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Silicon Valley's Angel Investors

Are we nuts? Why do we continue to put such effort into our careers when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are tanking faster than Ron Paul at a charisma contest? And the very names of these institutions don't exactly inspire confidence in their economic acumen. Smith-Barney, now that sounds like two jowly old Bluebloods in a wood-paneled room swirling brandy snifters and taking caviar intravenously as they discuss the horror and hardship of anyone making less than five million dollars a year. These guys know what to do with your money. Now, Fannie and Freddie sound more like the overweight couple in the sleeveless Monster Truck t-shirts who invest the profits from their Death Valley trailer park into an Ecuadorian alpaca farm.

We all know that none of us are safe. With China owning so much of our debt, my financial institution just changed its name to "Bank of What Was Formerly Known As America." They're definitely going downhill. Last week, the ATM gave me an I.O.U., and I could have sworn that when I was waiting in line for a teller to become available, they were calling out "next sucker, please!"

Meanwhile, more and more companies have to find ways to cut back on employee benefits just to stay afloat. I heard about one firm where they're combining catastrophic health coverage with a dental plan. So if you lose your arm and two thirds of your left nostril after playing Guitar Hero with your McCulloch Chain Saw and a Makita Power Drill as a microphone, your HMO provider will refuse you coverage claiming the accident never would have happened if you'd remembered to floss.

Every indicator seems to be pointing to the fact that no matter how much we try to specialize and make our skills competitive, the market is only going to find more ways to devalue us. And you thought you were being strategic about your career by seeking out niche skills, like the time you took up your evenings and weekends taking that adult education class in 18th Century spoon burnishing, I know that if I had a nickel for every time I took a skill-set building Webinar, I'd have enough money to sign up for another skill-set building Webinar. Or maybe that $29.95 DVD on how to set up your own Starbucks. Of course, this might be the wrong time, since they just closed six hundred franchises. Was it a good job? Sure, but the only marketable skill you needed was being able to write a customer's first name on a heat-treated paper cup with a Sharpie, and the ability to differentiate between 2%, low-fat, lactose-free, soy and organic rice milk.

When even this modest skill can no longer guarantee success in the workforce, where does that leave the rest of us? You know, the ones who constantly strive for something better, who continually listen to Deepak Chopra's latest audio book "The Power of Giving Me Your Money And How It Helps Me Reach A Broader Demographic Increasing My Wealth and Sense Of Self-Empowerment By Exploiting Yours." [The Unabridged Version.] Although, in my own defense, that's a little better than the guy in my office whose idea of a life's lesson is usually delivered by Larry the Cable Guy.