The Everdend Project
no one is coming to save you█
That's not an alarmist statement and I'm not wearing a tin foil hat, it's just reality. Job markets are changing in ways humans haven't seen in quite some time.
I used to be paid to automate people out of their jobs, including myself, and that was using old-school tactics and programming, nothing like what these new LLMs can do and those systems do it even faster.
I'm not a marketer or some lying guru that's trying to sell you another useless bullshit course that isn't going to work. I'm definitely not a motivational speaker that's going to pat your shoulder and tell you what a wonderful and unique snowflake you are that can do anything in life you set your mind to because that's just more bullshit.
Here's the secret to living in a modern society: if you can't save your money and then put that money to work for you, you're going to have significant problems at some point. That's just a fact. Multi-million dollar athletes, actors, entertainers, fund managers, and lawyers go broke, why couldn't it happen to you?
At some point your career is going to end and you will be obsolete, whether it's age, emerging technology, or some other reason. And no government, employer program, or benefactor can be counted on. That's just life.
When it comes to your money, at some point, no one is coming to save you.
But here's what can be done and it doesn't matter if you're a 19 year old high school drop out working at Burger King with an extra $20 or a 70 year old who got aged out of their career 20 years ago and almost burned down an entire 401k: save your money in such a way that it earns you money. Put your money to work for you.
A silly example: Here's a super-simple super-low yield way that I use to beat the hell out of the disgusting APY my bank is currently giving me: The BlackRock iShares 0-3 Month Treasury Bond ETF (SGOV) pays an APY of 4.15%.
Back in 2012, I started with some of the ETFs I hold with $10, there is no barrier of entry anymore.
January 2026 Reset
I spent 23 years as a software contractor—a Fortune 500 company, government contracts, distributed systems patents, startups. I was the "fixer"—the guy companies called when systems were broken and needed to be rebuilt from scratch some of those times (would have cost more to 'rescue' the code base).
I finally landed what I thought was the forever job: RR Donnelley. Stable. Settled. Done with constant travel.
Then the company split into three and I was part of the layoff. That's just life and life doesn't owe anyone shit so move on.
Out of arrogance, I assumed I'd land another contract. The market had always been there before. Headhunters. Work. Opportunities.
I was wrong.
But, I had a backup plan.
Now full disclosure, it was a horribly under-funded plan that didn't save my ass from getting wiped out, but it was a plan. Anyone that's been through a sudden career cutoff can relate to the fact that when your ass is on fire and everything is burning down around you, you're not going to save any money. Forward-planning doesn't pay this months bills.
I'd been building toward systematic dividend investing for years—since 2012. Testing frameworks. Developing methodology. Learning how to build income streams independent of anyone else.
The plan just wasn't quite ready when the career collapsed. So here I am.
No Conflicts. No Bullshit. One Focus.
🔵 I am not affiliated with anyone.
🔵 I don't run third party ads. Not here. Not anywhere.
🔵 I don't accept sponsors. No one pays me to mention their product, service, platform, or tool.
🔵 I don't do affiliate links.
🔵 I don't get kickbacks.
🔵 I don't have partnerships.
🔵 I don't endorse products for money. Ever.
If I mention a tool, reference a platform, or discuss a service, it's because I actually use it. Not because someone paid me to talk about it. Not because I'm getting a commission and not because I have a relationship with them.
Here are some articles while everything else is put in place. The plan is simple: Do what wealthy people do and put money to work...