210 | Stop Depending on Your Job

You can’t depend on your job always being there.

Too many lawyers end up in sticky situations because they’re dependent on their jobs and don’t have their finances set up in a way that allows them to easily pivot when necessary.

In this episode, let’s talk about why you can’t depend on your job and how to set your finances up to have options in your career and life.

• • why job security is an illusion

  • why you might want to leave your job for personal reasons

  • how not having your finances in order keeps you stuck

  • how to set your finances up to have more options

Learn more about The Wealthyesq Group Coaching Program

You’re listening to Wealthyesq. We are a community of lawyers who believe that true wealth is having control of our time. I’m Rho Thomas, and as a busy wife, mom and former Biglaw associate, I know all too well the tension between the culture of the legal profession and pretty much everything else you want to do in life. That’s why each week, I’m bringing you the information and tools you need to improve your money mindset and manage your money to create true wealth. Because ultimately, it’s not about the money. It’s about the freedom and flexibility the money affords.

Hey friend. Welcome back to the show. I hope you’re doing well and having an amazing day so far.
Today we are talking about why it’s important for you to get on top of your finances and not expect that your job is always going to be there to support you.
There is this prevalent belief in our society about job security, especially within the legal profession. We have this sense that our jobs will always be there and will always have a paycheck coming in.
And because of that belief, many of us don’t plan our finances. We just spend whatever. We don’t adequately prepare for other situations that can arise like the situation where the job isn’t there.
Job security is an illusion.
We saw that in the pandemic where people were laid off and furloughed. Even before that, we’ve seen government shutdowns where government employees are furloughed. Right?
We’ve seen layoffs at various law firms.
You can get fired just because somebody doesn’t like you or they don’t like the work that you do or you don’t fit in with the culture or you’re in with the wrong group at work.
There’s no such thing as true job security as much as we would like to believe in it. And if you’re operating under this false assumption that your job is always going to be there and you can always count on that next paycheck coming in, you’re not going to be making sure that your finances are set up for the potential day that your job is no longer there.
Beyond this whole concept of job security, you might decide you don’t want to be there anymore.
There are so many reasons why lawyers decide that the job they’re in isn’t a good fit.
A friend of mine had to leave the legal profession for health reasons because of the stress of the job and she loved what she did.
I really enjoyed my work as well, but I got into money coaching and I loved it more. And this is from someone who just knew they were going to be partner. Like you couldn’t have told me back in 2014 when I first started practicing that I would leave the law and be doing what I do now, but here I am.
I have seen people leave jobs for family reasons. I’ve seen people leave jobs because they don’t like the people they work with. I’ve seen people leave jobs because they don’t like the work.
I’ve seen people leave jobs because they felt more passionate about another kind of work and there are all kinds of things in your life that might cause you to decide to leave your job.
The question is whether you’re in a position financially to do so.
If you’re dependent on the income from your job, and you haven’t set yourself up financially, then it’s a lot harder to do those things that you might want to do for personal reasons.
And so I say all that to say, whether it’s the job deciding that you’re not a good fit anymore, or whether it’s you deciding that the job isn’t a good fit anymore, if you don’t take control of your finances, you will end up stuck.
You’ll either be in a bad situation if you get laid off or furloughed because you’re not able to cover your expenses, or you don’t know where your money is coming from to pay your bills. Right?
Or you’ll be stuck in a job you no longer want to be in because you can’t afford to do something else.
When you have a bunch of debt, when you don’t have savings, when you don’t have a handle on your spending, when you’re spending more than you make, all these kinds of things keep you dependent on your job because you need that next check coming in just to be able to survive, and to be able to sustain your lifestyle.
You need this money.
I’ve talked with lawyers who have had to wait for their next paycheck to be able to pay a bill that’s coming
And that’s no judgment if that’s where you are right now, but you don’t want to stay there.
You want to use the money that you have coming in from your job to put yourself in a position where you have options, where you would be fine if you got let go.
You’d be fine if you decide to leave for whatever reason. And the way you do that is you keep more of the money you’re making for yourself by saving, and you use some of that money to free up cash flow by paying off debt.
If you don’t have any savings, you are living on the edge and if your next check doesn’t come in for whatever reason you’ll be in trouble, so your savings is a key part of your safety net to make sure that you’re okay at least for a little while if something were to happen, and you didn’t have income coming in.
If you got a lot of money going out in debt payments, that makes your expenses higher and it makes your cash flow tighter. There is not a lot of wiggle room there.
So, for example from my personal experience, I had 14 individual student loans, like 14 different payments. My husband had a consolidated student loan and one or two other private loans. We had a car loan. We had a mortgage. Like we had a lot of payments coming out.
Our minimum payments just on student loans at one point was $3500 a month and I’ve worked with other lawyers who have had similar amounts coming out from their minimum payments, as well.
And so, let me tell you like having all those payments coming out will keep you stuck. It will keep you dependent on your job.
So, the point is to get your finances in order, so that you’re no longer relying on your job and you open up more options for yourself.
I would not have been able to leave my job to start this business if I still had all those different payments coming out. Right?
Paying that stuff off, making sure that you have savings, all of that sets you up to have more options. So, you want to be more intentional with how you manage your money.
Build up your savings, pay down your debt, because when you get your finances in order, and you’re no longer living paycheck to paycheck, you’ve got savings. You’ve got less debt. You got fewer payments coming out.
You’re in a much better position to control your life and what you do career wise and personally.
And listen, I will teach you how to manage your money better and stop spinning in the debt cycle in my free workshop called, “How to Break the Debt Cycle.”
It’s happening on June 17th and in this workshop you will learn what the debt cycle is, why so many lawyers stay in it, the exact steps you need to take to break free for good, and how my 6 month group program, the Wealthyesq group, will help you do it. Register for the workshop at rhothomas.com/workshop.
Immediately after the workshop, enrollment will open for the Wealthyesq group. In the program, I will walk you step by step through how to get out of debt and set yourself up to have more freedom and control in your life.
One of my clients was able to leave a job where he was making the most he had ever made in his career, and start in a new role that was more aligned with the life he wanted to live, and that he loves so much more.
So, he’s living proof that managing your finances better is the key.
You can get more info about the Wealthyesq group at rhothomas.com/coaching.
Alright that is it for this week’s episode. Please, if you haven’t done so already, subscribe to the show. Leave a review, that helps get the show in front of more lawyers and I greatly appreciate your support.
As we close out friend, I pray that you take the information you learn here, apply it in your life, and open up to the realization that wealth is available to you.
As you do that consistently week after week, you’ll continue to take steps to regain control of your time, build wealth, and live the life of freedom and choice you deserve.
Talk to you later.