Always have a Plan B, because you never know when the condom might break. Of course having a backup plan for one’s career or business is also a good idea. I recently read an article by James Altucher on the importance of having a plan B. There’s nothing wrong with having a single job or a main goal to focus on. But most people these days will not be working for the same company for 40 years and then retire into a comfortable pension program. So what we need to do is to figure out a plan B, just in case our initial career choice doesn’t work out the way we want it to.
Maybe we think our job is secure because the boss likes us. 🙂 But maybe he only likes us as long as we’re providing him with a great value or service. But if our work performance suffers in the future due to some unforeseen reason then we could be in trouble. The company needs to have a plan B in case we decide to quit or retire early. 🙂 That’s why we need to have a plan B as well, in case they no longer require our services. Just last week it was reported that Foxconn, the manufacturer of the iPhone has replaced 60,000 of its workers with robots. As technology becomes faster and smarter, more companies will look into automating their services. A former executive from McDonald’s mentioned “it’s cheaper to buy a $35,000 robotic arm than it is to hire an employee who is inefficient, making $15/hr bagging French fries.”
If the fate of our plan A lies in the hands of just one company’s decision then it is only a matter of time before our plan fails. This is because companies have to change and improve in order to stay competitive and profitable, and some of those changes are not up to us. So if we have a plan B, at least we can have something else to fall back on in case our career doesn’t work out.
Resorting to plan B doesn’t mean we have failed. On the contrary, having multiple plans will only make us stronger, more experienced, and better prepared to deal with changing life circumstances. But we don’t have to stop at just plan B. We can make a plan C, D, E, and so on. If our plan A doesn’t work, at least we have 25 other letters of the alphabet to work with. 😀 In fact, financially savvy individuals have put in place multiple plans all running at the same time.
“The average multi-millionaire has at least 7 different sources of income. You can’t have 7 full time jobs. A “source of income” takes up much less time than a boss paying you to sit in a chair. So, do the opposite of focus. Try to help people in many different ways. Then many different types of payment will come your way.” ~ James A.
I think that’s true. One way to create a backup plan is to discover ways you can help someone else. If you are able to provide even $1 worth of value to others, and offer that to a million people, then you will make 1 million dollars! 😀 I only have 5 income sources right now so if I lose my 9 to 5 job I can at least rely on 4 other means of income to sustain my lifestyle. One day I will build up my income streams so that I will have 7 different sources of income, just like the average multi-millionaire. 🙂
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Random Useless Fact:
For sure. And maybe a plan B, C, D, E, F, and G! I like to build financial buffers for my financial buffers. It’s like a fun game to avoid financial death!
Sam
Treating finances like a game makes the journey more fun and enjoyable.
Plan B…Z is called diversification, and that’s Plan A.
As for the millionaire’s income sources, is it “7 different sources of income”, or “7 sources of different income”? E.g. I have 7 rental units but really only 1 source of income.
Good question. I don’t know where James Altucher sourced that stat from. From the way he worded the piece it sounds like he’s saying it’s 7 different sources of income.
When I recently visited Japan I saw robotic flag people. You know when in a construction zone there is always someone to direct traffic? In Japan they were all robots holding these flags!
Definitely those people in North America need a plan B.
I suppose it’s also safer for robots to direct traffic since there’s less chance of a person getting hurt. I’ve never been to Japan but I hear it’s a tourist friendly place. 🙂
Good write-up Liquid. I’m a huge fan of James Altucher. Also hoping I can save up enough to be very comfortable before getting canned (if that happens). It’s very unfortunate about all these robots taking over people’s jobs, but I think people need to learn to adapt. Everything is about adaptation.