Rich people value financial security while the middle class focuses on job security. There use to be a time when these two terms meant the same. When I was going through school my parents wanted me to have a good education, so I could go on to get a high paying job someday. But that was the old way of thinking because the modern world doesn’t work like that anymore. 😐 Many university graduates with high grades today can’t find those “high paying” jobs anymore, let alone any job. 😕
In today’s world we have to think outside the box. We have to see the bigger perspective. For most people the point of having a job is to make money. If that’s the case then we should start with the money, not the job. Financial security means having a financial plan. It should begin in life as early as possible, but it’s never too late for anyone to start. Giving our finances priority means learning about our career paths, and life choices. It’s about making financial goals regarding savings, investing, and retirement. Financial security means knowing what we want our money to do for us. It means giving our financial future a purpose.
Finding job security can be a part of our financial security, but it shouldn’t be the priority. Job security is about finding a job. Financial security does that too, but it also teaches us how to survive if we lose a job. With a direct understanding in financial literacy we’ll have the knowledge and confidence to utilize other options like entrepreneurship, investing, network marketing, etc, in case we aren’t lucky enough to land our dream jobs right away.
The governor of the Bank of Canada recently received some heavy backlash from vocal individuals when he suggested that unemployed millennials should volunteer their time to build up relevant work experience. He probably meant volunteer work would help improve someone’s resume. However his words could also be interpreted to mean he supports unpaid internship. And there’s a lot of people angry about corporations taking unfair advantage of young people who are willing to work for free. I’m glad I’m not a public figure. In today’s politically correct world it can be difficult to speak candidly about anything. The best way to not offend anyone is pretend to be old, ignorant, and poor, lol. No offense. 🙂
————————————————————————
Random Useless Fact:
On August 16, 2013, Google went down for 5 minutes and in that time, the global Internet traffic dropped by 40%.
Very nice observation! I too guided by my parents to get job security. a couple of years on my own and I realized my security would be the skills I developed in managing my time in exchange for money which lead to financial security. I’ll say it again, but it is entitlement vs. empowerment, and if you want to lead a financially secure life, learn how to empower yourself. Great post .- Cheers.
The weak ask others for help, the strong find ways to succeed by themselves 🙂
My friend that made their own choices are in dead jobs with high debt from degrees that got them nowhere in life. My other friends that went into family trades business and others that went to trade school are all doing well and own their own homes with lots of extra cash to buy toys and take trips.
These days practical skills is what we are lacking. I rather be a 150k a year plumber than a part time 20k a year struggling writer or philosopher.
Plumbing is an honest career choice. Too bad people don’t give it the respect it deserves. I would gladly take a job that pays $150K a year so I can retire early and do all the writing and philosophy I want later.
A few years ago, I was looking to move and switch to a 9-5 job, they won’t take me as I don’t have the business skill on paper. I didn’t know how to sell myself. Also, it’s a career change so I didn’t have the experience, I didn’t mind taking a paycut, I told them, just give me a chance to prove. Nope! I like your cartoon comment, posting entry job that require 3-5 years experience. Not nice. Ehhehehe staying put wasn’t bad, as after that the economy went further south, I still got a steady raise each year. I just feel for the new grads.
We are the lucky ones who are still working despite a slow economic recovery. I could probably find better jobs if I moved but I like Vancouver too much to go anywhere else. 🙂
Hah I like your conclusion. Going off on a tangent here, but when someone asks me for investment advice – I try to stay vague and try not to name one company/stock, as people tend to take your word for it thinking that you know what you are talking about, when what I really mean is – “hey, that looks interesting. you should do some more research on that”. Staying ignorant and playing dumb helps in that case.
The central bankers words are watched very closely, so he should be more careful on what he talks about. People dissect every single word coming from central bankers and he cannot make off-cuff remarks without clarifications. Hope he learned a lesson from that debacle.
Nice post, btw.
R2R
I think a lot of capable and smart people can become politicians and world leaders if they wanted to, but what’s holding them back is they don’t want to have their public appearances be criticised and their private lives scrutinized by the media. But at least this way our democratic system can be accountable and reliable.
You’ve gotta choose yourself and build whatever it is you want to build and go from there. If no one is going to offer you a job, create your own reality. People are very stuck in looking at the problem from the same old ways that they can’t see the opportunities that are abundant if you just approach the problem from a different vantage point.
I like playing puzzle games. It teaches us to find new ways to think about old problems :0)
That’s a pretty good point about financial security vs job security. My parents see them as the same. They still think you can be hired and stay in the same job/career FOREVER. That doesn’t exist anymore. Anywhere.
Our parents had it really good back in their day. 🙂 Everything was really affordable too like housing and food. The only thing I’d miss would be the internet lol.
Too many people rely on other people. If you can’t find a job, create one for yourself. Too many new graduates today have a shiny new paper but they have no experience or common sense. You can’t survive in workforce like that.
Good advice. One silver lining to youth unemployment being so high is that it’s pushing more people into the direction of self employment and entrepreneurship. The important thing is to know how to work for oneself.