Hate Your Job? Time For Something New? Try Solo-preneuring™!

Rafiki’s post last Saturday. “Overworking and Underthinking” did get me thinking. It reminded me of a quote from the Pulitzer Prize winning book, “Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do” by Studs Terkel. In the book, a woman called Nora Watson says in an interview with Terkel,



“Most of us have jobs that are too small for our spirits. We are on a quest for more fulfilling work, work that is equal to the size of our spirit, our energies, our passions”.



That was 1974 but it doesn’t mean that much has changed. Many people today, despite their advanced educations, more sophisticated jobs, more options for work, still feel the same way. Their jobs are unfulfilling and do not demand much from them. But they need the jobs; they need the money or the health care benefits that the jobs bring.



Like Rafiki said, we spend too much time working and not thinking about what changes we can make. The little time we spend thinking we do it at a surface level and the options seem near impossible to attain . . . a new career requires possibly going back to school; entrepreneurship requires a good-to-great idea or massive capital. Of course, nothing good comes easy but most of the time it seems easier to stay where we are than to try something new.



Rafiki’s article reminded me that a few years ago I had attended a talk on Solo-preneuring™ by Cathy Stucker that was very eye-opening, mainly for its simplicity. At the time I decided I would attempt it immediately but I let life and that soul-draining job get in the way i.e. I did nothing.



I dug through several cartons of books to find the manual I bought when I attended her talk. The manual is called “Solo-preneuring™ - The Art of Earning a Living Without a Job; The Self-Help Guide For Those Who Want To Escape Corporate Bondage And Find Success Doing What They Love!” by Cathy Stucker. It is available on her website at http://www.idealady.com/.



In a nut shell Stucker says, “The Solo-preneur™ is someone who has found a way to make money from her interests. One can earn money from a part-time job, contract or temp work, direct sales, a business, investments or any combination of these sources”. She exhorted us to ask ourselves:

What do I know that others don’t?
What can I do that others can’t?
What can I do that others won’t?
What can I do for others faster, cheaper, better than they can do it for themselves?

What I learnt from the talk was that I can quit my job if I can combine several interests that can generate the combined income that I want while doing work that I enjoy.



When I look at my options from this angle, suddenly it seems a lot easier to start doing the things I want to do. I don’t need some grand plan or great idea or massive amounts of capital to start. You too can start small and depending on your drive and ambitions you could scale up as much as you want, if you want.



Solo-preneuring™ is an unfamiliar term but it is one that we are actually very familiar with. Think about it—I will explain in Part 2. Stay tuned.

The 5 Things That Take up 50% of Your Earnings

The beginning of the year is always a good time to do a major review of your financial health. In reviewing my budget, I came across this helpful article that I had filed away last year - Five Expenses That Will Consume 50 Percent of Your Lifetime Earnings.

According to Manisha Thakor, there are 5 areas of spending that will consume half of your lifetime income. Keep these five areas under control and you have a chance of staying financially afloat.

1. Education – the common wisdom is to attend the best college you gain admission to. But can you afford it? Consider your choice of major, your prospects for employment after graduation and your likely annual earnings. How much is too much? Thakor says that “the amount of your student loan should not be more than what you expect to make annually during your first 10 years”. Suddenly, that expensive education does not look like a good financial investment any more.

2. Car – Thakor suggests that you should spend no more than 10% of your income on a car. Fine, but make sure it’s a cash payment and not a car note. A car starts to lose value as soon as you drive it off the lot. A car note means that you are funding a diminishing asset. Better to save and save until you can pay cash for a car. For most of us that means that we may never buy a brand new car but financially that is the better decision.

3. Home – for most people this is their most important purchase. The days of the easy no-doc mortgages are gone and most banks are back to responsible lending practices. This means that you are unlikely to get approved for a mortgage that is more than 3 times your annual income. Try and spend less and if anyone tries to convince you to spend more, run!

4. Kids – according to the US Department of Agriculture, it costs $220,000 on average to raise a child up to the age of 18, excluding college costs. Being a parent can have many rewards, and the little darlings may be adorable, but remember you also have a retirement to fund. Plan accordingly.

5. Retirement – regular saving is hard enough. Regular saving for a far-away goal is even more difficult. Thakor says that “a simple rule of thumb is to multiply your current income by 25. So if you make $50,000 a year and want to maintain that standard of living in retirement, you’ll need a nest egg of at least $1,250,000”. See number 4 – that’s equivalent to the cost of 5.6 kids. Do the math.