I was sitting around thinking about something that David Alexander talked about a couple of years back. He asked, what are you doing to make yourself Unemployable?

Is what you are doing putting yourself into a position where you really don't want to have a job at all? Now he wasn't talking about being lazy, instead taking action so you could get out of that 9 to 5 grind. Are you doing anything so that if someone offers you a solid six figure job, you can turn them down confidently?

Change can be scary.

What actions are you taking to make yourself unemployable.

RayRay,

Great question!

6 figure income would be a pay cut!

I'd make a lousy employee because I have a need to FIX things I see going wrong which is NOT politically correct!

To earn the FREEDOM!!! you describe I worked my job, active Dad, worked til 2am every night rehabbing cheap houses - laying flooring, painting, etc.

I focused on work that would continue without my sweat - got the homes ready and filled them with renters. I figure each hour I invested has paid me $1,000 /hour for the time I invested. (that's just a guess)

The DREAM of FREEDOM!!! energized me!

The FEAR of having a boss and corp control my life, twll me how much I'm worth, decide what kind of house my family could live in... fueled pushed me.

BRAD

There are Type A personalities who love the adventure, grit, and grind of working for themselves. Some of them are actually successful enough to do it, but many are not.

The FIRE (financially independent retire early) movement that started back in the 90s has made "J.O.B." into a dirty word. Yet we have to remember that only 20% of businesses last beyond the 2 year mark, meaning MOST "unemployable" people fail. Most people are not as clever, skilled, and determined as they think they are.

Jobs are not bad per se. They're very good for people who specialize in certain areas and can command good salaries and benefits with minimal risk.

There's a lot to be said for having a fun, well-paying job. Health insurance, 401Ks (ROTH), stock options, not being in charge of everything all at once. It's a good fit for me at the present time. Haven't worked out a plan of what else I'd do yet... other than volunteer, which is basically an unpaid job, so.... *shrugs

Good for the folks who've made themselves unemployable! I'm about 85% there. If I got laid off today we'd be fine with our 54 unit empire and I'd probably just get something else part-time to fill in the gaps and keep me occupied with productive tasks.

I am unemployable as I wouldn't interview for a job now.

Plus I am lazy.

Gotta go now to wire earnest money on the newest place I bought.

When I was in my 20's I set on a course of action to do just that. We lived below our means for the first couple of decades. When we got married, every penny of wife's income went to paying off our home before we had kids. We skipped the long weekends with friends in Cabo and instead went camping. That lifestyle allowed extra $ to go into rentals. Worked evening and weekends buying rundown houses and remodeling.

Both DH and I had older family members that got laid off in their 50's and were unemployable after that. This was a long time ago when Ageism was king and YOUTH was the watchword of the day (70's...) So DH had always planned on as short a corporate career as he could handle, but we didn't really know how to replace our very high (at the time) tech incomes.

Real Estate works for both of us. We are not retired, we are just not employed by someone else.

DS#3 is working for us and being a SAHD too. However his resume is such that this is only adding expertise and if he ever WANTS to go back to work, he hasn't missed a beat: he IS working for a legit PM company as a legit PM consultant.

We are both "Unemployable". Our thrifty lifestyle for three decades yielded a debt-free life, RE and other investments combined with a teacher's pension to make us very comfortable. I started taking SS this summer, hubby will in a year - and we honestly don't need it.

I'd be a terrible employee. I'm a tenacious problem-solver and have a great work ethic--but I have little patience with stupidity, political correctness, entitlement mentality, "teamwork" or being micromanaged. Give me a tough job and I'll get it done, but don't look over my shoulder or make me work with people who are slower!

I've been "unemployable" for 40 years having operated my accounting firm over that time and getting involved with rentals in earnest about 10 years ago. Basically, I'm semi-retired at this point working PT with my firm and my rentals. I've been on my own so long, I wouldn't know how to function as an employee nor do I have the desire to relearn. I only spent about 5 years in corporate America before concluding it wasn't for me and have been on my own since. I was never fortunate to have good managers or mentors and the opposite was generally the case.