Time Is An Investment Too – Securing a Part Time Job in This Economy
I view investing to be more than just buying and selling stocks or building up a retirement portfolio. At any time you expend something of value, whether it be cash or time, for something of greater value you have made an investment. Now I would like to suggest that we all invest our time more wisely, possibly in a part-time job.
If there is one thing for sure its that nothing remains the same. With the nation now facing an incredible 8.1% unemployment rate and 600,000 plus jobs being lost each month, yours could be next. No one knows for sure how much worse the economy could get before it gets better, or if it will even get better any time soon.
The good news and the bad news, is that the worst is yet to come. I doubt very seriously that employment numbers will shift to the positive at any point in 2009. Even 2010 seems similarly sketchy, this is no fly-by-night recession like 2003.
I think this is the perfect time to start thinking about working past full-time, I mean two jobs and I do mean it seriously.
Just a year ago most people wouldn’t even think to apply for a janitorial position. Even though the jobs paid well and the benefits were great, many Americans couldn’t accept the idea of picking up after other peoples messes. However it now appears that times have changed, one janitorial position at a local high school had some 400 applicants. That’s for one job!
Employment is going to be hard to find. That might be difficult to understand if you’re still working 40 hours a week but there are literally millions out there with the same kind of confidence that got the pink slip. There is not a single job that cannot be removed or replaced, not a single solitary one.
I firmly believe the best investment that the average person can make right now is in seeking a part-time position for both an extra income and for the security should your main source of income be lost.
Consider this, an additional 8 hours of work per week even at the federal minimum wage adds up to $2700 per year. That kind of money can’t be overlooked and at the low cost of 8 hours per week.
But then we also have to consider the benefits. Should you work at a retail establishment you’ll also get a discount on purchases that is likely to add up to more than your hourly wage. What could you do with 10% off everything you buy? Thats like a 10% raise overnight.
As this economy turns for the worse the most important thing is securing a job and having a second just in case. There is no such thing as being paranoid about job security, just ask the 4 million plus that lost their jobs since this recession began.
Very good advice, Jordan! Watched “The Pursuit of Happyness” just now, I feel very insecure.
You sound very level-headed, so do you think it would be wise, at this point in time, to invest money (say from a part-time job) in a roth-ira, or just put it in a regular savings account (or in a sock, ha, ha) given the current market conditions?
You make a great point. My mom works at a hospital during the day and started working part time as a waitress at night because she was bored. Now she realizes she has to keep the job out of necessity, just incase her or my father lose their day jobs.
To Camille, I would not put any of your money into an IRA or savings account. I would invest in currencies that are strengthening against the dollar. The dollar is really in a huge mess, check out my site to find out some reasons why. Jordan makes some good points on this site as well.
When I recommended a part-time job I did not mean to stuff the extra income into the stock market, instead I meant for it to be saved for an emergency fund other other account “just in case.” If you will be investing, don’t do it through a Roth. Though there may be huge tax benefits, you’re also going to face a hefty 10% withdrawal penalty should you need the money. I don’t believe in paying to retrieve your own cash, so just go straight investments or keep it in cash. At this point in time an emergency fund of at least 6 months income is most important.
Its unfortunate that in modern America an average family needs three incomes just to feel safe. I read through your website, I see a fellow Austrian out there, good to see when Keynesian economics seems to have hit a wall.
I would have to agree that anti-dollar plays are the best way to invest in this market. However, as a currency trader I could never recommend currencies to anyone that does not trade as a professional. The learning curve is tremendous and the volatility is too much for most people.
Instead I would suggest stocks that do well as the dollar weakens. For this I like Philip Morris International (PM) and Coca-Cola (KO). Philip Morris is 100% offshore and anti-dollar, its stock has been tanking since the dollar gained value but for me that is all the more reason to buy. As for Coke, its about 50% overseas, and that’s good enough for me. The two should perform extremely well as the dollar weakens, which at this point I’d say is a 100% possibility.
I agree with Jordan, investing in currencies is a volatile and often highly leveraged game which can see you loose your money in a flash if you are not an experienced trader. Most of the currencies (if not all of them) around the world are not backed up by an intrinsic value such as gold, silver etc. This means that they only real value they have is perceived value and can be inflated to extreme amounts. Even taking your money out of the bank and putting it somewhere else won’t help because the problem lies in the paper. If the world’s economy is in such a mess (and it is) who is to say where the value of one country’s currency will go compared with another’s. Each country has a financial crisi of their own.
If banking systems are not changed and we continue to play with debt we will see people taking wheel burrows full of cash to buy a loaf of bread and millions more people unemployed while our children work off our debt until they are old and grey. The point is; if you want to have security you must invest in something with intrinsic value such as a commodity. If you are an avid trader and have adequate skills to trade currencies then by all means, however if you are a novice investor who wants to park their money and sit on it until you need it, having your money sit in a currency or the like is a risky business.
You are absolutely right when you say that “time” is an investment. The question is, how much is your time worth? What is your “opportunity cost” of doing one thing over another. These are all things to think about when managing your time.
You can also spend your time to build up an online income. It might well not pay as well as a part-time job initially. But you can be your own boss and you can build up a long term valuable platform - both for income and for building your personal brand. It is possible to open doors to make your career more lucrative also.