There is no need to make yourself great again. You’re already there in my book. Times are changing though and when things change we must change too.

The Age of Trump has brought a lot of wishful thinking. First, the promise was 5% GDP growth, then revised downward to 4% and now 3%. Jobs are supposedly being brought back to the U.S. and tax cuts for the wealthy will spur business creation. A, so called, pro-growth agenda has driven Wall Street to new heights based on anticipated deregulation and lowered taxes.

The reality is quite different though. 3% GDP is next to impossible. You can’t bring back jobs that are actually being automated away instead of shipped overseas. Trickle down has never spurred job creation and, in fact, has the effect of hurting the economy as economic disparity grows. The pro-growth agenda is simply just a boon to Wall Street as companies use their anticipated savings more for stock buybacks than investing in their core businesses. Consumer spending habits have changed, causing the retail apocalypse and coal jobs are never coming back.

It sounds depressing when one adds in that trucking will be completely automated and clothes will be folded by robots in retail locations by 2027, according to projections. Oil will see a crash in the mid 20’s as a move to electric cars is inevitable. By 2030, as much as 30 – 40% of the workforce won’t be necessary. Projections show all jobs automated away by the 2050’s. Most likely the US won’t change fast enough to counter these trends.

But fear not! There are ways to prosper and readjust to the new reality.

  1. Learn to code: Between now and 2021, a million new software coders are needed with only 400,000 computer science graduates expected. These are high paying jobs and people are starting at great wages after taking a boot camp or self-learning online. A great place to start is Code Academy. It’s free! More advanced online courses exist for as little as $40.

  2. Prepare for a job a machine can’t do: If a machine can do it, industry will move that way. Even low-paid fast food workers will be automated out of a job as the return on investment of computer ordering system still beats paying employees that are also highly variable. At least for some time, a machine can’t do sales, cut your hair, create original art, teach a class or manage employees. Jobs that require more complexity and interpersonal relationship building will be around the longest. Don’t plan on factory jobs ever coming back.

  3. Be prepared to buy cheap stocks: Currently, the stock market is so overvalued that it has reached the point of irrationality. Tons of risk exists and it looks more and more likely that the Trump tax plan might not get through Congress. A correction is long overdue. Let it correct, wait and buy cheap.

  4. Sell pro or anti-Trump paraphernalia: The country is more politically segmented than ever before making sales of political t-shirts and the like extremely profitable. There are many resources online to sell everything from t-shirts to bumper stickers. A coffee mug that says, “I like my java bigly” might just be the next huuuuge thing. One example of this is a group that offers the Proud Democrat sticker.

  5. Buy rental properties: Rents continue to explode while Millennials eschew purchasing homes. They will only continue upward as income disparity grows and jobs are automated away. The growth of section 8 housing will create a continuous income stream for you.

 

*Bonus) Learn horticulture: It sounds silly but the best market for small entrepreneurs is in marijuana when it is legalized by states. In fact, the entirety of those markets are small entrepreneurs doing very well. Be ready for when your state legalizes by having the knowledge to start farming your own cash cow. Even if you don’t sell it, you might just need it to chill after you see what internationally embarrassing thing the Tweeter-In-Chief did that same day.

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