Michigan is a dead zone...there is nothing here to move to...Yes, you can buy a house on a credit card, and yes, it is beautiful here...but, we have had 8 years of a canadian socialist feminazi governator, with mostly lib dem congress and senate...this place will take at least 4 years to get back to normal, and another 4 years to be competitive..and that is if we have consdrvatives in all 3 branches of the government...if my family, my wifes family and all roots were not here, I would be gone in a second...hell, 2 of my 3 sons were forced to leave already due to this place being an economic hellhole...do not come here, you will regret it..( nice place to vacation, though )
I hope you don’t live in any of this 20% of Detroit.
http://www.businessinsider.com/detroit-garbage-pickup-bankruptcy-2010-12
I’m really sorry for your situation. Really sucks. You are justifiably angry at your plight.
My husband and I are about your age (50), and I left my teaching job three years ago and my husband got laid off in September. I’ve been working as an adjunct teaching assistant for an online university for the past year. I grade papers for several entry-level courses, and many of my students are our age, going back to school on the government’s nickel. (I’d rather they do that than just draw unemployment.) Many of them say in their papers that they meant to finish school, but life got in the way. Now they realize it’s necessary to get ahead or even get a job. I gathered from one of your other posts that you do not have a degree? Why not go back to school online? It takes less time than you think.
Secondly, my husband was re-employed within two months. Why? We live in Texas. We’re lucky, but we also agreed that we were willing to move if we had to. Our youngest will graduate from high school this year, and so we aren’t tied to the area. Even if we had family here (we don’t), we would have moved to where the work was, if we had to. You said in your post, “...if my family, my wifes family and all roots were not here, I would be gone in a second...hell, 2 of my 3 sons were forced to leave already...” Sounds to me like 2 of your sons have found success elsewhere. Why don’t you and your wife consider moving to where they have?
We know there’s no way to sell a house now days. We knew we would be risking a lot if we couldn’t sell the house. But, we were willing to walk away. We have two kids to put through college, and unless we wiped out our retirement, we need to work to pay for college. (We don’t qualify for government assistance.) So, we would have walked away from the house and moved to DC if that’s the only place we could find work. We were blessed we didn’t have to, but we were willing.
I guess what I’m saying is, you have acknowledged this recession is different. You are unwilling to approach it differently. You won’t consider moving. Your state is a lost cause. You will not find work there. Either find a way to make money online, or you need to move where the work is. Pioneers moved their families all the time when the situation forced them. It may be time for you and your wife to adopt that pioneer spirit and see where this life’s recession adventure will take you.
Best to you and your family.
I have visited before - and enjoyed nearly all of it. Frankenmuth was over the top (those folks actually think they can cook a fried chicken dinner? What a fraud!).
Is the UP in as bad a shape as the Detroit area? Amazingly beautiful area up there... almost seems a different sort of people.
I don’t have any desire to live up there, though visiting in the past (as I said) was nice.