After my somewhat recent divorce no longer having the safety net of a second income I'm often stressed out about my job; there's the house mortgage the kid's college, ER etc. I keep doing the mental exercise as to what I would do if I lost my job. Sure I can cut back on a few things and do have emergency funds and unemployment but that's not sustainable longer term and affects my ER goals/funds. Finding a replacement job is also going to be tough because I'm in middle management (IT) and looking around haven't seen a whole lot of similar positions out there
I used to be hands-on technical about 10years ago so I could brush up on those skills, learn a few new ones and roll up my sleeves but it's easier said than done with the work-experience gap. I could try some odd jobs too I suppose. However, I was hoping I could find something I could start doing on the side now that doesn't require a huge time commitment but can sort of sow the seeds for later. I was even looking at dividend paying stocks (GE, Coke, McDonalds etc) in my taxable account (currently in VTSAX) which requires a huge capital (less diversification) to replace even 50% of my current income. I guess the old adage 'it's easier to conserve than produce' really hits home and I realize how lucky I've been with the well paying job.
Anyway, just thought I'd pose the question to the smarter more intelligent audience here and see if you guys have some out of the box thoughts.
I used to be hands-on technical about 10years ago so I could brush up on those skills, learn a few new ones and roll up my sleeves but it's easier said than done with the work-experience gap. I could try some odd jobs too I suppose. However, I was hoping I could find something I could start doing on the side now that doesn't require a huge time commitment but can sort of sow the seeds for later. I was even looking at dividend paying stocks (GE, Coke, McDonalds etc) in my taxable account (currently in VTSAX) which requires a huge capital (less diversification) to replace even 50% of my current income. I guess the old adage 'it's easier to conserve than produce' really hits home and I realize how lucky I've been with the well paying job.
Anyway, just thought I'd pose the question to the smarter more intelligent audience here and see if you guys have some out of the box thoughts.