Career = Reserve funds

Michael Haubrich explains his career asset management model in detail in his upcoming self-published book, “Your Career Asset: Developing, Managing and Optimizing Your Greatest Financial Advantage.” Central to his concept is the career asset working capital fund. It is a reserve fund separate from a client's emergency cash reserves. That doesn't mean the funds cannot be pooled together, but the amount needs to be considered separately, he said. The amount varies based on “career velocity” — the number of job changes — and “career volatility” — the variance of pay over time. Working capital for the career asset has three parts — funding skill set maintenance and development (lifelong learning), funding job changes and funding career sabbaticals necessary for personal transitions, such as the birth of a child or career rehabilitation. The first item should be reflected as an expense on an annual income statement and the other two goals should be factored into longer-term reserve funds.