Friday, November 16, 2007

Risk Management

There are two ways to approach it.

You can take a well paying job, secure employment. Perhaps you don't like it as much as you would want to, but it's not too bad. And the salary is nice, so you can't complain. Plus, you need to keep working in order to pay the bills, pay down the car and house, and provide you with something to do. It's ok because you're not unhappy, and it fills up time.

Plus, when you get home you can always sit back, have dinner, watch TV, play with your kids, then go to sleep. Stable, quiet, contented. On weekends you tend to your chores. Do the laundry, take out the garbage, watch some more TV, maybe take the spouse and kids out shopping. Everything is going well. You're counting the years until retirement when you can finally relax, not have to go to work anymore, hopefully have enough saved to last you to your senior years.

The other way is a little different.

You can take some job, or something that serves as supplementary income, not as good paying, but less demanding. It doesn't give you much in financial security, but it gives you more of your own time which you can spend the way you wish. As you've got less money to spend, you are forced to simplify things - no car, smaller house (or renting a smaller place). It keeps you lean and hungry, and with more energy to concentrate on the items that interests you the most.

You don't really have much chores as there's less stuff to maintain. There's more time in the day and more energy in reserve, so you're too restless to watch TV, and too much to do rather than count the years until retirement. At this point, the field is wide open. You can end up flat broke, or you can expand your environment in such a way that it increases your field of vision and leads you to accomplish what is most important.

Of the two scenarios described above, one of them is inherently risky, yet has the illusion of security. While the other is risky in appearance, but indirectly more secure.