Financial struggles usually arise from personal or professional challenges. Sometimes, however, these struggles can simply be rooted in pride.
On an episode of Caleb Hammer’s YouTube show Financial Audit, 41-year-old Brent of Auston, Texas, reveals he has no steady job, no savings and relies on his parents to pay rent. But he refuses to accept work that’s “beneath” him.
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“You’re being a baby,” Hammer told him after he confessed he turned down a job at a fast food restaurant. “Why will you not accept the jobs that you feel are slightly beneath you?”
Brent — who threatened to walk away from the interview if Hammer continued to deride him — refuses to engage with the job market, highlighting the mental hurdle of being overqualified.
White-collar job market
Brent once owned an advertising agency that he claims generated $500,000 a year in revenue. Everything was sailing smoothly until his apartment burned down. He had no insurance.
“I just completely broke down,” he said.
Brent claims the trauma distracted him from work and he had to let his clients go to other agencies. He has struggled to land a job ever since.
College-educated professionals such as Brent are in a uniquely difficult position in today’s job market. Job listings for technology, banking and insurance were all down by 18% to 55% year-over-year in April 2023, according to Indeed. Jobs posted in the technology and media industry, which overlaps with Brent’s qualifications, also cooled down in the same time period, according a CBS analysis of data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
However, that doesn’t mean the whole job market is weak. In fact, the leisure and hospitality sector, which Brent seems to be avoiding, has added an average of 52,000 jobs per month over the 12 months as of October 2023, according to the BLS. Low-wage workers have also experienced strong wage growth from 2019-2022, research from the Economic Policy Institute think tank shows.
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Brent could make money in service and hospitality while still looking for a better job, but he refuses to take a “step down” in the meantime.
“Something better is going to come along and I just know it,” he said.
Hammer wasn’t convinced.
“If your option right now is nothing or something, I’d pick something. Even if that something is not absolutely fantastic,” he said.
Financial situation
Brent says he takes on odd jobs for income, but it’s not enough to pay rent, which is covered by his parents. That makes him part of another unfortunate cohort. One in four millennials say they rely on their parents to pay their rent, according to a survey by OnePoll for the Chartway Credit Union.
Brent’s situation isn’t unusual, but he seems to make it worse with bad spending habits. He acquired roughly $3,000 in short-term, high interest loans and frequently purchases online lottery tickets.
The situation is bleak, but not hopeless, at least according to Hammer.
“What I would do in general is I would just go get a job today. I would start driving Uber Eats,” he said. “I would also just go work a billion hours a week, every moment that you’re not sleeping.”
Hammer also recommends cutting back on gambling purchases, such as the lottery tickets, and online subscriptions. This could give Brent some room to pay off his debts quickly and stop relying on his parents for financial assistance.
“No more spending money on fun” until the debt is gone, Hammer suggested.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
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