Many people need a job to feel safe. They think that working for someone else is the only way to earn a secure income.

Ironically, they often believe that getting good grades will get them that great job - the one that will let them live happily ever after.

They are completely wrong.

Working for someone else may offer stable income in the short term, but it is impossible for your employer to guarantee you stable income in the long term. So if you think you can work at your job for another 20+ years and then retire, you might want to think again.

Being an employee is risky - far more risky than working for yourself. Here are my thoughts on why this is.

For most people, a job is their life. Most people refuse to admit this, but their job is what defines them. They live the business card.

Their job is the center of their lives - and it keeps them away from home at least 40 hours per week. When you think about it, how many people spend 40 waking hours each week with their family?

But most people may not realize that their job is just an investment to someone else. That someone else - your boss - wants to earn a profit. And they won’t take no for an answer.

1. Your company wants to make money. And, by hiring you, they are gambling that they will earn more money with you than without you.
2. They will pay you as much as it takes, but no more. They offer just enough to get you as an employee. Since you accept the money they are willing to pay, they must earn more money than they pay you - or else they would be better off firing you..
3. If they can save money by eliminating your job, they will. This is common sense. If someone invents a machine that will do exactly what you were hired for - and if the company can actually save money by purchasing the machine and replacing you with it - they probably will.
4. If your company goes bankrupt because everyone is buying cheaper widgets imported from some other country, there is really nothing you can do to stop it.

When you work for someone else, not only do you put all of your eggs in one basket - you are putting all of your eggs in someone else’s basket.

And if you worked for Enron or WorldCom, it was as if that basket didn’t even exist! You may as well have taken all of your eggs and thrown them out the window.

Still feel “safe” with your job?