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Because “elite human capital” is an incoherent category which mostly exists to sneer at neoliberals.
Let’s grant the premise, though, and assume immigration is a glorified job interview, strictly intended to find candidates who will benefit The Nation. You’d be looking for some combination of smart and hardworking, good culture fits, probably with few foreign ties. Would you hire employees by asking them to pay a flat fee?
You jest, but the correlation between the incompetent people I've had to fire and their inability to effectively manage their money is stunning.
If I could require proof that someone has $20k in their bank account before hiring them, I would.
I’m not actually sure why you can’t.
You can require a credit check for employment but states like Cali restrict what types of job you can do it for, and those don't show account sizes - just how much debt you have and income.
You can require that someone's an "Accredited Investor" which is a similar deal, but you generally only do that if they get Class-A shares in a company.
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It correlates with protected class membership, like everything else.
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*investment account(s)
Nope - at these salary levels, you should have a checking account with at least $10k, probably $20k. Your retirement should be maxed out, etc.
Financing a new HVAC unit at 9% interest is pathetic when you're making $175k a year.
Okay, "liquid investment account(s) from which cash can be withdrawn on a few days' notice".
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Uhh, would you accept cash equivalents? No point in keeping the money in low-interest checking when I can throw it into treasuries.
I typically keep it in a HYSA, which is maybe a quarter point off of a money market? There are 4-5 different providers I can think of paying 5% out right now, and you can do 30 withdrawals a month, so it's a decent way to keep things sufficiently padded but earning interest.
My cash in/outflows range between $8-20k a month depending on when insurance is due, if I'm paying for vacation or holiday gifts, or replacing an HVAC system in a rental.
So it's a bit of a personal SWAG here, but the bottom line is: No 40-year-old man making $100k a year should be asking their employer for a pay advance, which I've seen before.
I do have a HYSA, but it's just a backstop to a T-bill ladder (4 sets of 4 week). My checking account is thus pretty small; paycheck goes in, bills go out, and if I get ahead (usually tax refund time; RSUs make taxes hard to predict) I add some T-bills. Chance of needing the cash in less than the time it would take to allow T-bills to mature is low, since so many things can go on credit cards (with a grace period of course). The T-bills are running around 5.25% and are state tax free, which is important in a high-tax state.
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Worked for selecting British Army officers for a surprisingly long time.
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If I could get away with demanding $100K per worker when hiring them? Sure! Not only that, I'd become the single biggest job creator in the country, or die trying!
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