Prepping against unemployment

[NorthernRaider]

Prepping against unemployment
I dont think this gets covered very often but its worth looking at.
Its not just contract workers who face regular periods of unemployment, full time life long career jobs like Nursing can also see staff laid off because governments run out of tax payers money. Economic downturns can see job losses in car plants as diverse as Nissan and Rolls Royce. Just about anyone can find themselves out of work these days. What can be done about it.
(1) Dont put all your eggs in one basket, in these uncertain days its not prudent for everyone in one household to work for the same employer, if possible have partner A work in a different company than partner B, and unless its a family owned venture it is definately unwise for mum, dad and offspring male, female or other ALL to work for the same company. I know a Doctor and his wife who is a modern matron and modern matrons ( Band 8s) are fair game to those making cuts in the bloated NHS management structure. So she has bitten the bullet and gone to work for a private clinic whilst he stayed in the NHS so hopefully they will both never be out of work together.
(2) PREP, simple enough stock up on foods etc and SAVE, put a few quid away each week to save for a rainy day,heck even setting aside a few Pot Noodles is a step in the right direction. Pay off SECURED loans as soon as possible, pay your local and national taxes and dont get into a position where courts can set bailiffs on you or Building Societys repossess your home / car. The more you save / prep the more breathing space you give yourself in order to try and find alternative work, Cache a bit of fuel, grow some food basics yourself, look at learning or developing hobby skills that can earn you extra money.
(3) Cut costs NOW, Do you REALLY need a full Satelite / Cable TV package? Do you have to have three Take Away meals a week, Do you have to buy expensive booze, Do you have to drive to the shop just round the corner, have you shopped around for the best energy deal, Does those clothes HAVE to be designer label, Have you converted to low cost LED lighting?
(4) Insurance, Its quite popular to seek out sensible and reccomended unemployment insurance / income protection insurance
https://www.moneyadviceservice.org.uk/en...redundancy
(Can you insure yourself against redundancy?
Ever wondered how you’d pay your mortgage or keep up your loan or credit-card repayments if you lost your job? There are insurance policies that might be able to help you in this situation, but consider them carefully – at best they might be able to help you through a difficult few months – at worst you could be wasting your money.
What insurance policies are available?
There are three types of insurance available if you lose your job:
1. Mortgage payment protection insurance (MPPI) – you may have taken out this type of insurance along with your mortgage. It typically starts to pay your mortgage repayments three months after your earnings stop and continues to pay out for up to 12 months.
2. Payment protection insurance (PPI), sometimes called Accident, Sickness and Unemployment (ASU) cover – you may have taken out this insurance with a personal loan or credit card. It helps you to keep up your loan repayments by paying out a set amount for up to 12 or 24 months. Payments typically start three months after your earnings stop.
3. Short-term income protection insurance (STIP) – this insurance replaces a proportion of your income for a fixed period of time (usually 12 or 24 months). This should not be confused with other income protection policies, which usually will not pay out if you lose your job.
In the past, because of the way payment protection policies were sold, you may not realise that you already have this cover. Ask your lender whether your mortgage, loan or credit card is covered by insurance.
What would you be covered for?
⦁ Payment protection insurance (or mortgage payment protection insurance) generally only covers your loan or mortgage repayments, not your income. Although some mortgage payment protection policies pay out an extra sum to help with other bills.
⦁ Short term income protection insurance pays out a proportion of your income (usually 50% or 60%), rather than being tied to debt repayments.
⦁ Even though you may have been paying the premiums for many years, if you need to claim they only pay out for a short period – typically only for one year.
⦁ Many policies don’t pay out immediately – there’s nearly always a gap of about three months before the payments start. However, you should make a claim as soon as you lose your job.
Don’t buy this type of insurance if…
Redundancy is already on the cards
If redundancies at your company have already been announced, or even if there have been rumours of job losses, you shouldn’t bother taking out a policy as you will not be able to claim.
The same is true if you take voluntary redundancy – the insurer won’t normally pay out.
Check the terms and conditions carefully to make sure you’d qualify for a payout before you purchase a policy.
You work part-time, you’re self-employed or you’re on a temporary contract
If this applies to you, check carefully as many payment protection policies will not cover you.
Do think about buying if…
⦁ You’re in a job where the likelihood of redundancy is medium to high but more than three to six months away.
⦁ You don’t think you’ll find another job within three months of redundancy.
⦁ You know the policy is only going to cover your payments for 12 months after a one-three month waiting period and you are happy with that.
⦁ You understand all the exclusions.
⦁ You’re willing to shop around for the best deal – never buy it automatically from your loan or mortgage provider.
If all of the above apply then you may find that payment protection is for you.
Do you need payment protection insurance?
Remember, your mortgage is classed as a ‘priority debt’ and failure to keep up the payments could have serious consequences.
So if you have a mortgage, you should prioritise getting mortgage payment protection insurance before you think about getting payment protection insurance to cover credit cards or loans which are non-priority debts.)
Come on people YES you may get dole / JCS and Council tax rebates if you lose your job but you know as well as I do its a bloody pittance at best and they will make you jump through hoops to get it, but making hay whilst the sun shines and setting some aside for when its miserable its just common sense.

[bigpaul]

but how common is common sense these days? not very common, that's the problem.
there used to be a saying "live within your means" and "cut your cloth according to your pocket" now everybody wants the latest "smart" phone, tablet or whatever the latest gizmo is and it all goes on the plastic.
the days of having a larder are long gone, the supermarkets are 24/7, but as soon as someone loses their job their straight down the Food Bank, I've been unemployed loads of times(minimum wage jobs but it wasn't called that then)I quite often ran out of money but I never ran out of food, how times/people have changed.

[Smudge]

Prepping for unemployment:

The biggest thing to worry about with being made unemployed imho is finding another job, cutting costs, storing food and saving pennies are just a buffer they are a short term fix to a long term problem.

For professionals you need to stay ontop of your game, make sure you are upto date with your knowledge and skills in your chosen field. Obviously Doctors and Nurses really should have little or no problem but middle management, solicitors and accountant types may have a tougher time. Back in 2009 I took a job doing security while I was on my S.I.A course I got talking to some of the other guys on the course, amoungst the usual suspects was a HGV driver and former accountant.

Blue collar workers need to increase their employability, something as simple as a 1st Aid or 1st Responder Certificate, New Clait Certificate (Computer literacy goes along way ) or fork lift license for you factory/warehouse guys. If your present company does any sort of NVQ take it, I'm 43 and just started a new one. LearnDirect do a wide variety of courses some you may get funding for others you may have to pay out your own pocket, you can do them part time and all will increase your future employment potential.

https://www.learndirect.com/business/pro...fications/

Be willing to work, try new things even to lower your standards if need be, I know one guy who has been unemployed for 4yrs because he's holding out for a warehouse job during that time I've been in security, a stay at home dad, warehouse manager and now............. well now I work in a field where unless I get sacked for gross misconduct I should never have trouble finding another job again.

[CharlesHarris]

This is all very good advice.

I found myself out of work during the economic downturn of 1987-88. I relocated 1000km away from where I had been and survived on my preps and what money I earned in part-time consulting work until I found a new position, in a different career field.

After I got out of the military my work experience had all been industrial engineering, foundry operations, machineshop, automation and computerized design, manufacture and statistical process control. As the manufacturing base moved overseas the work went with it and I didn't feel like learning Japanese...

But my QA and analytical experience helped me get a temporary position on an accident investigation team where there had been a pancake collapse of a high-rise building under construction in which a bunch of people were killed. My metallurgical test lab experience proved valuable as we set up to do full-scale load tests on beams and fasteners which had failed, and I soon had a permanent engineering position.

I ended up staying there 24 years and got a broad spectrum of experience from damage assessment and failure analysis to road program management, waste to energy generation, power plant operations and infrastructure protection. I didn't get rich, but I avoided the petty local government politics by being a meticulous investigator and risk manager. All the pieces came together after 9/11 and while I worked the hardest I ever did in my life, the personal rewards were satisfying, because I could see that my efforts made a difference. I testified as an expert witness, helped put people in jail who belonged there, and mitigated the after-effects of criminal mischief and natural disasters.

30 years ago I would have never guessed in a million years what I would be doing, but if I had been allowed to stay in the military, looking back I would surely not have lived this long.

Do the best you can with the hand you are dealt and never whine about it or look back.