AI Is Coming for Your Job: The Financial Moves You Need to Make Now
The Reality Check You Need to Hear
You should all realize I tend to write in a measured and practical style. I’m not an alarmist, an extremist, or even a pessimist. That said, I think the title today is justified. I write less about careers than I do about spending because spending is directly in your control and income isn’t. This might be my most important post on income yet!
OpenAI launched ChatGPT-5 yesterday, and my LinkedIn feed is full of laid-off knowledge workers desperately networking for their next position. These aren't random layoffs or economic downturns. These are systematic job eliminations where AI is literally doing the work humans used to do.
I know a financial analyst who spent his career researching company financial statements, building models, and writing reports. Last month, his company implemented an AI system that performs his entire job function in minutes instead of days. He's 41 years old with two kids and a mortgage, scrambling to figure out what comes next.
This isn't a future problem. It's happening right now.
As a reminder, I write about finance, not technology. If you want to understand what ChatGPT can do, there are plenty of tech writers who explain it better than me. What I can tell you is this: AI is going to eliminate millions of jobs, and you need to prepare your finances immediately.
To be fair, AI may also create millions of jobs, but they won’t be the same ones.
The Job Functions Under Attack
Forget about industries for a moment. AI doesn't eliminate entire industries. It eliminates specific job functions. Here's what's most at risk:
High-Risk Functions (Happening Now)
Data Analysis: AI can analyze datasets, identify patterns, and generate insights faster than any human analyst.
Basic Financial Work: Bookkeeping, financial reporting, accounts payable/receivable, and routine financial analysis are being automated rapidly.
Administrative Tasks: Scheduling, data entry, document processing, and routine correspondence can be handled entirely by AI.
Content Creation: Basic writing, editing, social media management, and routine marketing content.
Research Functions: Market research, competitive analysis, and information synthesis. (Exactly what happened to my financial analyst friend.)
Medium-Risk Functions (Coming Soon)
Customer Service: AI chatbots are getting sophisticated enough to handle complex customer interactions.
Legal Support: Document review, contract analysis, and basic legal research.
Project Management: Routine project coordination, status reporting, and resource allocation.
Sales Support: Lead qualification, proposal generation, and follow-up communications.
Lower-Risk Functions (For Now)
Jobs with Emotional Intelligence: Therapists, counselors, social workers, and teachers who build genuine human connections.
Complex Problem-Solving: Strategic planning, crisis management, and situations requiring human judgment.
Physical Skills: Skilled trades, healthcare procedures, and work requiring manual dexterity (until robotics catches up).
Creative Strategy: High-level creative work that requires understanding human psychology and cultural nuances.
The brutal truth: If your job involves tasks that AI excels at (pattern recognition, data processing, or routine decision-making) you're in the danger zone.
Why This Time Is Different
Every technological revolution eliminates some jobs while creating others. But AI is different in three crucial ways:
Speed: Previous technological changes happened over decades. AI capabilities are doubling every few months.
Scope: AI doesn't just replace factory workers or typists. It's coming for lawyers, analysts, writers, and programmers simultaneously.
Intelligence: For the first time, we're automating cognitive work, not just physical labor. The jobs that required "thinking" are no longer safe.
The historical precedent that everyone cites: "technology always creates new jobs" might not apply when the technology can think.
Or maybe it will, but I would rather play it safe.
Your Three-Pillar Defense Strategy
If you work in a high-risk function, you need to take immediate action in three areas:
Pillar 1: Financial Defense (Do This Immediately)
Expand Your Emergency Fund
Target: 12 months of expenses instead of the standard 6
Reason: AI job displacement often means career transitions, not just finding a new employer
Action: Cut non-essential spending now and redirect everything to emergency savings
Eliminate Debt Aggressively
Priority order: Credit cards, personal loans, car payments
Reason: Monthly obligations become crushing when your income disappears
Action: Use the debt avalanche method. Pay minimums on everything, attack highest interest rate first
Reduce Fixed Expenses
Housing: Consider downsizing or adding roommates
Transportation: Sell financed vehicles, buy reliable used cars with cash
Food: Switch to private labels, shop at discount grocers
Reason: Lower expenses = longer runway during unemployment
Pillar 2: Income Diversification (Start This Month)
Skill Development Strategy Choose one of three paths:
Path A: AI Augmentation
Learn to use AI tools to become more productive in your current role
Become the person who understands both the technology and the business
Position yourself as AI implementation specialist
Path B: AI-Resistant Skills
Develop skills that require human interaction, creativity, or complex judgment
Focus on management, strategy, or relationship-building roles
Build expertise in areas where human insight remains valuable
Path C: Career Pivot
Identify growing fields that AI can't easily replace
Skilled trades, healthcare, education with human elements
Start retraining now while you still have income
Side Income Development
Create income streams that don't depend on your primary employer
Consulting, freelancing, or service businesses using your existing expertise
The goal: reduce dependence on any single income source
Pillar 3: Accelerated Financial Independence
Why FI Becomes Urgent
Traditional retirement planning assumed 30-40 years of steady employment. That assumption is dead. You need enough money invested to survive career disruptions and potentially early forced retirement.
Compress Your Timeline
Increase savings rate immediately. Target 40-50% if possible
Every dollar saved today buys you more career flexibility tomorrow
Consider geographic arbitrage to reduce expenses and accelerate savings
Investment Strategy Adjustments
Stay aggressive with stock investments while you have earned income
Don't panic and move to cash if you already have an emergency fund. You need growth to build wealth quickly
Focus on low-cost index funds and maintain consistent investing
Real-World Action Plan by Risk Level
If You're High-Risk (Do Everything Immediately)
Month 1:
Build emergency fund to 3 months expenses
Start aggressive debt payoff
Begin learning AI tools relevant to your field
Update resume and LinkedIn profile
Month 2-3:
Expand emergency fund to 6 months
Research career pivot options or AI-augmentation strategies
Start networking in your target field
Cut all non-essential expenses
Month 4-6:
Complete emergency fund (12 months expenses)
Begin formal retraining or certification programs
Launch side income projects
Consider strategic job changes while you have leverage
If You're Medium-Risk (Start Preparing)
Next 6 Months:
Build standard 6-month emergency fund
Begin skill development in AI-resistant areas
Pay down high-interest debt
Research industry trends affecting your role
Next 12 Months:
Develop expertise in AI tools or pivot skills
Create one additional income stream
Build professional network in adjacent fields
Optimize expenses for flexibility
If You're Lower-Risk (Stay Vigilant)
Stay informed about AI developments in your field
Build general resilience: Emergency fund, debt elimination, skill development
Don't get complacent: Today's safe job might be tomorrow's target
The Psychology of Denial
Ah, classic Max. Here comes psychology and excuses.
Most people won't prepare because humans are terrible at planning for gradual, then sudden change. Here are the excuses I'm hearing:
"AI will never replace human judgment" Reality: It doesn't need to replace human judgment, just human execution of routine decisions.
"My job is too complex" Reality: Complexity is exactly what AI handles well. Simple jobs requiring human interaction are often safer. Example: programmers are at risk while housekeepers are not. (I said simple, not easy!)
"The government will figure something out" Reality: Governments move slowly. Technology moves fast. Don't bet your family's security on political solutions.
"I'm too close to retirement to worry about this" Reality: If you're 50+ and lose your job to AI, finding equivalent employment becomes extremely difficult.
The people who prepare now will have options. The people who wait will have desperation.
What This Means for Your Money
Traditional career advice is dead. The old playbook of steady employment leading to comfortable retirement assumes a world that no longer exists.
Financial independence isn't just nice to have anymore. It's essential survival preparation. You need enough money invested to weather career disruptions, retraining periods, and potentially early forced retirement.
Every spending decision becomes more critical. That expensive car payment or luxury apartment rent could be the difference between riding out a career transition and facing financial disaster.
The opportunity cost of lifestyle inflation just became massive. Money spent on status symbols today is money you won't have for career flexibility tomorrow.
The Bottom Line
I'm not trying to create panic. I'm trying to create urgency around financial preparation for the most significant economic disruption of our lifetimes. (OK, you could make an argument for the internet.)
The good news: You have advance warning. Most economic disruptions hit without notice. AI job displacement is happening gradually (for now), which gives you time to prepare if you act now.
The bad news: That window is closing quickly. Every month you delay preparation makes your eventual transition more difficult and expensive.
Your homework: Honestly assess your job function's AI risk. If you're high-risk, start building financial defenses immediately. If you're medium-risk, begin preparing for potential transitions. If you're low-risk, don't get complacent.
The future belongs to people who are financially resilient and professionally adaptable. Start building both right now.
Here's to staying ahead of the curve instead of getting crushed by it,
Max
Remember: The goal isn't to predict exactly when AI will affect your job. The goal is to be financially prepared regardless of timing. People who build strong financial foundations can weather any career disruption.