Since I work in the tech sector it's kind of a wierd feeling --

Back when the tech bubble popped, we could tell by key indicators that our jobs would be in jeopardy very very soon (Like next month)... I saw a department of 400 people get slashed to 5 over the next 2 yrs.

Right now I'm not seeing any of those indicators. Sales are still strong, although not gangbusters -- but they sure haven't gone to zero like they did in 2001. Our sales literally went from something like $18 billion per year to $2 billion per year in the blink of an eye.

I'm hopeful that this time around my industry won't be impacted as hard as some others -- As I've already been to hell and back (Department of 400 slashed to 5) -- and I don't want to walk through the fire again right now considering my salary still hasn't recovered to what I was making at the beginning of 2001. *sigh*

If the stuff hits the fan, I could survive about 3 years without having to work another dayjob at my current run rate -- Maybe a little longer if we went into crisis mac & cheese mode. I'm fortunate that my other half works in the healthcare field which seems pretty recession proof so far, so she should have a secure job and the ability to find work if things get really bad.

Honestly though -- if I had to eat up all of my savings and net worth just to survive, and my net worth stopped increasing every year -- I think I would get so depressed that I would come close to giving up. It would be a real major challenge just to keep it together after it's taken so long to get to this point, just to see it washed away in the blink of an eye.

- Hakrjak