A (possible) Hidden Truth Behind Unemployment

I’ve been listening on NPR to a lot of stories about people struggling with unemployment. My heart goes out to those people, and I pray about that situation in our nation regularly. It’s rough, and people are having to do desperate things to make ends meet, and sometimes that’s not even enough. In no way am I trying to take anything away from how rough things really are for people by what I’m about to say.

But it occurred to me that perhaps there was in some cases a hidden truth that I haven’t heard anyone addressing. It occurred to me this morning as I was listening to someone tell a story similar to mine. He said he’d been out of college for about 10 years (just like me), and he’d struggled to find a solid “career” and had bounced around from job to job (just like me). He voiced that he was having trouble getting hired partly because of his mottled job history, but he also said that he didn’t just want any old job, that he wanted to really provide for his family.

The story could be as simple as that, and probably is in his case. But I often wonder about what people really mean when they say things, and I couldn’t help but wonder if what he meant was that he was deeply in debt and wanted out, and a minimum wage job just wasn’t going to cut it. And fair enough if that’s true. But I connected to this guy’s story because 10 years out of college means something to those of us who are - we are either just finishing paying off our college tuition loans, or we’re not.

On top of that, he said that (like most of us back in 2001) he expected to graduate, get an entry level job and be working/living comfortably in the middle class by now. What I also wonder if that means is that he, like many people, got out of college, bought a new car and new house, was married within 3 years and starting to have kids. All done assuming things would continue onward and upward. The loans would all be paid off eventually. But then things got difficult, his career didn’t pan out and he never got that tenure and pay, and now the loans are weighing down and with unemployment the way it is, not only are you lucky to have a job, but the jobs that pay well are even more scarce. And that drives someone to a desperate spot - like this guy, who is going to leave his family in Seattle, and move to North Dakota to get a job working all kinds of hours and living in a trailer, just so he can support his family (and I believe the hidden part is to pay off huge loans that they owe on).

Now, just to be clear - I’m NOT trying to assume things about this guy’s life or to have an opinion on whether or not he’s done/doing the right things. But listening to it got me thinking about all the people I know, just like me, right in their early 30s now - who got out of college, saw a big, money filled world, and took out house and car loans on top of school loans and who are now in deep trouble for those decisions.

I am one of the fortunate ones I believe. I worked through college to alleviate some of the money I would owe at the end, and I have worked very hard to pay off those loans since then, forgoing buying a new house and car, so that I could put extra to those loans. I actually paid off my 4-year loans about 3 years early (7 years after I graduated). It wasn’t until 5 years after I left college that my wife and I bought a house. And we searched for literally a whole year so that we could find one in our financial range that we could afford, and we are SO glad we did. And we refinanced last year too, so our mortgage is in about as good a shape as it can be. We have owned used cars that I’ve purchased for about $2000 each that have done well (although it took a LOT of research and searching to find reliable ones).

This is a cautionary tale for all those who are coming out of college soon, or who are (like me) recently out of college and trying to make heads or tales out of the world in front of them. DON’T GO INTO HUGE DEBT RIGHT OUT OF COLLEGE. It’s probably the worst decision you could make, and it will affect you the rest of your life. Read Dave Ramsey’s book The Total Money Makeover if you are in debt. It has been incredibly helpful to us. Just be careful, take your time, and think about the fact that you have no idea what the future will ACTUALLY bring, so make wise decisions now.

It’s already hard enough to get a job in this economy, when you finally do, you want to make sure it’s doing you financial good - and the more loans you have, the less likely that will be.