I know how you feel. There are days that I just want to give up looking. I have been sending resumes and no calls. I have applied for full and part time since I got laid off almost 3 years. Only a few interviews I have gotten but never panned out. I am still too young to collect Social Security however do not know if this is true, but I was told you still can but it will not be the full amount that is originally due if one waited til retirement age.
However, Captain, I agree, we must never give up. I am 51 and I know it is hard to compete with younger generation that just came out of college. I do have my days where I just say forget it, but a part of me has a desire to continue on and fight back and praying I land a job even a part time.
Yet I fear as long liberals are in control of everything, we are headed downhill. All we can do is prepare and help each other.
I do wish you the very best in your endeavors of job hunting and pray you get the job you want or desire.
You can take an early SS retirement at age 62. The decrease in monthly payout is 25%. You get 75% of what you'd get if you waited until normal retirement which is age 66 for most people within 10-15 years of that. I did this and am still glad I did it.
Doing the math for my own case, it turns out that the added 25% to full term monthly payout would take 12 years to equal that 75% payout I got between age 62 to 65 - no brainer - I took it.
Another item to consider if you have a 401K or retirement plan that won't pay out until you are retirement age, there are provisions within the law that will let you get at that money in some fashion (hardship) at age 55 or older.
Regardless, I wish you well in your job search.
The worst part is that it isn’t better skills that keep companies looking to younger workers; it is the fact that they don’t have the same financial pressures as older workers with mortgages & children. Companies don’t have to deal with family plans for insurance or absenteeism due to sick children if they hire young workers (and they don’t seem concerned with results - for years I had received customer satisfaction surveys from banks, and haven’t seen one in quite a while; they would receive 99% negative comments since they laid off their older American employees and replaced them with young inexperianced foreigners).