Changing careers

[Amira]

I did office work (business manager) for 36 years. Never loved it, never hated it - it put food on the table & provided a fairly nice retirement. Working for most of my life put my brain into work-mode and being retired is...hard. OK, no eye rolling please, Your world becomes smaller and society is really geared for working people IMO. I've done volunteer work and will continue but I'm looking for something for the next half of my life. I'm 58 years young & figure I could work for another 20 years easily. Thought about really delving into personal training but I DO have arthritis and I'm not sure I could keep it up for 20 years. Ditto on teaching spinning. More than 3 classes/week hurts my back (stenosis in spine.)

Some kind of social work or nursing has always called me. Nursing school is extremely competitive and frankly, I think my age is a detriment. I started social work school but had to take a pause. The teaching/helping professions have always interested me. But again, my feeling is that my age is going to hold me back from entering a competitive school market. I know they aren't supposed to do that but it IS done. OTOH, I'm also a really good dog trainer because I can communicate with most dogs easily. It is weird, but I have an innate ability to figure out where their confusion is and work through it (sounds like I'm bragging but I don't mean to - just want to explain where I'm at.)

I could go back to my old place (at a University) part time where the money would be good & the job would be stable but a good friend said that would be stepping backwards. Yet, I think it would be different because (1) I would go part time and (2) I'd have no golden handcuffs - my continued employment would not affect my retirement. They would pick up my health insurance and that alone is worth $350/month. Another thing is that we can really use some extra cash because my pension has not increased, nor is it going to anytime soon but prices continue to climb. So, I hate to invest in a lot of schooling just to find out that a career isn't what I thought it was.

SO - my question: Has anybody ever made a dramatic career change and how did you decide what to do? What were your obstacles? Was it worth it?

I haven't made a big career change...yet...but this is something I think about a lot, as I hit 55 and am eyeing what to do in my 2nd act career. I envision retiring from my present job (lawyer) as an opportunity to do something more fun and more personally fulfilling, even if it's less financially lucrative (and most assuredly, less hours). If you have a pension that is covering your bases, this is a huge opportunity to try new things. If I really wanted to, I'd absolutely consider going back to school and it sounds like you have the potential to do that through work. Why would your friend say going back to the university (to work) is a step back? It's not like you want to be on a career track for promotion to the boss again. If, as you say, a part time job at the university where the (1) money is good, (2) the job stable, (3) it would pick up your health insurance (a BIG + in my book), (4) it would not affect your retirement income, that is a win-win in my book, as long as you don't hate the job. I would imagine that it would also offer reduced and/or free tuition, so if you were so inclined, you might also go back to school, even if it's part time. That's a win-win-win if that is the path to a career that really excites you. I would never discourage anyone from going back to school to fulfill a dream job (I would, however, discourge people from amassing big debt to do it, though) and I think there are niches that, even starting at over 60, can be filled (and yes, I do employment law and I do understand the subtle age discrimination that exists), but I think that there are flexible job options out there. For example, my sister is a teacher, but she stayed home with their boys for several years. When she re-entered the job market, she didn't want to work full time, so she did science labs for home schooled kids, which was 2 days of work a week instead of full time. Then, she eventually moved from that to a great job at a private school that she loves (and she went back in her 40's for a master's degree). If you didn't want to work full time, you could substitute teach or provide private hourly tutoring and/or SAT prep.

In my dream job, I would open my own photography studio and do children's portraits and I think that is doable as a 2nd career. It marries my passion for photography (and long-time serious hobby) with a way to stay in work-mode, but with flexibility to work as much or as little as I want.

Let us know what you decide to do. I'm excited about your opportunities to redefine you.