Would You Be Prepared for Joblessness?

I’ve actually thought about this predicament many times. I’m far from being an alarmist, but I’ve had so many people that I know or that are in my family affected negatively by the recession, losing their jobs or having a really hard time finding one, that it’s kind of forced me to take a look and mine and my husband’s job situations.

I don’t want to dwell on it, but sure, I’d like to be somewhat prepared mentally and financially if one of us should abruptly lose our jobs.

There are far too many Americans who were caught unaware and lost their jobs, only to lose their homes, their cars, and their good credit. It’s a real wake up call to those of us that do not really have any savings set aside for a “rainy day”.

I just had another person I know lose their job they’d had in a very prestigious field and they actually had to move hundreds of miles away to get a comparably paid job.

It’s just sad that people have to be uprooted out of their lives in order to make a comfortable living, and it’s really disrupted a lot of Americans lives. At least the good news is some economists say there is really no chance of a “double dip” recession.

According to surveys, over half of Americans still fear that they are in danger of losing their jobs, but many less than that are actually financially prepared if that happens. The rule of thumb is to have at least 3 months savings of what your salary would be, but that will only cover you for three months. What if, like so many others, you lose a job and cannot find one for a year or more?

Even when I look around at local department stores and grocery stores, I see the effects of the recession and the job market. I’ve noticed way less teenagers working at jobs that used to be considered perfect for teens like checkout clerks and baggers and greeters, and a lot more people who look like they are of retirement age doing these jobs.

This tells me that a lot of retired folks had to go back to work too, and of course, this also makes the pressure on available jobs higher as well. We need jobs to become more readily available for this recovery to pick up steam, but thus far, that has been the most challenging part of getting the recovery going.