About being laid off and unwanted when you're 59

The Star (South Chicago) ^ | 4/23/6 | Michael Bowers

[SmithL]

One of my readers is an underemployed 59-year-old man from among us here in the South Suburbs. Call him Harry. He works in information technology. Slowly and wearily, he says: "Once you get past 50, I swear, it gets tough, it gets really tough."

For instance, Harry applied for a job with a city of Chicago department that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week. He got an offer for some contract work. There were no benefits, but it was a paying job.

A woman from the city called him one Monday morning and wanted to know if he could start at midnight. Harry said he'd like to give his current employer a week's notice. That wasn't good enough. The job was gone. The caller told him: "This is a brave new world. Learn to live with it."

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

That was my first layoff ever. I decided that I needed to get out from under my mortgage. I put 4,000 shares on the table to cover the mortgage, pay off both cars and zero my credit card. Damn if the company didn't stop the sale for first time in its 33 year history. The share price was lowered from $33 to $28. I just lost $20,000 overnight. I decided I still needed to pay off the mortgage. The cars and credit cards would have to wait. I sold 4100 shares and paid off my main residence. Except for $3,400 per year in taxes, I'm pretty well set for a place to live.

Great job of taking responsibility for yourself. I'm being called arrogant, and getting ripped to shreds, because I worked two jobs to be sure to save enough to be able to retire - or at least work whatever job I want (similar line of work as yours - EE with embedded systems design and coding - DSP processing for NASA, etc.)

You just have to keep going at it...

[Doe Eyes]

Now if you want to get into detailed lessons, you left out the Parable of the Talents. That speaks exactly to what the personal responsibility people are trying to get across. Invest wisely, trying to earn in your investments.

Try reading Matthew, 6:25-34 (King James Version).

From verse 34, "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself."

Read the entire passages. They hardly speak of planning for the future.

[CindyDawg]

I don't think that scripture means to spend like there is no tomorrow though.

[gedeon3]

Well mr perfection, one day I hope you find yourself with no money and not a single asset. And when you die, I hope somebody will piss on your grave. The man making now 8 an hour is not taking from others; you on the other hand are taking up oxygen.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

I'll see when the time comes. But, like I said, I paid for my education. Although I went to a state school undergrad - in state tuition to make it cheaper. Private school in grad school but work covered most of that. My brother went to an Ivy league school and received loans and grants. Then to med school to come out with $100,000 of loan debt to have it all paid off (including taxes on the loan payment) by working in an "inner city" for two years. That "inner city" was a small town in PA. I've seen WAY too many cases of people taking care of college costs without it bankrupting them.

Maybe times have changes where they no longer allow white kids to get any assistance (loans or grants) to go to state schools?

[Myrddin]

That day was spent calling my appointments, letting them know that I wouldn't be there, and filling in the other field engineers on what I was working on.

That was a "nice" thing to do for an employer booting you out the door. You could have given your customers your cell phone number and offered to contract them at a more favorable rate than your soon to be ex-employer. It's not like you were in danger of losing a big severance.

[muir_redwoods]

So let me ask for opinions. I'm 56. If the house is paid for and I have no health issues or expensive hobbies or habits, the kids are through college and I have a side income of $20K per year, is a million enough to retire on?

There was a time I would have been able to answer that question but now I'm not so sure. BTW, Social Security does not figure into my plans. If it happens great but I'm not counting n it.

[P-Marlowe]

I am an old time radio buff. I have an old Jack Benny show where Jack is trying to sell his mansion in Beverly Hills for $100,000 and everyone thinks it is excessive. Now if someone had put $100,000 in a safe insured bank account 50 years ago at about 4% interest he might have saved up about $700,000 by now. That money would probably buy a one bedroom condo in Beverly Hills today. In the interim Jack's Mansion would probably be selling for about $5-$7 million. On top of that, an insured bank account is taxed yearly so the chances are that $100,000 would have yeilded no more than about $400,000, which might purchase a used car in a Beverly Hills Auto lot.

Suffice it to say that putting money into a savings account is not a wise investment. But for those who are unable to purchase real estate, the prospects for a comforatable retirement after taxes and children and medical problems does not look good.

[Myrddin]

The embedded systems work I do today is leveraging material that I taught to college students from 1980 to 1983. I'm finally integrating that skill-set into my regular job. The teaching job was done to augment my income as a newly hired Central Office Toll Equipment Engineer at Pacific Telephone in 1980. Between engineering all day and teaching all night, I was able to pull down $44,000 annually in 1980.

[KeyLargo]

Regarding JJ, Jr. and the Illinois third airport. If it ever get's a go-ahead you can bet that there will be a demand for at least 50% minority employment on the job sites. Already Cook County, IL requires 40% minority contracts. So, again the white man will get the short end as long as Jackson and his gang have a say in who gets hired.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

A few ways for the bulk:

1) Put everything that I can into my 401K - pre-tax dollars means 30-50% gain right off the bat.

2) Bought real estate financed by the owner and kept my previous residences, renting them out. Let the bank take the risk, leveraging your money. For example, if you put $10,000 down to buy a $100,000 house and that house goes up 5%/year you are making 50% on your money **annually**. HUGE returns. But, it takes work dealing with repairs, the tenants, etc.

3) I built my recent houses rather than buy already built. In the D.C. area you can make upwards of $250,000 on each house by building it yourself. If you don't know how to build do modular - it's already built and is delivered in sections.

Again, it's two jobs - my full time job and the real estate, but I wanted to save for retirement.

[Miss Marple]

No, I am not upset that you were able to save for retirement. I am glad that you have a comfortable future.

But, you need to realize it is more than a few people who are in trouble with retirement, through no fault of their own. Those examples I gave constitute a pretty large number of people.

We are one of those groups. We went through three layoffs in seven years, all while my husband wa in his late 40's and early 50's. He has a good job now, but in the process we exhausted our savings paying for living expenses and our daughter's education. We never claimed unemployment.

So, here we are, trying frantically to save the amount we lost. We have one unreliable pension, from the first company that laid him off. We have no savings, because we lived on them while he was looking for work.

I don't expect any help from the government other than whatever pittance Social Security gives us, but you might spare a thought to those who have had hard times.

[B-Chan]

I think another dynamic here is that many people do not realize that as an employee, you are simply a commodity.

And I think another dynamic here is that many people do not realize that treating human beings as commodities is immoral, inhumane, and self-destructive in the long term.

[CindyDawg]

Huh. Saving my change and cutting down on eating out sound insignificant compared to that:')

[Irish Eyes]

Just wondering your age. You do not seem to realize that everyone's life experiences are not the same.

[CindyDawg]

You will do ok.

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

Well mr perfection, one day I hope you find yourself with no money and not a single asset.

Well, thank you! I hope that you prosper in all aspects of life. I even hope that you have far greater riches than me - financially, emotionally, and relationship-wise. It will be great to hear about it when you do!

It's sad to see so many Freepers angry when people work two jobs to try and save for retirement. Did I mistakenly end up on DU or something?

[Miss Marple]

No one is faulting you for working two jobs.

People are faulting you for having no compassion for others who couldn't do that.

Perhaps you have heard this saying, "There but for the grace of God go I."

[69ConvertibleFirebird]

It all started with $7000 and has been about 15 years. This is why I know that anyone can do it. I didn't start with much and wasn't given any special breaks. But, yes, I also save by not going too overboard on expenses. My diesel VW Rabbit pickup gets 44 mpg and cost me $2000. It saves me about $1500-$2000/year in fuel costs.

[P-Marlowe]

Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
(Proverbs 16:18 KJV)