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Lasting Lessons from the Recession
We’ve all gotten schooled in some way by the recession. Maybe it was a shock to learn that your girlfriend loved your money more than she loved you. Perhaps the interest-only mortgage wasn’t as great a deal as it seemed. Or it might have been a good idea to have some savings in the bank, in case your job evaporated.
It’s been a hard education for some of us. But once we have new homes or new jobs, and our financial situations are back on track, will we remember what welearned? Here are five lessons we hope will outlast the recession, the recovery and beyond:
1. Bad things can happen to good careers. A lot of talented, experienced, hard-working people lost jobs in this recession. (And some of them, we hope, are getting hired again.) The question is not why you, but what’s next?
2. You can live on less than you think. It may not be as much fun to downgrade your lifestyle as it is to upgrade, but new clothes, dining out, and 1,000 channels aren’t actually essential to happiness. Stephanie Walker, who has been writing about her experience losing her home, learned that lesson and is grateful for it.
3. That said, “shopping in your closet” is only fun for a couple of months.
4. Your work should not be your life — or your identity. Many of us learned from the downturn how much of our self-worth and sense of purpose came from the places where we got our paychecks. When your work is your life, what happens the day you lose it? Or when office morale crashes because of layoffs? Or when you’re the one who has to give people the ax? We are our families, friends, hobbies, passions, talents, ideas, character–not just our jobs.
5. Creativity is a greater asset than spending power. Logos do not give a person style, and a double-height foyer does not make a home. It is what we do with the resources we have at our disposal that matters.
6. We should live well within our means. America was wildly over-leveraged during the boom. We were wading deep in credit card debt, stretching to pay for our homes. Data shows we’re paying down our debt and socking away savings . We’re really hoping for lasting change on this front.
7. You should always understand how your mortgage is structured.
8. Nothing in life is permanent. Booms go bust, and downturns turnaround.
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