Debt Free

Your job is never truly secure. Just ask any of the 15,000 New Jersey casino workers who are on a state imposed vacation that began this morning. Why would the state of New Jersey want these workers to take a few days off? They probably wouldn't, but the state legislature and New Jersey Governor Jon S. Corzine are fighting like a couple of 4 year olds over increasing the state sales tax from 6% to 7%. Since their little spat has prevented the adoption of a new budget, the state of New Jersey has no money to pay any of its employees.

Are the casino workers state employees? No, but the state mandated inspectors that oversee operations at Atlantic City's 12 casinos are. Without them on the job, the casinos may not legally operate. So, in a move that smacks of cutting off its nose to spite it's face, New Jersey is losing the $1.3 million a day the gambling dens contribute to the state's till. Let's see, we have a budget shortfall of $4.5 billion, so lets cut out a revenue source that nets us $465 million a year. With thinking like that, it's easy to see why the Garden State has a budget problem.

Why couldn't they categorize the casino inspectors the same as the police and child welfare workers who remain on the job, so they can also keep working? It would seem that, when your state has a problem generating revenue, and probably more to the point, spending it, you'd want to ensure your most lucrative sources of income were protected. Their silly little tiff is costing the state big money with this gaffe. To top it off, the lack of state income created by the casino closings go beyond the 8% of gambling winnings taken in by NJ. All the sales tax on everything bought by hotel guests and casino visitors will also be lost to this fiasco. So now, instead of 6% of all the moneys spent by these visitors, the state will get 7% of nothing. Way to go, Ace!

This all points to why it's so important to have an emergency fund set aside to cover living expenses. Who knows how long these workers will be away from their posts? Weather you're a casino employee or a state worker, you'll be needing a little nest egg to tide you over for a while. The alternative is to charge up the ole' plastic, a bad solution if there ever was one. It illustrates how a problem in another industry can affect your livelihood, even though your industry may not have a problem.

Legislative matters and problems in other industries have caused problems in the past that impact employees. It's a virtual certainty that they could happen to your industry, no matter what it is, at some point in the future. You must mitigate such risks by having a bit of spare cash set aside to tide you over. This will minimize the disruption of your financial situation and maybe save you a small bit of financial stress.