Everyone I know is laid off by age 55

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DH is in medicine and I’m in the educational field ...not a teacher. This doesn’t happen in our lines of work. Sounds horrible!

This ^ situation factored heavily into my choice of new career after divorce in middle age. Getting a new (not online) degree in my late 40s was draining and felt expensive but I am certain I will be employable as long as I have a pulse, into my 80s if I wish.

Lightly abused on the job and underpaid maybe, but I’ll have a job anywhere I want.

I am so sorry for OP and PPs though- the lack of safety nets in the US is ridiculous

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DH and I both have been laid off in the past 5 years, he at 48, then a few years later me at 46.

We both had a 6 month period of trying to find new jobs and it was rough. We both know it could happen again, not due to our performance, and it’s scary.

We each make 110 and 160, so obviously not poor, but it’s harder to switch careers at this stage.

We are also aiming to retire by 60 with the house paid off and the kids done with college, but I worry about health insurance between that time and 65, how expensive it will be and what if something catastrophic happens.

Also, laughing at the person who said $140k per kid isn’t enough for college. Of course it is. We will have enough for our kids in public state schools

Just coming here to say, I feel ya!

I have three kids and budgeted $750k total which is average schools with some merit aid. It is not just school. Dental, doctors appointments, food, cell phone plans, on your car insurance, birthdays, Xmas. A kid in school will cost you 60k each. It you are working won’t notice. I will have a 15, 19 and 21 when I turn 60.

Plus colleges nearly doubles every ten years. We already hit some schools that are finally 100k a year all in for undergraduate. Soon that will creep to average schools by 2030.

My daughters two colleges plain to really jack tuition and costs Post Covid

Plus hard to downsize when they live with you at winter break and all summer and may move gone after school for 1-2 years

Most people are not child brides with college done by 60. To do that you need to have them young and not have many. I say that as my mother and grandmother had last kids in early 40s. But they had 4-8 kids.

And to retire at 60 you need two houses paid off. My friend who have done it paid off primary then bought retirement home and paid that off. Other issue is kids off your health plan. It is family policy that is expensive.

I'm the $140k/child for college poster. My kids are 13 and 16. We are in our early/mid 50s. Even if $140K is not enough we have enough saved outside our retirement accounts to pay an additional $60K per child. We aren't planning for an expensive private university unless there is good merit aid.

As for the other stuff like presents, cell phone, and what not, IMO, that's not related to college costs. That's related to just having a kid irrespective of college. And that's already in the monthly expenses.

As for healthcare costs, we already pay for private insurance. Again, that's already baked into our monthly expenses.

When the kids are in college, some expenses will go up, but others will go down. The $ just shifts around. I am expecting the car insurance to go up, though.

I'm budgeting about $8k to $9k/month for ALL expenses until the kids are out on their own, and in about five years, we are expecting to pay off the house, which will save about $1400 in mortgage costs. We talked to our financial advisor who has stated that this is totally doable with the amount of money we have saved ($2.6mil right now).

[Anonymous]

I’m 36 and I got laid off from my first 3 jobs from 2006-2009 ( marketing/ advertising). After that I was in consulting for big 4 for a five years ( where younger people and older were constantly being Laid off) and then left when I got a chance to flip to fed. I am not ever going back private , I personally can’t hack being laid off every few years. I don’t think this is 55+ only problem I think the expectation in private sector should be that you WILL be laid of constantly.

[Anonymous]

Seeing my friends a decade ahead of me getting laid off and struggling to find anything near their former salaries is what motivated me to look for a government job. I’m a widow and was getting nervous about the prospect of unemployment and not being able to afford health insurance (have a $$$ autoimmune disorder) down the pike.

Started working for a local government at 44—eligible for partial pension with 10 yrs in, full pension at 20 yrs in. I make peanuts, so the pension won’t be big...but I love the work and when I walk out the door at 4 I am free.

[Anonymous]

I think this is awful, but at the same time I can't help but feel a bit of smugess because the generation that told mine to "just work to put yourself through college" and "if you expect a decent job you're entitled" are now facing the consequences of their actions.

Instead of picking on us for picking "useless majors" maybe you should have seen the writing on the wall and picked fields that don't do this. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps! Stop being so entitled!

[Anonymous]

I am 40 years old and work for a government contractor. I have seen many people get laid off around age 55 or older but before they planned to retire. Some were high income earners in the 150-200 range. Most were unable to find another job that paid nearly as well with benefits. Some did not find jobs at all. Some were able to "retire" but others were not and had to work demeaning jobs. Maybe this will be a lesson to the frequent posters on this board that advise overextending oneself on the assumption that incomes will go up perpetually. It is critical to save as much as you can as early as you can.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The current unemployment rate for hose 55 and over is 5.3%, so no, not everyone is laid off at 55 and then can’t find another job.

https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/LNS14024230

That doesn't include discouraged workers who are no longer actively looking. It also doesn't include people who took much lower paying jobs (or working at a Starbucks for health insurance when you used to make $100k).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH is in medicine and I’m in the educational field ...not a teacher. This doesn’t happen in our lines of work. Sounds horrible!

This ^ situation factored heavily into my choice of new career after divorce in middle age. Getting a new (not online) degree in my late 40s was draining and felt expensive but I am certain I will be employable as long as I have a pulse, into my 80s if I wish.

Lightly abused on the job and underpaid maybe, but I’ll have a job anywhere I want.

I am so sorry for OP and PPs though- the lack of safety nets in the US is ridiculous

What degree did you pursue in mid 40s for job stability, can you please share ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH is in medicine and I’m in the educational field ...not a teacher. This doesn’t happen in our lines of work. Sounds horrible!

This ^ situation factored heavily into my choice of new career after divorce in middle age. Getting a new (not online) degree in my late 40s was draining and felt expensive but I am certain I will be employable as long as I have a pulse, into my 80s if I wish.

Lightly abused on the job and underpaid maybe, but I’ll have a job anywhere I want.

I am so sorry for OP and PPs though- the lack of safety nets in the US is ridiculous

Please let us know what wonderful new career you chose!

[Anonymous]

Wow, this thread makes me realize we need to redo our retirement calculator with the assumption DH is not working past 55.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1) That has not been my experience in the Gov't Contracting arena (experience is valued).
2) It shows why the health care system in the US, where it is tied to employment, is completely broken.

yes to both

[Anonymous]

DH is 60 and I am 56. We haven’t seen this happen, maybe it depends on the industry.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am 40 years old and work for a government contractor. I have seen many people get laid off around age 55 or older but before they planned to retire. Some were high income earners in the 150-200 range. Most were unable to find another job that paid nearly as well with benefits. Some did not find jobs at all. Some were able to "retire" but others were not and had to work demeaning jobs. Maybe this will be a lesson to the frequent posters on this board that advise overextending oneself on the assumption that incomes will go up perpetually. It is critical to save as much as you can as early as you can.

$150k-$200k is high income?

[Anonymous]

Yes, can you all post the industries where this is happening?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DH is in medicine and I’m in the educational field ...not a teacher. This doesn’t happen in our lines of work. Sounds horrible!

This ^ situation factored heavily into my choice of new career after divorce in middle age. Getting a new (not online) degree in my late 40s was draining and felt expensive but I am certain I will be employable as long as I have a pulse, into my 80s if I wish.

Lightly abused on the job and underpaid maybe, but I’ll have a job anywhere I want.

I am so sorry for OP and PPs though- the lack of safety nets in the US is ridiculous

What degree did you pursue in mid 40s for job stability, can you please share ?

Millennials change jobs every 2-4 years. That’s the only way to get substantial pay raises.

And it’s what you need to do in private industry, you need to be constantly networking and looking for your next gig.

It’s what I did in my 20s, and even as a Fed contractor I apply to at least 5 jobs a year, have had 2 interviews and 1 offer per year. Now none of these jobs paid more than my current gig, so I passed, but would keeps me prepped and current on the process and having jobs in pipeline is good in case you get laid off.

I’m almost 50, fwiw.