How to secure your life with additional income sources

Today, your boss (a really nice guy, always taking your side, someone you trust) walks in the room. He looks tired, or maybe he’s just feeling down. He has a few words with some other guys in the room and then he comes to you.

- Hey dude, I have some bad news for you.
- What is it, boss?
- The company has decided to cut its size by 25%. You know I like you so I tried to save you, but there was nothing I could do: you are one of the guys who have to go.
- …but…
- I’m really sorry, man… That’s just how it is now. I hope you find a new job soon.

And that’s it. You’re on your own.

Are you prepared for this?

What would you do if you were in the above situation? Would you be able to keep living on your current life style? I know I would have to change mine. Or to find a new job really quickly.

If you are working but still registered as a student (that’s me!), at least in Finland you really don’t want to lose your job:

1. You have been working, so you don’t get the student benefits until next year.
2. And because you are a student, you don’t get the unemployment benefits either.
3. This means no money coming from the government.

Luckily to me this is still a hypothetical situation. But for many people it’s reality. And way too many people aren’t prepared for it at all.

The illusion of a safe job

Once upon a time (or so I’ve heard) there was something called a safe job.

You got into a good company and spent your whole career working in different roles in that same company. Your finances were pretty safe. As long as the company didn’t go bankrupt, you could just do your job and not worry about losing your income.

I have never seen a world like that.

In the world where I live (and I assume you do too…) work is something that is given you for a year, two years, or for as long as there is something to do. No one even thinks of having you at the same company for a decade or longer.

So much for job safety.

You can get fired at any time with a month’s notice. Or in today’s turmoils it’s well possible that the company you work for goes down the drain and you’re left empty handed.

Your job is gone, and so is your salary.

If working isn’t safe, what is?

This week I am going to guide you through a series of five articles on how you can get back the security by taking the control in your own hands.

If you thought that having a job would secure your life you might feel quite devastated now.

If doing your work doesn’t make your life safe, is there anything that will?

No.

Life is never safe. As Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister say in Waltzing With Bears: Managing Risk on Software Projects:

If a project has no risks, don’t do it.

But you can make your life safer by knowing the risks and getting prepared for them.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket

Hardly a new advice.

But funnily enough it’s something we don’t usually think about when planning our careers.

You have a good job? That’s good, so do I.

I think it’s a good starting point, but if we leave it there, we have done just what the old saying tells us not to do. If the company goes down, lets people go, or moves its functions to a lower cost subcontractor the imaginary conversation from the beginning of this article has become reality.

But there is an alternative:

Your boss comes to you and says:
- Hey man, I’m sorry to let you know that we need to cut our head count by 25%. I tried to save you but you’re one of the guys who have to go.
- Don’t worry about it, boss. I’ll be fine. I’m not depending on this company to take care of me. Actually this is just a small bump on the road.

Why?

Because you have more than one source for income.

Instead of depending on your employer, or the government, to take care of you you have assumed responsibility and taken care of yourself. You have managed your risk of losing your job.

That’s our goal this week: to define the path we need to take in order to get to the position where we won’t have to be worried about getting fired anymore.

Stay tuned, the adventure continues tomorrow.