Synthetic intelligence (AI) is inflicting an existential disaster for a lot of employees, myself included. With the rise of AI, I’ve typically discovered myself questioning: what’s the purpose? If AI goes to take over, why hassle making an attempt?
Possibly you’ve felt the identical approach—apprehensive about methods to safeguard your future from AI. Or maybe you’re a father or mother questioning if there’ll even be good jobs in your children after spending a fortune on their training. If that’s the case, this publish could assist you to and your kids put together for what might be a difficult future.
The Existential Disaster You Would possibly Face
An existential disaster is a interval of deep questioning about life’s which means, goal, or worth. It typically includes grappling with questions like:
- Why am I right here?
- What’s the goal of life?
- Does something I do actually matter?
These crises will be triggered by main life occasions like loss, failure, growing old, technological change, or transitions resembling retirement or a profession change. Whereas they will really feel overwhelming—bringing nervousness, despair, or a way of being misplaced—additionally they current alternatives for private development and a renewed focus in your priorities.
After I first retired in 2012, I confronted my very own existential disaster. It took me years to regulate and discover peace in my new function. I don’t need AI to set off an analogous disaster for you, making all the things you’ve labored for really feel out of date. That may be a double intestine punch.
The truth is, all good issues finally come to an finish. When that second comes, you’ll both panic or adapt and discover methods to thrive. And should you’re studying this, I do know you’re the kind to plan forward and rise to the problem.
The Good Factor About Being Unemployed Or Retired
The silver lining of being unemployed or retired is that there’s no job for synthetic intelligence to take from you. Nevertheless, should you’re trying to re-enter the workforce, discovering a job will seemingly be a lot more durable. For retirees, you would possibly merely end up as an bystander, observing AI’s disruption of the labor market from the sidelines.
As a semi-retiree working Monetary Samurai, even this web site is going through an existential disaster of its personal. With AI corporations like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity copying my work with out attribution, and Google prioritizing AI-generated content material taken from writers on the high of search outcomes, driving visitors to the location is changing into more and more difficult.
Initially, my plan was to function Monetary Samurai for 10 years—from July 2009 to July 2019—after which step away from the inventive endeavor. Nevertheless, the delivery of my daughter in December 2019 and the pandemic gave me a renewed sense of goal and extra time to jot down. I had insights to share, worries to course of, and a want to file this distinctive time in our lives.
Now that the pandemic is behind us and AI has arrived in full pressure, my want to pivot and do one thing new has grown once more. I’m now greater than 5 years previous my unique purpose of working this web site. Generally, it’s vital to acknowledge when the tip of a chapter is close to and embrace the chance to maneuver ahead.
Existential Disaster Survival Plan Due To Synthetic Intelligence
Though I don’t depend on Monetary Samurai for survival, it has supplied supplemental retirement earnings that I’ve grown accustomed to incomes for over a decade. Since 2009, I’ve additionally devoted roughly 20 hours per week to sustaining the location. Shedding that earnings, together with abruptly having 20 additional hours of free time every week, can be a major adjustment.
Right here’s my existential disaster survival plan for Monetary Samurai—and for my kids, who will seemingly face an excellent harder time getting forward in an AI-driven world. This survival information must also assist you to higher put together in case your occupation is liable to AI distribution as effectively.
1) Estimate once you’ll lose your job or livelihood resulting from AI
Simply as actuaries calculate life expectancy to design worthwhile insurance policy, we should always estimate how lengthy our job or enterprise would possibly final earlier than being eradicated by AI. Develop a worst-case, base-case, and best-case situation.
With practical timelines for the way a lot incomes potential stays, you’ll be able to higher put together for the worst-case final result. The extra time it’s important to plan, the higher geared up you’ll be. Don’t be complacent—many individuals stay unaware of the speedy developments in AI and the businesses driving them, leaving them unprepared for what’s coming.
Personally, I’ve set a base-case situation that Monetary Samurai will likely be rendered out of date by December 31, 2027. This timeline provides me sufficient room to arrange, although the tip might arrive sooner with any of the frequent Google algorithm updates all year long.
Beneath is one in every of quite a few examples of particular person, hard-working creators getting punished by Google and AI for no good motive. Her visitors retains happening after some head-fakes. I anticipate this to occur to me at some point out of the blue.
2) Save Aggressively—Past What You Thought Potential
Along with your estimated timeline of demise, it’s essential to push your financial savings charge to the very best doable stage. My advice is a minimal of fifty%, and far larger in case your timeline is brief.
For those who save and make investments 50% of your after-tax earnings yearly, you successfully purchase your self one 12 months of economic freedom for yearly you’re employed. But when it can save you 70%, you acquire 2.33 years of freedom for yearly you save.
Personally, I plan to extend my financial savings charge from on-line earnings to 90% (up from an 80% common) till December 31, 2027. It’s not 100% as a result of my passive funding earnings falls in need of absolutely masking our present residing bills after we purchased a brand new home in 2023.
Embrace my motto: “If the sum of money you are saving every month would not harm, you are not saving sufficient!” This can be a matter of economic survival. Push your self to save lots of as a lot as you probably can, beginning now.
3) Diversify Your Investments to Increase Passive Revenue
Boosting your financial savings charge is simply a part of the equation. To safe your monetary future, you additionally want to take a position these financial savings in belongings with the potential for optimistic returns. Given the existential disaster going through you and your job, it’s finest to give attention to three core funding lessons: shares, bonds, and actual property.
Incomes an inexpensive return, say 4%–8%, in your investments will additional speed up your monetary freedom. Here is a internet value asset allocation framework to think about should you’re in search of a logical method to make investments.
Your final purpose needs to be to generate sufficient passive funding earnings to cowl 100% of your required residing bills. If reaching that milestone feels too formidable, purpose for no less than the Minimal Funding Quantity that makes work optionally available. Alternatively, goal a internet value (excluding your major residence) of 25X–50X your annual bills.
By December 31, 2027, I hope to attain full protection of our residing bills by means of passive funding earnings. If I can hit that concentrate on, I’ll be financially unbiased sufficient that the impression of AI on my lively earnings will not matter.
4) Diversify Your Lively Revenue Streams
As you construct your financial savings and diversify your passive earnings, it’s equally vital to diversify your lively earnings streams. Ideally, you’ll need to give attention to expertise or merchandise which can be more durable for AI to copy. In different phrases, take into consideration jobs that require in-person interplay and hands-on work.
For instance, you may construct a clientele instructing a musical instrument, teaching a sport, or providing private providers like tutoring. Alternatively, you may leverage your skilled experience to seek the advice of one-on-one with purchasers who want your steering. The much less dependent your work is on AI, the higher.
Study To Use Your Arms
Personally, I’m contemplating constructing a clientele for pickleball and tennis classes. Each time I go to my native public park on a weekday, I see tennis coaches charging $120–$140 per hour. It’s an effective way to fulfill folks, get pleasure from some sunshine and train, and receives a commission. Going from writing 20 hours per week to teaching for 20 hours per week might generate no less than $2,400 per week. That is nice supplemental retirement earnings!
I might additionally improve my private finance consulting efforts, one thing I do not actively promote on Monetary Samurai resulting from overwhelming demand. Many individuals must seek for my web page to search out these providers, nevertheless it’s one other avenue to pursue by means of December 31, 2027.
Diversifying your lively earnings streams is solely sensible monetary planning. Take a look at how creators on TikTok are branching out to Instagram and YouTube, simply in case TikTok will get banned.
5) Develop Your Private Model
All people has a private model, whether or not they understand it or not. The one method to thrive in a world the place all the things is changing into commoditized is to face out. To attain this, constructing a private model that individuals acknowledge and belief is important.
A powerful private model ought to embody these key qualities:
- Reliability
- Likability
- Dependability
- Creativity
For those who will be each reliable and likable, you’re greater than midway there. Individuals naturally promote and rent these they establish with. For those who don’t belong to the bulk, it’s much more essential to develop a private model that units you aside.
To amplify your private model—or just make it discoverable—it’s best to have your personal web site. Consider it as a dynamic resume the place you showcase who you might be and what you’re as much as. Employers and traders admire the chance to find out about you earlier than committing to a partnership.
Charisma and Communication Expertise Matter Most
Whereas intelligence will all the time be helpful, AI has already claimed the title of the neatest agent. As extra folks be taught to leverage AI to perform duties, the premium positioned on being exceptionally sensible will diminish over time.
What’s going to matter most is your potential to speak successfully and develop charisma—expertise that construct belief and encourage others to comply with your lead. Do you communicate together with your chest out and enunciate your phrases? Do you look somebody within the eye and know when to smile or present empathy? Are you aware methods to correctly use your palms when talking? Are you a superb story teller?
In case your college or faculty doesn’t supply programs in branding and communication, it’s important to hunt out these lessons independently and decide to practising them. It is going to be a lot more durable to outlive, not to mention get forward, should you shouldn’t have the good potential to attach with folks.
6) Make investments Aggressively in Synthetic Intelligence Corporations
For those who can’t beat AI corporations when it comes to their impression in your profession, you would possibly as effectively be part of them. By investing in AI corporations, you’ll be able to hedge towards a tough future for your self and your kids. It’s clear to me that many roles are liable to being eradicated by AI. Even bodily jobs like driving for Uber or delivering groceries are threatened by autonomous vehicles and robots.
Ever since AI grew to become a game-changer in 2022, I’ve ramped up my investments in each private and non-private AI corporations. As a result of I strongly imagine within the AI pattern, I am much less involved with valuations extra centered on its long-term impression on the labor market.
I personal shares in public corporations like Google, Microsoft, Apple, NVIDIA, Tesla, and Meta. As well as, I’ve been dollar-cost averaging into Fundrise’s Enterprise product, which invests in high personal AI corporations and different personal development corporations.
My purpose is to construct a $500,000 place in personal AI-related investments and by December 31, 2027. Coupled with my public AI-related investments, I’ll have over $2 million in publicity.
If the $2 million compounds at 6% – 15% a 12 months for 20 years, it would develop to $6.4 – $32.7 million. With this sum of money, my then grownup kids ought to have the ability to reside on a minimal wage job or no job for some time.
7) Make investments For Your Kids Right now
I’ve lived in San Francisco since 2001 and have moved by means of 5 totally different neighborhoods throughout that point. In every of those neighborhoods, no less than one in every of my neighbors has been an grownup man who nonetheless lives at house along with his mother and father or resides alone in his mother and father’ houses. The rationale? None of them could make sufficient cash to reside comfortably on their very own.
In 10–20 years, synthetic intelligence will make it even more durable for younger folks to search out well-paying jobs. This actuality means it is as much as mother and father to save lots of and make investments aggressively for our youngsters’s futures as we speak.
This contains opening custodial funding accounts, contributing to Roth IRAs, saving in 529 plans, and shopping for rental properties for profession insurance coverage. As well as, we should train our youngsters sensible expertise to allow them to use their palms to earn.
Image a world the place, after spending 17–21 years at school, and probably accumulating important faculty debt, your children are instructed they will’t even get a job at McDonald’s as a result of meals prep and cashier duties are automated. Now think about your 30-year-old son, nonetheless residing at house eight years after faculty, unable to make use of his $1 million laptop science diploma as a result of his expertise are not in demand.
Even as we speak, the median earnings for Ivy League graduates is simply about $91,000. That’s not notably excessive for people who ranked within the high 1% of their highschool class and should have paid a premium for his or her training.
8) Study How To Use Extra AI Apps To Enhance Your Productiveness
You don’t should be nice at math anymore—simply know methods to use a calculator. To guard your self from AI disrupting your life, it’s essential to grasp as many AI apps as doable. Whereas most individuals stick with ChatGPT and Anthropic, there’s a complete ecosystem of AI instruments designed that will help you excel at your job. Right here’s an inventory of a few of them:
I’ll use AI for higher voice dictation so I can write my posts whereas within the sizzling tub. I’m additionally exploring AI apps that may file podcasts in my voice, create movies, and perhaps even draft posts that sound like me—with my edits, in fact. Lastly, I’ll improve my web site’s search field to an AI-powered model that may reply any query primarily based on the content material I’ve written.
9) Develop Good Relationships By Serving to Others
Lastly, if we discover ourselves going through a dire future because of AI, sturdy relationships will likely be important for survival. The wealthiest and strongest people are more likely to develop into much more dominant. That’s why it’s essential to begin constructing connections with them as we speak, ideally earlier than they’re enormous successes.
When alternatives are scarce, folks naturally prioritize their very own circles, and people with wealth and energy are not any exception. For those who don’t resemble or share widespread floor with them, give attention to being helpful. The extra you’ll be able to contribute and assist others, the extra seemingly they’ll reciprocate once you want it most.
Benefit from the Good Occasions Whereas They Final
Embrace the fact that synthetic intelligence will finally get rid of your job and put you out to pasture. Perceive that each one the trouble and cash you are spending elevating your kids to achieve success, unbiased adults could in the end be for nothing.
I have not been this assured a couple of long-term funding pattern since I invested closely in heartland actual property again in 2016 and 2017, believing in a demographic shift to lower-cost areas of the nation. These investments have typically turned out effectively, particularly after the pandemic accelerated working from house. After all, some investments have been huge zeroes as workplace and resort took huge hits.
Sure, perhaps I’m overly influenced by residing in San Francisco, the place the highest AI corporations have been based or have workplaces. However I communicate to workers at these companies and enterprise capitalists usually, and there is not any stopping AI from disrupting most of our lives. It’s already disrupted mine, beginning with the elimination of my father’s job as a Monetary Samurai editor.
Let’s benefit from the time now we have left with the roles we maintain and the businesses we run. Finally, they could be gone, however by then, we’ll hopefully have constructed sufficient monetary power to be simply nice.
Reader Questions About The AI Existential Disaster
Readers, how are you getting ready for the existential disaster that AI poses to your job, firm, or product? How are you defending your self and your kids from a future the place your providers could not be wanted? Do you suppose you’ll have the ability to get wealthy sufficient to not care in regards to the destruction AI will carry?
To expedite your journey to monetary freedom, be part of over 60,000 others and subscribe to the free Monetary Samurai publication and to my posts as quickly as they arrive out. Monetary Samurai is among the many largest independently-owned private finance web sites, established in 2009. Every thing is written primarily based on firsthand expertise.
