So, you work for a company and think your job is at risk. Or maybe you don’t believe in job security. You never know when your situation or the world can change. You have anxiety about it and wish you felt prepared. Here are a few things to consider working towards having a handle on to be better prepared before and when the time comes.
- Emergency fund: Have six months of living expenses saved. Living expenses are more than just recurring bills. Total living expenses include food, personal care items, vehicle maintenance, taxes, routine house repairs, all of it. You want to make sure that you can comfortably live for six months.
- Health insurance: Look into what your health insurance options will be if you become unemployed so you are prepared for the costs and know your options ahead of time. It will help avoid a coverage gap.
- Stress test: Give your emergency fund a stress test now. Track your spending to confirm your six-month fund will indeed last at least six months. Many undercalculate a six-month emergency fund. They underestimate daily living expenses or think it will be easy to make budget cuts when the time comes. Needing to make extreme budget cuts after losing a job adds negative stress when you want to be focusing on positive change, career growth, and new opportunities. If you feel that the company you are working for or your job may not have a stable future, start cutting unnecessary expenses now instead of waiting until you lose your job. Understand the difference between your needs and your wants. Replace those unnecessary expenses with more cost-effective ones or healthy activities that inspire you. Eliminating some excess will boost your savings now and keep your lifestyle stable. Have a balance of spending vs. saving to make a drastic lifestyle change after a job loss unnecessary. Living within your means comes with budgeting and preparation for common life challenges like job losses, occasional healthcare costs, and maintenance on essentials such as your home and transportation.
- Resume: Get in the habit of updating your resume whether or not you are losing your job. Resumes articulate a person’s accomplishments. Seeing them listed helps us to visualize future goals and create a path to achieve them. Review your resume and consider what job roles you are prepared for and what job roles you are working towards. Look up some career opportunities and the qualifications for those roles. List your skills and experience that qualify you for those roles and update your resume accordingly. If there are skills or experience gaps, what can you do now to learn new skills or gain experience to fulfill those qualifications? Being prepared for advancement helps you turn your job loss into an opportunity. Even if you land a role similar to the one you are in now, it may be a fresh start at a new company with more opportunities for advancement.
- Healthy diet and lifestyle: Maintain or improve your health. Eat healthily and stay active. Do your best to get adequate sleep. A healthy lifestyle helps you feel your best and stay positive. It contributes to a strong immune system, supports hormone balance, and fuels your brain. Your body needs nutrients, rest, and exercise to function and perform. Love yourself and take care of yourself so you can optimize your abilities and stay open-minded to new possibilities.
- Second Income: Start a flexible second income stream now. Turn your hobby or knowledge into something profitable. Value your time when you are not at your primary job. You may find your second income to be the beginning of a new career or an outlet to keep your spirits up during a job transition. A second income source will help keep your hard-earned savings in your pocket during a job transition.
- Investment income. Though it’s ideal to be able to reinvest, income from dividends, rental income, and other investments can be helpful if it takes longer than expected to find a new role.
- Networking: Keep in touch with previous coworkers in your field of work. Reach out and see how they are doing. Another way to network is to attend conventions and workshops to gain knowledge or skills as you meet others. There are also plenty of groups, meetups, and clubs in almost any field. Look into a few and see if they interest you. Collaborating with others can help us see more possibilities than we could alone.
Fear of the future can be debilitating, and losing a job can feel overwhelming, but we can do our best to learn from the experience. Being financially prepared for it can make it easier to make the best of the situation. Practice embracing change. Step outside your comfort zone in healthy ways. Practice having gratitude for the people, things, and experiences in your life. There may be more opportunities in front of us than we realize.