A Financial Cushion Isn't About Money
Switching between jobs or projects isn’t a crisis - if you treat it as a process you prepare for.
Over the years, I’ve settled on a simple rule: your financial position shapes the quality of your career decisions.
When you have a runway, you choose. When you don’t, someone else chooses for you.
What Works for Me
- Separate obligations into critical ones and habits
- Keep spending below your means, but not below comfort
- Always have a portion of assets in liquid form - it’s not a “piggy bank,” it’s bought time
It’s the same as in architecture: a system is resilient not when everything goes well, but when it survives failures without cascading.
The Freedom to Say No
A financial cushion isn’t about money. It’s about the freedom to say “no” to the wrong offers. About being able to pick a project out of interest, not desperation. About peace of mind during transitions.
Prepare for transitions between projects and roles in advance. Not when things are already on fire, but when everything is fine.
