Money – Page 11 – mardihumphreys.com

What to Expect When You’re Not Expecting

Awkward: The word that best describes the time period between a coworker’s dismissal and his departure. Even if it’s someone you don’t like, you wouldn’t wish job loss on anyone. Restructuring happens. Downsizing happens. Finding out someone’s role is eliminated makes you realize it can happen to you. It’s scary. It makes it hard to concentrate and do your job well. Not doing your job well puts you in danger of losing it, creating a vicious circle. You can’t control the corporate machine, but here are some things you can control:

The Obvious – Google what current resumes look like. If you haven’t had to search for a job for a few years, you may be in for a rude awakening. Employers want the story of your career in numbers, so you need to quantify yourself: How much revenue do you generate for your company? How much time have you saved your company through process improvement? Quantifying your job performance in percentages can be tricky if you are in an administrative role. You may have to get a bit creative. Can you quantify how much time you saved your supervisor? Can you quantify how much money you saved the company through frugal purchasing? You no longer have to put every job you ever held on your resume. Hiring managers only want to see your experience relevant to the job they need to fill. So, first create a master resume with every job you’ve ever had including dates, supervisors’ names and titles, the previously mentioned quantified percentages, referrals and contact information. Then, revisit it every six months to update any outdated information. If it becomes necessary for you to apply for a job, you can easily cherry pick the relevant experience from this document and create a fresh resume tailored specifically to the job for which you are applying.
Don’t forget the cover letter. Plenty of job coaches are on the fence about whether or not the cover letter is dead, but most agree it doesn’t hurt your chances if you send one. Polish yours, then save it as a template. Make it a marketing piece that tempts a hiring manager to read your resume. Hopefully, you won’t need it for a while, so leave notes for yourself in it. For example: include several ways to contact you; at least your email address and phone number in the signature block. Leave a note to yourself in the greeting to go to LinkedIn and find out the hiring manager’s name. In the body, leave a note to yourself to choose three key phrases from the job description then give examples of how your experience fills those needs using the quantifying percentages from your master resume. If you unexpectedly lose your job, just having a foundation to build on can calm your panic.

The Not so Obvious – Get on a job posting website and check out positions that interest you and companies at which you’d like to work. Check out the job descriptions. Do you have the skills to do the jobs that interest you ? If you don’t, go get them. With Massive Online Open Courses (MOOL), there’s no excuse not to have up to date skills. And yes, I’m putting my money where my mouth is (or where my fingers are, in this case). I took an online Introduction to Financial Accounting class from The Wharton School of Business through a MOOL. It’s not only on my resume, but also on my performance review.
Join LinkedIn. Do more than fill out your profile and upload a picture. If you need advice on how to use LinkedIn, search your public library’s database for a how-to book and check it out. While you wait for the book, read this article: https://www.themuse.com/advice/9-surefire-ways-to-boost-your-linkedin-profile-when-you-only-have-10-minutes
Network. This can solidify your current position as well as help you make connections in case you need to quickly find out who is hiring. Does your employer participate in networking groups? Wrangle an invitation or offer to manage your company’s table at the next event. You can pass out business cards and collect them for your own future use while simultaneously promoting your company. And don’t forget to follow up with new contacts on LinkedIn.
Do you know someone who has suffered job loss and bounced back into a new position? Buy her a cup of coffee and ask how she did it. Most people like telling their stories and smart people listen. Ask if in hindsight she knew the elimination was coming, what would she have done to prepare? When she gives you suggestions, do them.

Get a Side Gig – Take on an additional (part time) job, or a find a side hustle. At the very least, you’ll feel like you have some control over your destiny, and you’ll have a bit of income to fall back on if the worst happens. If the worst doesn’t happen, you’ll have a little extra cash; which leads me to my next point…

Save Your Money – This is not the time to purchase luxuries. Take this opportunity to pay down debt. Every month make an extra payment on your: car, credit card, student loan, mortgage (Get the idea?). Being debt free gives you so many options and peace of mind. No debt? Congratulations! Put the earnings from your side gig in your IRA. You DO have an Individual Retirement Account, right?

Keep Calm and… During uncertain times, you need to keep your wits about you. You can’t do that in panic mode. Need help getting down off the ledge? Grab your notebook (paper or computer) and start writing. Here are some prompts: What exactly are you afraid of? What is the worst that could happen? Seeing the words in front of you not only gives the feelings less power, it helps you form a plan. Then go for a walk, run, swim, yoga class, spin class or whatever. Do something to get your body and endorphins moving. Wear your body out to lower your stress so you can think more clearly.

Do Your Best Work – The company is going to do what the company needs to do. You cannot control that. The only insurance you can give yourself is to be the best at your job. Don’t give up. You’ll either keep your job or you won’t. And if you don’t, you’ll want to use your manager and coworkers as references. Let them be able to honestly tell your next hiring manager that you have enough emotional intelligence to show grace under pressure.

Please share your stories of living with job insecurity here:

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The American Dream?

I was surprised (and mildly amused) by the pushback my husband and I received for selling our house and renting an apartment. We’d been kicking around the idea of downsizing since our daughter’s high school graduation party. Two years later houses in our neighborhood were in high demand and our conversations grew more urgent. One minute it was, “Let’s just call our realtor and chat,” and the next thing we knew she put a For Sale sign in the front yard. “That escalated quickly,” we thought. The house sold sixty hours after it was listed.

Since I’d been planning this escape for two years, I was ready to go, but my husband and daughter were a little nervous about the situation we now faced: We had a month to vacate and find somewhere else to live. Our daughter was a college student who kinda lived at home and kinda didn’t, so did she need a room with us? It was a sellers’ market. We wanted the next property we purchased to be the last property we purchased. Given these parameters, we decided buying another house at that time was not the wise choice. We found a very nice apartment home community with a very nice, very affordable unit for rent. It had the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms our house had. The only spaces we gave up were a basement and half a garage.

The funny looks began shortly after move in along with the questions: “Why did you sell your house?” “Why didn’t you buy another one?” “Do you need money?” The general perception was we could not afford our mortgage and had to sell. For example: People knew our daughter attended a private college. What they didn’t know is how many scholarships, grants, and awards she’d earned. People knew that in addition to my full-time job, I had a side gig at a local HomeGoods. What they didn’t know was why I did it: I wanted to stay busy. If I was busy, I didn’t have time to worry about what the aforementioned college student was doing.

Selling the house made us renegades. Like we spat in the face of the American Dream of home ownership. But is the dream turning into a nightmare? Take a mortgage for example: If you don’t put 20% down on a house, you have to pay private mortgage insurance (PMI). According to Zillow, the median price of a house in Dayton, Ohio (where we live), was $54,000. So you needed to put $10,980 down to avoid paying PMI. Okay, but did you want to live in a $54,000 home in Dayton Ohio? Mortgages can last 15, 30, or even 40 years. How old will you be in 40 years? If you paid a mortgage that long, you might as well pay rent and get the added benefits of living in an apartment community instead. I thought there were major tax benefits for home ownership, but after some quick Googling, I discovered the federal government giveth and the local government taketh away. Most people assume it’s more expensive to rent than to own. My husband crunched the numbers after three months of apartment living and found it indeed was more expensive. It cost us $3.07 more a month. Worth. It.

Honestly, we were not happy homeowners. We’d become “those” people – “Get off my lawn!” The number of houses for rent in our neighborhood increased. The public school system put a bus stop in front of our house. Major home repairs loomed. We got out while we could and have no regrets. Recently, when friends told me they spent their last two weekends on home improvement projects then asked me what I did, I responded, “Read Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban again.” There is no grass mowing, no snow shoveling, no taking time off work to wait for a plumber. There are no HVAC, roof, or driveway replacement costs. I send an email and like a fairy godmother, maintenance comes while I’m at work and fixes stuff. No more gym or pool membership fees.

How long will we rent? We don’t know. We will make that decision when the market turns back around in favor of the buyer. We may never own property again. Do you think owning a house is still the American dream? Do you think it’s a good investment? Have you downsized? If so, are you glad you did? Tell me about it here:

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Manage Your Money or It Will Manage You

On the drive home from a visit to our “Wealth Manager,” (Apologies for the dramatic quotation marks. I find the job title funny. Probably because we are not considered wealthy by most American standards.) I asked my husband how people like us who have jobs in retail, business, and sales could afford houses, new cars, and cruises. My husband’s theory was they are willing to live with a lot of debt and that’s pretty normal for most Americans. There’s the difference between me and most Americans. I’m almost debt phobic. Can you blame me? Look at some of the statistics:

Do you have a credit card? In 2017, the average American household owed $7,136 on credit cards. (https://www.fool.com/credit-cards/2017/12/11/heres-the-average-american-households-credit-car-2.aspx)

Do you own your house? In Ohio, the state in which I live, the average mortgage debt in 2017, was $129,106, which is actually one of the top ten states with the lowest average. (https://www.experian.com/blogs/ask-experian/how-much-americans-owe-on-their-mortgages-in-every-state/)

Do you have a car loan? The average monthly new car payment in 2017, was $479 with a commitment to pay for 68 months. (https://www.thebalance.com/average-monthly-car-payment-4137650)

Do you have student loans? As of November 2017, a student graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in the state of Ohio has $19,300 in student loan debt. (http://www.businessinsider.com/student-loan-debt-average-by-state-map-2017-11)

I look at these statistics and have to ask: Why all this debt? Does it make us happy or do we feel in competition with our friends? If it’s the latter, STOP. RIGHT. NOW. You can go for a while carrying debt, but eventually it will bite you in the patootie and in the meantime, the stress will eat you alive. (https://moneyish.com/ish/americans-are-crappy-with-money-heres-exactly-how-thats-wrecking-their-health/)

As for me, living as cheaply as possible is a game. I use coupons. With digital coupons, it’s easy. For holidays, I ask for gift cards. My husband and I have neither a mortgage nor car loans. We have a college student, so helping her pay for that is a priority. We also prioritize saving for retirement. I had a side gig working retail in order to help fund both and yes, it was worth my T.E.A.M. (Please see my post: Is It Worth Your T.E.A.M.? for the punchline to this inside joke). We also do some charitable giving, but that’s private, so I’m pulling a Gump (“That’s all I have to say about that”).

So, wondering what you can do to lessen your debt and increase your peace of mind? I defer to the Jedi Master Dave Ramsey. He has great strategies. We don’t follow all of them, but the ones we can, we do. Before you surf over to his website: www.daveramsey.com, (The link is for your convenience. Dave Ramsey doesn’t know I exist, so he does not compensate me for the link. If there is another money master you prefer, go to his/her website and start digging.) here are some suggestions to get you started:

Break a bad habit – smoking, for example costs you money not only for the cigarettes now, but also for the inevitable medical bills later.
Break a good habit – the coffee and breakfast sandwich you buy on your way to work can be made at home for pennies.
Save cash. Literally. Save one of the return envelopes that accompany the bills you receive in the mail. Every Friday stick $30 in it. By the end of the year, you will have $1560.
Embrace simplicity – it’s kinda trendy now. Get a library card. You can check out movies and music, as well as books, for free. And not just hard copies; digital too. Choose to explore a city nearby for vacation instead of going somewhere far away. Explore your hometown’s metro park system for outdoor entertainment. Dust off the board games and invite friends over to play. Have everyone bring a snack to share.

Adopting even just one or two of these practices will make an exponential difference in your life. You cannot put a price tag on the peace of mind freedom from debt gives you.