Dear Dave,
We have been following your plan for a while. We are debt free, aside from our house, and we’ve got six months of expenses put aside in our emergency fund. I recently lost my job. I’m luckier than most because I received a generous severance package from my previous employer, and my wife still has job. My parents all the time raised me to care for things myself and never depend on others. I assume that is why I feel a little bit guilty about applying for unemployment advantages. Do you think that it’s morally flawed to simply accept unemployment advantages?
Brandt
Dear Brandt,
I actually appreciate your independent spirit. I do not know what happened at your last job, but I get the sensation you’re employed hard and are an honest guy. I’m sorry you and your wife need to cope with such a situation. The social security system on this country is a mathematical failure. But that doesn’t suggest I won’t take my money if I earn it. The government took it from me in the primary place, so I even have no problem taking something I’ve already paid into.
Now, I would like to sound a note of caution here. When people start receiving unemployment advantages, it sometimes causes them to take their foot off the gas pedal. The idea of ​​”free” money coming in can assist them sit at home on the couch as a substitute of working hard to search out one other job and being extra careful with their funds. I do not hear that sort of mentality from you, though. And it’s obvious that you simply and your wife have been pretty smart together with your funds.
I’d also recommend that you think that of your severance package as survival money. Create a strict budget and persist with it. Cut out all unnecessary expenses. That means no eating out, no vacations, or anything like that until you are back at work and all the things is back on solid ground. Now, deal with securing your property. By that, I mean food, utilities, housing, and transportation. Feed your loved ones, keep electricity on, pay the mortgage, and get enough gas to get you to your destination.
Everyone hits a rough patch in life now and again, Brandt. But you two are able to handling it higher than most. Just remember what got you to such place together with your funds in the primary place. The discipline muscle is already there and it’s strong. Just flex it and it’s going to enable you get through it and get back in your feet!
— Dave
