For more visit http://www.lemonademovie.com/

Can’t wait to see the entire documentary. What about you? Have you turned your “misfortune” into something strong and positive, like these people did? Tell me how in the comments.

Via Chris Brogan

“During the last year, as the shock (of layoffs) has subsided, Americans looking at the collapse of corporate culture and finance, the loss of job security, and inscrutable government solutions are coming to the same conclusion:

“We don’t have to do things the same way. We can take the economy in hand and drive our own destinies. And a movement that has been slowly building in the business world is finally taking hold: We’re seeing the beginnings of the entrepreneurial economy, a system built on nimble, low-overhead, oftentimes small companies with fluid workforces, rather than the massive conglomerates that have upheld the economy for decades.”

More at Newsweek

Then how do you account for the screaming headlines of mass layoffs and job losses?

Simple: job churn. Millions of Americans are being hired. But many more are being fired.

Of course, that’s nothing new. The US economy has always added and subtracted jobs at a dizzying pace, as business guru Tom Peters points out. He cites a recent Forbes article which presents some stunning statistics: Between September 2008 and September 2009 the US economy lost about 6 million jobs.

But it wasn’t like six million were shown the door, and everyone else stayed put. Rather, as Peters put it:

We added—yes, I said ADDED—51 million jobs. And we lost 57 million jobs.

Result: Net loss of six million jobs.

Where did all those people go? Many are now free-lancers or part-timers.

A 2006 Government Accountability Office study estimates that 30 percent of all U.S. workers are now free-lancers or part-timers, who do not show up into any of the Bureau of Labor Statistics worker stats categories. Unreported annual income from the “informal” (or “underemployed”) economy could be $2.3 trillion — yes, TRILLION.

He put up posters offering piano lessons.

Now Palpant teaches four days a week and loves it. “It’s the most satisfying thing I’ve done,” he says.

He charges only $20 per lesson, so the family income is about half what it was. But he’s found you can still live pretty comfortably on half of a six-figure income.

Besides, he says, the satisfaction of helping a kid get into a music school or nail an audition is better than money. “I wouldn’t go back to my old job for twice the pay.”

Source

“This Great Recession is an inflection point for the economy in many respects. I think the unemployment rate will be permanently higher, or at least higher for the foreseeable future.”

Mark Zandi, chief economist, Economy.com, in USA Today

USAToday reports more than half of U.S. companies are slashing bonuses. Nearly half are scaling back or eliminating raises.

Matching 401(k) contributions? Surely you jest. Those are being further reduced at 1/4 of all companies.

News like that might make you homesick for the good old, pre-meltdown days. But brother, those days are long gone. And probably gone forever.

USA Today

A new study in the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology confirms it. People who keep doing some work in their field after they retire enjoy better physical and mental health than those who stop working completely.

Rather than leaping into retirement with both feet, prospective retirees should consider so-called “bridge employment” as a transition to full retirement. It paid off for those who did. They had lower rates of major diseases like high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes and arthritis than those who went into full retirement. They also reported fewer mental health problems, like depression.

Why does working work?

For one thing, it keeps us active, the way we were during our careers. It reduces the stress we might feel from a too-fast transition into full retirement. Bridge work also lets us keep some of the “role identity” we formed during our careers.

Source: Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, October 2009

According to the latest government job report, the average job search now lasts over six months. That’s the longest average since 1948, when Uncle Sam started tracking unemployment in 1948 (Back around the time of of us were born.)

Here’s a great way to spend all that down time: start a little business of your own! It could be just a sideline, until a nice full-time job shows up. Or who knows,  it might take off and become your primary livelihood. Believe me, stranger things have happened.

What kind of job?

Find something you enjoy doing, then think about ways it could earn you some money. For example, could you teach it to others? You might find a lucrative sideline business, or even a full-time living, utilizing your existing knowledge, skills and experience.

Among the skills most in-demand, not surprisingly, are ones that help others get a better job, earn money, save money and save time.

Source: NPR’s Planet Money via Consumerist

It’s not just because there are very few old-fashioned “pensions” of yore. True, a 401(k) is better  than nothing at all. But if they’re honest, many experts will admit that a 401(k) has always been a pretty lousy way for employees to save for retirement.

Then why the push? Because it’s better for the boss, of course. If enough employees participate, employers are allowed to sock away a boatload of their own compensation, pre-tax.

They’re “a tax shelter for end-of-the-year bonuses for bankers,” says Nancy Hwa, spokeswoman for Retirement USA, a group working to improve retirement plans. “The 401(k) was never even intended to be a retirement plan.”

Balances are shrinking due to the stock market bust. Hardship withdrawals are increasing. And fewer companies offer any matching funds at all.

“I am an adamant believer that the 401(k) is going to be one of the biggest debacles in our history,” says Bill Schultheis, author of The New Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get on with Your Life.

More grim news here: Workers discover 401(k) plans are failing them in retirement

Get your author book jacket photos taken now, while you’re young.

If you’re old enough to be reading this, you probably already regret ripping up all those less-than-perfect photos taken when you were young, slim and gorgeous. (And my beautiful wife’s, even more.)

Oh yeah, the rest of Chuck’s 13 (fiction) writing tips aren’t bad, either. But this is the one that tickled me.

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