There are many reasons why people choose to pursue financial independence. And then of course, financial independence isn’t for everyone. Some folks experience discontent in their jobs, some want to spend more time with their children, and some want a life of international slow-travel across the globe. The list goes on. For us, this journey started as one of financial security during times of limited job security. In this post, we’ll examine the catalyst that made us re-tool our financial situation, and we’ll also explore why job security is virtually non-existent in the modern world.
I’ve worked in the oil and gas industry since May 2010, and I’m still there now (shh!). For the first four years of my career, the price of oil was raging along, between $80-$100 per barrel. Companies took on massive amounts of debt to expand their businesses, failing to make enough revenue to actually support those levels of debt. Who cares, right? If oil is at $100/barrel, we’ll make money! Ah, the salad days.
Well, everything seemed peachy until the summer of 2014, when the price of oil sharply collapsed. Over the next year and a half, prices fell sharply, bouncing off the bottom around $26 per barrel. Thus began two to three years of the most nasty period of my career, characterized by layoffs, shuttering offices, back-stabbing, force-ranking, and frankly…fear.
I realize that there’s little pity for Big Oil out there. However, it’s critical to understand that this same process plays out in many industries, companies, and even government institutions. You don’t want to get caught with your pants down, ladies and gentlemen.
Layoffs
I witnessed my first painful round of layoffs in the spring of 2015. I luckily held on for two to three more rounds (depending on how you define layoff) over the next two years. The staff in my discipline was cut from approximately 45 employees at the peak in 2014, to about seven employees by early 2017.
The rumors of those early rounds of layoffs spread a dark cloud throughout the office. We knew that managers were forced to rank their employees, those at the bottom being the first to go. Employees desperate to outshine their colleagues began acting in ruthless ways: stealing ideas and promoting as their own, throwing others under the bus, etc.
An Act of Desperation
This behavior was absolutely disgusting to me but was a symptom of desperation. One such layoff day, a guy on my floor completely lost it and kicked three holes in the wall! He wasn’t even on the “Black List” that day but needless to say…
The story is simple. Many people spend the majority of the money they earn, assuming “the now of plenty” will continue indefinitely. Despite portly salaries, bonus plans, stock incentives and the like, workers all around us enabled lifestyle inflation to take over their lives. Folks with six-figure incomes lived paycheck-to-paycheck or entirely beyond their means. Luxury cars, big houses, season tickets, daily lunch out, happy hours…the list goes on.
It’s a well-known fact that oil and gas is a boom and bust industry. But folks blindly ignored the inevitable decline, allowing their spending to increase along with the price of oil. And then of course, spending fell in stride as income was unexpectedly cut to zero.
The Change: Creating Our Own Job Security
This long and slow death of jobs around us was the catalyst to reinvent our lives in a meaningful way. We didn’t find true joy in our work, but the compensation allowed us to live good lives in the conventional sense.
We were thankfully always naturally frugal to some degree. For whatever reason, we avoided the major sources of lifestyle inflation. Except food. Yeah, we ate some food…
After months of witnessing the demoralizing behavior of our colleagues in a layoff environment, we were searching for ways to properly shore up our finances. It was during this time that we discovered the FIRE movement (Financial Independence/Retire Early) and the rest is history.
Leveraging the Power of Job Security
I was able to capitalize on the full power of financial independence in the summer of 2017. After over two years of layoffs and instability, those of us remaining assumed the worst days were behind us. Suddenly, the decision came down to relocate to Houston, TX, to consolidate at the company headquarters. If we wished to remain employed, our only option was to move.
I considered the move for a fraction of a nanosecond, and promptly declined. No way dude, I will NOT be a corporate servant! You see, the power is yours when you own your financial situation. Even after years of layoffs and proverbial alarm bells ringing, many of my coworkers still felt that they couldn’t take the financial risk of being unemployed on the open market. These are people with six-figure incomes, and they can’t risk six months without a paycheck! See? Mo money, mo problems.
It was a no-brainer for us. In the end, I took a severance check, smiled, and walked right into my next job. The power of F-You Money is real, my friends. Walking out of that building with my dignity was the best moment of my career.
Your Job Isn’t Safe
Sure, the oil and gas industry is notoriously unstable. But could it happen to you?
Many consider that their jobs in the public sector are nearly bulletproof in terms of job security. But I seem to recall a certain government shutdown here in the U.S. around Christmas. For the longest period in history (over a month), government workers were furloughed or forced to work without pay.
Few government workers expected the bureaucratic gridlock to last as long as it did. The news feeds were full of stories of workers struggling to make ends meet, scrambling to find new sources of income.
No one signs up for a job expecting to lose it. But market forces change, prices drop, prices rise, tariffs are imposed, and politicians do what politicians do. What is normal and standard today can be flipped upside down tomorrow.
So Take The Power Back
Friends and family are sometime dismissive of the lifestyle choices we’ve made to shore up our finances like Fort Knox. I see very little sacrifice in this process and more re-framing. We want freedom. We want freedom to choose our work, freedom to say no, and maybe more importantly, freedom to say yes. Ultimately, we want full job security and life security.
On a weekly basis, I stand up for myself at work in ways I never did early in my career. Guys, it feels damn good. Every time I’m stressed or mad at work, I remember the hard work and steadfast dedication we’ve used to stock-pile our net worth. I calmly and cooly remind myself that I’m not shackled to this or any job.
I invite you to feel that sense of control.
For those of you making big changes, what was your catalyst?
Thanks as usual guys. Your attention means so much to us. Until next week…
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