Lately, I have had to "deal" more and more with this question, not from friends (that was several years ago), but from insurance and credit companies. I recently switched my auto insurance for a better rate and had to go into the fact that I don't have to use my cars to drive to work since I work from home and will probably put less than 5000 miles/year on my vehicles. Needless to say, my rates are substantially lower, but the levels I had to go through to answer what I did for a living were ridiculous.
First, you have to realize that most of the people asking this question (whether on behalf of insurance/credit companies or at cocktail parties/BBQ's) don't have a clue to how markets work other than the little bit they sock away (if any) into a 401K. Remember the U.S. citizenship are net spenders/consumers and have negative savings rates. So, to make it easy, just remember most people don't have a pot to piss in, and if they do, they're one paycheck away from it being repossessed.
Now, with that in mind, back to the insurance "agent" (that BTW, is reporting to her cubicle every day for probably some menial sum and answering probably over a hundred phone calls per day, modern day slavery but most call it work) and her "occupation" question. I first stated that I am "self-employed", as this is usually the easiest route and the truth.
Well, evidently that's not specific enough so she needs "clarification". I state that I own my own private equity partnership. Again, the truth, but of course no "regular Joe or Jane" has the foggiest what private equity means. So, in some confusion she asks, "Private Equity? What's that?"
So, here we go I'm thinking as frustration is welling within. I start to think how much easier it would be to say I work in the food service industry, but oh the tribulations of the career trader/investor that makes a living doing what they love and are good at. Once again I try reverting to the mean, simplicity. "I am in finance." I thought that would do it since I'm sure she has some check box with "finance" next to it, and sure enough she does, but evidently it's not sufficient (probably sufficient enough for the insurance company, but not Mrs. Nosey Rosey), and she insists yet again on specifics. By this time I've had enough with the level of evident ignorance with which I am faced, so I must get "Medieval" and state, "I'm a wealthy, self-employed individual that invests in small to mid-sized private companies as well as select market derivatives on behalf of myself and fellow wealthy clients." (A truly cathartic statement which pretty much sums it up in the in-your-face way which I have found is required for the typical Joe and Jane six pack)
Needless to say, that was sufficient for all involved as the next words out of her mouth were, "Oh, that's great! Highest level of education completed?"
Just a walk through of the typical "What do you do for a living?" Q & A.
Happy Trading/Investing!
