The 50’s Landmine
May 20, 2009 – 11:39 am
I’ve read a couple of articles recently that your 50’s is the most volatile and dangerous time of your financial life, primarily because finding and/or keeping your job can be difficult at this age.
Being a young kid myself (33) it’s hard for me to comprehend what kind of difficulties people face in their 50’s, but I’d like to give it a little though today. If you’ve experience difficulties in this area please leave a comment and let me know. I’d love to learn from the experiences of others.
I believe that age discrimination is still alive and a very real concern for many workers. I can only assume that the likelihood of losing your job increases during your 50’s, as these are your peak earning years. I also think most industries have shifted away from rewarding employees from making retention decisions based on tenure with the firm, because very few workers stay at the same company for more than five or seven years. The other thing I’ve noticed is that skill, throughput, and growth potential are often used as the basis for hiring and firing decisions, and all of these metrics are subjective.
It seems like this should diminish a bit over the next few years due to a combination of factors, including:
- many boomers will retire, potentially creating a gap for skilled workers
- most people are living longer, and most are not as prepared for retirement as they think. This leads me to believe that companies that require experience and skill will need to work well into the 60’s, 70’s, and beyond.
Check out these stats on those in their 50’s:
- Median household income: $60,586
- Median net worth: $182,300
- Percent with home equity: 80.70%
- Percent with credit card debt: 50.30%
- Median amount owed on cards: $2,700
- Percent with traditional pensions: 38.10%
- Percent with minor children: 40.30%
Source: Federal Reserve Survey of Consumer Finances, 2004 and MSN
So what can I do to mitigate these risks by the time I’m in my 50’s? Here are my ideas:
- keep my skills sharp, and pursue a wide variety of roles within my company. This will give me flexibility when updating my resume if I should lose my job or decide to go elsewhere.
- save now, while I can! I think a lot of people are going to be caught off guard by illness or job loss later in life, and I’d prefer to avoid a retirement plan that hinges on a high income and a lot of savings later in life.
- become debt free, including my home. debt free = flexibility if times get tough.
- seek out multiple streams of income. Beyond investment income I doubt I’ll actually do this. Nonetheless if you’re inclined and capable of starting a side business or monetizing a hobby, this will give you quite a bit of flexibility.
- Network network network. Most job placements are made through formal and informal networks. I’m not a big networker, but I do try to keep in touch with colleagues I’ve worked with in the past and try to help them out if an opportunity presents itself.
Image Credit: pedrosimoes7
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3 Responses to “The 50’s Landmine”
Being a young kid myself (33). LOL
By buy penny stock on May 23, 2009