Posted on 09/20/2010 8:55:39 AM PDT by Pining_4_TX
Patricia Reid is not in her 70s, an age when many Americans continue to work. She is not even in her 60s. She is just 57.
But four years after losing her job she cannot, in her darkest moments, escape a nagging thought: she may never work again.
College educated, with a degree in business administration, she is experienced, having worked for two decades as an internal auditor and analyst at Boeing before losing that job.
But that does not seem to matter, not for her and not for a growing number of people in their 50s and 60s who desperately want or need to work to pay for retirement and who are starting to worry that they may be discarded from the work force — forever.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
What do you do about health insurance?
I know that there are several doctors who no longer accept health insurance which enables them to keep their costs and prices down. Do you use something like this?
Of course, if this catches on, the government will find a way to shut it down. They are hell bent on forcing socialized medicine on the US.
You mean, these 50somethings can’t even find employment at Walmart? I call bs.
“Majorly underemployed”
Right there!
When I work (master electrician, age 50) I’m actually making more per hour than I ever have, but who can survive working 2-16 hours per week with periods of no work at all?
Right now moving in the direction of self-employment.
Maybe they can and maybe they can’t. Most companies will not hire someone for a job if they are overqualified, because they figure that person won’t stay long.
Also, if you have a mortgage or rent, kids in college, a car payment, and/or other obligations, you can’t just make it on half of what you were making at your old job.
There is still the problem of health insurance. Walmart often hires people for part-time so they don’t have to pay benefits. I don’t blame them, because the government has created this problem, but it doesn’t help people who need medical care.
I’m 56 and was just laid off. I’d be in a pickle if it weren’t for the fact that I’m an adjunct on the side. But it pays much less than what I need to make. This concerns me. However, there have also been articles that some companies prefer older employees because they are less self-centered than younger employees. We’ll see.
There are only so many jobs at WalMart. Are we completely lacking in any sort of compassion? We have a problem - not enough positions are being created to absorb the unemployed. Everything else is commentary.
This is news ?
Just how out of touch are they to only cover this now ?
“You mean, these 50somethings can’t even find employment at Walmart? I call bs.”
How many Walmarts are there...How many people over 50?
You flunked math?
lol.....Yeah, millions that lost their $70,000 a year careers, that took them 5 years of schooling to secure, and they'll all go work at Walmart for 7 bucks an hour...Hopefully they'll all stay healthy to to the day they drop dead in the households isle.
Of course they'll need to give up everything they own, and will likely be in major debt till they drop dead....
My family and friends have been urging me for years to market my spaghetti sauce. Didn’t know what steps to take so my first was a call to the “county” only to learn that in order to market my own stuff, it would have to be prepared in a “second kitchen” from my own (which I don’t have) and I since don’t have the funds to rent a kitchen off-sight, it’s still a (pipe)dream for me. Fortunately, I do have a job right now (I’m 59) and although I absolutely HATE it, that little voice reminds me that at least I have a job.
We’re self-employed and would like to move, but with the ups and downs of our income over the past 18 months, I’m not sure we could get another home loan, maybe ever. That’s a scary thought.
Ya mean each Walmart isn't going to hire 85,000 people over 50?
Welcome to the new America where the private sector is beat like a drum, on a daily basis.
Although I've survived with this company for 33 1/2 years so far, I get the feeling it's only a matter of time until I'm out the door. At that point, I don't have a clue what I'll do. There are laws against age discrimination, but no one follows them, and no one enforces them.
I've thought of starting my own business. I don't have capital to invest in starting a business unless I empty my retirement accounts - and I won't do that. That means that, at the age of 56 (or 57 or whenever I get laid off), I'd be trying to get a loan for a risky enterprise.
Makes me tired just thinking about it.
Maybe I'll just "retire" and supplement my income with a job as a WalMart greeter or something.
I am not worried ... I refuse to buy Obama Care and I will not pay the fine either so everything I own will be confiscated by the Gooberment anyway.
It’s a good thing I can Scuba dive... so I can retrieve all of my firearms that I lost in that horrible boating accident (so that I can live off the land).
TT
That way all the millions of government employees can continue to enjoy their lottery style tax paid government retirement pensions.
Charge less per hour and get more work. I'm not going to pay an electrician $100 an hour for relativly easy work. A little Ohm's Law and a cheap meter or probe gets a lot done around my ranch.
57 and have a practice...and this ain’t no guarantee too. Competition and my health are giving me problems. I can’t sell my practice like I had wished so that option for retirement is fading with the economy.
[You may not get as many clients as you want, but you will not be unemployed.]
Exactly. I’m over 50 and severely over self-employed (80 hrs+ per week) but also under paid. No worry about not having a job.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.