Artificial intelligence (AI) is causing an existential crisis for many workers, myself included. With the rise of AI, I’ve often found myself wondering: what’s the point? If AI is going to take over, why bother trying?
Maybe you’ve felt the same way—worried about how to safeguard your future from AI. Or perhaps you’re a parent wondering if there will even be good jobs for your kids after spending a fortune on their education. If so, this post may help you and your children prepare for what could be a challenging future.
The Existential Crisis You Might Face
An existential crisis is a period of deep questioning about life’s meaning, purpose, or value. It often involves grappling with questions like:
- Why am I here?
- What is the purpose of life?
- Does anything I do really matter?
These crises can be triggered by major life events like loss, failure, aging, technological change, or transitions such as retirement or a career change. While they can feel overwhelming—bringing anxiety, despair, or a sense of being lost—they also present opportunities for personal growth and a renewed focus on your priorities.
When I first retired in 2012, I faced my own existential crisis. It took me years to adjust and find peace in my new role. I don’t want AI to trigger a similar crisis for you, making everything you’ve worked for feel obsolete. That would be a double gut punch.
The reality is, all good things eventually come to an end. When that moment comes, you’ll either panic or adapt and find ways to thrive. And if you’re reading this, I know you’re the type to plan ahead and rise to the challenge.
The Good Thing About Being Unemployed Or Retired
The silver lining of being unemployed or retired is that there’s no job for artificial intelligence to take from you. However, if you’re looking to re-enter the workforce, finding a job will likely be much harder. For retirees, you might simply find yourself as an interested bystander, observing AI’s disruption of the labor market from the sidelines.
As a semi-retiree running Financial Samurai, even this site is facing an existential crisis of its own. With AI companies like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Perplexity copying my work without attribution, and Google prioritizing AI-generated content taken from writers at the top of search results, driving traffic to the site is becoming increasingly challenging.
Originally, my plan was to operate Financial Samurai for 10 years—from July 2009 to July 2019—and then step away from the creative endeavor. However, the birth of my daughter in December 2019 and the pandemic gave me a renewed sense of purpose and more time to write. I had insights to share, worries to process, and a desire to record this unique time in our lives.
Now that the pandemic is behind us and AI has arrived in full force, my desire to pivot and do something new has grown again. I’m now more than five years past my original goal of running this site. Sometimes, it’s important to acknowledge when the end of a chapter is near and embrace the opportunity to move forward.
Sam Altman says “people will lose jobs” to AI and “not everyone’s going to like all of the impacts, but this is coming. This is a scientific achievement of humanity that is going to get embedded in everything we do,” per tsarnick. pic.twitter.com/2zCV6PO70u
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) December 15, 2024
Existential Crisis Survival Plan Due To Artificial Intelligence
Although I don’t rely on Financial Samurai for survival, it has provided supplemental retirement income that I’ve grown accustomed to earning for over a decade. Since 2009, I’ve also dedicated roughly 20 hours a week to maintaining the site. Losing that income, along with suddenly having 20 extra hours of free time each week, would be a significant adjustment.
Here’s my existential crisis survival plan for Financial Samurai—and for my children, who will likely face an even tougher time getting ahead in an AI-driven world. This survival guide should also help you better prepare if your occupation is at risk of AI distribution as well.
1) Estimate when you’ll lose your job or livelihood due to AI
Just as actuaries calculate life expectancy to design profitable insurance plans, we should estimate how long our job or business might last before being eliminated by AI. Develop a worst-case, base-case, and best-case scenario.
With realistic timelines for how much earning potential remains, you can better prepare for the worst-case outcome. The more time you have to plan, the better equipped you’ll be. Don’t be complacent—many people remain unaware of the rapid advancements in AI and the companies driving them, leaving them unprepared for what’s coming.
Personally, I’ve set a base-case scenario that Financial Samurai will be rendered obsolete by December 31, 2027. This timeline gives me enough room to prepare, though the end could arrive sooner with any of the frequent Google algorithm updates throughout the year.
Below is one of numerous examples of individual, hard-working creators getting punished by Google and AI for no good reason. Her traffic keeps going down after some head-fakes. I expect this to happen to me one day out of the blue.
2) Save Aggressively—Beyond What You Thought Possible
With your estimated timeline of demise, it’s crucial to push your savings rate to the highest possible level. My recommendation is a minimum of 50%, and much higher if your timeline is short.
If you save and invest 50% of your after-tax income annually, you effectively buy yourself one year of financial freedom for every year you work. But if you can save 70%, you gain 2.33 years of freedom for every year you save.
Personally, I plan to increase my savings rate from online income to 90% (up from an 80% average) until December 31, 2027. It’s not 100% because my passive investment income falls short of fully covering our current living expenses after we bought a new house in 2023.
Embrace my motto: “If the amount of money you’re saving each month doesn’t hurt, you’re not saving enough!” This is a matter of financial survival. Push yourself to save as much as you possibly can, starting now.
3) Diversify Your Investments to Boost Passive Income
Boosting your savings rate is only part of the equation. To secure your financial future, you also need to invest those savings in assets with the potential for positive returns. Given the existential crisis facing you and your job, it’s best to focus on three core investment classes: stocks, bonds, and real estate.
Earning a reasonable return, say 4%–8%, on your investments will further accelerate your financial freedom. Here’s a net worth asset allocation framework to consider if you’re seeking a logical way to invest.
Your ultimate goal should be to generate enough passive investment income to cover 100% of your desired living expenses. If reaching that milestone feels too ambitious, aim for at least the Minimum Investment Amount that makes work optional. Alternatively, target a net worth (excluding your primary residence) of 25X–50X your annual expenses.
By December 31, 2027, I hope to achieve full coverage of our living expenses through passive investment income. If I can hit that target, I’ll be financially independent enough that the impact of AI on my active income will no longer matter.
4) Diversify Your Active Income Streams
As you build your savings and diversify your passive income, it’s equally important to diversify your active income streams. Ideally, you’ll want to focus on skills or products that are harder for AI to replicate. In other words, think about jobs that require in-person interaction and hands-on work.
For example, you could build a clientele teaching a musical instrument, coaching a sport, or offering personal services like tutoring. Alternatively, you could leverage your professional expertise to consult one-on-one with clients who need your guidance. The less dependent your work is on AI, the better.
Learn To Use Your Hands
Personally, I’m considering building a clientele for pickleball and tennis lessons. Every time I visit my local public park on a weekday, I see tennis coaches charging $120–$140 per hour. It’s a great way to meet people, enjoy some sunshine and exercise, and get paid. Going from writing 20 hours a week to coaching for 20 hours a week could generate at least $2,400 a week. That’s great supplemental retirement income!
I could also increase my personal finance consulting efforts, something I don’t actively promote on Financial Samurai due to overwhelming demand. Many people have to search for my page to find these services, but it’s another avenue to pursue through December 31, 2027.
Diversifying your active income streams is simply smart financial planning. Look at how creators on TikTok are branching out to Instagram and YouTube, just in case TikTok gets banned.
5) Grow Your Personal Brand
Everybody has a personal brand, whether they know it or not. The only way to thrive in a world where everything is becoming commoditized is to stand out. To achieve this, building a personal brand that people recognize and trust is essential.
A strong personal brand should embody these key qualities:
- Reliability
- Likability
- Dependability
- Creativity
If you can be both dependable and likable, you’re more than halfway there. People naturally promote and hire those they identify with. If you don’t belong to the majority, it’s even more crucial to develop a personal brand that sets you apart.
To amplify your personal brand—or simply make it discoverable—you should have your own website. Think of it as a dynamic resume where you showcase who you are and what you’re up to. Employers and investors appreciate the opportunity to learn about you before committing to a partnership.
6) Invest Aggressively in Artificial Intelligence Companies
If you can’t beat AI companies in terms of their impact on your career, you might as well join them. By investing in AI companies, you can hedge against a difficult future for yourself and your children. It’s clear to me that many jobs are at risk of being eliminated by AI. Even physical jobs like driving for Uber or delivering groceries are threatened by autonomous cars and robots.
Ever since AI became a game-changer in 2022, I’ve ramped up my investments in both public and private AI companies. Because I strongly believe in the AI trend, I’m less concerned with valuations more focused on its long-term impact on the labor market.
I own shares in public companies like Google, Microsoft, Apple, NVIDIA, Tesla, and Meta. In addition, I’ve been dollar-cost averaging into Fundrise’s Venture product, which invests in top private AI companies and other private growth companies.
My goal is to build a $500,000 position in private AI-related investments and by December 31, 2027. Coupled with my public AI-related investments, I will have over $2 million in exposure.
If the $2 million compounds at 6% – 15% a year for 20 years, it will grow to $6.4 – $32.7 million. With this amount of money, my then adult children should be able to live on a minimum wage job or no job for a while.
7) Invest For Your Children Today
I’ve lived in San Francisco since 2001 and have moved through five different neighborhoods during that time. In each of these neighborhoods, at least one of my neighbors has been an adult man who still lives at home with his parents or is living alone in his parents’ homes. The reason? None of them can make enough money to live comfortably on their own.
In 10–20 years, artificial intelligence will make it even harder for young people to find well-paying jobs. This reality means it’s up to parents to save and invest aggressively for our children’s futures today.
This includes opening custodial investment accounts, contributing to Roth IRAs, saving in 529 plans, and buying rental properties for career insurance. In addition, we must teach our children practical skills so they can use their hands to earn.
Picture a world where, after spending 17–21 years in school, and possibly accumulating significant college debt, your kids are told they can’t even get a job at McDonald’s because food prep and cashier tasks are automated. Now imagine your 30-year-old son, still living at home eight years after college, unable to use his $1 million computer science degree because his skills are no longer in demand.
Even today, the median income for Ivy League graduates is only about $91,000. That’s not particularly high for individuals who ranked in the top 1% of their high school class and may have paid a premium for their education.
8) Learn How To Use More AI Apps To Improve Your Productivity
You don’t need to be great at math anymore—just know how to use a calculator. To protect yourself from AI disrupting your life, it’s crucial to master as many AI apps as possible. While most people stick to ChatGPT and Anthropic, there’s an entire ecosystem of AI tools designed to help you excel at your job. Here’s a list of some of them:
I will use AI for better voice dictation so I can write my posts while in the hot tub. I’m also exploring AI apps that can record podcasts in my voice, create videos, and maybe even draft posts that sound like me—with my edits, of course. Finally, I will upgrade my website’s search box to an AI-powered version that can answer any question based on the content I’ve written.
9) Develop Good Relationships By Helping Others
Finally, if we find ourselves facing a dire future thanks to AI, strong relationships will be essential for survival. The wealthiest and most powerful individuals are likely to become even more dominant. That’s why it’s crucial to start building connections with them today, preferably before they are huge successes.
When opportunities are scarce, people naturally prioritize their own circles, and those with wealth and power are no exception. If you don’t resemble or share common ground with them, focus on being valuable. The more you can contribute and help others, the more likely they’ll reciprocate when you need it most.
Enjoy the Good Times While They Last
Embrace the reality that artificial intelligence will eventually eliminate your job and put you out to pasture. More importantly, understand that all the effort and money you’re spending raising your children to be successful, independent adults may ultimately be for nothing.
I haven’t been this confident about a long-term investment trend since I invested heavily in heartland real estate back in 2016 and 2017, believing in a demographic shift to lower-cost areas of the country. Those investments have generally turned out well, especially after the pandemic accelerated working from home.
Yes, maybe I’m overly influenced by living in San Francisco, where the top AI companies were founded or have offices. But I speak to employees at these firms and venture capitalists regularly, and there’s no stopping AI from disrupting most of our lives. It’s already disrupted mine, starting with the elimination of my father’s job as a Financial Samurai editor.
Let’s make the most of the time we have left with the jobs we hold and the companies we run. Eventually, they may be gone, but by then, we’ll hopefully have built enough financial strength to be just fine.
Reader Questions About The AI Existential Crisis
Readers, how are you preparing for the existential crisis that AI poses to your job, company, or product? How are you protecting yourself and your children from a future where your services may no longer be needed? Do you think you’ll be able to get rich enough to not care about the destruction AI will bring?
To expedite your journey to financial freedom, join over 60,000 others and subscribe to the free Financial Samurai newsletter and to my posts as soon as they come out. Financial Samurai is among the largest independently-owned personal finance websites, established in 2009. Everything is written based on firsthand experience.
