Have you ever talked to your peers about business or investing ideas and they start talking about the risk that involves with the idea? They ruin the idea itself at the stage one. They justify the employment and all the benefits that come with it. Well, that was my experience. I never gave anyone an advice to leave their jobs. I have a job, too. But there are things I do on the side and I know that I have something to rely on. I don’t run a business, but I have investments. The idea that you have investments gives you such enormous confidence, so you can work without any stress. Plus, if you consider switching jobs, there is no overthinking.
I think, the employees or regular people as media tends to call them, are the fragile part of the economy. They are the first to experience the change in the economic sectors. Business owners are much more confident during the crisis, they just raise prices. Investors just sell their holdings. And as for the workers, it takes a while for them to get back on track.
Well, here is a thing: people go to 9-5 jobs, because they think that the place they have at the corporate world is 100% belongs to them and they would never be let go from it. And that is the argument they use to tell me that investment is risky. Yes, buddy! Investment is risky, so is your job. At least I have an asset. I think people should lay out the financial foundation for themselves, so they can maneuver anytime they want to. People stay at the jobs they don’t like, because it seems as a stable place. They often use words like “loyalty” and “second family”. This is an absolute nonsense. One economic shake and you are unemployed. Did you forget about 2008?
And also the salary aspect of all of it. It stays at the same level. At least, for a couple of years after the contract. Which means you have to get a salary raise at the same percentage as inflation rate. And that’s impossible. Meanwhile, entrepreneurs and investors have steady increase in profits depending on the economic situation. That means unlike them, even if the economy is booming, you will never get paid what you deserve.
I think second stream of income, whether it is an investment or a side hustle is no longer an option. It is more of a necessity. Because if you look at the inflation rate, you come to conclusion that, a lot of products and services getting extremely expensive and most of those things are not available for general public. It is kind of scary and you start wondering if you will be able to afford yourself the things you have now in 5 or 6 years. Of course, you try to become economically irreplaceable, but the fact that there are thousands of people willing to have your job for a much less pay is becoming obvious. You cannot hope that your government will change the economic policy to boost the quality of life of the citizens. You just simply try to adapt to the given situation. And that’s why I think there will be more and more people who will have the second stream of income.
That’s the reason why I am willing to take the calculated risks. I think sometimes you have to take risks to have something bigger and better. You cannot just sit on the coach and do thing the easy way. But if we are talking about the employee route, it is always the way of guaranteed failure. It seems like they try to sell you fear, so you won’t go independent. But as for me, at this point and time, I would work and spend major part of my income investing into stocks rather than having the regular career and hoping to get promoted in the corporate ladder. These type of people usually get over boarded and replaced very next day. And of course, they have no savings nor do they have the income to support their lifestyle they got accustomed to. They probably think that they can rely on the pension they have accumulated over the years. But you cannot expect to have the same level of lifestyle, because it does not matter how much you have saved, if the inflation takes away the value of it. I always considered the pension, the money we legally obligated to send to pension fund as another tax. I most certainly believe that it is the legal Ponzi scheme. You basically support the completely unknown people at your own expense, because the money they saved up at their pension account is completely worthless. And it is just way it is.
So, as a conclusion, I would say that, you have to take responsibility for your own financial situation. Never trust an employer. Always have some income to rely on and it would be much easier in the future. You do not have to leave your job, you should just have some sort of income on the side. So that’s the only way to be prepared.
Originally written on July 11, 2022