Working In This Tough Economy
Working is tough in this economy. It's worse than other downturns I've lived through. Yes, I realize I've been talking about trusting in God, and about how we Catholic men really ought not to give in to worry and anxiety. All that's true.
But that doesn't necessarily make things "easier."
These days, the threat of being laid off hovers over lots of us. Keeping a job is kind of "iffy."
If you've lost your job, finding a new one can be really unnerving. In some cases, you may not be able to get the same sort of work. You've got to change careers. That's tough.
Some things I'm seeing really concern me. I mean some behavior I'm seeing in some good Catholic men. They're not facing reality. They're almost living in a dream world. That worries me.
I'll be specific. I know a few people who've got a bunch of debt. They're not making enough money to meet their monthly payments. They've asked me for advice on what to do. I've given them advice. But they're not doing much of anything about it.
Now I'm watching them avoid reality. It's disturbing that they're just putting off dealing with things - and in some cases, they're running up more debt as a consequence. Why is this happening?
One guy continues to believe he'll be getting a good-paying job soon. He's been thinking this for a couple of years. Once he gets the job, he'll start dealing with the fact that his expenses are greater than his income. But why not just deal with that now? Why wait for something that may not happen for a while?
(The other issue is the "good-paying" job. I think there may not be so many of those high-paying jobs in the future.)
Another guy's family income is going down. The wife doesn't earn what she used to and she won't be earning as much anymore. He's not making up the difference with his salary. But they haven't reduced their living expenses one penny. Why? Well, they don't think they live extravagantly. Question: Compared to what?
It doesn't matter what they think or whether they're living extravagantly or any of that. They spend more than they earn. Period.
But here's what they think: They live in a city. It's expensive. What can they cut?
(I've made a few preliminary suggestions. But it's painful to cut. Especially when you think you haven't lived extravagantly and you live surrounded by people who do things like take cabs everywhere, eat out five days a week, buy take-out because they're so busy, send their kids to more expensive private schools - it's an endless list.)
Then there's the couple that bought two houses while the housing market was peaking. The husband's a hard-working, honest, good man. The wife's home with their kids. They bought real estate because they believed it was a conservative, solid way to invest their money. They laid out a decent-sized down payment (even as others were buying homes with little or no down payment), got good interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage (none of those interest-only or other fancy mortgage products for them). But now they're in trouble.
They really didn't want two houses at first. It's just that the first house had some problems they couldn't have anticipated. (It happens.) So they put it up for sale. Meanwhile, because they have a big family (6 kids), they felt they had to have a house, not rent something until they sold the first house. So they managed to buy a second home (with another decent down payment).
Unfortunately, they didn't know just how bad the real estate market would get. And now they're stuck with both houses - and no cash. (They rent one, but the tenant's leaving and the new rent won't cover all their expenses: Rents are down too.) So there they are, both houses losing value almost by the month, one just about at mortgage value, the other getting close to mortgage value, and, even after lowering their asking price, they can't sell the first house. There just aren't any buyers (at least at the price they want).
Meanwhile, the guy works in an industry that's not doing so well, so his prospects are questionable - oh, and another baby's due soon.
Their mistake, of course, was buying the second home before they sold the first one. But, hey, real estate couldn't go down that much, right? But it did. Now they're stuck. I'm not sure what they can do to get out of this mess.
So the first two couples won't do anything. The last couple probably would do something, but can't seem to figure out what.
They're all good folks, good Catholics to boot.
Is there a lesson in all this? For one thing, there's no margin for error in this economy.
I'd also say if you're a Catholic man and you're working, you need to make sure you're building up an emergency cash reserve. And if you've got one, build it more. You're probably going to need more than you think. Also, even if you think you've cut expenses to the bone, look again and cut some more.
We Catholic men are facing an uncertain future at work. Act like it. Be aggressively defensive now, while you have the chance.
If you're already out of work, and in some financial trouble, do the best you can to deal with it right away. Reality won't go away. Things aren't necessarily going to just resolve themselves.
I just wanted to share some of these stories with you and hope you find this helpful.
But that doesn't necessarily make things "easier."
These days, the threat of being laid off hovers over lots of us. Keeping a job is kind of "iffy."
If you've lost your job, finding a new one can be really unnerving. In some cases, you may not be able to get the same sort of work. You've got to change careers. That's tough.
Some things I'm seeing really concern me. I mean some behavior I'm seeing in some good Catholic men. They're not facing reality. They're almost living in a dream world. That worries me.
I'll be specific. I know a few people who've got a bunch of debt. They're not making enough money to meet their monthly payments. They've asked me for advice on what to do. I've given them advice. But they're not doing much of anything about it.
Now I'm watching them avoid reality. It's disturbing that they're just putting off dealing with things - and in some cases, they're running up more debt as a consequence. Why is this happening?
One guy continues to believe he'll be getting a good-paying job soon. He's been thinking this for a couple of years. Once he gets the job, he'll start dealing with the fact that his expenses are greater than his income. But why not just deal with that now? Why wait for something that may not happen for a while?
(The other issue is the "good-paying" job. I think there may not be so many of those high-paying jobs in the future.)
Another guy's family income is going down. The wife doesn't earn what she used to and she won't be earning as much anymore. He's not making up the difference with his salary. But they haven't reduced their living expenses one penny. Why? Well, they don't think they live extravagantly. Question: Compared to what?
It doesn't matter what they think or whether they're living extravagantly or any of that. They spend more than they earn. Period.
But here's what they think: They live in a city. It's expensive. What can they cut?
(I've made a few preliminary suggestions. But it's painful to cut. Especially when you think you haven't lived extravagantly and you live surrounded by people who do things like take cabs everywhere, eat out five days a week, buy take-out because they're so busy, send their kids to more expensive private schools - it's an endless list.)
Then there's the couple that bought two houses while the housing market was peaking. The husband's a hard-working, honest, good man. The wife's home with their kids. They bought real estate because they believed it was a conservative, solid way to invest their money. They laid out a decent-sized down payment (even as others were buying homes with little or no down payment), got good interest rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage (none of those interest-only or other fancy mortgage products for them). But now they're in trouble.
They really didn't want two houses at first. It's just that the first house had some problems they couldn't have anticipated. (It happens.) So they put it up for sale. Meanwhile, because they have a big family (6 kids), they felt they had to have a house, not rent something until they sold the first house. So they managed to buy a second home (with another decent down payment).
Unfortunately, they didn't know just how bad the real estate market would get. And now they're stuck with both houses - and no cash. (They rent one, but the tenant's leaving and the new rent won't cover all their expenses: Rents are down too.) So there they are, both houses losing value almost by the month, one just about at mortgage value, the other getting close to mortgage value, and, even after lowering their asking price, they can't sell the first house. There just aren't any buyers (at least at the price they want).
Meanwhile, the guy works in an industry that's not doing so well, so his prospects are questionable - oh, and another baby's due soon.
Their mistake, of course, was buying the second home before they sold the first one. But, hey, real estate couldn't go down that much, right? But it did. Now they're stuck. I'm not sure what they can do to get out of this mess.
So the first two couples won't do anything. The last couple probably would do something, but can't seem to figure out what.
They're all good folks, good Catholics to boot.
Is there a lesson in all this? For one thing, there's no margin for error in this economy.
I'd also say if you're a Catholic man and you're working, you need to make sure you're building up an emergency cash reserve. And if you've got one, build it more. You're probably going to need more than you think. Also, even if you think you've cut expenses to the bone, look again and cut some more.
We Catholic men are facing an uncertain future at work. Act like it. Be aggressively defensive now, while you have the chance.
If you're already out of work, and in some financial trouble, do the best you can to deal with it right away. Reality won't go away. Things aren't necessarily going to just resolve themselves.
I just wanted to share some of these stories with you and hope you find this helpful.
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