John Riley
Hometown: Philadelphia, Pa.
I worked for a large technology firm for about 10 years, but then the recession hit and a lot of our contracts dried up. I was laid off last year, and luckily, I found a job a few days later.
While the salary was the same, decreasing benefits reduced my discretionary income by about 10% to 15%. I suddenly had no 401(k) matching, a frozen pension and rising health care premiums.
One of the biggest questions my wife and I have had is, do we continue to contribute to retirement? Or do we steal from the future in order to make ends meet today?
Over the last 10 years, I've seen a lot of the tech jobs shipped overseas to India, and even Austria and Ukraine now. I think there's a definite impact on our wages here because of it.
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Last updated February 18 2011: 8:13 AM ET
