Recession Proof Your Life Part 3

Part 3 of my 5 part series on Recession Proof Your Life contains some guidance on keeping the best job in the world … the one you have!

I will argue against that being true in the long run (see Part 4 of this series), but if you are currently gainfully employed, good for you. Let’s assume for the moment that you want to keep your job.  This is generally a good choice, particularly in troubled economic waters.

There are 6 things you can do to have increase your chances of keeping that job.  The first 5 are listed below.  Item 6 is pretty long and will be included in Part 4 of this series.

1. Add Value. This is a business.Your boss, and his boss and however far up it goes to the top are there because in theory, they are a part of a much bigger system that actually produces a profit for the owners/shareholders.If you can figure out how to pull it off, become indispensable.  Know how to do things (expertise with a particular piece of software, machinery or relationship with a customer).  Show that you can multi-task.  Take on additional responsibilities, especially where there is the opportunity to learn (and become the expert: see previous point made above). Read more
   Filed Under: Markets and Money, Small Business
   Tagged: economy, how not to get fired, Mark T. Rafter, recession proof your life, what to do in a recession

   Recession Proof Your Life Part 2

   October 23, 2008 by Mark T. Rafter · 1 Comment 

   Part 2 of my 5 part series on Recession Proof Your Life contains a variety of guidelines on what you can do to protect your finances and manage the money you have when the economy is looking grim. In Part 3 we will discuss how you keep the income coming in so you actually have money to manage (and buy food, shelter, gas … things like that which we have become used to).

   There are 8 different things to do to manage and protect your current financial situation.

   1. Set Up an Emergency Fund. Most financial advisor recommend having three to six months’ worth of living expenses held in savings or a money market account. In the event that you lose your job (we’ll talk about how to avoid that in just a little bit), you don’t want to end up tapping your investments or relying on credit cards. For most people, it’s pretty hard to put the money away all at once (and even harder to keep your hands off of it). If you do a little at a time, adding to it no matter what, you’ll sleep better at night knowing that you have a cushion. This is no different than the ongoing philosophy of ‘paying yourself first’ that you hear with regards to saving money for the future. Except now you really need to do it. Read more
      Filed Under: Investing, Markets and Money, Stocks
      Tagged: recession, recession proof your life, what to do in a recession