Too Old to Be Hired, Too Young to Retire: 11 Ways to Survive the Midlife Reinvention Years

Monday 23 March 2026

[nickcarraway]

Too old to be hired, too young to retire: 11 ways to survive the midlife reinvention years (Article can only be linked to, per FR rules.)

[GingisK]

Keypunch. Line printer. Caps only. Ah, those were the days! Where is a good ‘ole ASR33 when you need one?

[mass55th]

Never experienced that myself thankfully.

[mass55th]

A lot of people retire and have no interests to keep them occupied. I'm in my 23rd year of retirement, and haven't been bored a day. I already enjoyed reading prior to retirement, and spend as many afternoons as I can reading from a pile of books each day.

When I started my career in NY State Corrections, the life expectancy of a Correction Officer was 56. After doing 25 years, that was the age I'd be when I could retire. I vowed to myself the first day that I wouldn't die working for NY State. I had no plains or desire to work after retirement. Having to be at a certain place, at a certain time for 25 years ended any thought of having to do it again once I retired. My biggest concern about retirement was being able to afford to retire. I attended a State-sponsored retirement forum. They went over everything, and I realized that my pension would cover my needs until social security kicked in. I was one of the lucky ones. I lived to retire. A lot of the people I worked with didn't, and a lot of them were younger than me.

I'm busy during the day that I don't watch TV at all until later in the evening. I worked mostly the 3-11 p.m. shift by choice, so when I retired, I maintained that same schedule. I don't go to bed until 4 or 5 a.m., get up between 11 a.m. and noon, make breakfast, and relax. The only time I leave the house is for a doctor's appointment, hit a grocery store, or visiting family who live about 2 hours east and west of me. I did a lot of traveling when I was working, and in my early retirement years. That was enough for me.

[AZJeep]

yes, that used to be the case.
But nowadays, I hear nothing, but complains about the work ethic of the younger workers.
Maybe, you should give it a try?

[mass55th]

9. I don’t practice Islam, won’t be bringing a prayer rug to work, won’t need a special area to wash my hands and feet, won’t be asking to get out of work early on Fridays to attend Jumah services.

[AZJeep]

the 3-11 p.m. shift by choice,
__________________

I worked that shift for while too! Great choice!
You have lots of time to take care about shopping, appointments, etc. during the morning,
Our Company was giving us generous shift premium so those were my premium earning years too!
Unfortunately, then the business slowed down and they canceled that shift.
Back to getting up early!

[mass55th]

My second oldest sister went to work for Rochester Telephone Company in Rochester, NY at 17, having graduated from high school in 1960. She retired 33 years later at 50. She wasn't the type of person who had interests outside of work, so she ended up getting part-time jobs to pass the time. Her job at the phone company was as a higher-ranking Representative, so she spent a lot of time on the phone resolving complaints from people that were shifted up to her. I could never understand after having dealt with the public for many years, why she would want to do it again after she retired. She said she liked what she had been doing, and she liked people. The part-time jobs she had were mostly in grocery stores, and the lesson she learned was that the management at the stores she worked, didn't want to have to discipline the younger employees, so they'd give my sister, the stuff the youngsters wouldn't do, because she was older, and reliable.

I worked in Corrections for 25 years, and dealt with a whole bunch of different people whether it was inmates, their visitors, other uniformed staff, civilian staff, and the idiot big wigs. I'm a 78 year old woman, and only worked in male prisons. The last thing I wanted to do after I retired was have to find a job and deal with other employees, especially younger ones, or the public, because of the attitude I developed during my years in Corrections. It's a good thing I never needed another job to make ends meet, because I'd likely have been sacked the first day for telling some angry, belligerent person to go F themselves.

[mass55th]

"I worked that shift for while too! Great choice!"

At the prison, the majority of the brass went home at 4 p.m., so the prison ran a lot better after those idiots were gone for the day.

[MuttTheHoople]

I do not think this applies anymore.

The young people do not know how to work, the younger, the worse. Employers nowadays love to hire older folks, because their work ethic!

I've found this out. One study showed that over 60% of the 2024 college graduates hired were fired by their companies after 6 months. Employers are looking for people who

a) Show up on time and

b.) Don't smell like shit.

[stevio]

b.) Don't smell like shit.

You mean, literally?

[AZJeep]

Yeah, that was a plus too!

[DIRTYSECRET]

Any p-dogs to shoot in eastern Wa? I’d shoot any small varmint.

[MuttTheHoople]

Yes. We have sub-continenters (Indian, Pakistani, Nepali) who smell like they've never taken a bath.

[MuttTheHoople]

As an aside, I was hired by my latest firm at age 61...and I’m making the most money I’ve earned in my life. The younger engineers appreciate someone who’s seen stuff before and know their way around administration. The older ones like having someone there who share stories of the good old days.

[PROCON]

Any p-dogs to shoot in eastern Wa? I’d shoot any small varmint.

We have a lot of fruit trees out here and the ground squirrels make great targets with a .22 rifle riding through the orchards.

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

They are blatant about it too...60? What are you doing trying to work here.

[stevio]

I’m in a similar situation. Became good at my craft and was just hired full-time from contractor. Weird thinking that this may probably be my last professional position. It’s all in God’s hands.

[AbolishCSEU]

I’m 65 and retired from an IT job with the county where I supported the 911 computer systems and sheriff software/hardware. The old office had a current employee for the helpdesk that didn’t want to work (twenty something) and was aspiring to go out on permanent disability unless she could work 100% remote!

[mass55th]

"The old office had a current employee for the helpdesk that didn’t want to work (twenty something) and was aspiring to go out on permanent disability unless she could work 100% remote!"

It's sad that there are so many useless souls out there looking for an easy out.