It’s one thing to save money all your working life in some sort of money market or pension plan, it is quite another thing to hang on to it when things get weird. Economic depressions, like the one we are experiencing now, companies going out of business and not paying you your pension, like they are these days, or getting fired, laid off, downsized, or discriminated against, like many people are experiencing now, can make your retirement nest egg disappear in a heartbeat. Whoever coined the phrase: "there are no guarantees in this life", wasn’t kidding. You can work diligently, saving whatever you can, in all the right places and then, without warning, find yourself destitute. There is no loyalty in companies these days toward employees; they just want to use the workers, then discard them. Age discrimination is rampant. No matter that workers have spend decades learning a trade and honing their skills, if they get a few gray hairs, they are gone. What can we do to guard against losing our hard earned money? Here are some strategies.

1. Realize that you are on your own. The company that you work for doesn’t care about anything except the "bottom line". If you don’t watch out for yourself, then nobody will. Start by relegating your job as "just a job", no more, no less. If they ask more of you, then you must get something in return; no favors.

2. Keep your options open. Read the want ads every week to see if there might be a better opportunity out there. If there is, take it and don’t look back. More money is one way to look at things, but better working conditions, nicer people, shorter commute distances all can make your work career more pleasant. Somebody said, "when you’re dead, you’re dead, don’t waste your time in the mean time".

3. Have a back up plan, two are better. Don’t depend upon the company that you work for to provide a comfortable retirement. Their interest in you stops when you leave. The next day they probably won’t remember your name. If you can get a part time job for a little extra income, good. If you can start a little side business working out of your home, good. Play the game of, "if I got fired tomorrow, what would I do?" Then set up something to support yourself if something bad happened. If it stays good, then you have more income and less butterflies in your stomach. Only you know what will make you feel more secure, so tailor your plan(s) to your own situation.

4. Diversify your plans. Jobs are one good way to make steady money week to week. In addition, try to find a secure financial fund into which you can save part of your earnings. Make this fund separate from your job in every way. If one thing fails, you don’t want it to take down other plans you have in place.

5. The older you get, the more conservative should be your plans. When you are young you can afford to be a little daring and try to get higher percentages on your funds. If you miscalculate there is always some time that you can recoup your losses. As you get closer to retirement, there is less time to recoup so it is better to place your money in funds that are more conservative. You won’t see big gains, but you won’t see big losses either. The same attitude should apply to jobs. The older you get, the more difficult it will be to get employed. Stick with what you have if it is tolerable. Age discrimination is against the law, but the law is never enforced unless you are prepared to spend lots of money and time in court; you’ll probably lose anyway. Good luck.