(This is not meant to be a political post. Please do not misunderstand my intention.)

Let's face facts: The median income of the American family peaked in 1999.

Take some note of that chart. First off, it's about household income in real dollars. Economists like to measure things in “real” terms—what they do is they baseline the U.S. Dollar at some year in the past and then compare the purchasing power of today's dollar (also called a “nominal dollar”).to that of that past, baselined dollar.

In essence, they remove the effects of inflation in seeking to compare “real income” over a span of years.

Also note that this is “household income.” It's not per individual. Take special note that more women have entered the workforce since 1967.

It's a Crummy Economy

So this graph is telling us that real incomes rose from around $40,000 in 1967 to around $54,000 in 1999 per household. Positive is good, right?

In reality, real incomes have not increased a whole heckuva lot, especially when you factor in the costs associated with women entering the workforce (day care chief among them, but also the necessity for 2 cars in many households and the associated costs with maintaining, insuring, and fueling an extra car).

Note also that the decade, 2001-2010, was essentially a “wash,” in that household incomes dipped then rose to almost meet the 1999 peak. And the deep recession that officially began in December 2007 (http://www.nber.org/cycles.html) and ended in 2009 saw a pretty sharp drop all the way down to about 1997 levels.

And let's not forget about the unemployment rate that has been pretty high, too, the last several years and wasn't good during this century's first decade.

What does all this suggest?

It's not your “typical economy” any more. No longer can you go to school, earn a degree, get a job, and stay there for the duration of your career. It just isn't going to happen any more.

Furthermore, it is doubtful that most “full-time” workers will ever have full-time incomes. Many families are having difficulty making ends meet and are trying to get 3rd and 4th jobs just to put food on the table.

Internet Marketing Coaching May Be in Your Future

Now, I said all that to say this: Take action and be bold. Learn some skills today that will help insulate you from the perils of the tenuous job market that we're seeing right now. I fear that the job market will never be the same.

But that doesn't mean you cry about it, or quit. It means you take the bull by the horns and learn some online marketing skills that can earn you enough money to buy you the “nice-to-haves” in this life without relying on a JOB.

It also means that you can weather another economic storm by building up enough savings from your internet business just in case you need to pull from savings while you're looking for that next job.

Additionally, some of you may find that a thriving internet marketing business can replace your day job.

Wouldn't that be grand?

• How awesome might it be to find yourself “in the black” at the end of each month rather than “in the red?”
• How cool would it be to finally start saving some money at month's end?
• Would it be totally cool if you could quit your job and do this full time?

Of course, each of those things would be incredible. Let's take some baby steps. Start small and build up.

If you are serious about learning some internet marketing skills that could tide you over in rough times and even replace your current income some day down the road, then head on over to The Coaching Academy, where you can find out how to do all the stuff you need to know in order to get your internet marketing business off the ground.