Typical American Career path - esp after 50

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started to worry about ageism at 40 and saved 50% or more of my salary over many years.

40 isn’t that terrible. I am not actively looking but hiring managers and recruiters are still pinging me regularly. Don’t go to an industry with a lot of young people like tech or gaming/leisure.

No one was talking about ageism when I started working at 25, and my family was all govt workers so it was a foreign concept to me.

I just knew ageism would be an issue from reading articles about the topic. I knew I’d be old one day and considered too old, possibly, to work.

Things slow down after 45 unless you look very young.

Looking young after 40 is costly - professional hair color every month, high quality food, prescription skin care, they all add up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

Not everyone can save $4-$5M like the PP did, but they can certainly save $1M+ if they start early (20s). Three decades of saving plus compounding through equity investing will yield a comfortable nest egg to live modestly in flyover country or the South. The little sacrifices add up year after year, and it's amazing how many people turn down free money in the form of a 401(k) match.

Hard to save if your take home pay is $2,000. And train pass is now $300.
20s and 30s is when you take career risks and gain skills, esp social skills with different life experiences. Saving too aggressively at the cost of investing in one self is like shooting yourself in the feet.

That was my salary for 15 years. I walked/biked to work because work with such salary was closer than train ride. If you didn't have lower rent because of the distance, that's on you. I invested myself into freedom on that salary. There was even room for many mistakes. No social skills needed as I sit at home and trade using all that experience.
$30-$50 a months would have given you great return and experience, but you got to follow the economy and market.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

Not everyone can save $4-$5M like the PP did, but they can certainly save $1M+ if they start early (20s). Three decades of saving plus compounding through equity investing will yield a comfortable nest egg to live modestly in flyover country or the South. The little sacrifices add up year after year, and it's amazing how many people turn down free money in the form of a 401(k) match.

Hard to save if your take home pay is $2,000. And train pass is now $300.
20s and 30s is when you take career risks and gain skills, esp social skills with different life experiences. Saving too aggressively at the cost of investing in one self is like shooting yourself in the feet.

That was my salary for 15 years. I walked/biked to work because work with such salary was closer than train ride. If you didn't have lower rent because of the distance, that's on you. I invested myself into freedom on that salary. There was even room for many mistakes. No social skills needed as I sit at home and trade using all that experience.
$30-$50 a months would have given you great return and experience, but you got to follow the economy and market.

That’s as low of a rent as possible since it’s 25 miles away. Eventually I went up the comp ladder and now there is finally less need to take criticism from people like you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

Not everyone can save $4-$5M like the PP did, but they can certainly save $1M+ if they start early (20s). Three decades of saving plus compounding through equity investing will yield a comfortable nest egg to live modestly in flyover country or the South. The little sacrifices add up year after year, and it's amazing how many people turn down free money in the form of a 401(k) match.

Hard to save if your take home pay is $2,000. And train pass is now $300.
20s and 30s is when you take career risks and gain skills, esp social skills with different life experiences. Saving too aggressively at the cost of investing in one self is like shooting yourself in the feet.

That was my salary for 15 years. I walked/biked to work because work with such salary was closer than train ride. If you didn't have lower rent because of the distance, that's on you. I invested myself into freedom on that salary. There was even room for many mistakes. No social skills needed as I sit at home and trade using all that experience.
$30-$50 a months would have given you great return and experience, but you got to follow the economy and market.

I’m sorry if you think you were some market beating savant you are delusional. You took risk and got lucky. Not a plan.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started to worry about ageism at 40 and saved 50% or more of my salary over many years.

40 isn’t that terrible. I am not actively looking but hiring managers and recruiters are still pinging me regularly. Don’t go to an industry with a lot of young people like tech or gaming/leisure.

No one was talking about ageism when I started working at 25, and my family was all govt workers so it was a foreign concept to me.

How old are you?

I am 51, started working in 1995. The writing on the wall was already there in huge letters. I posted a link in DCUM a few months ago - there was an article in NYTimes around 2001 about middle aged tech executives who never found another comparable job after a layoff. It was called “Commute to nowhere”.

Okay? I am your age but NYT wasn’t something I read until my 30s, after which I had been working a decade. We grew up reading the small town gazette; I never lived in NY so why would I read their local paper. I’m guessing your parents had a subscription?

My parents did not read English language newspapers. I started reading NYT online (it was completely free then) to improve my English.

I referred to that article as the proof that being laid off at 50 with no prospects is not a new phenomenon. When I was 25 and my company went through multiple rounds of “restructuring” it was pretty clear to me where those people are going and that in 25 years that could easily be me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started to worry about ageism at 40 and saved 50% or more of my salary over many years.

40 isn’t that terrible. I am not actively looking but hiring managers and recruiters are still pinging me regularly. Don’t go to an industry with a lot of young people like tech or gaming/leisure.

No one was talking about ageism when I started working at 25, and my family was all govt workers so it was a foreign concept to me.

How old are you?

I am 51, started working in 1995. The writing on the wall was already there in huge letters. I posted a link in DCUM a few months ago - there was an article in NYTimes around 2001 about middle aged tech executives who never found another comparable job after a layoff. It was called “Commute to nowhere”.

Okay? I am your age but NYT wasn’t something I read until my 30s, after which I had been working a decade. We grew up reading the small town gazette; I never lived in NY so why would I read their local paper. I’m guessing your parents had a subscription?

My parents did not read English language newspapers. I started reading NYT online (it was completely free then) to improve my English.

I referred to that article as the proof that being laid off at 50 with no prospects is not a new phenomenon. When I was 25 and my company went through multiple rounds of “restructuring” it was pretty clear to me where those people are going and that in 25 years that could easily be me.

DP. It is clear for those who wish to see. Most people don't. They think it will never happen to them. They've been loyal, worked hard, etc....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

Not everyone can save $4-$5M like the PP did, but they can certainly save $1M+ if they start early (20s). Three decades of saving plus compounding through equity investing will yield a comfortable nest egg to live modestly in flyover country or the South. The little sacrifices add up year after year, and it's amazing how many people turn down free money in the form of a 401(k) match.

Hard to save if your take home pay is $2,000. And train pass is now $300.
20s and 30s is when you take career risks and gain skills, esp social skills with different life experiences. Saving too aggressively at the cost of investing in one self is like shooting yourself in the feet.

Well, “investing” in life experiences is like shooting yourself in the head.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

Not everyone can save $4-$5M like the PP did, but they can certainly save $1M+ if they start early (20s). Three decades of saving plus compounding through equity investing will yield a comfortable nest egg to live modestly in flyover country or the South. The little sacrifices add up year after year, and it's amazing how many people turn down free money in the form of a 401(k) match.

Hard to save if your take home pay is $2,000. And train pass is now $300.
20s and 30s is when you take career risks and gain skills, esp social skills with different life experiences. Saving too aggressively at the cost of investing in one self is like shooting yourself in the feet.

Well, “investing” in life experiences is like shooting yourself in the head.

Not at all, I moved to a HCOL area for a small increase in salary but the social skills and abundance of opportunities propelled me forward to over 200k in 10 years. This wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t invest in myself.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started to worry about ageism at 40 and saved 50% or more of my salary over many years.

40 isn’t that terrible. I am not actively looking but hiring managers and recruiters are still pinging me regularly. Don’t go to an industry with a lot of young people like tech or gaming/leisure.

No one was talking about ageism when I started working at 25, and my family was all govt workers so it was a foreign concept to me.

I just knew ageism would be an issue from reading articles about the topic. I knew I’d be old one day and considered too old, possibly, to work.

Things slow down after 45 unless you look very young.

Looking young after 40 is costly - professional hair color every month, high quality food, prescription skin care, they all add up.

Invest in yourself and you'll succeed

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

What is your income? How did you afford a house already? Any kids?

380k. 10% down payment into 30 year mortgage at 4% before it all skyrocketed a couple years back. No kids yet. I will have to get my foot off the savings gas somewhat (mostly less into brokerage, more into 529) when I have them in 2 years or so. I agree that this is not doable unless you have a lot of earning power and hindsight

Foresight.

But congrats on your accomplishments!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

Not everyone can save $4-$5M like the PP did, but they can certainly save $1M+ if they start early (20s). Three decades of saving plus compounding through equity investing will yield a comfortable nest egg to live modestly in flyover country or the South. The little sacrifices add up year after year, and it's amazing how many people turn down free money in the form of a 401(k) match.

Hard to save if your take home pay is $2,000. And train pass is now $300.
20s and 30s is when you take career risks and gain skills, esp social skills with different life experiences. Saving too aggressively at the cost of investing in one self is like shooting yourself in the feet.

Well, “investing” in life experiences is like shooting yourself in the head.

Not at all, I moved to a HCOL area for a small increase in salary but the social skills and abundance of opportunities propelled me forward to over 200k in 10 years. This wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t invest in myself.

Social skills and taking advantage of networking opportunities is not the same as buying a 2-week trip to Spain to expose yourself to new cultures, customs, etc... The latter is a vacation, which won't help you in your career except to provide some interesting cocktail party stories.

If you want to learn new cultures, customs, etc... there are plenty of ethnic affinity groups out there. They gather at ethnic restaurants, festivals, etc... none of which require international travel. Get a Babbel or Rosetta Stone subscription if you want to learn a new language.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started to worry about ageism at 40 and saved 50% or more of my salary over many years.

40 isn’t that terrible. I am not actively looking but hiring managers and recruiters are still pinging me regularly. Don’t go to an industry with a lot of young people like tech or gaming/leisure.

No one was talking about ageism when I started working at 25, and my family was all govt workers so it was a foreign concept to me.

I just knew ageism would be an issue from reading articles about the topic. I knew I’d be old one day and considered too old, possibly, to work.

Things slow down after 45 unless you look very young.

Looking young after 40 is costly - professional hair color every month, high quality food, prescription skin care, they all add up.

Invest in yourself and you'll succeed

Correct. Lose weight and you'll look younger (and your doctor will thank you). Color your hair and you'll look 5-10 years younger. Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. But don't use all of this as an excuse to get your nails done or buy a new purse/shoes. Have a plan how such things will contribute to your career success. Otherwise, they're just unnecessary expenses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started to worry about ageism at 40 and saved 50% or more of my salary over many years.

40 isn’t that terrible. I am not actively looking but hiring managers and recruiters are still pinging me regularly. Don’t go to an industry with a lot of young people like tech or gaming/leisure.

No one was talking about ageism when I started working at 25, and my family was all govt workers so it was a foreign concept to me.

I just knew ageism would be an issue from reading articles about the topic. I knew I’d be old one day and considered too old, possibly, to work.

Things slow down after 45 unless you look very young.

Looking young after 40 is costly - professional hair color every month, high quality food, prescription skin care, they all add up.

Invest in yourself and you'll succeed

Correct. Lose weight and you'll look younger (and your doctor will thank you). Color your hair and you'll look 5-10 years younger. Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. But don't use all of this as an excuse to get your nails done or buy a new purse/shoes. Have a plan how such things will contribute to your career success. Otherwise, they're just unnecessary expenses.

All of that and you also need to change jobs frequently so they don’t realize you are Dorian Grey

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a naive 30 year old, I am maxing all tax advantaged accounts and stashing $ into my brokerage so that I can retire at 45-50 if I want to. Any “work” after age 50 would be “for fun or to stay sharp”, not because I need a paycheck.

If you need to work for a living at age 50 or even 60, you messed up along the way, sorry.

Yes, you are a naive 30 year old if you think everyone can do what you did.

Not everyone can save $4-$5M like the PP did, but they can certainly save $1M+ if they start early (20s). Three decades of saving plus compounding through equity investing will yield a comfortable nest egg to live modestly in flyover country or the South. The little sacrifices add up year after year, and it's amazing how many people turn down free money in the form of a 401(k) match.

Hard to save if your take home pay is $2,000. And train pass is now $300.
20s and 30s is when you take career risks and gain skills, esp social skills with different life experiences. Saving too aggressively at the cost of investing in one self is like shooting yourself in the feet.

Well, “investing” in life experiences is like shooting yourself in the head.

Not at all, I moved to a HCOL area for a small increase in salary but the social skills and abundance of opportunities propelled me forward to over 200k in 10 years. This wouldn’t be possible if I didn’t invest in myself.

Social skills and taking advantage of networking opportunities is not the same as buying a 2-week trip to Spain to expose yourself to new cultures, customs, etc... The latter is a vacation, which won't help you in your career except to provide some interesting cocktail party stories.

If you want to learn new cultures, customs, etc... there are plenty of ethnic affinity groups out there. They gather at ethnic restaurants, festivals, etc... none of which require international travel. Get a Babbel or Rosetta Stone subscription if you want to learn a new language.

I made no mention of trip to Spain in any of my posts about self improvement. Can we stick to factual words in this thread and stop assaulting people over imaginary scenarios?

And yes, as immigrant, social skill was the last piece of puzzle in my career, many of the networking opportunities helped me piece this together.

[Anonymous]

[twitter]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I started to worry about ageism at 40 and saved 50% or more of my salary over many years.

40 isn’t that terrible. I am not actively looking but hiring managers and recruiters are still pinging me regularly. Don’t go to an industry with a lot of young people like tech or gaming/leisure.

No one was talking about ageism when I started working at 25, and my family was all govt workers so it was a foreign concept to me.

I just knew ageism would be an issue from reading articles about the topic. I knew I’d be old one day and considered too old, possibly, to work.

Things slow down after 45 unless you look very young.

Looking young after 40 is costly - professional hair color every month, high quality food, prescription skin care, they all add up.

Invest in yourself and you'll succeed

Correct. Lose weight and you'll look younger (and your doctor will thank you). Color your hair and you'll look 5-10 years younger. Dress for the job you want, not the one you have. But don't use all of this as an excuse to get your nails done or buy a new purse/shoes. Have a plan how such things will contribute to your career success. Otherwise, they're just unnecessary expenses.

If I am comfortable with grey hair, I still need the right hair cut to look put together that’s also $$ plus the morning routine can be lengthy.

This is also a requirement for men, plenty of men in my industry get Botox and grey blending or hair implant.