Do you know anyone who is prospering in this economy right now?

Maybe I just don't know the right people, but I was just thinking yesterday about how I really don't know a single person who hasn't been personally affected by this recession now. When things first started getting bad back in the fall, it was hit or miss. Now, I know about as many unemployed people as I do people who are just barely hanging on to their jobs or who have had to take pay cuts or other cuts in benefits just to stay employed. I have yet to meet someone who is "recession-proof." What about you all? Or are any of you doing really well? If so, what's your secret? lol

so I'm pretty happy.

That's really great! I was pulling for my husband to get a raise this year, but at evaluation time, Intel basically said everybody gets to keep their jobs. So we took it. lol

In this economy, that is an achievement!

I'm a university professor, though, so the environment is a bit different for us.

When both of us are working FT at the same time, we are going to feel so rich.

Of course, I decided to try and start a freelancing business during all this. My expectations of its initial performance haven't been too high, but then again, my expectations of trying to find employment right now have been even lower. Even volunteering jobs are hard to get right now.

I'm a renter, so I haven't had to worry about my home losing value.
I pulled out of stocks about a year ago, so I'm only down a few % in my 401k.
And my job isn't really subject to the whims of the business cycle.

Meanwhile, I'm scouting the real estate market for something to buy and being very glad I decided to wait.

I know we are at least 2 years deep in a recession, but it hasn't hit me or anyone I know yet. Personal anecdotes are pretty meaningless when we all know unemployment will probably reach 10% before this is over.

Count yourself lucky.

but they've been given pretty rich offers. My TIAA/CREF income will drop starting next month but my husbands retirement income increased substantially more than mine dropped.

We had record profits last year and have been having a good 2009 so far. Only 2 upcoming projects have been put on hold due to the economy. I'm a mechanical engineer.

I'm an electrical contractor and I have EE's asking me for jobs.It's pretty bad out there when engineers are willing to be wirejerks.

There is a real shortage.

so we're used to adjusting according to events. We really know how to stretch a dime. I have one niece that's been out of work since the fall. She's doing something completely different now, just as a fill in while waiting for a job in her field, but she seems pretty happy, and is eeking out enough to survive. A friend of ours who is a carpenter was having a really hard time last fall, but he found something that is working out good as well. Funny how sometimes good comes out of bad.

He's worth approximately $120 million. He runs the business off of investment interest. He employs six people, five of them at $100,000 or more & he offers very generous benefits. They had a meeting a few weeks ago & he is pulling the plug in December because his investments are not doing well. Nice of him to give them that much notice!

As for me & my husband, we are weathering this well. I wouldn't say we're recession proof, but several years ago we decided to pay off our little house instead of moving up into a bigger, newer home. It was a little difficult for me at the time, since I had spent hours looking at new houses & they were all so much nicer than our house. Our decision was largely motivated by the fact that we lost a house in the S&L crisis in the 80s. In that small neighborhood alone there were 12 houses for sale! We got offers where we would have had to bring $30k to the closing table. One offer even stated that all our personal belongings were included with the sale. WTF? Awful as that whole experience was, I'm glad we at least learned something from it - real estate doesn't always go up.

....both of them have small children. Another family member owns a small established business that is now touch and go, dependent on the customers to spend five bucks for coffee. Another family member is a retiree whose pension has shrunk. And on top of it all, the family renting a home is displaced; the landlord hasn't paid the mortgage since September, despite collecting the rent.

So there's a fair amount of desperation. Families can't live together to save costs if some of them have to leave the area to find work. They're trapped.

to their competitors, so while those that failed are out of luck, the others are doing quite well.

There were three homes that sold in my area for "cheap" and the new owners are doing a complete overhaul and upgrading the homes. I hear bull dozer's and tree trimming all around me, see paint crews, roofers and stucco companies fixing places up. Good for my community as it will be a PLUS when the economy gets better.

My son works for a very famous tennis player that once owned 6 places here (as an investment) but has decided to re-locate and is selling ALL homes here at what I can only call "basement" prices!!! Really good deals, the person I assume is just going to cut the losses and claim them at the end of the year. I don't know how that works, but the prices being asked have been cut in half from just 6 months ago. Anyone with $600,000 can buy the 30 acre place! And this is a county that ranks either 2nd or 3rd in per capita income in Florida!

So while many are taking losses, many are snapping up the "good deals!" I have 5 acres of land that we bought for an investment but won't be selling as long as I can pay the taxes!

So it's a mixed bag here!

The unemployment rate is low, the casinos are booming (unlike in Vegas and Reno,) and there are few signs of a recession. This is because our dominant industry is gold mining, and the price of gold has held up very nicely. Industrial demand for gold is down, but that is offset by the fact that a lot of investors have moved to gold as a safe haven for their investments. So ironically enough, as long as the world wide economy struggles, we will be fine here.

Was just there today; his assistant said a lot of people are worried about possibly losing jobs and insurance, so they are getting all the dental work done that they had been putting off.

Sad but true.

He is an attorney that specializes in bankruptcies.

He's been sleeping at his office because they can't keep up.

travelled the world. came back and got jobs again.

Business is down. I believe people are still getting married, but the big wedding is not as big any more. My business in 2007 was half of what it was in the years before, and it's the same for most of my old friends I still talk to from the industry. The days of dropping 20, 30, 40 even 80 grand on a wedding are over, except for those most insulated from this economic crisis.