Over-50

50-Something, In Gig Economy, Working for Peanuts - Stop (Much Of) That

Those in the gig economy, including newly laid-off older employees, have noticed this: Compensation is down. Frequently dramatically. That's how it is. And it extends across almost all the sectors, be they law or project management. 

Content-creation assignments in marketing communications, for instance, which used to pay 10-cents a word now offer 2 to 4 cents a word. And, nowhere in sight are assignments posting 20-cents per word.

You got it, it's that brutal law of supply and demand.

Bloomberg Law confirms that reality when so many jobs have vanished, perhaps permanently in Covid-19 time. Actually Bloomberg notes that users of Freelancer.com searching for work have increased 30% and of Upwork 50%.

Incidentally, since Upwork is a global platform, the compensation has always been on the low side. That's because, for example, the freelance ghostwriter in the U.S. is bidding for assignments along with freelance ghostwriter in the Philippines and India. The latter can and will bid way lower - and likely get the assignment. 

Those doing the hiring usually don't want or need the assignment done brilliantly. They just want it done. So, they expect to pay peanuts. 

What seasoned gig economy players have already done is stop hunting for assignments on those low-end platforms. They researched where they can connect with more upscale prospects.

Years ago I stopped even checking what was out there on Upwork. I invested search time on more sophisticated platforms in my field ranging from Mediabistro.com to Journalismjobs.com. 

In addition, I followed the advice of "What Color Is Your Parachute?" and pitched cold to those who might need assistance. The response is low but what does come in pays quite well. The book is available free in the public library. There are used copies on Amazon. It's a must-read. 

Also, I put myself out there on social networks. That gets my LinkedIn profile checked out. Work does come in.

Currently, I have managed to strike gold. I can turn down lower-paying assignments.

The past four weeks I have earned more revenue in that kind of time period than I had since before The Great Recession.

A big part of that was that I overhauled every aspect of how I marketed when I recognized how devastating the pandemic would be on the economy. To become more prospect-centered, I re-read "Copywriting Secrets" by Jim Edwards. The meme is that pitching is about the potential client/customer, not about us. The book also stresses the importance of headlines in how we market. 

In addition, I switched my headset to optimistic. Listening to American Buddhist nun Pema Chodron on YouTube saved me from the undertow pulling so many out to despair. Especially helpful has been her lecture on migrating from fear to fearlessness. Fear turns us inward, not outward toward the market. 

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

Labor Day 2020 - Bob Dilenschneider's Toolbox

Public relations player Bob Dilenschneider keeps using the same trusty tools for marketing his Manhattan boutique. 

Among them is publishing thought pieces on holidays. They are meant to be inspirational, that is, lifting the spirit.

The next holiday coming up is Labor Day. So, we can expect to hear from Dilenschneider again.

The interesting issue: How will he position and package what is to inspire us?

Financial experts are doing lots of word massaging to describe current financial times.

However, on Main Street, the economy sure seems to mirror the realities of The Great Depression.

Sure some folks are still working.

As an Ok, Boomer I recall myriad family stories about how my grandmother, grandfather, parents, aunts, and uncles all managed to get and hold onto jobs during that economic collapse. They did work. But they never recovered emotionally from that worst of times. They thought weird. They acted weird. 

If I were Dilenschneider I would skip using his trusty tool this Labor Day. Just let the day pass and allow people to do their own sorting out about working or not working in 2020.

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

COVID-19 Unleashing Stalin-Like Purge of Older Workers (and they're not being rehired)

Age bias in the labor market is worse than many assumed.

MarketWatch reports on the new study by the National Bureau of Economic Research.

For each 1 percentage point of increase in the monthly state unemployment rate, the rise in discrimination in firing aging workers was 4.8 percent. The uptick in the bias in hiring was 3.4%.

Given the high unemployment generated by COVID-19, the current time is seen as ideal to purge organizations of expensive seasoned workers. Younger ones can be hired at about a third of their compensation. 

In the book "Disrupted," Dan Lyons recounts how, at age 50, he got the boot at Newsweek. He suspected the organization would simply fill his big job with several young people and the whole replacement dynamic costing way less than his salary and benefits.

The specific pickle he was in was that he needed employer covered medical insurance for his disabled wife and two young children.

In my coaching that's the usual point of extreme angst for those with families.

Even the single find themselves desperate for medical benefits. One 62-year-old former executive (pushed out in a merger) joked about marrying her sometimes boyfriend just to gain access to medical coverage.

Before a 59-year-old in-house lawyer landed a job after losing one in the financial sector he had to pony up $2,500 a month for COBRA for his family.

Fortunately, the Ok, Boomer who's been dealing for a while with ageism in trying to earn a living has developed some best practices.

Here are the ones I recommend to those I coach:

• Grab income. Any kind. It doesn't necessarily ruin your resume. Actually some employers salute your willingness to do whatever it takes to earn a buck to support yourself and any loved ones. Here, free to read, is my bible on getting, holding, and moving on to better work, at any age Download Outwitting ageism. Also, the old adage is true: Nothing gets you work like having work.
• Stop pitching yourself the traditional way - that is, through credentials and being polite. Those I coached who were hired into well-paying work took control of the process by letting employers and clients/customers know: This is what I can do for you. To do that you have to understand their business. And, you have to control the interview process without it appearing that you are controlling the interview process. After all, presenting yourself for work is a form of sales call. 
• Bypass age. Move the focus to specifics you can accomplish. This becomes more and more a winning strategy in the current economic downturn. If you ignore age, so will others.
• Embrace minimalism or radical frugality. That's even possible if you have a family. Members of Generation Z and Alpha are aware of how tough you got it. They might even enjoy the collective spirit of sacrifice. 
• Relocate, if possible, to where the cost of living is lower and there is less age bias. An example is Arizona. Can't sell the house for the price you want? Rent it. 
• Sell stuff you don't need. You can post for free those items on app Nextdoor and Craigslist. 
• Longer term, develop multiple sources of income. You learned the hard way you can't depend on a job or operating a business in a particular niche. 
• Put in play those necessary endings. That is, letting go of all people, places, material possessions and mindsets that are keeping you stuck. The best read on that is Henry Cloud's "Necessary Endings."

Lots of older men and women continue to earn income. It's usually, though, not in what they used to do or at the rate of compensation they had previously earned.

But it's more than enough to make ends meet. Once they are eligible for Social Security, they can even begin to sock some of those earnings away. One self-employed marketing expert I coached began investing again at age 70. She had "lost it all" back during The Great Recession. When she has $20k more in her portfolio she will semiretire.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

Timing Is Everything - Madonna Lost Track of Time Passing

Odd.

What was entertainer (or, put more accurately former entertainer) Madonna doing on Instagram supporting hydroxchoroquine as COVID-19 treatment? 

The answer might be: Trying to force the media spotlight back on herself. 

Forbes reports Instagram flagged the video Madonna posted on this essentially as misinformation. 

We roll our eyes. Whatever.

Clearly Madonna is mutating into a symbol of how not to age.

Meanwhile, there are emerging best practices on aging as platform for a new start.

Clint Eastwood leveraged the passage from middle age to old age as a way to experiment with doing serious drama. The results range from "The Unforgiven" to "Million Dollar Baby"

David Letterman has a whole new career. You might have spotted him on television doing sign-language.

Betty White parachuted into being an advocate for the aging - a dumped-on demographic niche in America. 

In contrast, Madonna seems stuck. 

That state of stuckness can destroy Madonna's legacy. Timing is everything. Her time as a performance celebrity was over. She had to rebrand. And didn't. 

The collective memory of Madonna could be a social network gadfly.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

As Aging Workers Join Gig Economy - Some Promising Legal Developments

This represents a victory for gig economy workers which could spread from New York to other locations in the U.S. The over-50 locked out traditional jobs by ageism should feel a sense of hope. Some speculate that it's in gig assignments that the aging can find sustained income. 

Bloomberg Law reports that drivers for Uber and Lyft in New York had sued in May to receive unemployment compensation payment. As yet, there had been no payment.

That will change. U.S. District Judge LaShann Hall ruled that they should receive immediate payment.

Meanwhile, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruled that currently jobless behavior therapist Donald Lowman could collect unemployment. That's even though he did gig driving for Uber. That decision can open the door for loosening of rules about eligibility for unemployment compensation for gig workers. 

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

8 Signs You're Drifting into Poverty During Retirement/Semiretirement

The Elder Index, explains Christian Weller in Forbes, documents how much is the minimum those 65 and over need to make ends meet. That can vary greatly, especially based on where you live..

For example, in 2019, the Elder Index for a couple based in D.C. was $33,000 but for those in Alabama it's $21,504. Obviously, the retired and those planning retirement have to take geography very seriously. 

Currently, according to the Elder Index, more than 50% of aging singles are drifting out into the abyss in their ability to pay their bills. That situation is bound to worsen because of the sustained financial fallout from COVID-19.

There are 8 signs, notes Weller, that you could be caught in that undertow. They are:

• You have access to less or no work. Unemployment has been increasing for the aging. That's just the way it is. But there is hope if you understand what I call The New Hustle. Here, free to read, is my guide on landing, holding, and moving on to better work, no matter your age Download Outwitting ageism.
• You are doomed to receive lower Social Security benefits since you are earning less during these recessionary times. The less you earn, the lower your benefit. The more money you need to supplement that.
• You are taking money out of your retirement accounts
• The price of houses in your area is declining. That could leave you in a pickle if you need to cash out.
• Rent prices are up. That's no surprise since you see so many homeless on the street. It's landlord nation. 
• You applied for Social Security before the standard age. That reduces your monthly benefit for life.
• Your health care costs are up.
• You are going more deeply into debt.

The good news is that awareness of the direction you are moving in can alert you to the need to make modifications in your total retirement/semiretirement situation.

That can begin with getting smart fast about how to earn income. Take a job or gig assignment. Any one. The adage is really true: Nothing gets you work like having work. All the good jobs and plum assignments I received happened when I was already working. 

More aging are embracing radical frugality or minimalism. Yes, you can slash spending significantly. The pain doesn't last long.

Relocation to where the cost of living is lower has become downright necessary for most.

Ditch the car? According to Nerd Wallet, that will save you up to $700 a month. Before you relocate, factor in if the area has good public transportation. Also, Ubering it is less expensive than calling a traditional taxi. Buy a used bicycle at a flea market. 

Be optimistic. You have gotten through worse. You can figure out how to pay your bills, even in COVID-19 times and beyond. 

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Ok, Boomer on 2 Wheels

There were those fortunate enough to have bicycles before the supply went poof in metro areas.

The rest might still be out of luck. They can't find a bicycle to purchase and to learn from scratch or to relearn the science and art of balancing on two wheels.

Bicycle riding, as opposed to public transportation or getting flabby w/o going to the gym, has gone total cool during COVID-19.

The Wall Street Journal presents the saga of someone hopping on a bike as an adult, w/o ever mastering two wheels as a child.

Of course, that newbie experienced a loss of dignity. Those several feet up from the sidewalk or dirt trail can seem like a massive mountain in the Grand Canyon. Look down at your peril. Lose control and all bets are off how badly the newbie will be injured. There is also an art to falling. 

For me, who last rode a bicycle during graduate school in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the challenge wasn't much different.

Last Sunday, after three weeks of checking out designer bike shops, big boxes, sporting goods stores, and flea markets, I finally found an available women's 24-inch bike at the nonprofit Toledo Bike Coop. The organization restores bikes for a forever life.

The mission-driven center is in downtown Toledo.

An Uber got me there.

And since I knew I wasn't ready to hop on, an Uber brought me and the 24-incher purple beauty (50 bucks) home.

It sat in the living room until Tuesday. Then I wheeled it to a large deserted paved lot. I held onto the side of the building.

But, then the Ah-Ha moment. Gripping the building wasn't necessary. My body recalled the old programming.

Yes, I could balance. I made it home.

Then I made it to Kroger.

Next, I made it to Office Max, the only store around with printer ink cartridges still in stock. Best Buy's shelves were bare. Supply-chain breakdown they're calling it. 

I became smug. Look, Ma, your non-athletic Ok, Boomer daughter is out there riding a bike.

Nonono, I didn't pay attention to the complex dynamics of balance on a very narrow surface. I tumbled over. People rushed to "help the lady." I walked the bike home, not looking back at the Good Samaritans.

Knocked out of my confidence zone I drifted into the culture of complaint.

The seat wasn't comfortable. (Or, maybe my butt was too large for it.)

Wersell's designer bike shop in Toledo installed a wider heavily padded one. Jill the owner instructed me about biking science. I would still endure hell unless I scooted back on the seat. Yes, lean back, not in.

That seat and the tutorial set me back an additional $35. Cheap, though, since a new bike would have meant ponying up $400. Bikes are not cheap. 

Was it the heavy stuff in my backpack which caused the fall, I got to wonder?

Wersell's ordered me a front basket that could transport weight. It will be installed at the end of this week. The standard baskets, which look so cute, will only hold a few pounds. That could set me about another 50 bucks. But, more importantly, will I have to pick up new balancing dynamics because of the basket?

The bar I have to swing my leg over was and is too high for my five-feet (or less, since I am shrinking with age). I sensed that upon purchase. But there wasn't anything else out there in bikeville. Wersell's can't help me there unless I want to wait months until the right new bike comes in for me. The stock is essentially depleted.

Also this: If I am preoccupied with a business-something, the start on the biking is a bit wobbly. Yes, as an adult I have to concentrate on my mounting and peddling. Automatic, that's for youth. Teenagers in the complex stare at the wobbles. The smirking is palpable.

As a trend-watcher I wonder: When COVID-19 goes away will we trust public transportation again, rejoin gyms, and ditch the bikes?

That could play out. The result could be a glut of bikes. So, I better sell mine on Nextdoor or Craigslist when the virus still is a lifestyle changer. Biking seems an interim activity. And, I can't shake off the accident. I used to be the one to rush in to "help the lady."

In my living room is a sophisticated fly-wheel Schwinn stationary contraption for exercise. With great joy I will return to mindlessly peddling in front of David Muir's ABC evening news. 

In marketing timing is everything. Complimentary consultation on your marketing communications in COVID-19 time. janegenova374@gmail.com.

Breaking Free of All That Middle Class Whatever - No, You Don't Have to Worry about Outliving Your Money

"Stocks, bonds and commodities are heading for their strongest simultaneous four-month rise ever, an advance in the teeth of an economic slowdown ..." - Amrith Ramkumar, The Wall Street Journal, July 26, 2020. 

Downright optimism about our long-term financial security. That's what those of us are feeling, at least if we have been investing even a little and our financial planner is guiding on how to preserve gains w/o impeding growth.

If we play this boom right, we could pull off not running out of money, no matter how long we live. "Right" means opting for protecting the proceeds rather than making it a goal to max earnings. At this phase of our life this is no time to be a great risk-taker or greedy. 

In addition, those thriving financially among us have embraced radical frugality or minimalism.

A former real estate executive I had coached did just that after his firm offered him a package. He become open to experimenting and figuring out what was a fit for him.

At first, he assumed he could maintain an upscale middle-class lifestyle by picking up contract assignments. But what he realized was that he had soured on the whole work thing, at least being a wage slave. He considered launching an online business. Then he accepted his age and that he just didn't have the fire in the belly for a startup.

He read a lot only how to downsize fixed costs. Then he parachuted out of the traditional middle-class to a lower-middle class socioeconomic niche. His rent is peanuts. In a city with good public transportation and lots of Uber drivers, he could ditch car ownership. He dates those who also have had the Ah-Ha moment about not spending money. Eventually, if he gets an attack of wanderlust he could relocate to an even lower-cost American-dominated community in Mexico. 

This man, I have observed, is becoming more typical among the retired and semi-retired than those who go for buying the pricey house or condo in a retirement village such as those in Oro Valley, Arizona.

When I visited former college classmate Kathleen Huebner in the just-outside Tucson, AZ Brookdale Senior Community I was puzzled why she had locked herself into that whole scene. I experienced it as on the continuum of versions of struggling to become, stay, and enhance middle class status. 

Haven't we all had enough of that in the rat race?

Even those who had loved their jobs whom I had coached admitted the rat race had been just that: a rat race. Daily, the rats nibbled on their souls. 

Incidentally, self-employment doesn't necessarily eliminate that horror. I wasn't able to flee the extreme pressure when I hung out a shingle. That is, not until I got it that finding peace was up to me.

The answers for all of us, including myself, are inside ourselves. For me, the answers included relocating from the over the top expensive New York Metro area and slashing the costs of doing business. 

The fun that goes along with semi-retirement or just being able to be more selective in the work we do for income comes from this: shaking off all those middle class symbols that we are successful careerists.

You bet.

No longer the need for top of the line brands.

Entertaining mirrors the good-old genteel poverty of our college and graduate school years.

And we can disappear into the desert for a few weeks of spiritual renewal without any impact on our earning power.

We choose employers, customers, and clients who don't expect us to be on duty 24/7.

Where I learned plenty about aging and financial freedom was going weekends to the small resort town of Geneva on the Lake. It's about an hour from Youngstown, Ohio and from Erie, Pennsylvania.

Bikers dominate the town. I talked with them. I listened.

A niche group among them managed to travel on their motorcycles everywhere with their four-legged children. They tented when the weather permitted. They figured out low-priced shelter when it didn't. Some picked up odd jobs. Some ran little businesses. Some just lived on Social Security and investments.

None were in angst about money. Living their lives as they chose was their priority. Not traditional notions of success and all those symbols.

The wonderful paradox is: The more I relax about money the more of it comes in. Both through investments and operating my two boutiques.

Minimalism may be the platform for late-blooming. A wonderful read on that is "Old Masters and Young Geniuses" by University of Chicago researcher David W. Galenson.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Denial of Death - So Over

In Florida, lawyer Charles Gallagher of Gallagher & Associates announced he is providing free wills to teachers.

BusinessInsider reports that already Gallagher has received 600 requests for information.

Other lawyers in Florida are offering discounts on wills for teachers. 

DeSantis is the governor of that state, which is a hotspot. He ordered the schools open as totally in-person.

A major teachers' union is suing.

But he might get his way. If he does, many teachers simply can't afford not to show up for work. How will they pay their bills?

When they do show up, they could become infected with COVID-19. Of course, they need to, as the euphemism goes, "put their affairs in order" before the beginning of the new school year. 

COVID-19 might be making the denial of death a human anachronism. The children of Generation Z might ask, "Mom, why did people think they would live forever?"

Place your paid sponsored content on this blog. Here are 6 tips for search engine optimization (SEO) in 2020. Contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

Aging Professionals Knocked Out of the Box: You Need a New Playbook

There he is again. 

Graydon Carter. 

He used to be a trend-setter. Had writers, editors, and photographers doing back flips to work for him. And knew how to throw a good party. Invitations to his Academy Awards galas were big deals.

That was, as much of influence, attached to his title as the head of glossy Vanity Fair. Remember the print era? 

Then that title was gone.

Currently he puts out Saturday digital newsletter Air Mail. Like the world needs another one of those. So far this year about 11,000 editorial-type jobs have been eliminated.

Yeah, that's the world in which Graydon Carter is. Also, there's a pandemic killing lots of human beings and destroying GDP. If it looks, walks, talks, and gives off the smell of fear of The Great Depression, maybe it is another one of those. 

And yet Carter somehow got into the news cycle. It's by commenting in the Telegraph about another presence who's becoming a yesterday person or at least one who's getting on our nerves - Prince Harry. 

Wrongwrongwrong, Carter hammers, about Harry's living in LA. Bad fit. And it makes the British people sad. 

Oh, really, Graydon. Thanks for the tip. 

Note that the global media space devoted to Harry keeps declining. The Daily Mail, the tabloid out of the UK, used to simultaneously carry about six articles on the late Diana's son and his American wife.

Now, it will crank out one article now and then covering expose "Finding Freedom."

In COVID-19 time, the world doesn't welcome a tongue-lashing. We are already raw from reality. 

Incidentally, Little Archie isn't getting the press Kate's and William's son George is. Happy birthday, Prince George. Kate is turning out to be more media-savvy than Meghan. 

Carter is 71. Knocked off his former perch, he needs a fresh playbook. Doesn't every professional whose industry moved on without them?

When I put on my coach's hat, what I recommend to clients who have been derailed from their lifelong careers is this: Put together something new. Leave the legacy of the past positive. Struggling to play in the same sandbox destroys that branding - and doesn't provide a pull force to have kids crowd in and join the fun. The world wants to bear witness to fun. 

Carter, after the end of his reign at Vanity Fair, had the resources to start over.

He didn't.

He just added a new toy - Air Mail - to the sandbox. Nice try trying to get attention for all that through embattled Harry. Even before COVID-19, Harry was going out of style. 

Here, free to download, is my bible on how to flee a comfort zone. 

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on human resources and careers.  

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The special area of expertise is the displaced over-50 professional. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.