Budgeting for Layoffs?

The Waxed Yak asks: "After reading the Slashdot tech worker unionization story, I started wondering: What are other IT workers doing to prepare for potential layoffs?" "We're all at risk of it, be it from actual layoffs or loss of employment for other reasons. My personal approach has been to live off about 1/3rd of my earnings and bank the rest, even though that means living in a hovel and driving an older car. Worst case scenario, I get to retire early.

I recently became completely self employed, which has made it all the more important to save. I understand many Slashdot readers have families to support, so they don't have the same option for savings that I currently enjoy. As I hope to have a family to support in the near future, I would be interested in tips or techniques to prepare for this situation. Judging by the posts in the unionization thread, many of you are dependent on a steady income to provide for their families. Hopefully this thread can provide some ideas for them as well."

Comments

Question or Comment???

[ericspinder]

The Waxed Yak asks "When I did work for someone else, I saved 2/3rds of my pay, but since I'm now self-employed, I'd like to really brag", "what guestion do I have to come up with so I can say so on Slashdot?"

Me personally

[mikesd81]

Right now I'm a machine operator @ Sealy components. It's a mechanical job. Yes I'm a geek, but I like mechanics too. There's 2 things a people will always have (relative speaking, let's not nit pick here): an automobile and computer.

Also, no matter how automated a plant may get, there still needs to be a person to fix the machine when it breaks.

Okay so my point is to always have a back up plan to fall on. You have more interests, I'm sure, than just computers. Capitalize on them. Wheather it be mechanics or landscaping or whate have you.

In the last James Bond movie to feature Q: "Never let them see you bleed, and always have an escape plan."

Other fields

[heinousjay]

Work on your smooth pimp game, round up a stable of hos, and watch the money roll in with a modicum of effort.

Sure, pimpin ain't easy, but that don't make it hard.

Budget

[daeg]

I'm in a two-income no-kids (DINK) situation. I'm still paying off student loans. We live very comfortably but I have a strict 20% to retirement rule. For the past two years (roughly) we've been putting 30% into general savings. We could reduce it easily since we both work in very steady industries (him: high rate commercial insurance, me: television station). It is nice to know that just on the general 30% savings one of us can be without work for years and we'd never have to tap retirement. BTW - I'm 22, He's 30. Still a long time until retirement and our health care costs are quite low.

However, as such, that money is invested quite aggressively. I make stock purchases that tend to be risky. Of course, it has paid off even in the short run, with the 30% savings pushing near 45% annual gain (not including additional cash put in).

I'd rather live modestly for a long period of time than live well and spend a lot only to lose a job and have to risk moving back to a frugal lifestyle.

Re:Budget

[Money for Nothin']

Actually, there is a very good reason why investment and savings are considered to be the same thing: it's because they basically *are* the same.

Look into how a bank makes loans, and what it does with your money when you "save" it with them. They don't keep it locked in a vault for you, like money under a mattress; they loan it back out to people, and pay you out of their fractional reserves when you come calling.

In essence (and I'm glossing over a lot of my Monetary Policy class in college), the bank is making an investment on your behalf. They charge a higher interest rate to the loan recipient than they pay you to keep your money "saved" with them -- this is how banks make a profit.

I mentioned being paid out of the bank's fractional reserve. Because the bank has loaned-out money to people (businesses and individuals), it doesn't have everybody's money at the bank -- it's out being spent by somebody else who thinks they can turn a profit and pay back the bank with the money they make. What happens if everybody goes to the bank and demands their money back, and the bank doesn't have enough available -- i.e., what happens if you see a bank run? Your bank borrows what they need from other banks. Worst-case scenario, they go to the "bank of last resort", a.k.a. a Federal Reserve bank. The Fed waves a magic wand (seriously, it is not transparent enough for anybody besides the Fed to know precisely what they are doing), buys/sells bonds through "open-market operations", and as necessary, creates new money -- which causes inflation. In essence, if the Fed can't handle a bank run (the last time this happened was just prior to the Great Depression, and in fact, is considered by most economists now to be the reason the Depression was as bad as it was), we're all hosed. That said, since the Depression, it has handled some monstrous ones (including Russia's failure to repay its bond commitments, which led to the decline of the Ruble, causing the collapse of some big-name financial firms like Long-Term Capital Management). (OK, I'm not glossing-over as much Monetary Policy as I thought I would...)

Here's a dirty little secret about the FDIC, which insures the money you "save" at the bank: the FDIC only insures about 1-2% of the nation's fractional reserves. Hence, no matter how you slice it, If another Depression-style bank run occurs, we are all fucked.

In truth, savings and investment are considered more-or-less the same thing by economists today, because in the end, they *are* the same thing.

Yours,

A youngster who "saves" in mutual funds... (and in a high-rate savings account, and only what is necessary for paying bills from a checking account. Most of my savings are in my 401k for retirement though...)

we IT workers are the most advantageous

[unity100]

when it comes to layoffs.

Especially programmers, designers, web developers, or any information technology service or counseling / technical support, anything that can be performed remote :

We have the internet.

When you get laid off, even in the u.s., you have the chance to put your resume & experience in a post titled 'experienced ..... looking for work/taking on projects' and shortly you get many inquiries.

Sure wages are not that high, comparable to when you work full time on-site.

But then again, a hourly $15 should be enough thinking you are working from home ? or from a remote site on vacation - hell, practically anywhere in the world.

Our professions are the most suitable for the internet - no surprise, as we are the ones that built it.

That might not seem enough, a mere $15, however there is no limit as to how many projects you can take on or at the same time how many hourly paid jobs you can manage - handle 3 simultaneous work, get $45 in total - no contractor will object to you as long as you handle their work fittingly. That is something you cant do while working on-site : work on someone elses stuff for an hour, get busted, youre in trouble.

I understand that many have families and people to support, and quite a many have become accustomed to rather high living standards.

So what ? if we lower our standards a bit in such times, we can work anywhere, anytime.

And note that, not having a profession that is required to be registered, unionized, guildized etc nowhere in the world, makes us capable of working ANYWHERE.

Too high taxes in u.s. ? Move to some other country where you are allowed to live in, just start working there. Its that simple.

On top of that, many countries will be pleased to have more it workers.

Unionization, regulation and etc are not to our advantage, but to our disadvantage. Keep in mind that organisations always fail to represent the masses they set out to represent - because only the rich, powerful & influential enough can spare enough resources to get on the helm of any of them. Then the result leads to manipulation and molding of the related masses to some other power's interest, and that generally becomes the industry bosses.

So far so good, were not mine workers, we can easily find ways to sustain ourselves, heck, even prosper (we are always free to use our skills to set up our own job, and we can do it with minimum capital) whenever we get laid off.

Maybe we are not that safe always, but, for the first time in the world history maybe, we have more freedom than any profession member had on the face of the world.

Re:we IT workers are the most advantageous

[cyber-vandal]

Unionization, regulation and etc are not to our advantage, but to our disadvantage.

A quick look at the history of the 20th century as compared to the the rest of human history would instantaneously prove you wrong. The 20th century saw the most regulation and unionisation in human history. It also saw the greatest period of social and technological growth the human race has ever seen.

Too high taxes in u.s. ? Move to some other country where you are allowed to live in, just start working there. Its that simple.

That may be possible for a multi-lingual 25 year old with no family or friends. How about the other 99% of the population? I've lived in 3 other countries apart from the UK and I'm telling you right now, it's not "simple" at all, and I didn't have a wife and children to relocate as well.

May I suggest a subscription to...

[linzeal]

Backwoods Country Magazine so you can learn to make it when they shut off your electricity and you are forced to use your 1/8th of an arable land that used to be your lawn to grow corn on and hunt neighborhood cats.

A few key things

[roc_machine]

- Keep my resume up-to-date. Most resumes you do will be custom tailored for a potential employer, but keep a generic one on hand and update it.
- Know what's going on in the job market. For me, that includes jobs in my hometown and network management (netcool, concord, cisco, etc) jobs anywhere in North America.
- Apply for jobs even if you think that it may not be a good fit for you. At least it provides good experience in writing a resume and cover letter, and possibly interview experience as well.
- Keep a minimum balance in a bank account, say $7000. These are emergency funds, and I think being laid off counts.
- If your company has a share ownership plan, get out if it, or at least make routine transfers out to another account. If the company is considering layoffs, there is a good chance they are not performing well, and that includes stock price. The last thing you want is to be hit with a double whammy of being unemployed and seeing your retirement income evaporate.
- Whatever training you can get at your current job, take it.
- Lastly, try and stay positive. Enjoy life to the fullest outside of work.

Re:prioritize-future proofing

[tengwar]

I'm sorry, but I can't take this as a serious answer to the problem of being laid off, because your preparations cost too much and restrict your options and your mobility. You're taking savings (flexible) and converting them to single-purpose items that you probably won't use, and you're nailing your feet to the floor with non-portable assets

• Backup solar power? Mains power is cheap. Keep the money in the bank, spend it on mains if you have to.
• Food stores? Really bad idea if all you're worried about is being laid off. If you've kept the money as savings, you can buy the food when you need it. If you buy food now, it's a wasting asset (i.e. its value declines because some of it goes off).
• Pay off the house? No, keep a substantial chunk of the money on deposit where you can get at it for emergencies, and only after that pay off more than you have to on the house. You may get a lower interest on deposit than you're paying on the mortgage, but if you're looking for work, you are likely to need cash.

This sort of advice is only useful if you think that the whole of civilisation is going to collapse. As a preparation for personal financial problems, it's foolish.