New Rule for Life #2: Working Longer and Keeping Your Skills Current

New Rule for Life #2: Remain able and qualified to work well into your 80s and beyond. Track where work-for-pay is going AND keep your marketable skills and certifications current/relevant.

She came to me for advice. Not financial advice. That’s not what I do and, besides, she already has a great financial advisor. “What can I do to make some money?”, she asked. Where can I get a job at 77?
Janice’s husband recently died. They retired right on time at 65 and have had a great 12 year life of leisure and travel. They have known for some time that they were beginning to run out of money, but their plan assumed they would both be deceased before that happened. Life goes according to plan, right? Maybe 30 years ago but not today.
What would the key components need to be for Janice to be able to go back to work reasonably quickly?
1. Don’t assume that at 77 it’s all hopeless. Of course how well Janice has taken care of herself physically and intellectually will be a big factor. 77 is no longer ancient. In fact, age is no longer the point BUT the more vital and able she seems to herself and others, the better off she will be.
2. Live in an area where opportunities actually exist.
3. Update her vocabulary and understanding of what work-for-pay has become. It doesn’t just mean JOB any more and if she limits herself to jobs, she will unwittingly take herself out of the race too often.
4. Develop a new network of people who are currently working and know who she is and what she can do.
5. Get a budget and a plan together. Expect to have to adapt.
6. Join support group(s) of people in similar situations.
7. Start getting “retrained”. Make VERY intelligent selections about what she will study. A recent New York Times article points out that simply having rudimentary technology skills won’t be enough.

As she said to me at the end of our conversation, wrinkling her nose, “I can always go live with my kids. After all, I supported them for years. But that really misses the point, doesn’t it? Wherever I am I still need to get my employment/revenue generation act together because 1. It gives me hope and energy and 2. Keeps me primarily responsible for myself. I like the sound of that.”