?
They are not the only way to build credit, but they are one of the simplest and least costly ways to do so. Other ways to build credit almost always involve taking out a loan, which means you are contractually obliged to be paying interest. Assuming you're not stupid with your credit card, you will never have to pay any interest and there are plenty of solid cards with rewards benefits that do not even have fees.
Beyond building credit, it is mostly advantageous to have one for the rewards. Example; you are going to buy a lamp on amazon for $50 for your new apartment. You can pay with a debit card, or with a credit card. You are paying the same $50 that is eventually going to come out of your checking account, but let's say the $50 gets you over some threshold spending bonus on the credit card and you get a kickback of $150, or at least a 2% cash back reward. That $150 is "free" money straight back into your checking account. The only risk, assuming you can afford the lamp, is that you forget to pay your credit card on time and they get to charge you interest at a stupid rate of like 20% as a result.
Rewards programs can be very simple, and they can also get very complex and the time/effort maximizing them is not always for everyone, but it's ultimately pretty simple to grasp if you're willing to read for like an hour and watch a few youtube videos.
For context, since COVID has restricted my desire to travel, i have racked up a minimum amount of $2,500 that can be spent on any flight I want. I earned this money by making the same purchases I would have otherwise been making with a debit card, and the only fee I paid is the $400 annual fee for my super premium travel card. So net, I have earned $2,100 of "free" money that I can use to splurge on a big vacation or several small ones when it is time.
Enjoy your last year of freedom. In nyc you tend to find an apartment ~a month before you move in and the rest of the stuff isn’t worth figuring out until you start
It's great you want to be a grown-up and be well prepared, but do the exact opposite. You have probably been grinding to get to this point, it's time to relax. I wish I wasn't so anxious to start a 40+ year marathon, that I missed opportunities to enjoy the present.
You will never be as free and have control of your schedule like you do entering Senior year with a great job offer. You want to take a mid-day nap? Do it. Spend 2 hours eating an ungodly amount of sushi and getting drunk at 3 pm on Tuesday? Awesome! Go hiking or start a new hobby? All the better!
The only other times you will get a chunk of time off will be: Gardening leave / unemployed, Paternity leave (it's more exhausting than work), or you beat the odds and win life or the lottery. All those times will be way more stressful than now! Enjoy!
thank you kind sir
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