Now that the government has been shut down, what lesson did we learn from these 800,000 government employees?
I want to start by saying, THIS IS NOT A POLITICAL ARTICLE. I am not here to debate if what the President is doing is right or wrong. This article is for the people that needed this to happen as a wake up call….
It’s heartbreaking to read about all of these #ShutdownStories….
With the government being shut down, there are over 800,000 government workers that have been without pay, since December 21st, 2018. This affected all different departments of the government… from the FBI down to the IRS, and everything in between. These workers were ordered to stop working with the stroke of a pen from the president.
Let’s remember, for most people in society, having a government job is the pinnacle of job security. For average Americans, seeking a good government position, with benefits, is a comfy, well sought after job. And one of the perks of getting the job is that there is very low turnover. Well this past week, 800,000 government employees found that to be no longer true, as their “security” was ripped away. Their income stopped overnight, and they are left to wonder when they will go back to work. And more importantly, how they will survive until that time comes.
It’s such a sad situation for a family to be in, granted. But let’s be honest, haven’t we seen this before? Haven’t we seen the effects of when big businesses go out of business? Or go on strike? Or there’s a major interruption in wages? People lose jobs, and families get put at risk of financial ruin. It has happened before, and it will happen again until people wake up, and start to understand how to fix it.
But first, let’s start with how people are put in this situation in the first place…
Because these government jobs are well paying jobs, many of these workers live lifestyles of the upper middle class. They have expensive mortgages, private school tuition, medical insurance and other major expenses, all paid for by their government job. However, now, with no income, these living expenses cannot be paid. This is a tragic situation… and every middle class person’s nightmare! What’s it like when your income goes to $0 overnight? What do you do?! How do you maintain the lifestyle your family is used to?
Here’s something that most people don’t understand about the widely known statistic of, “78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck….”
It comes at all income levels! It’s never about how much money you make, it’s only about how much you keep! For example, if you make a million dollars and spend a million dollars, that’s still paycheck to paycheck living. Most people believe that once you have a “good job,” and make more money, the money trouble goes away. This is one of the biggest myths about acquiring wealth. Just because people have a higher paying job, doesn’t necessarily mean they’re doing better financially. This is the result of most people raising their income throughout their life, but also raising their expenses in proportion to it. This puts them in the same position of living paycheck to paycheck.
The lie of corporate America is to tell you that having a high paying job is “safe and secure,” but in reality it’s the opposite!
Once you can afford to buy the house, and the car, and the other luxuries your family is accustomed to, you now have more to lose.
And what’s so secure about waking up one day and hearing that the company you work for is out of business? Or that the government is shut down, and you’re out of work? And now you can’t afford those things…
This is where most people fall vulnerable. They rely on one source of income to fund their entire lifestyle. Most people in middle America use their J-O-B to fund everything else. The job pays for the house. The job pays for the kids school. The job pays for the cars. The job pays for everything in their life. But what happens when the job gets taken away suddenly and unexpectedly? What happens to their lifestyle?
That’s when the stress kicks in…
The bills start pilling up. The family starts asking questions. The pressure of “what are we going to do,” sets in. You start looking at the savings accounts a little closer… things become tighter.
Believe it or not, there is a solution for this problem. It’s just that most people are unwilling to do it, until it’s too late…
The solution is to always have multiple income streams for your household! To go deeper… have multiple streams of income that YOU can control according to your effort.
Create a side business, using a skill, a hobby, or a learned skill in a new industry… join a network marketing company or do freelance work. But have something already in place that you can do, to pay your expenses in the event there is an interruption to your primary income. It only makes sense!
The internet is here to disrupt every industry… everyone is vulnerable! We don’t know what industry is next, but we can see patterns and trends to guess which industry it could be. And the writing is on the wall for some of them. Plus, we all saw what happened to the retail industry in 2018. That same disruption could happen to your industry next. With that knowledge, it’s time be proactive in securing your families financial future.
Hopefully, people can understand the severity of this matter, and the impact it can have on their family. Having an additional stream of income, that you control, is the key to building real wealth and never putting your family in a vulnerable position. Having an additional stream of income will be CRUCIAL to your family’s financial success in 2019!
Originally Posted on Medium