Budget Busters – The Layoff Monster

This is the most dreaded of all the budget-busting monsters. This monster does not just bust your budget, it sinks it. Your income suddenly comes to zero. This is the worst fear of most employees – being laid off. The mere thought of life without a regular income by way of a salary scares the living daylights out of many. Losing your job can set repossessors on your tail and trigger bankruptcy.

The reality is that everything that has a beginning comes to an end sometime, especially your job. You are not going to hold unto that job forever. There is a mandatory retirement age (60 or 65, or higher for Professors and Judges). Many people will not work on the same job till that age due to no fault of theirs. If the company you work for goes out of business or gets acquired by another company that lets you go, you have no choice but to move on.

The best antidote to the wound of this monster is to achieve financial independence, having enough passive income to be able to live without your salary. When you have multiple sources of income, when one income source dries up, you can still maintain your standard of living while moving on to other things without indulging in a bout of self-pity.

We need to get weaned off the addiction of working for money and start having money work for us. When you achieve financial independence, being laid off becomes a blessing and a huge relief rather than a curse, especially if you hated your job but were hanging on due to fear and greed.