Get a Haircut and Get a Real Job - Truth Behind Old Myth

For years, I was told by my parents and other people who cared about me to "study hard, go to a great school, get a good education and land a great, high paying job". This was "accepted" truth as a map to happy, rewarding life.

Well, I did that...for a while....

Then suddenly it hit me. What about all those at companies like Merrill Lynch and Bear Sterns?

That reminded me of one of my friend, let's call her Kimberly. Kim was very bright and motivated girl. She was one who followed previous mentioned mantra to the letter. She was in top 1% of her graduating class at Brown University. Then she worked for one of the top management consulting companies in the world. After a few years of that, she went back to business school and got an MBA from Northwestern. This is when I've met her. I was introduced to her at a house party in Evanston.

Upon graduating from there, she landed a job at Bear Sterns as a currency trader. Sure, it wasn't an investment banking job that she dreamed of, but the hours were a little better. I kept in touch with her throughout the year, even when she moved from Chicago to NYC. She was making six figures plus a healthy bonus. Her and fiance bought a condo in Greenwich Village and moved in together. Everything was looking good for them.



Then, Bear Sterns went under. Her paycheck and stock options disappeared. Her fiance was laid off also. Before they were both making six figures, but now they couldn't afford to pay mortgage. They sold their car as well as drained their savings. They were able to sell their condo at small loss and moved in with his parents in Kansas City.

Things did turn around for Kim though. fiance got a job at a local bank. They moved out of his parents' house and moved into their own. She decided to stay home though, since they are on the way to being parents themselves.

So what happened? Have we been lied to all our lives? We've thought that good education and good job were all we needed to live happy life. Well, we have been told what to do but not why behind that logic.

Now, let's take a look at the reasons behind the age-old advice. What is the end result of having a good job?

Good, steady paychecks. In other words, A GREAT, STEADY, PREDICTABLE, POSITIVE CASH FLOW. Well, that is based on an assumptions that the company that is giving us those paychecks will be in business and will continue to employ us.

But what have we seen so far? That is not the truth, is it? Companies go out of business and people lose jobs. Nothing last forever. So what should we do? We have to diversify that cash flow stream. More to follow...