<p>This book isn’t going to give you happy news, but a realistic one. The author tried to live on minimum wage for a year and wrote a book about her experience.
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<p>If you look on her website, she has an update, as that book was written in comparatively prosperous times. It is eye opening. What I remember most strikingly from reading it, is her finding that most workers want to give the best possible customer service at their jobs, regardless of remuneration, and sometimes have to fight management policies to do so.</p>
<p>My DH was in danger of getting laid off. Downsizing industry. He was 53. He started looking and found a better job. It meant a lot of disruption but it worked out well. As a friend I would try not to sound so worried for him. Bad times can actually open up opportunity if you approach it that way. If he was doing well he can do it again. </p>
<p>It is weird his net worth is 20k tho.</p>
<p>go to a real estate school and pass the license test, hit the pavement and go house to house try to sell your service. Many ppl got rich by doing that, if you are persistant.</p>
<p>“go to a real estate school and pass the license test, hit the pavement and go house to hour try to sell your service.”</p>
<p>I disagree with that. With so many extremely experienced realtors going on tough times, this doesn’t seem like the right time to move to that career field to attempt to support your family.</p>
<p>I believe that many people now are moving in with family to get by. Or staying in their house, not paying the mortgage and waiting a couple of years before they get kicked out (unethical, but certainly being done). There are definitely plenty of jobs out there, if you are willing to move or do something that is considered undesireable. I just helped a fiftyish guy get a manual labor job at my company, for about $12/hour plus great benefits. It’s a place to start and he seems very happy. Now is the time to network with friends, family and acquaintances. There are alot of people out there willing to help direct their friends to jobs. But it is not a good time to be picky.</p>
<p>so,? you always have millions of real estate agents areound you. but many of my colleagues succeeded by pounding the pavement, door to door. If you persistant, you will succeed. not everyone’s cup of tea though.</p>
<p>There are many websites with great budget tips, etc. You might suggest Couponmom.com for grocery shopping. This is not the “extreme couponing”, but a good, solid list of what’s on sale at your local stores, matched up with coupons. I save a LOT of money on basics using this site without going crazy.
Check into Angel Food, it’s a lower cost food bank that sells boxes of food at a low price, no qualifying needed. I’m not sure of the details, but it made a huge difference for at least one family I know. Distribution sites are often churches, but you do not have to be a member of the church to participate (and they frequently need volunteers if anyone has time). Our church is collecting and re distributing the extra produce from home gardeners.
Libraries can be a great lifeline, not only books and movies, but ours has been doing skills classes (computers), networking workshops, job search workshops, etc. Check into avaliable programs.
As a friend, don’t suggest dinner out, suggest meeting at the park, beach, etc.</p>
<p>Agree with rmac399, when I was laid off I went into independent consulting from necessity. I subcontracted to established firms and built my reputation in my specialty. Being laid off was the best thing that ever happened to me. It made me move from my comfort zone and expand my entrepreneurial skills. It is scary and takes a while. But living frugally in the meantime is important. A really hard look at the “necessities” is important. Cut cell phones, cable, extra cars, eating out. Buy groceries smart. It can be done. I’ve done it twice.</p>
<p>“so,? you always have millions of real estate agents areound you. but many of my colleagues succeeded by pounding the pavement, door to door. If you persistant, you will succeed”</p>
<p>But is now really the right time to take on a new career that you may know nothing about, that does not guarantee any income whatsoever, nor perhaps any benefits? When you are older, and broke, and have a family to support? And even many of the top agents are struggling?</p>
<p>Look, I’m all for getting a license, particularly if you have a strong interest in real estate and many people can be successful in any market. But in these cases, it seems like it would be an unwise venture to try something like this out, unless you’ve always dreamed of doing it.</p>
<p>dstark, I know three people who are charging between $20 and $35 per hour providing services to seniors - yardwork, cleaning, transportation, errands, paperwork, companion care, etc. All of them have as much work as they can handle, and the need is increasing.</p>
<p>The guy who charges $20 per hour is retired and does this as a ministry. The women who charge $35 per hour are making a living at it. It’s not all take-home pay, of course - they pay taxes, insurance, other business-related expenses. But if your friend is reliable, trustworthy, and willing to work hard, he can make lots more providing services to seniors than working retail. It’s a real growth field. People in our generation are looking for people to help mom and dad; oftentimes a reliable handyman/occasional companion can make it possible for a senior to remain at home for several more years. If my job disappeared tomorrow, I’d pursue this.</p>
<p>I recently ran into one our local, high energy, very successful RE agents, been in the business 15 years, good reputation, etc., etc. Told me he hasn’t closed a sale in four months and that he’s two months behind in his mortgage payment. </p>
<p>Definitely not the time to break into that field, IMO. </p>
<p>Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using CC App</p>
<p>My B was laid off at 56 from a factory where he had worked most of his adult life, making $40-50K. It was family owned and then sold to a company that obviously sought to run it into the ground. He lost his job for almost 2 yrs., health insurance, of course, and came very close to losing a very nice pension. Fortunately, he was able to find odd jobs as an electrician and car mechanic. After 18 mo. or the requisite time period, the company reopened the factory, non union, of course. B went back in a supervisory position, because he had no choice. It is a small town and there’s not much comparable employment in the area. A lot of people went back, at much much lower salaries, but for those my B’s age, it got them through to retirement. And got them health insurance, crucial because very shortly thereafter SIL was diagnosed with breast cancer, from which she passed way after a 3 yr. battle. </p>
<p>It is bad enough when the economy goes south and places are really forced to close or layoff workers. It is esp. galling when this was done specifically to bust the union.</p>
<p>Wow,frazzled1, charging $20 an hour to seniors as a “ministry” sounds like alot. This must be an affluent area and affluent seniors. I think it’s a great suggestion but not sure how charging that much indicates a ministry. When I think of that term, I think of doing things for free, to help someone, at little or no cost, for what the person feels they can pay,etc. It sounds like he’s making decent money. When we looked into services for my mother, the local people(not with an agency) were charging between 11-15. The agencies were charging more like 20-22. This has been recently, in Pittsburgh. I agree, it really is a growth field .Prices are clearly higher in NY.</p>
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He actually charges that much to cover his insurances, the equipment he needed to buy, and the various licenses he had to obtain in order to provide various services. He does provide many hours for free to needy clients. He could easily make far more money, as is evident by the fact that the women charging $35 per hour can’t take all the work that comes their way. It’s much less expensive for seniors who can to remain at home and pay for help than to move to a senior care facility.</p>
<p>Companion care in our area, which provides light housekeeping and cooking (no repairs, heavy cleaning, laundry, or yardwork), starts at about $16 per hour and goes up depending upon the services required. It’s an affluent area for around here, but not by most standards.</p>
<p>Go teach English in Asia.</p>
<p>Most of these schools provide housing/meal/medical insurance. Some even pay a small stipend. You do these from school to school - free international travel. One could do this until the SS kicks in. </p>
<p>Actually, being laid off after 50 will be a nightmare for most of us old folks. After paying the two schol bills due Spet 15th, we will have about $4000 in the checking account and that is it. Many people say one needs an “emergency fund”. Well, let’s just pray we will not have an emergency for a while.</p>
<p>Bets luck to your friends.</p>
<p>true, its tough out there. But its tough in every place, including any small and large businesses, RE included and employment opportunity is in the tanks. since this guy is in Cal., the RE sales is picking up, so I thought it might be profitable for him to enter this profession, if he cannot find the employment at his age.</p>
<p>That’s great that he has insurance ,licenses,etc., frazzled1. The guy who did my mom’s yardwork I know did not have insurance. He just was a local guy who did that kind of thing to pick up some extra money. Same thing with the woman who shoveled snow. My mom died last month, but at the end she needed round the clock care and she definitely could not have afforded $35 an hour care at home for any length of time. She was able to stay at home and die at home because my sister and I provided most of the care for the last few months(along with an $11 an hour companion who had been with her for over a year and stuck with her til the end).Also, she spent some time in the hospital and physical rehab and Medicare and BC paid for most of that . The $35 an hour figure is scary as money can run out pretty quickly with any kind of long term problem. I do have concerns about how all of us baby boomers are going to afford help as we age!</p>
<p>I like the stories, and I like some of the ideas.</p>
<p>Frazzled1’s idea looks pretty good to me, for example.</p>
<p>“People in our generation are looking for people to help mom and dad; oftentimes a reliable handyman/occasional companion can make it possible for a senior to remain at home for several more years. If my job disappeared tomorrow, I’d pursue this”</p>
<p>That sounds like a great idea. And even the younger generation could use some help. We have alot of labor intensive projects that we could really use help on. But we don’t want to hire some illegals from the Home Depot parking lot, or pay a huge hourly cost to a contractor. We just need some help from someone who will work at a relatively moderate pace, and whom we don’t fear will come back and rob us. We can’t seem to figure out something between the two extremes, so my husband just does it all himself on his time off, and gets exhausted and sore. The family tries to help, but we’re not too useful.</p>
<p>I know someone who’s going to the local CC this fall to become a certified nursing assistant. It’s a one-semester certification course here, but he is pretty confident he’ll have a job when it’s over.</p>
<p>My brother’s light manufacturing job was sent offshore, which qualified him for educational benefits and extended unemployment. Went to the community college and completed two associates degrees (drafting and mechanical engineering) within the allotted timeframe. Is now working as a draftsman for $15/hr and is happy as a clam. Wishes he made more $$, but LOVES his job and after several years of being serially employed/laid off as the business he worked for folded, he is happy to be making $31 k.</p>
<p>My sister has a BS in accounting and lives in non-coastal, non-Atlanta, GA. Has 12 years of experience and makes $10/hr. The job market is lousy, and employers there know they can get away with paying very little because people are so desperate for work.</p>
<p>I’d look at community colleges as a good resource for retraining.</p>