Graduated high school, worked briefly for Ford, then a decade in the Navy, not a high paying positon. It’s probably fair to say he entered the work force in his early 30s.
Peak earnings, upper 70s.
It’s fair to assume that’s not a 25 year average.
Since he works, he’s been paying income and ss tax on all his earnings, at least a quarter.
$700 per month mortgage, that’s not living large in Chicago any more than a $200 per month auto payment is. I’m willing to assume he’s been just as extravagant in other expenses.
In those circumstances, expectations of saving enough to support a $70m retirement income at 59 aren’t realistic. It’s a function of our tax system.
He makes no criticism of his employer for firing him on the spot, in fact complements the employer.
He’s not interested in lawsuits.
All he says is it’s tough to get a job when you’re 50, which it is, and he might have to work the rest of his life to support himself, which he might.
Government help doesn’t come up at all. Other than the Peotone airport, which would be a local economic boom.
His solution
Is there a solution? Harry suggested two. One is the responsibility of the employee: He must keep himself employable by continuing his education and upgrading his skills. If you want a job, you must have a skill set that employers value. Such as? Management is an important one, he said.
That’s good advice for everyone.
His solution
Is there a solution? Harry suggested two. One is the responsibility of the employee: He must keep himself employable by continuing his education and upgrading his skills. If you want a job, you must have a skill set that employers value. Such as? Management is an important one, he said. That’s good advice for everyone.
Yes Harry offered the right solution. Some didn't read down to the bottom.
One way that older people can help keep themselves marketable is to have management skills. I can tell you from experience that companies are always starved for managers. Especially growing companies (and those companies are usually willing to pay a premium for good managers).
For some reason, precious few workers decide to take a management track in their careers. As a result, many of them end up dead-ending themselves like this guy evidently did. Good managers are much less expendable than worker bees. And once you are in management, age actually helps you. Earlier in my career, I was passed over for promotion on the basis of my youth and inexperience! Especially when you get into middle-management and the VP level - companies prefer to put forth seasoned, older people.
However, many workers are just not interested in management. I guess they are either intimidated by the job (feel they can't handle it) or they feel that they are being disloyal to their fellow workers by taking such a job. But being a manager is not as tough as it looks. It does require a thick skin, the ability to handle all types of people, strong organization skills and a positive can-do attitude. If you have those traits, you have the core skills to be a very effective manager.
Once you have established yourself as a manager, you can manage in just about any working environment, giving you many more career choices. For example, if you are an IT worker who specializes in Novell, you are pretty much limited to that niche until you train and get experience on some other platform. However, if you manage an IT department, you can manage an IT department anywhere regardless of what platforms they use. Hell, if you are a superb manager, you can manage a supermarket, a factory or a dry-cleaning business. Because no matter where you work as a manager, managing is pretty much the same. You manage people, profit, and control expense. So whether your company sells soda, computers, cars or services, all you need is a primer on your companies core functions. All other facets of management are transferable.