Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire End of career

Well i got my notice last week. not a total surprise but still a kick in the nuts. spent a lot of time soul searching. i'm 59, debt free, we have lived well below our means and while not rich, could swing it if push comes to shove, big unknowns aside. what i have is what i saved, no pension or anything like that. still wanted to work til 62 to buy some big ticket items though which i am not going to do unless i get another job. while i am marketable, i am also competing against people half my age, 2/3 my salary and frankly usually quicker learners. my ability to learn new complicated things has diminished in the past 10 or so years and my field changes a lot. i am looking for work but am bracing for the worst. fortunately my company is giving me a pretty good severance pkg which really helps. my emotions run the gamut from scared to happy to hopeful to anxious and all flavors in between. last time this happened was right smack dab in the middle of 2008 recession and i was schitting bricks with kids, mortgage, car payment, etc. totally different feeling now. i haven't enjoyed my line of work for 15 or more years but it pays really well. considering some totally different job but not sure what. most jobs suck and if a job is going to suck, i want it to pay well if possible. i have worked for 45 years and always been a saver. switching to being a spender is disconcerting.

anybody else ever just totally changed jobs at this point? the panhandling gig seems pretty good. just need to stay away from the intersections around clarksville.

You seem like a good person, you're going to be just fine, if I had to guess. If you have some cushion, why not try self-employment so you can control your own destiny?

Good luck in the next Chapter

Good Luck with it. Work on solutions you have control over and try not to stress out to much over the things you don’t.

A good man lands on his feet.

If your wife isn't in a job that has health insurance be prepared for another big kick in the nuts when you have to buy health insurance.

thanks, i appreciate the kind words. i've never been self employed and not sure how to do it at this point. i am in the IT field and considered going with a contract company doing hit and run type stuff.

Best of luck.

Not sure of what kinda IT work you do, check with local community colleges. They may need a part time instructor.


Look at the bright side, Col Sanders was 62 when he started KFC.

she's not and is actually retiring in a few months and going on social security in september. i can get keep my health insurance for 12 months for $675 month. its good too with low/no copays. after that i have 12 months of COBRA if i need it. i have the budget figured out and we can actually live ok on unemployment, especially with the covid bump.

if my wife had a good job with health insurance and not retiring, i would be golden. but her job is killing her and she deserves to retire.

This. I should have retired 10 years earlier to do the hunting and fishing i wanted to do, but i liked taking care of folks with ocular disease even though Zero and Ins screwed things pretty much.

Now im not tough enough to wade fish all day or flounder gig all night or hunt high and pack elk out.
Count your blessings and good fortune.

Sorry you lost your job, lots of people in that boat. When you get older getting a job gets harder.

i do systems/network admin work but don't have a degree. i would like being an instructor but they all want degrees.

Good luck with whatever you decide. I might be in your shoes shortly if air travel doesn’t pick up soon.

Not sure how your state is setup,

MS has adult Workforce classes. Non degree, certificate type classes. Some of the instructors for that have no degrees. Just tons of experience.

Me, I’d take a guy with years of experience with no degree VS a kid with book learning and no real world experience.

that is a pretty good article and is sort of my attitude. my work is stressful at times and i know it takes its toll on me. i realized way too late in the game that my career field did not fit my psyche well at all. but i was too far into it, with family, etc to change. and frankly didn't have the balls or the energy. now my conundrum is:

1 - look for a job in the same field and stress level and pay. i am concerned if i don't work in my field for more than a few months i am going to lose my skills
2 - collect unemployment for as long as possible and then look for a different type of job and let fate steer me. kind of think this also isn't going to fit my psyche either. might be more stressed without the pay.
3 - spend my days at the legion drinking all day and bitching about biden and hope i die by 80.

You sound like a good guy who is motivated. Perhaps view this as an OPPORTUNITY to do something different. I think if a guy like you views it as such, you may be pleasantly surprised with the outcome. Good luck!

Pretty much anyone can do lawns, the guy that does mine makes 6 figures a yr.

Canned in 2008 w 599 other salaried.
Took 2 yrs tonland a gig w insurance, and not what I used to do. Took yrs to get back to where I was wage wise.

Expecting layoffs w Biden at the helm.

Snow and ice, heading out to driveway to work on my POS 98 suv. Aint gonna buy nothing new(er) til a conservative prez.

Sorry to hear of your situation. I chose to leave my job at 59 when the employer was downsizing and offered buyouts to the senior people.
Best decision I ever made. If you can swing it financially retirement is a gift.