How do I future-proof my salary?

There are a number of ways to future-proof your salary and income. It starts with anticipating what the future of work looks like for you personally based on your unique circumstances so that you can effectively take the necessary steps to future-proof yourself and your salary, and get yourself job-ready and future-ready so that you can continuously earn a salary well into the future.

How the future will impact you and your job security and salary level will depend on a number of factors. These factors include:

1. The country you live in – e.g., technologically advanced countries like Japan, Germany, Korea, etc., vs. developing countries. The country you live in will also determine how economics, unemployment rate, demographics, and underemployment can impact your employment.
2. The industry you work in – e.g., the transportation industry has a lot of innovation like driver-less vehicles, vs. fine arts.
3. The job or occupation you currently have – e.g., if you care for the elderly, then there’s not much automation, vs. a truck driver.
4. The skills and experience you currently have – e.g., if you are a truck driver, then your job could change significantly by 2035, vs. a personal coach.
5. The education level you currently have – e.g., if you have a university degree, then you are better prepared for the future of work and for acquiring high-level skills that will be in demand in the future.
6. The company you work for – e.g., the company you work for must have the capability, capacity, and resources to automate your work, vs. a small family or cash-strap business.

In assessing your current situation and environment, and predicting what the future of work will look like, you can most likely have some degree of control over your skills, experience and education level.

(Other factors listed above may be out of your control. There’s not much you could do unless you want to move countries!)

That is, if you predict that your job could most likely be automated by your employer (or future employer), then you must plan to upgrade or re-skill yourself now to perform other jobs or task that will be less likely to be automated.

There are tools available for you to conduct desktop reviews on the security of your job.

In general, jobs that are manual, repetitive, and require less cognitive abilities are great candidates for automation. They are subject to significant job losses.

When that happens, you could be made redundant easily. If this occurs, you will not earn any salary.

Therefore, to effectively future-proof your salary you must anticipate what your future holds, take proactive steps that are under your control, and constantly upgrade your skills, experience, and education to meet the ever-changing demands of future employers and job requirements.

The bottom line is for you to gain future employable skills and experience that will continuously give you the salary you want.

It does take a bit of planning on your part to future-proof your salary.

People do not plan to fail. They just fail to plan for the inevitable changes that will come fast.

It’s not a matter of if, but when jobs are lost.

The negative and positive impacts of automation on job security are widely written.

The trick is for you to be on the right side of the equation where you can enjoy a secure stream of income.

I have a collection of resources and articles on my blog, allmoneymakingideas.com and Facebook group where you can get your knowledge updated regularly and be prepared for the future of work.

Speaking of streams of income, another strategy worth considering is for you to diversify your income streams in addition to having your salary paid to you.

Granted, you can ask for a pay rise or promotion, change to a better job, etc. But these are just short-term strategies that you should also adopt right now.

There’s no harm in implementing all these strategies to increase your salary level as much as possible.

Rather than spending everything you earn, a point to note is that you should be saving your extra salary as a financial buffer. This buffer may come in handy when the inevitable job losses come.

Income volatility is a major problem for many workers. You could earn more in some periods and you could earn nothing in others.

You are essentially future-proofing your salary from a cash-flow perspective.

Here’s the thing.

If you have some free time and have the motivation to make much more money than just earning a regular salary or wage, then doing paid freelancing or starting a side business in addition to your 9-to-5 job can be your other options to future-proofing your income; not just future-proofing your salary.

The concept of diversification is commonly used in the investing world. Investors diversify their investment portfolio to hold different asset class like cash, bonds, real estate, equities/shares, unit trust, etc.

Likewise, you can future-proof your income by diversifying your income sources. You do this by acquiring real estate investments, embarking on paid freelancing activities, or starting a side business.

There are many ways to future-proof your salary and future-proof your income. It boils down to whether you want to or not.

Are you committed to your future?

The hope and pray strategy will not work for many people.

Fear about the future is okay, but complacency kills jobs.

The choice is yours to make. Make it wisely.