[powerbook867]

Snow, that really sucks. I accumulated a nest egg when I saw the economy start turning downward and also had a firesale... Given your situation, I am assuming that you are at a minimum collecting unemployment. I know of people personally that believe it is embarrassing, a hand out, etc.. It is insurance and if you were working, it is owed to you.. I filed the day after I was laid off.

There are a lot of federal programs for tuition assistance out there. Have you looked into any of them? There are also tons of scholarships that no one ever applies for. Might be worth a look.

I worked a photography gig while I was unemployed, if you are into marketing, do you do graphic design? While craigslist normally is bottom feeders looking for bargain basement design/photo/marketing workers, there could be something there. Jobs I have done off the list were always 1/2 up front, 1/2 on completion..

I know it's rough out there, but getting back on the horse after falling off and treating Monday-Friday 8-5 as work days finding a new job helped me.

Good luck out there. There are jobs, they are just hard to come by. Hopefully after the 1st of the year, the purse strings will loosen and companies holding back on hiring will slowly ramp up again.

[OldManMac]

Originally Posted by King Bob On The Cob 

Thirty-thousand people coming home flush with several years worth of cash saved up to buy a home and start a new life will prop up any economy.

You've obviously never heard of the tens of thousands of GIs and their families who are on food stamps and other government programs, due to their low pay.

[Snow-i]

Originally Posted by powerbook867 

Snow, that really sucks. I accumulated a nest egg when I saw the economy start turning downward and also had a firesale... Given your situation, I am assuming that you are at a minimum collecting unemployment. I know of people personally that believe it is embarrassing, a hand out, etc.. It is insurance and if you were working, it is owed to you.. I filed the day after I was laid off.

There are a lot of federal programs for tuition assistance out there. Have you looked into any of them? There are also tons of scholarships that no one ever applies for. Might be worth a look.

I worked a photography gig while I was unemployed, if you are into marketing, do you do graphic design? While craigslist normally is bottom feeders looking for bargain basement design/photo/marketing workers, there could be something there. Jobs I have done off the list were always 1/2 up front, 1/2 on completion..

I know it's rough out there, but getting back on the horse after falling off and treating Monday-Friday 8-5 as work days finding a new job helped me.

Good luck out there. There are jobs, they are just hard to come by. Hopefully after the 1st of the year, the purse strings will loosen and companies holding back on hiring will slowly ramp up again.

Well...my parents are helping me a little here and there....and i've got just a bit of cash yet to hold me off. through the end of january. I'll be filing for unemployment soon enough if I can't find anything...but to tell you the truth, I'd much rather be working then sitting on my ass all day waiting to get back in school and find a job....I can't stand having nothing to do.

I have meetings with financial and academic advisors scheduled for early january, and every day i'm applying to more and more places. The marketing i did was more similiar to an account executive's position. In fact I worked directly for an apple account executive, helping him manage one of his bigger accounts and do some of the leg work for that account. It was a very rewarding position.

[King Bob On The Cob]

Originally Posted by OldManMac 

You've obviously never heard of the tens of thousands of GIs and their families who are on food stamps and other government programs, due to their low pay.

Nope. Not in my area at least. All my friends who joined the military immediately after high school have quite a bit of stocked up cash, no family, and no debt.

[MacTheRiverRat]

Well I can't make you any promises but here is a link off my web site. I myself like the 30 days at home after 30 days of work. Who knows where the road might take you!

http://home.att.net/~johneesser/rivercompanys.html

P.S. One of my best friends had 3 plus years at Mississippi State. He came out on the River for 5 years . He went back to St. Louis U and got a programming degree. I still keep in touch with him. We both came to the conclusion the river is a floating circus. IMHO.

[milhous]

I work for a small hedge fund and morale is a bit low right now. The company grew tremendously in the early part of the year, and I came onboard in April. But we recently found out that year-end bonuses, which are usually announced year-end and paid in January are all being pushed to announcing in January and getting paid in February '09. Nobody's happy about this, and I don't even know if I'll get anything. My anniversary review will be in April, so that should prove interesting.

Surprisingly, no one has been let go, but there have been some voluntary departures. Yes, 2009 isn't looking too good because with the credit crisis, bailouts, Madoff, and risk of serious inflation (and potentially Zimbabwe / Weimar-style hyperinflation), the financial industry has totally lost its credibility.

The good thing for us going right now is that we're starting to expand internationally, especially Asia-Pac and if the US enters a bear market, we should be able to find better opportunities overseas. Jim Rogers and Peter Schiff think that Asia, particularly Singapore could become the financial capital of the world in our lifetime. Why? Because in Asia, they not only manufacture everything, they also save their money. In the US, it's all about debt and consumption.

Because Obama believes he can get everyone out of this this mess by more spending and inflating the currency, there's a very good possibility that the costs of good and services next year will skyrocket. So one way to protect yourself is to stock up on food and consumables now before things get really expensive.

Another way to protect your assets is to purchase hard assets such as Gold coins. In inflationary times, precious metals are an excellent hedge against inflation and people will flock to gold because it's rare, and can't simply be printed such as the paper money printed by the Federal Reserve.

I guess the best thing to do right now is just take things a day at a time. Worst case scenario I suppose is if I lose my job, and can't find anything else in NYC, I could always just move back home with my parents in PA and regroup.

[turtle777]

^^^

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one thinking the US will get a massive inflation.

-t

[design219]

This mornings staff meeting gave us the bad news. Health care will be going to 80/20 where before it has been 100% employer paid. Also, for 2009 the company will not be funding our 401Ks.

Good times. At least nobody is losing their job... yet.

[osiris]

Originally Posted by turtle777 

^^^

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one thinking the US will get a massive inflation.

-t

You are not alone - at the rate we're printing money, it'll be cheaper to wallpaper with dollar bills.

[iranfromthezoo]

so far the city I work for has gone broke. They are canceling raises and they are taking our dental and cancer insurance away from us.

[Eug]

Originally Posted by milhous 

I work for a small hedge fund and morale is a bit low right now. The company grew tremendously in the early part of the year, and I came onboard in April. But we recently found out that year-end bonuses, which are usually announced year-end and paid in January are all being pushed to announcing in January and getting paid in February '09. Nobody's happy about this, and I don't even know if I'll get anything. My anniversary review will be in April, so that should prove interesting.


I guess the best thing to do right now is just take things a day at a time. Worst case scenario I suppose is if I lose my job, and can't find anything else in NYC, I could always just move back home with my parents in PA and regroup.

My friend was in corporate finance, and I must say, we had little sympathy for her when she didn't get as much bonus as she was expecting. Those guys get crazy high bonuses, way more than many other people make for the entire year.

I don't know if you're in any way in a comparable situation, but I'm just saying if you've still got your job you're doing better than some others, assuming your base salary is reasonable.

Anyways good luck for the bonus, and for the April review.