Stand Up, Don’t Layoff: Four Ways To Seize Your New Financial Future
If you’re sensing a layoff, or have already received word that the firing is coming, you can take some steps to not just survive the downturn better, but also set up a new life.
I call this transition planning. Here are some tips:
If they ask you to sign a severance agreement, don’t sign it hastily.
You can talk to your supervisor about negotiating the terms. Ask for more money, job search assistance, and health benefits extension.
Ask for an extension to tie up loose ends.
If you are in the middle of a project, for example, ask to stay on as a consultant or freelance worker. You may have to take a cut in pay, but it would at least give you confidence (and money) while you enter this transition period.
Ask for your bonus money
You should also ask for a prorated bonus, if that’s in the cards.
Get educated
Make sure you invest in books and seminars that will help you through this transition. I recommend Career Renegade and The 4-Hour Work Week. These books brilliantly illustrate how you can use technology, passion and residual income to pave the path to financial freedom. You can also learn more about Automated Trading and other forms of wealth-generating investment systems at Online Investing AI and this blog.
These are moves that can serve as a transition because, even though it may be difficult, you may look back at this layoff as a gift.
You’re shaking off dependence and recreating your career as an independent, free agent. Even if you decide to take up a full-time job again, this is a great learning moment to make sure you have multiple, residual forms of income in the future.
And never lay down again. For anyone.
Note: I got some of these tips on surviving a layoff from Smart Money, by way of Early to Rise.
is one of my favorite financial books of all time. It's an allegory about a guy who has a terrible job, and how he overcomes challenges to achieve his dreams.
