Quote:
Originally Posted by Skid Row Joe
Some things change, and other things never change.
The youngsters of today are learning that loyalty to one company or employer is hardly ever worthwhile. The employers these days are going to partimers, no health insurance coverage of their employees, and generally a strong desire to turn employees over to continually get fresh talent, all the while knowing they're going to be letting them go in a matter of months. -I read that very thing on this forum a matter of months ago by an employer that was quite proud of turning over employees. -Though I would seriously doubt that those employees were told this when hired and going to work for them....
I don't blame the young uns for looking out for themselves in today's marketplace. One statistic I heard recently, was that a 20 year old will have 6+ different employers by their 30th birthday!  They've got to adjust! |
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To me, the biggest forces at work are: focus and ambition. many people don't focus, really focus and identify what they want in life, then figure out how to get it, understanding that the way things change may disrupt some of their plans.
I originally wanted to be a language teacher. I hooked up with a university that needed people to go overseas and test the feasibility of a foreign exchange program. I worked my butt off when there. 52 hours a week, spread over 6 days. Actually got a separate foreign degree.
I returned, finished school, got drafted. Instead of spending my time in the infantry as a draftee, I parlayed my original term of service into special duty, by talking all the government language exams and maxing them. I ended up doing quasi-diplomatic work. I used that later to get an appointment to do officer work and used the GI Bill to get an MA.
From there I went to business and emphasized the skills I had, and got hired "in case we have to deal with the French and the French Canadians." I parlayed that into an international business career and learned other languages and things got better over 25 years. I met guys inside the company who were average Joes like me, they helped me see how people saved money and so I was able to set aside for retirement.
I went back into the Army and government service for a while and they always need people who speak other languages and don't have a criminal record. That worked out ok, I met more average Joes and set aside more cash.
It's all about the focus. Here's an example.
My son got a sizeable inheritance as an insurance settlement when his mother died. He has run through the GI Bill benefits he received from me. And another 30% of the inheritance.
I sent him a note the other day that his lack of responding to investments which I told him about has cost him $ 14,000 of missed investmnent profit. If he goes broke, TS for him. He keeps telling me he's gonna do something, but I haven't see him come to me with a checkbook in hand to establish a brokerage account.
He could start increasing his income through investments or he could piddle it away and and be a burly hipster living in thje cool part of town, smoking hand-rolled cigarettes of custom tobacco.
As much as I hate to say it, being a father, it's his choice on what to focus on as he finishes the last few credits of his degree, which he has been procrastinating on.