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I think you're in a more fortunate position than many. > Better to take a personal bridge loan You often won't be able to get a loan without verifiable steady

I think you're in a more fortunate position than many. > Better to take a personal bridge loan You often won't be able to get a loan without verifiable steady income. > Maybe I can put up with it for six months, but what's the point? To bring in income. Pay for living expenses. Pay off debts. Provide for family. Start/increase/replenish savings. > hold out for that, don't settle for doing what you "despise" instead. People with families and multiple financial responsibilities beyond their immediate needs often have to do things they "despise", if even/only for a short while. Your post, while not having anything specifically 'wrong' in it, comes across as a bit privileged. You recognize that luck is a part of it, and you recognize your own life situation helps, but you still tell people to 'hold out' for 'building cool shit'. Not everyone can hold out, for a multitude of reasons.

addaon 4y ago
This is totally fair, and I was trying to acknowledge my understanding of these points. But I do have to take a bit more of an aggressive stance on some of this -- by simple virtue of being software engineers successful enough to be laid off in bulk, rather than dismissed for cause years ago, we are in an elite group. Over the previous years, we've had great opportunities, including the opportunity to save enough money to ride through hard times. The amount one needs to save, and the amount of hard times one can ride through, absolutely varies with life situation; and a black swan event like medical bills can destroy any amount of savings. But I do feel like the vast majority of folks looking to get a second, third, or fourth job as a software engineer (as opposed to that first job) should be able to hold out for something that is at least not "despised." And I do hope that those reading this who are mentally responding "nope, I'd have no options" might consider the value of having those options, and perhaps adjust spending vs savings rates while they have an opportunity to do so.
- mgkimsal 4y ago
  Agreed, and I may have been a bit too quick in the reply. I think age and life situation play a much bigger part in this than people recognize, and I'll go out and say "especially younger people". You can pay lip service to it, but if you're in your late 20s or early 30s starting a family, your financial obligations and priorities are vastly different from an empty nester or single person in their 50s. By almost any measure, a software engineer with 20+ years of experience - especially someone who perhaps didn't have kids - should probably have months of years of savings to tap in to to weather a downturn. But I've also known folks with 10-15 years of increasing experience who still struggled financially, and it was usually a mix of having kids and limited forward planning that kept them in a 'paycheck to paycheck' lifestyle - often, not even a terribly extravagant one. Most of the bad decisions I've made have come during times when I was in very bad financial situations. The stress contributes to poor decision making, and it was often something I wasn't even aware of in my early days. I just thought that's "how it is". Even getting to the point of having 3-4 months of savings seemed outrageous and out of reach to my younger self. And yes... the black swan of a medical situation can deplete savings enormously quickly. Even relatively small hiccups we've had over the years have ended up taking thousands out of pocket that were unexpected. Having, say, $30k in savings can help you weather a lot of unforeseen setbacks - car issue, housing issues, moving expenses, etc. A medical condition may drain that 'overnight'. There may be loads of billing delays/etc which may drag it out over months, but the 'debt owed' may be immediate. My wife got sick and within a few days, we're in ER with double pneumonia and she's struggling to breathe (scary). $4k owed. I blacked out from covid shot - ambulanced to ER. Another $4k owed. Older me can weather those costs now. 25 years ago those sorts of expenses would have been crippling. And these are tiny compared to other things that can happen - my family has generally been quite fortunate with respect to health conditions and medical issues over the years. I know others who are far worse off.

addaon 4y ago

This is totally fair, and I was trying to acknowledge my understanding of these points. But I do have to take a bit more of an aggressive stance on some of this -- by simple virtue of being software engineers successful enough to be laid off in bulk, rather than dismissed for cause years ago, we are in an elite group. Over the previous years, we've had great opportunities, including the opportunity to save enough money to ride through hard times. The amount one needs to save, and the amount of hard times one can ride through, absolutely varies with life situation; and a black swan event like medical bills can destroy any amount of savings. But I do feel like the vast majority of folks looking to get a second, third, or fourth job as a software engineer (as opposed to that first job) should be able to hold out for something that is at least not "despised." And I do hope that those reading this who are mentally responding "nope, I'd have no options" might consider the value of having those options, and perhaps adjust spending vs savings rates while they have an opportunity to do so.

mgkimsal 4y ago
Agreed, and I may have been a bit too quick in the reply. I think age and life situation play a much bigger part in this than people recognize, and I'll go out and say "especially younger people". You can pay lip service to it, but if you're in your late 20s or early 30s starting a family, your financial obligations and priorities are vastly different from an empty nester or single person in their 50s. By almost any measure, a software engineer with 20+ years of experience - especially someone who perhaps didn't have kids - should probably have months of years of savings to tap in to to weather a downturn. But I've also known folks with 10-15 years of increasing experience who still struggled financially, and it was usually a mix of having kids and limited forward planning that kept them in a 'paycheck to paycheck' lifestyle - often, not even a terribly extravagant one. Most of the bad decisions I've made have come during times when I was in very bad financial situations. The stress contributes to poor decision making, and it was often something I wasn't even aware of in my early days. I just thought that's "how it is". Even getting to the point of having 3-4 months of savings seemed outrageous and out of reach to my younger self. And yes... the black swan of a medical situation can deplete savings enormously quickly. Even relatively small hiccups we've had over the years have ended up taking thousands out of pocket that were unexpected. Having, say, $30k in savings can help you weather a lot of unforeseen setbacks - car issue, housing issues, moving expenses, etc. A medical condition may drain that 'overnight'. There may be loads of billing delays/etc which may drag it out over months, but the 'debt owed' may be immediate. My wife got sick and within a few days, we're in ER with double pneumonia and she's struggling to breathe (scary). $4k owed. I blacked out from covid shot - ambulanced to ER. Another $4k owed. Older me can weather those costs now. 25 years ago those sorts of expenses would have been crippling. And these are tiny compared to other things that can happen - my family has generally been quite fortunate with respect to health conditions and medical issues over the years. I know others who are far worse off.