How long could you last without a job?

Forums › Off topic › How long could you last without a job?

1 | 2 | 3 | 4

5678 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2646988 4-Feb-2021 12:13

surfisup1000:

I've been out of work for 4 years now ... problem is , I'm a bit older (late 40's), could try to learn new skills, but, those coding jobs seem to go to younger people. Appled for a few jobs that kind of matched my skills but more in management but heard nothing back.

Kind of given up......fortunately i was very clever and good at negotiating so managed to save a few million dollars over my career.

What should I do? Feel like I am in forced retirement. Looked at buying a business but the only good one I found wanted a huge price compared to earnings.

If you really want to work for someone else, get a job as a negotiator.

But, if I had a few million dollars in the bank, I'd retire today. Why do you want more money? Find something interesting and do it. (I have a list so long I'll need to hire 3 guys to do my retirement projects). If it makes you some money, all good. If it doesn't, you've still got a few millions left. YOLO.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

Fred99

13684 posts

Uber Geek

#2647003 4-Feb-2021 12:25

frankv:

But, if I had a few million dollars in the bank, I'd retire today. Why do you want more money?

If everybody thought like that, the world wouldn't have oligarchs and billionaires to trickle money up to.

antonknee

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#2647004 4-Feb-2021 12:26

Up until very recently, around 24 months with zero lifestyle changes (a bit longer if you include redundancy payout and annual leave payout).

Having recently exchanged the bulk of my savings and investments for a massive mortgage, probably not very long now. I have approx 6 weeks of salary saved still plus 4 weeks annual leave owing plus 12 weeks of redundancy - so 22 weeks all up, best case scenario. The dole wouldn't even touch the sides of the mortgage payment let alone other living expenses.

antoniosk

2357 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2647006 4-Feb-2021 12:29

antonknee:

Up until very recently, around 24 months with zero lifestyle changes (a bit longer if you include redundancy payout and annual leave payout).

Having recently exchanged the bulk of my savings and investments for a massive mortgage, probably not very long now. I have approx 6 weeks of salary saved still plus 4 weeks annual leave owing plus 12 weeks of redundancy - so 22 weeks all up, best case scenario. The dole wouldn't even touch the sides of the mortgage payment let alone other living expenses.

Assuming you'd get it. You'll find the qualification criteria exclude a tremendous amount of NZ, which is why the temporary covid payment was so heavily criticised (it was a LOT easier to qualify to get by comparison)

________

Antoniosk

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#2647010 4-Feb-2021 12:35

frankv:

surfisup1000:

I've been out of work for 4 years now ... problem is , I'm a bit older (late 40's), could try to learn new skills, but, those coding jobs seem to go to younger people. Appled for a few jobs that kind of matched my skills but more in management but heard nothing back.

Kind of given up......fortunately i was very clever and good at negotiating so managed to save a few million dollars over my career.

What should I do? Feel like I am in forced retirement. Looked at buying a business but the only good one I found wanted a huge price compared to earnings.

If you really want to work for someone else, get a job as a negotiator.

But, if I had a few million dollars in the bank, I'd retire today. Why do you want more money? Find something interesting and do it. (I have a list so long I'll need to hire 3 guys to do my retirement projects). If it makes you some money, all good. If it doesn't, you've still got a few millions left. YOLO.

But, I want to work.....and , some money locked up in assets too. I'm only late 40's, got 15 years until retirement.

I refer to myself as semi-retired -- don't have to work but want to.

SirHumphreyAppleby

2830 posts

Uber Geek

#2647011 4-Feb-2021 12:36

surfisup1000:

I've been out of work for 4 years now ... problem is , I'm a bit older (late 40's), could try to learn new skills, but, those coding jobs seem to go to younger people. Appled for a few jobs that kind of matched my skills but more in management but heard nothing back.

I am in a similar situation. A little younger, and looking for a more management-oriented position rather than hands on coding. My background is in C development, so even if I wanted a coding job, there aren't many out there.

I have survived through multiple rounds of interviews for development manager roles, but I never quite sealed the deal, so clearly some potential employers recognise I have skills to offer. Recruiters on the other hand are mostly interested in shuffling people from one job to the next based exclusively on job title. I rarely bother with them. I have a lot more success applying directly. Irrespective of the route chosen, most people are just plain rude and don't bother replying.

I've not worked full time in a long time, so I am considering a wider range of IT management roles, but ideally I'd like to stay in development.

surfisup1000

5288 posts

Uber Geek

#2647016 4-Feb-2021 12:49

SirHumphreyAppleby:

surfisup1000:

I've been out of work for 4 years now ... problem is , I'm a bit older (late 40's), could try to learn new skills, but, those coding jobs seem to go to younger people. Appled for a few jobs that kind of matched my skills but more in management but heard nothing back.

I am in a similar situation. A little younger, and looking for a more management-oriented position rather than hands on coding. My background is in C development, so even if I wanted a coding job, there aren't many out there.

I have survived through multiple rounds of interviews for development manager roles, but I never quite sealed the deal, so clearly some potential employers recognise I have skills to offer. Recruiters on the other hand are mostly interested in shuffling people from one job to the next based exclusively on job title. I rarely bother with them. I have a lot more success applying directly. Irrespective of the route chosen, most people are just plain rude and don't bother replying.

I've not worked full time in a long time, so I am considering a wider ranger of IT management roles, but ideally I'd like to stay in development.

Working for overseas companies was lucrative but did nothing for my career in NZ.

Thought about starting or buying some kind of business?

It is a tough one.

SirHumphreyAppleby

2830 posts

Uber Geek

#2647017 4-Feb-2021 12:52

surfisup1000:

Thought about starting or buying some kind of business?

It is a tough one.

I actually looked into buying a business in a completely unrelated field a few years ago. The asking price didn't stack up.

I continue to develop my own software. One day I may sell something.

Linux

11205 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2647032 4-Feb-2021 13:12

If I could get the dole and mortgage rates stay at around 2.29% then maybe about 2 years

Eva888

2356 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2647114 4-Feb-2021 14:26

xpd:
I was in that boat recently. I went down to my local New World and started working there part time.

So to answer your question, probably about a month before the proverbial hits the fan.

Good for you! Am reminded of the ANZ pilots who took jobs at supermarkets. Taking on any job is better than sitting at home. You meet all sorts of new people and expand your chances. I know of people who have done volunteer work for organisations and ended up with jobs from them just by being there.

GV27

5872 posts

Uber Geek

#2647116 4-Feb-2021 14:30

Redundancy clauses are not what they once were. Maybe six months assuming I got leave and a redundancy payout. I'd be on a forklift/nighfill well before then.

ben28

189 posts

Master Geek

#2647121 4-Feb-2021 14:49

Probably never get in to deep financial strife as in early 60's.

But if both wife and I lost job, then 7 years with no reduction in lifestyle. Then we'd still have a house mortgage free in Auckland. And super payments would then kick in.

If one person loses job , then would just mean no more savings increase.

The one concern is , if things so bad that we both lose our jobs , what's happening in the wider economy. Will our share and Kiwisaver investments drop big time ?

But I guess there's a lot of things we could cut back on - Netflix, unlimited internet, Sky , Hulu, petrol...., even get in boarders.

MikeB4

18435 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

Trusted

#2647124 4-Feb-2021 14:57

When I ran budgeting groups a few years back the advice I gave was to aim for at least three months salary in reserve. Now of course that is all well and good to say this but the reality is most young families that is a luxury they cannot afford or achieve with just cash in the bank. They can use other means to stretch their cash reserves such as home gardens be it in their own yards(if they have them) or sharing plots with friends, family and neighbours. If they can manage to get a freezer they can also build a reserve of food and that too will stretch the cash reserves.

Although work cost go when a job is lost eg transport etc however that is replaced with job seeker costs. These can be substantial depending where you live, transport available and the type of work being sought. It is also important to take into account that it will take up to and often well over 0ne hundred applications to find employment with a realistic minimum time of around one to two moths to find and start a new job.

This is very much a brief overview and this could easily go into pages and pages of text.

frankv

5678 posts

Uber Geek

Lifetime subscriber

#2647128 4-Feb-2021 15:06

Fred99:

If everybody thought like that, the world wouldn't have oligarchs and billionaires to gush money up to.

FTFY

antonknee

1133 posts

Uber Geek

#2647132 4-Feb-2021 15:16

antoniosk:

Assuming you'd get it. You'll find the qualification criteria exclude a tremendous amount of NZ, which is why the temporary covid payment was so heavily criticised (it was a LOT easier to qualify to get by comparison)

Yeah, you're not wrong. A lot of people have the impression the dole is very easy to get and encourages people to just sit around and get lots of money for nothing. This really, really is not the case.

The criteria are much stricter than people think, there are plenty of obligations around seeking work and other activities while you receive it, and you only get $280/week.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4