Do You Need Job Security? No. What You Need is Income Security! In 1988, I made the decision to stop working as an employee and start working only on a contract basis. Being a software engineer, the opportunities for contract work were endless.
On almost every contract, eventually the boss would be impressed enough with my work that he or she would call me into the office and say “Congratulations on the good job you have been doing. We would like to offer you an employee position with our company.”
I would always politely decline the offer. But usually, the boss would try to persuade me to take the employee position anyway and the most common argument I heard was “You’ll have job security.”
Job security? Oh yeah, that’s the myth that some employees believe: at least until layoffs start.
There is no such thing as job security. Just because you got hired, it doesn’t mean the company has to keep you for life. They don’t have to give you a raise every year. They don’t have to promote you. They can pay you for 40 hours while demanding you work 50 hours. They can tell you “Our deadline has been moved up. Cancel your plans for this weekend. Everybody’s working.” No, you’re not looking for job security.
What everyone should be looking for is Income Security. Can you say you have it? Most people cannot. Do you know how to get it? Do you even know what it is?
When someone has Income Security, it means that they will always be able to pay their bills whether they have a job or not.
If you saved up a year’s worth of expenses in case you become unemployed, like everyone tells you to do, you still do not have Income Security. In month 13 of unemployment, you can’t pay your bills.
Many rich people have Income Security but we have all heard horror stories about how the rich mismanage their money and lose it all.
Most people who work a job to pay their bills are taught to open a retirement account like a 401K and make an automatic investment. When they reach retirement age, they should have enough money in the account to pay their bills and they will have Income Security. The problem with that plan is that they have to work 40 or 50 years dodging all of the financial traps they will face like recessions, layoffs, foreclosures, and credit card debt.
Is it even possible to have Income Security before you reach retirement age? Yes!
In my book, Paycheck Independence Day, I show everyone how to systematically eliminate their dependence on a paycheck to pay their bills. I introduce the Paycheck Independence Day categories of bills to replace the old worthless categories like Utilities, Automobile, etc. Once your bills are placed in the proper categories we determine the correct way to pay each bill and the correct sequence for eliminating your bills. You start eliminating them one-by-one and enjoy the results immediately.
Most people only have to work 10 or 15 years before they achieve Income Security. They no longer need a paycheck to pay their bills and that includes having their home paid off. Go to www.plain.com to learn more about the Paycheck Independence Day money management system
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Thomas Rood is the author of Paycheck Independence Day. This is an easy-to-read, humorous, entertaining book loaded with all of the information you need to stop using your paycheck to pay bills. The author of Paycheck Independence Day explains how he systematically eliminated his dependence on a paycheck to pay bills. He did this with nothing more than the money he had leftover every month from his paycheck after his bills were paid. You will learn that you can do it, too.
