In a shaky economy, what’s your Plan B?

President Obama acknowledged this week that the unemployment rate was likely to pass 10 percent. We'd like to know about your backup plan.

If you've lost your job, or you're worried about it, what's your Plan B?

Travel. It's amazing how little money you really need when going through organizations like WWOOF. I just signed up. I'm 18 (just graduated) and taking a year off to see the west coast through it. -Ema Adams, Willmar, MN

My husband and I have a business we've been starting but have been unable to get investment funding thus far. Our Plan B - take the engineers we've hired and turn ourselves into a consulting firm while we continue to look for funding.I'm also looking for a job. I have a Ph.D. in Comparative Literature and right now teaching is hard to come by. I'm offering consulting to seniors writing their college application essays and looking into teaching online courses. -Elizabeth Wahl, Palo Alto, CA

My Plan B is to put 100% of my effort into my side business, Renavance LLC which licenses product ideas to other companies. It's difficult to leave the security of a job but not having an income would make the development of my business worth the time spent. -Atul Patel, Eden Prairie, MN

I'm living it! My HR Director position in a n-f-p was eliminated last fall. I was VERY lucky to find a 6 month temp HR job, but have been home for 3 months. I am volunteering my time with several organizations - some even doing HR. Between my husband (who is still working) and I, we have had 6 layoffs in the 20 years we've been out of college - so we have always budgeted for a layoff. Although the part of my income that unemployment compensation does not make up is sorely missed, we can pay our bills without touching our savings. That money is only for "real" emergencies. My plan's to volunteer to get out of the house & keep sanity, and network network network to find something soon! -Moira Webster, Burnsville, MN

Leaving the states for a 9-month adventure in New Zealand, hoping the economy is better when I get back. -@cjsinner

My "Plan B" has been in effect since 2/26/2009, when I was laid off by my employer 366 days after being sold to them in an outsourcing deal. Like many in the Information Technology field, I've watched outsourcing going on around me for 10 years. I've accumulated savings against this very possibility. I am pursing a two-pronged attack: getting additional training in the IT field, and looking for other opportunities, out of IT, which cannot be easily outsourced/offshored. -Steve Sacco, Saint Cloud, FL

My B/U plan: My work as a nurse practitioner is pretty secure since we are cost effective providers. If my husband's corporate job is cut, I'd work more and we'd cut out frills like the unlimited car wash and the fraud monitoring on our credit. -Dianne Willer, Lake Elmo, MN.

I am worried about losing my job, and I have thought a lot about it. My Plan B is to move back to Michigan where all my family lives, so I can get support from people who love me. Then, even though it's a worse economy there, look for a job. So many people have scattered families and I think that our society needs stronger families. I feel that strongly enough that I would move back. -Linda Witham, Olympia, WA

Cash out 401k and move to hawaii. -Todd, Bloomington, MN

Plan B? Oh, seriously now! You must be joking! We passed plan B a long time ago! I lost not just one but TWO jobs last year and I'm only slightly employed with an online writing position that brings in a few pennies a day while my hubby is putting off retirement for what -- two, three, five, twenty years -- maybe till he drops dead of exhaustion or I do, whichever comes first. But he can't stop working because then we'd have no health insurance and we & the grown kids & for awhile the much overgrown parents of hubby depended on his earnings &/or insurance for our insurance or moolah. Who bothers with plans anymore? That's all gone by the wayside. It's more by "skin of the teeth" now. -Diana Gaine, Greenville, TX

I have written a couple novels and I guess I would try harder to get them published. My job is iffy, and I suspect if I could get published, I would make enough not to have to worry about the economic downturn. As long as I paid the IRS what they want ;=) -Jeff Bray, Sioux Falls SD

My wife and I have some cash in the bank (not as much as we'd like), and as a web developer and nurse, we both have skills that are still in demand - our plan is to find another job if we have to... what else could we do? -Nick Benson, Eagan, MN

I just lost my business to the down economy, and I am scrambling for contracts to keep me afloat. Basically I am putting together a patchwork of whatever I can do, with the idea of working at a local grocery that offers health insurance as a fall-back. I am a professional with a Master's degree, but will work for $10/hour for health insurance & then work full time plus to pay the mortgage. That is the only Plan B I can think of. -Eva Schweber, Portland OR

I'm 26 and have only now figured out plan A when others are trying to work on Plan B, so I am worried that I will be fighting with Plan B people to get my nursing degree! -Jeanette Middleton, St. Paul, MN

Share your reply in the comments: What's your Plan B?

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