4 ms·

I'm sure your Dad is an awesome guy, and I'm sure that being axed was a difficult thing for him, but.... If he was the president of a division of a multination

I'm sure your Dad is an awesome guy, and I'm sure that being axed was a difficult thing for him, but.... If he was the president of a division of a multinational company, I'm sure he had to have been making a healthy 6 figure salary, had a good retirement plan, some good severance pay, etc. You've got to admit that clearly, getting axed (as difficult as it might have been) was much easier on him that it would be on a low level line worker making a middle five figure income?

krschultz 16y ago
You're right, it was easier than it would be for most people. But that has nothing to do with his salary (less than you'd think considering his title) or anything like that, or the ability to find a job (harder at the upper level and when you're older), but on his own decisions and being frugal. 1) My parents live in the same house they bought 34 years ago when he was a salesmen, so the 25 year mortgage was paid off years ago. Sure they've renovated since then but every time they thought about going bigger, my dad used to say "there is no way a house is worth this much, there aren't that many people who make this much money in this country". I used to think he was naive, but post housing bubble it makes a lot of sense. 2) The last time he had bought a car (new or used) was 1999. And it was a Ford SUV. He got laid off in 2008, it has 130k miles at the time. They recently replaced it, with a 2010 version of the same car they plan to have for another 10 years, but he has since founded a new company and has income and investors. Spending money wisely matters a lot more than what you actually make. At my company now a pile of the factory guys drive cars made in the last 3 years (probably leased), while in my engineering group the "newest" of the cars owned by the 6 of us is a 2006 Mazda 3. We all make at least twice the guys in the factory. I'll be digging around under my car to replace an oxygen sensor this weekend, even though I could afford to be buying a new version my car I'd rather put the money in the bank. Why? Because I want at least 12 months of living expenses in the bank before I start buying expensive stuff, "just in case!". Wonder where I learned that from? Anybody can do this stuff, you just have to live within your means. And that is basically putting a lot of your net pay in the bank for a rainy day.

krschultz 16y ago

You're right, it was easier than it would be for most people. But that has nothing to do with his salary (less than you'd think considering his title) or anything like that, or the ability to find a job (harder at the upper level and when you're older), but on his own decisions and being frugal. 1) My parents live in the same house they bought 34 years ago when he was a salesmen, so the 25 year mortgage was paid off years ago. Sure they've renovated since then but every time they thought about going bigger, my dad used to say "there is no way a house is worth this much, there aren't that many people who make this much money in this country". I used to think he was naive, but post housing bubble it makes a lot of sense. 2) The last time he had bought a car (new or used) was 1999. And it was a Ford SUV. He got laid off in 2008, it has 130k miles at the time. They recently replaced it, with a 2010 version of the same car they plan to have for another 10 years, but he has since founded a new company and has income and investors. Spending money wisely matters a lot more than what you actually make. At my company now a pile of the factory guys drive cars made in the last 3 years (probably leased), while in my engineering group the "newest" of the cars owned by the 6 of us is a 2006 Mazda 3. We all make at least twice the guys in the factory. I'll be digging around under my car to replace an oxygen sensor this weekend, even though I could afford to be buying a new version my car I'd rather put the money in the bank. Why? Because I want at least 12 months of living expenses in the bank before I start buying expensive stuff, "just in case!". Wonder where I learned that from? Anybody can do this stuff, you just have to live within your means. And that is basically putting a lot of your net pay in the bank for a rainy day.