Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is to recession proof your life. It's unclear exactly
Speaker 1: what will ever happen in the broader economy, but regardless
Speaker 1: of what happens, you can take steps to make your
Speaker 1: own life more resilient. Doing so is wise whether you
Speaker 1: ever need that resiliency or not. As I am writing
Speaker 1: this episode, a number of large organizations have announced significant layoffs.
Speaker 1: For the most part, these have been concentrated in tech
Speaker 1: and media, which is why they've gotten a lot of attention.
Speaker 1: But in any case, we can all read the headlines
Speaker 1: and we can start to fret. Layoffs are hugely disruptive
Speaker 1: to people's lives and their families. The hard truth is
Speaker 1: that if you work for a large organization, you generally
Speaker 1: cannot control whether you keep your job or not. When
Speaker 1: a whole division is laid off. It doesn't matter if
Speaker 1: you stayed late much of the last year, or got
Speaker 1: good reviews or anything else. Unless you are one of
Speaker 1: those very rare folks who has lifetime job security, it
Speaker 1: is possible that you might lose your job with short notice.
Speaker 1: Even if you are very good at your job, this
Speaker 1: can happen, so it is wise to consider what you
Speaker 1: might do to make that possibility less disastrous. The first
Speaker 1: step should be to make sure sure that you can
Speaker 1: afford to house and feed your family even if you
Speaker 1: were out of work for a while. An emergency fund
Speaker 1: is not the world's most exciting topic, but that cash
Speaker 1: does tend to matter if you need it. Lots of
Speaker 1: people suggest saving up six months worth of expenses, but
Speaker 1: whatever you can get to is good. One month will
Speaker 1: feel better than nothing, Two months will feel better than
Speaker 1: one month. If you have gotten to six months, maybe
Speaker 1: this economy nudges you to push that to seven. Most
Speaker 1: stints of unemployment are relatively short, so with any reasonable
Speaker 1: emergency fund, you will most likely figure something out in
Speaker 1: those few months. But the peace of mind that buys
Speaker 1: is priceless. Whole are losing their jobs all around you.
Speaker 1: You can also recession proof your life by making sure
Speaker 1: your expenses are low relative to your income. Maybe you
Speaker 1: can't change the big pieces right now, but the next
Speaker 1: time you move or purchase a car, aiming a little
Speaker 1: on the cheaper side can buy a lot of breathing room.
Speaker 1: Another way, to recession proof your life is to get
Speaker 1: to a place where you are pretty sure you could
Speaker 1: get another job relatively easily. So how sure are you
Speaker 1: of that? When's the last time you looked? The point
Speaker 1: of networking is not collecting business cards or for my
Speaker 1: more online listeners LinkedIn connections. It is about making sure
Speaker 1: you have a handful of folks who have told you, hey,
Speaker 1: if you are ever looking for a new job, call
Speaker 1: me first. If you need a new job, you will
Speaker 1: call these folks and one of them will come through
Speaker 1: for you. You You build such a network by doing really
Speaker 1: good work and by building relationships with other talented people.
Speaker 1: Over time, I really mean over decades. The people I
Speaker 1: have seen emerge unscathed from even relatively rough situations tend
Speaker 1: to have built such a safety net. Lots of people
Speaker 1: genuinely like them and want to work with them, And
Speaker 1: over the years, some of those people wind up in
Speaker 1: positions of authority. In any case, all of these ways
Speaker 1: to recession proof your life are long term projects. The
Speaker 1: best time to start such a project might have been
Speaker 1: twenty years ago, but that is what it is. You
Speaker 1: can start building up savings from anywhere. You can tend
Speaker 1: to your network at any time, and now might be
Speaker 1: a really good time to start. And the playoffs are
Speaker 1: imminent at your company, and you're feeling a lot of
Speaker 1: anxiety about it, given that there isn't much you can
Speaker 1: do in the face of division wide cuts. Taking care
Speaker 1: of your own mental health is another way to recession
Speaker 1: proof your life. That is, make sure that your happiness
Speaker 1: is not totally tied up in your job. Nurture your
Speaker 1: relationships with family and friends, get lots of physical activity,
Speaker 1: get outside every day, Go to bed on time rather
Speaker 1: than staying up late. Doom scrolling, reading scary headlines won't help,
Speaker 1: but sleeping enough does make you feel better about life
Speaker 1: in general. You trust that whatever happens, you will be
Speaker 1: capable of dealing with it, and that is the ultimate
Speaker 1: definition of being recession proof. In the meantime, this is Laura.
Speaker 1: Thanks for listening, and here's to making the most of
Speaker 1: our times. Hey, everybody, I'd love to hear from you.
Speaker 1: You can send me your tips, your questions, or anything else.
Speaker 1: Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast pod that's B the number four then Breakfast
Speaker 1: p o D. You can also shoot me an email
Speaker 1: at Before Breakfast podcasts at iHeartMedia dot com that before
Speaker 1: Breakfast is spelled out with all the letters, thanks so much,
Speaker 1: should I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast
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