How a Case Manager in Los Angeles Does Money

Maggie (not her real name) is a 28-year-old case manager in Los Angeles.
So, Maggie, how much do you make?
I make $48,000 per year.
Is that salary?
No, it’s hourly. I’m not actually sure how it works out per hour. I think around $23. My position is funded through a grant, so that is what is allocated.
With overtime, I might make a little more, but it’s around $48,000.
Because someone will ask: you are an hourly worker but you don’t know how much you make per hour?
Okay, I found my offer letter. It’s $23.08 per hour. (I keep alllll the paperwork.)
Basically when I was offered the job I was verbally told the “salary,” and then when I got the official letter from HR it was translated into an hourly rate.
How long have you been in this job?
I’ve been at the job for just under a year.
Nice. I feel like I should say “congratulations!”
Haha!
So how does your income compare to your expenses?
After taxes I take home about $3,000 per month.
Expenses are:
- My half of rent: $720
- Utilities and internet: between $50 and $100/mo
- Car payment: $202
- Groceries: about $60/wk
The rest goes to a bunch of savings accounts for travel, supervision for therapist hours and professional expenses, and car fund money (insurance, registration, repairs). And emergency savings.
Oh, and I spend a lot on gas but I get reimbursed for that.
So you get reimbursed for gas but not for professional expenses or supervision hours? What type of professional expenses do you have?
So I have a Masters in marriage and family therapy. (I also have loans but thus far I make little enough that I pay $0/mo under IBR.)
In California, in order to become a licensed therapist, you must complete 3000 supervised clinical hours. My job does not offer supervision, so I pay for it out of pocket. It’s $75 per week.
My other professional expenses are liability insurance at $120/year, and membership to the California Marriage and Family Therapists professional organization (CAMFT) which is $95/year.
Then I pay for about one conference per year with scholarships so that is another couple hundred dollars.
Got it. That all makes sense.
Yes, it’s a strange field. You finish school with a Masters, but it is still difficult to find a well-paying position because you’re not licensed. So you’re expected to spend more money to get your license, and then there are exams as well.
Once you get your license and become a therapist, do you then become self-employed? Or do you work for a larger company?
You can do either. Many people will go into private practice once they are licensed, so you are your own boss, set your own hours, etc. It can be difficult to deal with insurance panels as a private practice clinician, which is why many chose to only accept clients who can pay out of pocket.
You can also work for an agency such as the Department of Mental Health, or a family services, youth services, or community mental health organization. Then you generally carry a caseload that has been assigned to you, and the agency bills insurance. The trade-off is that you have much less autonomy and tend to make less money.
The people who most need mental health services tend to get services at agencies (many times through Medi-Cal) and I very strongly believe that mental health professionals have obligation to spend at least a portion of their career working with those who need the most care.
I think you guys have written about this some. 😀
Just a bit. 😀
So you’re thinking about working for an agency, then?
Yes. I work for an agency now, and plan to stay in community mental health for the foreseeable future.
There is also the federal student loan forgiveness program that allows you to cancel the remainder of your loans if you’ve made ten years of payments and worked for a qualifying agency (government or non-profit), so that is a draw as well.
How many loans do you have right now?
I have three, for a total of $40,000. $6,000 is leftover from undergrad, and the rest are graduate loans. All federal.
Do you have any other outstanding debt? Credit cards, etc.?
Nope, just the loans. Well, and the car note. That one was hard. I was driving an old car, and then it died. 😞
I commute so much that getting a newer, more reliable car was needed. It hurts, though.
Yeah, you did list “car payment” above. It’s funny how we think of credit cards as debt but cars as “car payments.”
Yeah, it’s true. I guess part of it is that I got a loan through my bank and it was all at once. Like, a credit card is racked up bit by bit, but a car it’s like one day it’s not there, the next it is. (Much like a student loan…)
The car payment is automated as well, so that is helpful.
What’s your living situation like? You have roommates, right? When I lived in LA I paid a little bit more than you and lived in a room so small I slept on the floor. I hope you have a better space than that?
Haha yes, much! I live with my partner in a one-bedroom. Our room is normal sized. 😀 We got a really good deal on the apartment and live in a not trendy part of town.
We split most costs down the middle, with the exception that I pay for groceries and he pays when we go out. It doesn’t even out quite evenly (he pays a bit more) but we’re both comfortable with the breakdown.
He owns his car and doesn’t have ANY debt, and we both make around the same amount of money.
I’m glad you’re both comfortable with the breakdown. I’m guessing you talk about money regularly? Or at least communicate enough so that you’re comfortable about your shared financial goals/responsibilities?
Yeah, we talked about sharing expenses when we moved in together and decided to try the 50/50 split for household bills (groceries not withstanding) with the option to re-assess as necessary.
But for now it’s working out. He doesn’t like to talk about money as much as I do, and we have different strategies for managing our finances, but because we’re not legally bound, as it were, it hasn’t been an issue. If we get married, we will need to revisit the conversation for sure.
We also help each other out in pinches. Like, he helped with the down payment on my car, and I helped with the deposit on the apartment.
Oh nice! It sounds like the two of you really do have a partnership.
We try, haha.
So I want to know about your strategy for managing your finances.
Sure. So my super fancy way is: I have a sticky note on my desktop that lists all my recurring expenses and savings goals, with a monthly total. That total is then broken in half.
When i get a paycheck, I transfer those half totals into my savings accounts (to meet my recurring expenses and savings goals) and then what’s left in checking is used for gas, groceries and “fun” stuff.
That sounds like a really solid strategy. Has it always worked out, or do unexpected expenses come up to ruin the plan?
Unexpected expenses do crop up, which I cover with my emergency savings. “Emergency” is a loose term. Like, this past month I got a ticket (oops!) so that came out of the emergency fund.
But I haven’t gotten to a point where I couldn’t shuffle things around in the savings accounts to cover it all. I have been every lucky and not had a major catastrophe. It’s been a few thousand dollars at most, like for the new car.
I do have two credit cards, so I have that option, but I use them for points and pay them off each month.
In addition to your financial strategy, what do you feel like you do really well financially and what do you wish you could do better?
So there are two things I feel like I do well: I am good at finding deals on things that I want, and staying within my budget (especially since I designed it to have some wiggle room) is not super challenging for me.
I wish I was better at savings for long-term goals. Like, I would love to buy a house one day, but building up that kind of cushion seems really daunting and I’m not sure I could do it with the money I make now.
I’m sure there is gonna be a Billfolder who will tell me how I could, so I guess I don’t see how I could without sacrificing my current quality of life, ha!
You are not the only person who can’t build up that kind of cushion, though, I mean, I can’t right now either.
#Millennials. Well, I am one of those.
A down payment in LA is like, $60K or more, right?
Oh man, I don’t even know. Property here is crazy. It would not be in LA if it ever happens, that is for sure.
What about retirement savings? Do you get any of that through your agency? 401(k) or 403(b)?
Oh yes, I do have those. I have a Roth IRA that I started in my early 20’s, that I contribute a leeeetle bit to each month. Then I get a 403(b) through my agency which I contribute 5 percent to. They do not match, unfortunately.
Contributing towards retirement is also something I wish I was better about, but for me, right now, having access to my savings in case something comes up feels more important that savings for a long time from now.
How do you think your financial life (or your financial strategy) might change in the next five years?
Well, I hope to be licensed, which will give me more flexibility in my work and increase my earning potential, and I will not be paying for supervision!
I also want to have kids in the next five or so years, so that will obviously change my financial situation drastically.
Ideally, in terms of strategy, I will have more of a financial cushion, contribute more to savings, and have paid off this car, haha.
If you have kids, it might be time to buy a new car though.
Noooo! This car will run forever and will always accommodate my needs. 😀
What advice do you have for Billfold readers?
I knew this one was coming… um, I guess that there is not one ‘right’ way to do money and it might take a while to find the system that works for you.
Also, if you have a way to save money before you ever see it, it really helps. Either automate a transfer to a savings account, or hide it in your sock drawer. Do it.
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