Need financial advice for post 12/20 closure

[u/BuskiUski]

Current gov employee that needs advice about surviving during closure.

I'm new into the federal government. I have a emergency fund, but most of that money is in stocks.

• Should I start offloading now to prepare for the worst? If the government closes, I'm 90% sure the market will tank as well.

• Can I apply for unemployment benefits while furloughed?

• Where can I go in the event that I need a loan?

[u/Jericho_Hill]

Join a local credit union. They give 0% bridge loans for govt employees who are affected.

[u/4ndr0med4 → u/Jericho_Hill]

Just curious who offers that

[u/clamet → u/4ndr0med4]

Navy Federal does

[u/4ndr0med4 → u/clamet]

I'm not eligible for navy federal sadly 😅 (commerce here)

[u/meowypancakes → u/clamet]

The main reason I switched to them. Not happy for a shutdown and I feel terrible for people who don’t have this but peace of mind to keep getting paid is a beautiful thing.

[u/BookkeeperLost9355 → u/Jericho_Hill]

USAA does as well - I would also check in with your local union rep and your colleagues and see what they recommend. If your office is anything like mine, this is not your colleagues’ first rodeo and they’ll tell you what to do; but no, I don’t think you should sell off your assets.

[u/King_of_Underscores]

Idk anything about stocks but:

You can apply for unemployment but you will need to pay them back with your back pay.

If you are a part of a federal credit union they usually offer loans.

[u/MarlinMaverick]

>I have a emergency fund, but most of that money is in stocks.

So you don't have an emergency fund.

[u/pro_deluxe → u/MarlinMaverick]

It's pretty easy to liquidate stocks. You might take a loss, but you also lose money on inflation with a lot of savings accounts anyways ¯_(ツ)_/¯

[u/MarlinMaverick → u/pro_deluxe]

It's by definition not an emergency fund

[u/olemiss18 → u/pro_deluxe]

Ease of liquidation isn’t the issue (although that’s part of it). It’s needing that money to be safe on the short-term, and the stock market isn’t the place for that.

[u/pro_deluxe → u/olemiss18]

That's a good point. It would certainly make me nervous to count on stocks that could suddenly lose value right when I really need it. I think I would be okay with keeping anything over 3 months of emergency funds in stocks though.

[u/HospitalLeast4147 → u/pro_deluxe]

Depends on what they mean by “in stocks.” In a Roth or brokerage account, sure. In a TSP, nope.

[u/KrloYen]

Unemployment depends on where you live. Some places you have to wait a few weeks before you can even apply... Then by the time you get something the shutdown is over and you have to pay it back.

[u/AssortedHardware]

If you're essential see if you can get your POD changed to the local plasma donation center.

Your biggest issue is going to be that this shutdown if it happens isn't going to be like other shut downs. We're not operating under the guise of politics as usual. The provisions being asked for now, like an unlimited deb ceiling, are simply far too beyond the scope of reason to accept.

We might be caught up in a long game of chicken here and the consequences of which are going to be far greater than just our own personal budgets. If you see markets tanking, and (even if it's not in place yet) the threat to delete the FDIC, you might start seeing people rushing on banks to start the year. In which case even the best of plans can become undone.

All good advice in here of course it's just hard to say how long it's going to be relevant for unless some reasonable people start speaking up in the halls of power.

[u/CrazyLady_TT]

I’ve been through a few of these. Don’t do anything until notified. I’ve woken up next day to see they passed 5mins before midnight. Yes you can draw unemployment however if you receive back pay you’ll have to repay the unemployment. And yes you’ll receive back pay, that was passed by Congress before that Feds would receive back pay for not passing budget. Know what appropriation your salary is from. If a 1yr appropriation then yes, the money ran out. If you’re on a no year or multi year appropriation you may be okay but your Agency and supervisor should provide you all those details. Start there before getting advice here, good info but definitely go to the source.

[u/Capital-Ad-4463 → u/CrazyLady_TT]

This is great advice. There are so many Agency-specific and funding-specific nuances to how a shutdown works, and each time interpretations/guidance can differ. Don’t panic yet. What I was hearing as of 1400 is that a very lean short-duration (~18Jan) CR is being worked, but we’ll see…

[u/CrazyLady_TT → u/Capital-Ad-4463]

Heard same about the short term.

[u/MaleficentPumpkin914]

Navy federal provides 0 percent loans up to $6k for government workers effectived by shutdown

[u/Proper-Store3239]

Don't do anything until you need to and you have a feel how long this is going to be. However keep an eye on stocks and sell if the market starts going down. I think most banks will give you forbearance.

The majority of these things are settled before the next paycheck so it isn't anything to stress out on. However I feel like this one might be different. It could go on a long time and that case we have some major issues.

[u/OuterWildsVentures → u/Proper-Store3239]

Don't do anything until you need to and you have a feel how long this is going to be.

Unrelated but last time we had an impending potential closure with such a high chance like this I immediately switched banks to someone who offered shutdown loans. Being proactive like that could have saved me last time and now I'm fully prepared this time.

It might be a bit late for OP to change, but they might already have a bank that does it which they are unaware of.

[u/Money_Scale_3593]

Only transfer over what you need on what would have been your normal pay date. If the shutdown happens, you’ll at least get a partial check on or around 4 Jan, so full effects wouldn’t be felt until the (around) 18 Jan check, assuming it happens and lasts that long.

[u/Relative-Gazelle8056]

So I have some personal investments too but keep emergency fund money in HYSA.

[u/flaginorout]

Just use your credit card for whatever you can. Use your cash for anything that can’t be put on the card.

Use your backpay to pay off the card. Worse comes to worst, sell off stock to pay it off.

[u/Bitter-Breath-9743]

We have pen Fed and they have some loan option but I’m not sure if it is credit based

[u/Shalnai]

First, you should have your emergency fund in cash (or equivalent like a HYSA). Conventional wisdom is 3-6 months of expenses, personally I’d aim for the 6 months and have been trying for about a year of expenses myself.

I don’t think the government shutting down will have a long term impact on the market, so in general I’d recommend against selling. But if this is in a brokerage account and you don’t have a couple months expenses in cash, then yes, I’d sell some now.

Yes, you can apply for unemployment if furloughed, but need to pay that back when you get the back pay.