--- title: What do I need right now… canonical: "https://www.procoder.io/articles/2025/2025-11-30-what-do-i-do/" pubDate: "2025-11-30T00:00:00.000Z" updatedDate: "2026-07-27T22:19:46.000Z" author: Greg L. Turnquist description: The market is getting rocked left and right. Do you have everything you need to weather any upcoming storms? categories: [Guidance, Writing, Finance, Economics] --- The market is continuing to teeter this way and that. I’m not talking bbq about the stock market. Despite the flooding of Substack by people who all appear to know which way THAT is headed, I’m instead observing the JOB market for software developers. In fact, someone I met at a former colleague’s home a year ago just got pruned after years of experience, despite having a stellar record. A close friend of mine just down the road has seen six people cut from his department last month. These are anecdotes, sure, but they carry a strong signal. 1. Businesses everywhere are hitting cash flow crunches. Revenues are falling, costs are rising, or a combination of of the two. Even with a top notch team, businesses are having to trim their staff to reduce their burn rate 2. No one is safe. Not you. Not me. The question that immediately arises is “what should I do?” Nothing is secure. Not your job. Not your house. Nothing. In fact, Mises spoke directly to this in his magnum opus Human Action. Guarantees of any kind are stuff and nonsense. If our record is not enough to ward off getting cut, then we need to make other plans and instead focus on what can best serve us the next time we are interviewing. ## Insurance for your career Now there is something we all can purchase to mitigate risk and that’s insurance. We pay for various kinds including auto, fire, home owners, and even life insurance. However my first suggestion of “what can I do!” is to accumulate something I’d like to call “technical insurance”. You should consider creating content centered on what you know and love. I’m not talking an out pinball repairs or gardening. You should create content centered on the thing you are an expert in. Java, K8, Linux, continuous integration, Typescript, Hibernate, anything. And let’s make this concrete: I want you to consider writing one new article every week for the next year on the topic you could easily shoot the breeze on for six hours straight with no effort or prep. I kicked off talking about Spring in 2019. Heck I jumped into YouTube with both feet. I since pivoted to software wisdom. But my point stands. Now you don’t have to do YouTube. You could write articles (posts) on Substack. You could launch a website like I did. The key is to DO IT. Because you don’t know if and when you’re getting dropped. I wrote five Spring books in my spare time, and it wasn’t enough to hold on to my position when VMware got acquired. But all those books sure helped me pitch the value I could bring to my next position. I had also written over 70 articles on Medium along with having to produced 100+ videos. I even pitched launching a livestream in their YouTube channel (and made good on that by launching SELECT STAR!) The thing is, you can’t whistle up content overnight. You can’t decide WHEN YOU GET NOTICE to start. It’s something you must choose to do and choose to do over the long haul. As Nelson Nash has said, “Think long range!” And that’s why I’m suggesting you start today. Now I don’t want you to think about what does it take to write 10, 20, or 70 articles. No. Think about writing one. The next one. Always be thinking “what does it take to write one more article?” Because that’s how it really works. Im focusing specifically on writing articles, possibly on Substack, instead of shooting and editing videos (like I did) because that’s a much simpler environment to get ramped up on. (YouTube is something else. Odds of giving up are a lot higher!) And to be clear, I’m not telling you to make paid for articles or free articles. That’s something you must decide for yourself. There are trade offs either way. I personally offer all my articles for free. I want as many to read them as possible. But I also understand if you want to build up a paid following. The important thing IMHO is to start writing. “I’ve written over 400,000 words on various software engineering topics” is quite the draw when you are interviewing. And when someone is trying to fill a position, secondary benefits can out you over the top. Imagine, after your interview is over, the hiring people having a little chat amongst themselves. >”This person seems to know Java pretty well. What else can they do?” >“Not sure. They didn’t have much else on the resume. Maybe some certifications from about 15 years ago.” >“What about the other candidate?” >”The other one not only has experience, but wrote about 100 articles on Substack over the last three years.” >“You think they’d be willing to write tech posts on our site if we picked them?” >“No need to think. They already mentioned they’d be happy to!” See how that works? If/when you are pushed into having to shop for a new position, you want to have built up a fistful of technical assets. This can be your “technical insurance”. It’s not a guarantee, but it’s worth something. “But Greg! I have no experience in writing!” There’s only way to get it. Start. Now. We all start from nothing. I used to study Tae Kwon Do. We had a saying, “A black belt is a white belt that never quit.” The real secret is to embark upon writing tech articles, and just keep going. Only ever focusing on the next one. It’s the sort if thing that will pay dividends in the future but requires making the choice today. But that’s not the only form of insurance you should start building. ## Another form of “insurance” You also need to begin stock piling capital. Capital can be defined as the monetary value of an asset in a business context. (BTW, I’m not a financial advisor of any kind. Please take any advice here and run it by your own financial advisor) Your home can be considered capital. Your qualified plan could be considered capital. Your stocks, bonds, and cash in the bank can all be considered capital. The word “economics” when traded to its Greek origins literally means “management of the household”. The business context for the capital I’m talking about is your own household. What’s important to recognize is that capital has both a quantity (the dollar or euro amount) as well as a quality (how easily you can get to it should the need arise. Your home could be considered capital, but you can’t get to it without selling it! You could also open a HELOC, but I’m not crazy about putting liens on my primary residence. And given this is your primary residence, I tend to move it to the bottom of the list of suitable capital. Remember how I mentioned qualified plans as potential capital? They are also hard to get to in time of crisis. Liquidation is almost out of the question and collateralizing them comes with a sticky list of regulations. So I tend to put those at the bottom of list of useful capital as well. That’s why I think it’s okay to put aside a certain amount of cash in savings. How much? You tell me. How much cash would you like to have instant access to should you lose your current position? >I watched a friend get cut and take 12 months before finding a new position. Having 12 months of enough cash to cover basic living expenses can certainly help avoid being forced to take a less than desirable position. Some scowl at holding on to much of any cash. “It’ll get eaten up by inflation!” While true, we all need a certain amount of liquidity to cover our backside in the event of turmoil. Start small. Can you start setting aside $100/paycheck? Maybe more? Make it a habit. Ideally, schedule it automatically to happen on payday. Many books and content creators call this “paying yourself first”. And they’re right! I’ve done this for years. And when I got my latest position I was able to kick it up a notch. I know it’s easy to pay everyone else first. I know it takes thought and effort to hold back on spending. And I know prices have gone up. But if you start paying yourself first on your very next paycheck, it can only help you. Again, I’m not offering financial advice. I’m just sharing my personal preference to hold enough emergency savings to smooth the way to a new position in the event my current shop hits a cash flow crunch and chooses me as the means to reduce costs. Now I haven’t delved into much detail about the exact form of savings to store your emergency funds. That’s because I possess no government permission slips to advise you on those details. I have someone I can text to make financial plans with. You should as well. ## What’s important What’s critical is being aware that no one is safe and secure in their job or business. While we may work extensively in our current position, all the labor and production for them…belongs to them! I think it’s worth it to build up a little of something that belongs to you. In this day and age, knowledge and wisdom stemming from your own expertise captured in words is valuable in multiple ways. And having actual “cash in the bank” that you can get to easily is also valuable. —Greg