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I've been out of work for 15 years, so the proposed solution isn't as bad as life has been for me. It looks better for me than what I've had.
I certainly don't have any magic solutions, but things I see that people could do for themselves, which would involve short term pain for the economy, but would eventually 'trickle up' and improve it and make it more stable:
--Avoid kids out of wedlock and divorce like the plague. Stress the importance of cultivating and maintaining good relationships, especially with those you have kids with. If one must engage in casual sex, use 2 forms of birth control religiously.
--Basically, follow the philosophy and lifestyle advocated in web sites like Mr. Money Mustache to the extent possible. Not everyone can do it like he does, but certainly most people in the top 50% of earners could. I'm right around the median household income and I live in a high cost area, and I'm not all that far from a 50% (after tax) savings rate that he advocates.
The problem I'm up against is the economy shed the "Chair" that was a job for me back in 2002 and hasn't added it back.
So I'm sitting here looking at hard times not ending in my life time. What do you do about it? Give up? Not me.
I'm just looking at the problem of how to get the economy to add a chair for me to sit in and get back to work.
Maybe it is time to start your own business so as to create your own "chair". You have had 15 years to figure it out. You must have tried something????
I am sure there are no easy answers. I think the easiest answer is to save like a demon your first 10 years in the work force. Then if you lose your chair in your 40s or 50s, you have money to fall back on if it gets taken away. Then if you're stuck working crappy low paying jobs, it sucks but isn't the end of the world.
Barring economic collapse, if I lose my "chair" tomorrow, I will still be ok financially.
Lots of folks seem to come to this forum to rant and rave, to find blame, to point out conspiracies, and to formulate all sorts of unlikely and often weird solutions. Hardly anyone seems to come to this forum looking for things they can do to improve their job and career possibilities. The vast majority of people I know find a way past adversity. They change careers, move to different parts of the country, gain additional skills or education and do what it takes to find a way to succeed. Those who are locked into negativity always seem to believe their negative beliefs are correct and in fact life cooperates and proves they will always lose.
I think the easiest answer is to save like a demon your first 10 years in the work force.
That's what I did. Then for the next 13 years I lived on the interest from it. Not in "style" but it was the best time of my life.
When I finally did go back to work, I could do anything because I could be happy living on nearly nothing. And I still had the stash I'd accumulated earlier. Freedom. It can't really be bought, but money in the bank doesn't hurt.
Lots of folks seem to come to this forum to rant and rave, to find blame, to point out conspiracies, and to formulate all sorts of unlikely and often weird solutions. Hardly anyone seems to come to this forum looking for things they can do to improve their job and career possibilities. The vast majority of people I know find a way past adversity. They change careers, move to different parts of the country, gain additional skills or education and do what it takes to find a way to succeed. Those who are locked into negativity always seem to believe their negative beliefs are correct and in fact life cooperates and proves they will always lose.
that is my opinion . lots of complaining here but no plan or thought as to how to get a head . rather what is focused on here is relying on things failing as if that would create an opportunity for them to get ahead.
if they can't do it now they ain't doing it when things crumble either . there will alwayas be someone else beating them to the punch .
i doubt there is one successful person here complaining daily . those who want to be successful will still find a way.
it is those who float like a cork in water here to where ever life pulls them that complain the most so instead of taking control they think by everything crumbling down it will float them in to prosperity . more a pipe dream then reality .
i can tell you when we had it tough in the 1970's when i entered the job market i didn't waste my time complaining about the job situation . i devoted months on end to researching anything i thought i could do that would not obsolete me so quickly .
once i selected something i spent my time learning all i could about that career path and then made an action plan to implement it .
this was at a time that was far worse then today . the rest just floated in and out of menial jobs taking no control and making things happen . they just complained how bad things were .
Last edited by mathjak107; 06-05-2016 at 02:20 AM..
that is my opinion . lots of complaining here but no plan or thought as to how to get a head . rather what is focused on here is relying on things failing as if that would create an opportunity for them to get ahead.
............
No, all of the predictions of gloom are not some attempt to create an opportunity for them to get ahead. The negative predictions are excuses for not making the efforts needed to succeed. The conspiracy theories and scapegoats serve the same purpose. The excuses are fantastic and endless. The robots are coming. The debt is too high. There is too much money supply or too little. The dollar is too strong. The government statistics are all intentional lies. What happens in some depressed backwater area reflects the situation in the entire country. And on and on it goes.
I would really like to see these forums become useful in helping people to find ways to succeed. With the handful of prolific complainers on this forum that is not likely.
The US and world economy, and personal financial success or failure are two different things.
Seems like a lot of the posts here blame economic conditions for their failure; low interest rates, the Fed, the rigged market. "The Baby Boomers took away my hope for a successful life", "the Fed has taken away my opportunity to succeed by keeping rates low" and on and on.
Seems like a lot of the posts here blame economic conditions for their failure.
Some, a minority. Easily ignored.
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