Welcome to this post, “7 Lessons Learned From Filing Unemployment As A Teenager”!
This post is going to be a little different than the normal one. We’re going to start with one long story and then explain all the lessons I learned from it at the end. Instead of having an introduction, let’s just jump straight in!
How I Was Eligible For Unemployment
I’m sure everyone remembers the spring of 2020. COVID-19 has just begun, people were scared for their lives in quarantine, and no one knew where things were going. Most people were watching the news to hear about the pandemic, but I was more interested in the economy.
When the stock market dropped 40% within a matter of weeks, it was clear that people were very uncertain about the future of America at that point. It was up to the government to step in and take action to save our economy. They took many steps to stabilize and eventually bring things back to normal, but one big one was the CARES act signed by former President Donald Trump.
The CARES act was a 2.2 trillion dollar stimulus bill designed to inject money into the economy to keep things going how they should. The act included direct stimulus checks to Americans, many infrastructure benefits, and improved unemployment payout.
As a finance nerd, I was following this news closely which is how I learned of a potential opportunity for me. You see, there were two major changes to the unemployment system. First, unemployed people now got $600/week in additional federal benefits on top of whatever they got from the state. Second, freelancers or independent contractors were now eligible to apply for unemployment if their income was affected as a result of COVID-19.
For those that don’t know, I’ve been self-employed for several years as a freelancer and entrepreneur. And needless to say, my income was definitely affected by COVID-19. So, as I started to learn more about this bill from the news, I learned that I was eligible to file for unemployment benefits.
Application Process
I really had no idea what I was doing. There was an opportunity I saw and I chose to pursue it. I did hours and hours of research to find out if I was eligible, how to file for unemployment, and whether or not I should do so. Everything I saw said you might as well apply and see if you get it. So as a young, and quite ignorant, teenager, I applied for unemployment benefits.
The application process was not a simple one to say the least. It was honestly a huge pain to find old employer info, previous tax returns, and several other pieces of financial information. However, after several days and countless hours, I finally finished the application and submitted it. The crazy part is…I was approved. I was now receiving unemployment benefits as a teenager.
So for the next few weeks, I submitted the required information and got weekly direct deposits to my bank account. I just had to show what my income was for the period and as long as it was below a certain threshold, I would be sent varying state benefits along with $600/week from the federal government. I will be the first to say, I was living the good life.
This continued for a few months until my available claim amount and the $600/week began to dry up. At the same time, my freelancer income began to normalize again so I decided it was time to wrap things up. I won’t say the exact amount of money I received, but it was about 30-40% of what I made in the previous year. Needless to say, I felt incredibly blessed to have been able to receive this money.
The Unexpected Appeal
All was well until the fall of 2021, almost a year and a half later. One day I was minding my own business when I received a letter from my state’s department of labor and employment. I opened the letter and was initially very confused on what I saw. Honestly, it took me a long time to figure out what this letter even meant. Eventually I figured out that it was a notice stating that my previous employer filed an appeal against my unemployment claim. In other words, they were contesting my claim.
I freaked out. My mind immediately went to the worst case scenarios. Would I be deemed unworthy and forced to give the money back? While yes I had the money to repay, it was tied up in savings and investments and wasn’t exactly readily available. Or worse, would I somehow get in trouble and face prison time for fraud? Of course I answered everything honestly, but what if I made a mistake somewhere?
I can’t describe the stress, worry, and anxiety that I faced the next few days. My family and I actually left for a road trip the day I opened the letter, and my family knew something was off when I was silent the rest of the day. Even once we arrived, I was still acting weird while spending time with family. It took me days to process it and eventually open up to my family.
I felt much better once I did tell them because they had some great advice and words of encouragement to share. They had many questions and many suggestions, but their main suggestion was for me to call my old boss who had filed the appeal. I was terrified to do so, but I knew it was the right move.
The Appeal Process
Before I called him, I did some more research about this appeal. My confusion came from the fact that I filed for unemployment based on my freelancing work, not because of this old job. Since my claim had nothing to do with my old boss, why was he appealing it? After a bit of research I figured out why.
When an unemployment claim is filed, the government assumes that your most recent employer was at fault. They will check with this employer to make sure that the reason you gave is accurate and they allow them the chance to appeal the decision. If they don’t appeal the decision, the employer may face financial consequences.
Employers actually end up paying for employees to get unemployment benefits in a indirect way. Without getting too complicated, each time a claim gets accepted, it increases the unemployment taxes an employer has to pay. So employers want to make sure as few claims as possible get approved because each one that does costs them money.
Click here to read more on who pays for unemployment benefits.
With this research, I now knew why my old boss was filing an appeal. Even though I’m a freelancer, the government looked back to him as my most recent employer to try to charge him for my unemployment benefits. However, obviously this wasn’t right to him because he had nothing to do with it.
So, I called my old boss and explained the situation to him. We actually had a very good talk because I understood where he was coming from, but he also understood where I was coming from. He knew why I filed and knew that it had nothing to do with him. However, he still had to work through the appeal process to make sure he didn’t get charged for it.
With that out of the way, I felt a little better about the situation. However, I still had to wait several weeks for my hearing to take place and I was still very nervous about it. It honestly impacted me in a pretty negative way as I was still worried about the worst case scenarios.
The Resolution
When the week of the hearing came, I went to check in for it two days before. However, it wasn’t letting me check in so I didn’t think much of it and I tried again the next day. However, it happened again and I was now worried that I was going to miss my check in time and be unable to attend the hearing.
I ended up calling the help line and tried to get some clarification on why I couldn’t check in. That’s when they informed me that the hearing had been canceled and that I could view more information in my online portal. I logged on to find that not only my hearing was canceled, but my appeal was withdrawn!
Immediately I felt a weight lifted off my shoulders. I can’t describe the feeling of relief I had after I saw that. I went from being incredibly stressed that day to being in the best mood. It was a very sudden change in emotions.
Which brings me to today, a few days after the hearing was scheduled to take place. I still don’t no exactly why the appeal was withdrawn. My only thought is that maybe he was able to cancel enough of the claims against him to where he didn’t need to cancel anymore. All I know is that I’m incredibly grateful to have that weight off my shoulders and to hopefully have the whole ordeal be over.
7 Lessons Learned From Filing Unemployment As A Teenager
With that said, here are 7 Lessons Learned From Filing Unemployment As A Teenager:
1. Take Advantage of Opportunities
This all started with me learning about an opportunity and making the decision to take advantage of it. Whether or not you agree with the government’s choice to stimulate the economy, the decision is made. My point is that the money is available for people to use. If the money is available, you might as well apply and see if you can get it. If you never apply, you’ll never know if you could get something or not. This principle applies to other areas of life as well.
2. Don’t Take Advantage Of The System
At the same time, don’t advantage of the system. I know this is contradicts what I just said, but I never feel like it’s right to take advantage of a system that can be easily exploited. My main thing throughout this entire process was being 100% honest. I knew that as long as I was honest about everything that I would feel good about it. The second you start lying is the second you start taking advantage of the system. If you’re honest about everything and you get approved, I don’t see anything wrong with it.
3. Never Rely On The Government
This whole process also taught me to never rely on the government. The entire system from start to finish was a mess and incredibly disorganized. I feel like the government is so inconsistent and unorganized that it should never be relied on. People shouldn’t depend on the government for anything or ever expect anything from them.
4. Never Take Anything That Seems Too Good To Be True
While I was pretty easily approved, I was probably a little too quick to accept the benefits. I never really expected any potential kickback from this decision. For example, I never expected them to potentially ask for the money back or anything along those lines. I now believe more than ever that people should never take anything that seems too good to be true. You know how the saying goes, if it’s too good to be true, it probably is.
5. Think About The Consequences For Each Party Involved
Similar to the last point, I also will be better going forward about thinking of the consequences for each party involved. I never thought about the potential consequences for my old boss. Obviously, I would never want him to have to pay extra taxes for me to receive unemployment benefits. As a young kid, I hadn’t fully developed that sense of awareness to think through decisions like these.
6. Don’t Let Stress Build Up
One thing I’m learning more and more about is to never let stress build up. There’s no point in staying stressed. Whenever you find anything weighing down on you, find someway to let it out. Tell someone about it or write it down. The longer the stress builds up in you, the more it will affect you in a negative way. I can tell you I felt way better about the situation once I talked to my parents about it and eventually talked to my boss about it.
7. No Amount Of Money Is Worth It
Finally, the last lesson I learned is that no amount of money is worth it. Worth what exactly? Worth anything. No amount of money is worth the stress, sacrificing quality time with family, or hurting relationships. I’m not saying I would necessarily go back and change what I did because I believed I learned from it, but I never want to let money get in the way of those other things.
The Takeaway
That’s it! Those are the 7 lessons learned from filing unemployment as a teenager. Hopefully you can learn from my successes and failures without the added stress of doing so. Please feel free to leave any comments, questions, or concerns down below. Otherwise, best of luck to you on your financial independence journey!