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Keep in mind that pittsflyer is our resident pessimist. He also has a different view on many things then most of us. I'd keep enough money tucked away to get you by for a few months while you look for another job or move back south for another job if it comes to that.
Sure if you want to be forced to get on a plane back home the day you are laid off and miss the Alaska summer which is really 90% of the Alaska experience. Why would you state something so irresponsible?
Exactly. Our emergency fund has two parts. One part is the stay in Alaska part (6 months of living expenses) and the other part is get out of Alaska, and that is 5 plane tickets.
Our two funds are two separate accounts. The only way we'd leave the state would be in a catastrophic event scenario.
I disagree that 6 months is adequate in light of our bleak economic outlook, job saturation and mass lay offs. I am almost 3 months in now and have only had maybe 6 interviews and no offers. Thats as a 13 year professional engineer. You may disagree with my personal or political views but that does not change the fact that I have a strong resume, but yet the market is so saturated that its not enough. I will eventually land a job but if I only had 6 months fund (meaning 3 months left) thats a really bad position to be in.
Also I feel that your get out of alaska fund is woefully inadequate, 5 plane tickets to where, whats there when you get there (100% family support) do you just fire sale all your stuff?
Having a half arsed emergency fund is some peoples way of having a false sense of security so they can spend it up while employed, but in reality (unless you are either VERY well connected or very lucky) its going to take longer than 6 months to find a new job right now.
Also nothing really catastrophic has to happen, if you get laid off and simply dont get a GOOD offer before money runs out your screwed. Is that what you mean by catastrophic? It all boils down to money out and no money in plus passage of time, nothing crazy has to happen, you just dont get an offer and you run out of money and then your screwed, that is it that is all.
Sure if you want to be forced to get on a plane back home the day you are laid off and miss the Alaska summer which is really 90% of the Alaska experience. Why would you state something so irresponsible?
I guess because I've always had a job since I was 14 and I'm decades older than that now. I've never not been able to find A job. Not necessarily the job I would like, but always something to get by on while I regroup. I guess my expectations in what life owes me are different than yours.
The OP is young, I'm assuming single with no kids since he hasn't mentioned any, tired of where he is now, and yearning to see what else is out there. He also seems like a reasonable person from his posts so far. I sincerely doubt that a year from now he will be homeless on the streets of Anchorage and rifling through my car looking for something to steal.
I see nothing irresponsible about encouraging someone in his situation to give it a try.
Oh, and while summer up here is nice, me and a lot of my friends have a lot of fun in the winter and actually look forward to it. Somewhere in the Alaska Range December 2017:
I guess because I've always had a job since I was 14 and I'm decades older than that now. I've never not been able to find A job. Not necessarily the job I would like, but always something to get by on while I regroup. I guess my expectations in what life owes me are different than yours.
The OP is young, I'm assuming single with no kids since he hasn't mentioned any, tired of where he is now, and yearning to see what else is out there. He also seems like a reasonable person from his posts so far. I sincerely doubt that a year from now he will be homeless on the streets of Anchorage and rifling through my car looking for something to steal.
I see nothing irresponsible about encouraging someone in his situation to give it a try.
Oh, and while summer up here is nice, me and a lot of my friends have a lot of fun in the winter and actually look forward to it. Somewhere in the Alaska Range December 2017:
You should consider yourself very fortunate, there are alot of people that have lost jobs and are struggling to find new jobs. I have been applying to a range of different jobs (so long as I am qualified and capable of doing the job, im not going to waste peoples time applying to stuff I am incapable of doing and/or not qualified to do).
Your sitaution is not typical of everyone. I also doubt he will be a homeless bum in anchorage in a year, but having a year plus emergency fund is GREAT piece of mind and gives you options ... just in case.
For the record I dont think anyone owes me anything, hence the preaching on large emergency funds. Lack of entitlement means that you better be feathering your own nest at all costs because there is no social safety net in the USA, its every man for himself and his family. Dog eat dog is the opposite of entitlement.
We have turned "entitlement" into a bad word and thus by definition what is left is dog eat dog. This is not really a philosophy thread so I will leave it at that. Also I dont think people should be in positions where they may have to tolerate boorish behavior, sexual harassment, assault, etc because they NEED the money. There are still alot of owners and managers out there who engage in this sort of behavior, they have finely tuned their behavior such that they dont cross the line into misdomenior or felony assult just enough to make your life miserable, you should have the finanical means to leave such a job if it comes to it. Unless you like being mildly sexually harrased or assulted.
Again maybe you have never experienced this or people who exploit others mistakes for political gain within the organization ....
And yes the Alaska winter has some nice points, but its much more difficult to enjoy and more expensive. The only way you get to go snowmachining is if you know someone with one or you buy one. The only real way to get those views is if you know someone with a cabin that is situated in such a place with the windows to get the views (or you have to buy land and build one). Northern lights are rare and usually in the middle of the night and they dont schedule themselves around your work schedule and when you have to be up for work.
I personally like the Alaska winters but its because I have a ton of family with land, cabins, super cubs on skis, etc. The OP wont be in that situation for a long time, he will have to survive many annual lay offs and rise in senority with the union.
If he has the emergency fund I say go for it, but to come up here with a month or two of emergeny, I dont know, I would not do it.
Also I should have mentioned this before but what does this job pay? If it pays VERY high and you can quickly feather your nest then it might be worth it. The odds of you being laid off right away are slim, worse case you will make it till this Oct/Nov which is when lay off notices start and the bumping scramble begins, that gives you 3/4 of a year to save and if you are making close to 100k with no bills you can save ALOT quick. But if the pay is fairly paltry your save rate will be low.
If you have family where you are now and can go back and stay indefinitly with nearly 0 bills and you get along with everyone then you really just need enough for a plane ticket out.
I am not sure what your family/living situation is now?
People saying that a plane ticket is their savior are diluded (UNLESS you have 100% family support at the end of that plane flight), if not your in the same boat just with maybe a slightly better economy. While the lower 48 might be better I highly doubt its get off the plane into a good job that day kind of deal ..... ?
People that have always had favorable employment situations like you may not be able to relate to people behaving poorly or lay offs and the need to have what some like to call "f you" money. Oh you want to grab my butt or verbally assult me or make me look incompetent for political gain sorry im out of here.
I disagree that 6 months is adequate in light of our bleak economic outlook, job saturation and mass lay offs. I am almost 3 months in now and have only had maybe 6 interviews and no offers. Thats as a 13 year professional engineer. You may disagree with my personal or political views but that does not change the fact that I have a strong resume, but yet the market is so saturated that its not enough. I will eventually land a job but if I only had 6 months fund (meaning 3 months left) thats a really bad position to be in.
Also I feel that your get out of alaska fund is woefully inadequate, 5 plane tickets to where, whats there when you get there (100% family support) do you just fire sale all your stuff?
Having a half arsed emergency fund is some peoples way of having a false sense of security so they can spend it up while employed, but in reality (unless you are either VERY well connected or very lucky) its going to take longer than 6 months to find a new job right now.
Also nothing really catastrophic has to happen, if you get laid off and simply dont get a GOOD offer before money runs out your screwed. Is that what you mean by catastrophic? It all boils down to money out and no money in plus passage of time, nothing crazy has to happen, you just dont get an offer and you run out of money and then your screwed, that is it that is all.
Pitts it’s also about what job market you are in. I applied for jobs in the road in December and was offered a contract in February. I’m in a high demand position with not many applicants though.
I now have a location after an interview. Sometimes it isn’t just the strong resume. Sometimes it’s personality.
As far as a half arsed plan? Not really. Neither emergency fund is touched. Not even when we dealt with our medevac issue was our get out of Alaska fund touched.
I’m not sure about you, but we would have a strong family support group that we can show up at, and then begin looking for a job. I’m not worried about finding a job. If I had to leave before school hiring season (would only happen in a catastrophic event) I can still find work. I don’t mind flipping burgers if need be. I can dig a hole. I can do many things.
Honestly, I’d find any job before I blew through my emergency funds.
I guess because I've always had a job since I was 14 and I'm decades older than that now. I've never not been able to find A job. Not necessarily the job I would like, but always something to get by on while I regroup. I guess my expectations in what life owes me are different than yours.
The OP is young, I'm assuming single with no kids since he hasn't mentioned any, tired of where he is now, and yearning to see what else is out there. He also seems like a reasonable person from his posts so far. I sincerely doubt that a year from now he will be homeless on the streets of Anchorage and rifling through my car looking for something to steal.
I see nothing irresponsible about encouraging someone in his situation to give it a try.
Oh, and while summer up here is nice, me and a lot of my friends have a lot of fun in the winter and actually look forward to it. Somewhere in the Alaska Range December 2017:
I can’t rep you but I would if I could. I agree 100%. It’s all about your attitude towards life and life’s lessons.
And relationships. Can’t forget relationships.
I can’t rep you but I would if I could. I agree 100%. It’s all about your attitude towards life and life’s lessons.
And relationships. Can’t forget relationships.
My points and your points are not mutually exclusive. I agree with you. But sometimes things go south, really far south and it can largely be outside of your control.
These are lower probability high consequence events. You, like north chick should be thankful that you are in such high demand you can just line up work like its a trivial issue. NOT everyone can do that.
I dont think at least taking my warnings into consideration is a bad idea. If you actually had to take that burger flipping job for more than a few months because life stopped smiling on you and you could no longer just waltz into a new professional job, your tune would drastically change.
No one wants to flip burgers and if you actually had to do it you would be saving money like crazy as soon as you got a real job so that you had a 5 year emergency fund.
Its one thing to say, oh yea I would just go flip burgers for a few weeks and its another thing to actually have to do it .... for MONTHS or longer. Also I gaurentee you you would likely still be deficit spending with a burger flipping job unless your house is paid off and all you have is food and utilities.
Be very thankful that you are in a position to waltz into new professional jobs easily.
Pitts it’s also about what job market you are in. I applied for jobs in the road in December and was offered a contract in February. I’m in a high demand position with not many applicants though.
I now have a location after an interview. Sometimes it isn’t just the strong resume. Sometimes it’s personality.
As far as a half arsed plan? Not really. Neither emergency fund is touched. Not even when we dealt with our medevac issue was our get out of Alaska fund touched.
I’m not sure about you, but we would have a strong family support group that we can show up at, and then begin looking for a job. I’m not worried about finding a job. If I had to leave before school hiring season (would only happen in a catastrophic event) I can still find work. I don’t mind flipping burgers if need be. I can dig a hole. I can do many things.
Honestly, I’d find any job before I blew through my emergency funds.
If I had to be medevacked I would decline and take my chances. My emergency fund is there to avoid flipping burgers. IF its my time its my time.
If I had to be medevacked I would decline and take my chances. My emergency fund is there to avoid flipping burgers. IF its my time its my time.
Have you only applied for jobs in your desired field?
Do you have other skills? Have you tried another profession?
Pitts my job field has a massive shortage in the state with most of that shortage being in the bush.
I took a chance on moving to the road and my wife’s Health helped make that decision for us. I knew there would be a possibility that I’d have to take my chances and not get a job until June or July (normal hiring time formtoad jobs) but thankfully I’m in special education and those fill faster. I made the move to SPED after being RIF’d numerous times in two different states. Yet, I’ve always landed a job quickly. I’ve moved three times during my career. With my current move counting. Open up your options pitts. Look at life a little better. Develop relationships with people that aren’t so negative and gloom and doom.
I’m not sure how you are in real life, and I’d probably be your friend in real life, but if you interview like
You post on CD, you might want to take some relationship building courses.
That’s my advise. I feel for you. I really do. I hope you find the job for you and I hope that you don’t go broke. My other two cents is to don’t get so focused on those engineering jobs. Look at second, third, and fourth options. Heck even last Resort (burger flipping) options.
You and you alone control your destiny Pitts. Open the doors that are unlocked.
I don't know many people who haven't had a few ups and downs during the course of their professional careers. Sometimes, people even have to move to where the jobs are instead of trying to stick it out in a place where their industry has tanked. People sometimes have to take jobs they feel are beneath them while they, and Northrick suggested, regroup, and there's no shame in that. Sitting around whining because the world owes you a living will get you nowhere. We get that the thought of moving out of state is nerve wracking for you, but leaving Alaska for awhile for work doesn't have to be the end of the world.
Anyway, back to the OP instead of participating further in a thread hijack, sounds like you've got a good opportunity, and I hope you take it. I would agree, though, that living in the valley and commuting to Anchorage isn't the best plan.
Last edited by Metlakatla; 04-19-2018 at 12:16 AM..
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