Over-50

How Easily Do You Make New Friends? - Relocation and Retirement/Semi-Retirement

"You have several solid networks in Connecticut."

That's what I continually remind a lawyer I coach who is obsessed with the notion that she could save a bundle by locating to a lower cost state such as South Carolina or Arizona.

Even given her high social intelligence, it could be two or three years before she can put together networks in the new area. Meanwhile she could suffer profound isolation.

The tradeoff of saving about $500 a month in another state might not be worth it. Instead she can reduce her spending and/or pick up a weekend job. Currently she works part-time weekdays in real estate law. Where she could downsize spending is by not eating out as frequently, buying clothing in consignment shops, and taking day trips, not weekend ones, which require bunking in a motel. 

That same warning applies to the growing number of budget-challenged aging in the U.S. who are researching relocating to Mexico, Ecuador, or Belize. Sure, the lifestyle would be more affordable. But, I hammer them with one question: How easily do you make new friends?

Working part-time may be the realistic solution for making ends meet when aging. Here is my new book, free to download, on how to land those income opportunities Download Outwitting ageism.

We humans are social. 

Coaching and Thought Leadership Ghostwriting about Issues Associated with Aging.

Complimentary consultation, sliding scale fees. Please contact Jane Genova at janegenova374@gamil.com.

 

Financial Independence, Retire Early - Yes, You Can Pull That Off

FIRE is an increasingly misunderstood concept.

FIRE is short for Financial Independence, Retire Early.

Expert on personal finance Suze Orman declares that is only possible if you have $5 million socked away. FIRE advocates roll their eyes. 

Arguments on the two sides have become so intense that Michelle Singletary has covered them in a piece for The Washington Post. Here you can read it. 

And read it professionals might be motivated to do with all the suicides of middle-aged strivers such as Kate Spade. The exhaustion-triggered temporary leave of head of law firm Baker McKenzie Paul Rawlinson. And the grim faces on the Metro North commuter line from Greenwich, Connecticut to Manhattan.

FIRE does not mean stopping work and embracing bliss. Instead, it maps out a way of life in which people don't have to work at what they don't like or what's making them crazy or killing them. They make it their business to exit what they perceive as a rat race. 

They become able to do that by becoming quite frugal and investing as much as they can. Then they can choose how they might want to live their lives. It may or may not include work.

Meanwhile they will continue to be frugal. What they are retiring from is the traditional notions of what work is, how it is to be done, where it is to be, for whom it is to be performed, and how much it is supposed to pay. The BigLaw partners might put together a FIRE by establishing a boutique law firm specializing in animal rights. 

Orman sets the $5 million figure for FIRE because of all the unknowns in life. Those who opt for FIRE, she points out, can get sick, see their portfolio tank, have Social Security and Medicare eliminated or significantly reduced, and more.

However, given the chaotic 21st century, most of us have already experienced reversals in our portfolios and/or careers. And many of us have gotten on the other side of all that.

Also, it's useful to recall that our parents, grandparents, or great grandparents did get on the other side of immigrating to the U.S., the Influenza epidemic, The Great Depression, and World War II. 

In 2014, I embraced FIRE. Instead of calling it FIRE, I labeled that mindset The New Minimalism. The ethos is one of enoughness. Banished is the hunger for moremoremore.

My version of what many prefer to refer to as FIRE was to only take on assignments which I liked and for clients who treated me with respect.

To set that up I relocated from the pricey New York Metro area to an efficiency apartment in the desert of the southwest. There I discovered dental tourism. In Mexico dental procedures are one-half the cost in the U.S. I have made it my business to have my car last to 200,000 miles. More recently, I cut $300 a month from my budget by shopping cautiously for groceries.

FIRE can bring as much freedom to a professional life as The Pill brought to physical intimacy. To make that happen might require several years of reducing expenses and investing. If there are children to put through college, it might take longer than that.

But just knowing that someday FIRE is possible can get stressed-out professionals on the other side of traditional work. Work can be joyful.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

Thank You for Not Sending Holiday Greetings

During the past several years, Bob Dilenschneider publishes his reflections on every major public holiday in third-party media.

The next will probably be a placement in establishment media for Thanksgiving. 

One would probably assume that the objective of so much effort is selling his services, at least partly. After all, resources are invested in that outreach. Resources represent a business expense.

However, Dilenschneider is not alone.

Beginning in mid-December, just about everyone I had purchased a car, house, or computer services from will be expressing holiday sentiments to me. Of course, more and more of us dread that glut of good wishes. 

In this over-communicated/media-surplus era, publishing anything is not often in the public interest. Neither are all those emails, phone calls, and texts.

Most of us need a hug rather than one more article on whatever or a message from any medium. In addition, if someone wants my business, rather than simply emailing a copy of a published article, attach a five-buck gift card for coffee and sweet. 

Anyway, in his 2017 reflections on Labor Day, Dilenschneider got a fact wrong. That was saluting America as having the most productive workforce. Actually, in 2017, according to the OECD, the U.S. ranked fifth. Lack of fact-checking does not help the public interest.

Dilenschneider founded public affairs firm The Dilenschneider Group. Given his expertise, the odds are he knows what he is doing in leveraging holiday greetings as possibly a selling platform.

But, my gut, seasoned by coaching sales, raises the question: Has the tactic of holiday greetings become a counterproductive kind of outreach in reaching and bonding with prospects? 

Here is what I know: A growing number of my clients, colleagues, and close friends have the fantasy of fleeing the rat race and taking up residence in a secluded cabin.

The only difference of opinion among them is whether that refuge should be on or off the grid. Those favoring the latter indicate they are willing to search the location for a hotspot to link to the internet. 

In short, America's new signature trait could be mutating from universal gregariousness to the status symbol of being able to be left alone. That could be the emerging meme in advertising: You can and will be left alone.

More of us who can't pull the plug on an over-communicated society, at least not yet, are making it our business to stock the moat with alligators and pull down the drawbridge. The technology of gmail, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter assists in that.

Often the epiphany comes that the more folks we block, unfriend, and delete the less bleak our little lives seem. Believe me, those wanting to purchase our services or products have no trouble finding us. And, aside from a few stimulating colleagues and caring friends, those are the only other humans I want to hear from. The film "Alpha" killed it because it created a sci-fi explanation of how wolves evolved into man's best friend. 

This holiday season, please remove my name from the emails, phone lists, and texts. I will be off the grid in a cottage near Lake Erie. Two two-legged friends and one four-legged one will help me snatch pure joy from the meaning of Christ's birth and the start of a new year.

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

The New Smugs - Retirees/Semi-Retired Who Seemingly Have 2 Dimes to Rub Together

The world of the aging has divided into two.

That's what I first bumped into but didn't understand around 2014.

It was then that I had circled back with my seemingly more financially well-off classmates from Seton Hill's Class of 2017. They ranged from Kathleen Huebner to Irene Nunn.

For instance, Huebner, although not married to a successful man, has made the right professional moves. She purchased a house in an Oro Valley, Arizona upper middle class retirement complex. A creative bohemian and risk taker, my career had not been linear. It still isn't. And, the rollercoaster ride suited my creative metabolism just fine. 

Back then in the early years of the 21st century, I was struggling, financially, emotionally, and socially.

The shock of becoming older had grabbed me by the neck, shook me hard, and threw me to the ground. Lesson Number-One: Never reach out when vulnerable.

I only came to connect the dots on my former classmates' behavior - I coined the phrase "The New Smugs" to capture their essence - this summer.

That's when a lovely couple relocated to our residential complex from 1,000 miles away.

Of course, they had interesting stories to recount of how it had been where they had been, why they moved, and what they think of their new home.

We were all ears. Storytellers cast spells.

Then something familiar happened: The conversation seemed to shift to what they had which they assessed we didn't.

For example, The New Smugs kept hammering that they owned a getaway several hours from their rental here.

Of course, they were going to invite us all to stay. As yet, not one of us has been invited.

Oh, the getaway is real. (One hat I wear in my communications/coaching career is investigator.)

Also real, though, is that the gateaway seems to be positioned and packaged as much as a status symbol as the beach house in the Hamptons which our bosses and clients back in the New York Metro area used to boast about, promise to have the office over, and never did. 

Currently, I am not in the limbo I had been in 2014. Things are actually good.

There's that emerging adage among the aging: The first 50, 60, 70, or 80 years of my life hadn't been too hot. However, there are definite signs of a turnaround. 

But financially I am not among the 1%. And after embracing The New Minimalism or Enoughness I have no desire to have more than I have.

Somehow I got lucky and was able to leave the Hunger for More in the 20th century.

However, it still annoys me to have those my age seemingly continue to indulge in those games of youth in which making others feel less-than had been necessary for their sense of self.

From the hood in Jersey City, New Jersey (pre-gentrification), I perceived myself having been tormented by many of my classmates as well as  professors and the members of the administration at Seton Hill. 

Perhaps "annoy" is an understatement. The correct phrase might be to apply that phrase executive coach Henry Cloud made famous: Necessary Endings. Here, his book by that title can be ordered from Amazon. That is Lesson Number-Two: Prune and keep pruning the tree of life. 

Although I did not understand the phenomenon of how those from the past can have negative effects in the present, I dumped those members of the Class of 1967 in May 2014. That was one month after I had relocated myself, my two businesses, and my four-legged son from Connecticut to Tucson, AZ. I was based about a 25-minute ride from Huebner's house.

That radical purging (of Huebner et al.) response came from something intuitive inside me.

It was that same inner psychic which helped me navigate off the dangerous streets of my hometown to something different. Different does not necessarily mean "safe," at least not emotionally and socially. Hahaha. No wonder smart young people have no goal to leave the housing projects in the inner city. For decades I have wondered if I would have suffered less in life had I stayed in Jersey City.

Currently, I have made enough progress on the learning curve with The New Smugs to exit that toxicity without extreme disruption.

For example, when they bring up a future invitation to Paradise, I just smile and go my way. Of course, the Jersey City kid in me is tempted to respond: Inviting folks to a vacation home had been the plot line in one of those serial-killer crime shows. Might have been "Criminal Minds." Then, run off laughing like a fiend. 

In addition, I am not all ears about what neighbors have come to say about The New Smugs. That sort of gossip simply mirrors the ethos of our insecure youth of meanness.

Lesson Number-Three is to forgive oneself for not sizing up the situation accurately faster.

Only now, 53 months later am I able to do that. When stuck, it's wise to lay low. We put alligators in the moat and pull down the drawbridge. From the top of our tower, which represents our little lives, we evaluate what is both safe and useful to let in. Only then we make a move. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

The Good Life Isn't Costing $5 Million

Opioids, energy production, lead paint, and the two barking dogs next dog. All have been alleged to or actually been convicted of creating a public nuisance.

To those categories of products, services, and creatures might be added financial services firms.

Increasingly, they are developing extreme anxiety in all generations, ranging from iGen to Silent.

They are doing that by hammering the message that all of those human beings could run out of money before they run out of years. Here is the typical scare-tactic article published in MarketWatch. 

The reality is this: No one knows the future - not on the macro level and not on the level of the finances of each human being.

Yet, usually with great authority the financial services firms predict millions of dollars will be needed for retirement or semi-retirement. And, even with that kind of nest eggs, the aging could wind up homeless.

Meanwhile, here is life as it is being lived and probably will continued to be lived: Many of those who did not pay much attention to building a nest egg or lost much of it in the two economic downturns in the 21st century essentially are managing to do just fine. There are exceptions of course. But usually their dire poverty or homelessness results from factors other than aging and not having a portfolio of five million dollars.

For 27 months I lived among those who were essentially dependent on Social Security. The setting was southwestern Arizona. 

They had had the financial common sense to relocate from more expensive areas of the U.S.

When they arrived they hunkered down in studio apartments and often got on waiting lists for government subsidized housing for the aging. In the common rooms of those residential complexes were items they didn't need, which they left for others who would find them useful. That sharing reminded me of my counterculture youth. 

I didn't hear a peep of envy from my neighbors about the other half who had paid attention to the nest egg and lived in posh retirement communities in Oro Valley, AZ.

The ethos was being grateful to have enough. That might be called The New Minimalism. There was no hunger for more.

The pilgrims mastered the wonderful bus system in metro regions such as Tucson, Arizona. Cars weren't necessary.

Because age bias is less in areas such as Tucson and Phoenix, they were able to land part-time employment at the local Fry's Supermarket and Home Depot. When I was consulting at the latter, the staff was celebrating a clerk's 80th birthday. 

No one, including myself, has their undies in a bunch that Social Security monthly payment might get cut by about 23% by 2034. The MarketWatch article sternly warns readers that will happen sooner than they think. But, what about not thinking about it, at least not as a form of daily angst ritual!

Yes, the lifestyle in southwestern AZ has become more expensive, very recently. That's because of the influx of those from California who are fleeing that state's high cost of living.

But, those I had spoken with held out the option, if AZ got too pricey, to relocate to Mexico, Ecuador, or Belize. In parts of those nations, it is possible to get by on $700 a month. That's about half the average Social Security monthly payment. 

The above is what I know. I lived it. 

So, if the financial services industry doesn't back off with the statistical theatrics then some of us should find a clever plaintiff law firm. We should play around with the idea of filing a class action lawsuit. In it we would contend that the promotional tactics constitute a public nuisance.

We request two things.

One is injunctive relief: Totally halt the scare tactics.

The other is damages for harm done.

The harm done to us and those who love us has been significant.

Before I realized I was doing jolly fine, I had lost many a night's sleep, gained 50 pounds from antidepressant medications, and, get this, had moved all the way to AZ from Connecticut.

I moved back east, as least as far east as I could afford, when I recovered from the panic triggered by all that marketing material distributed by financial services firms.

Of course, I could run low on money. Any one could. If so, there are myriad expat living options. 

Until we decide whether to sue, let's get the message out that the financial services industry can huff and puff.

But it won't blow away our trust in our ability to financially cope with whatever. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

The Counterculture Died Not With A Bang, But With A Haircut And Shower

If it looks, walks, smells, and throws verbal grenades like what was business as usual in the Counterculture, maybe it is a return to radicalism. On both the left and the right.

Many of us who came of age during the Counterculture of the late 1960s have been noticing the similarities of the highly political environment of today and what went down then.

Everything now and everything then quickly acquired a political meaning.

And, it is the influential Drudge Report which has picked up on this. The Drudge high-profile headline reads: "America the Radicalized."

The link is to an article by Jim VandeHei at Axios. Here you can read it. Unlike the usual Axios articles, this one is long form.

No matter what occurs, be it a nomination for the U.S. Supreme Court or a school shooting, the issue mutates immediately into a political one. Both the left and the right get in there.

Pontification is everywhere. As in the Counterculture, there is no search for common ground. Both political extremes are certain they are 100% correct in their interpretations of whatever.

The article warns: The radicalization will get worse. 

What shook the foundations of the radicalism of the counterculture was the severe recession of the 1970s. The easy money was gone. Finding work was tough. We, as a pragmatist would put it, had to grow up. We cut our hair and the rhetoric. 

What could shake the foundations of the current radicalism? Obviously, a financial crash more serious than the one in 2008 would do it. We could come together.

During that 1970s economic downturn, the left and the right labored side by side in jobs we were thankful to have. 

The same ethos could prevail if the global economy collapses. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

In the Woods or Desert

The streets, the highways, homes with supposed loved ones, and schools have all become America's killing fields.

The latest life to end unexpectedly and violently is that of former chief executive officer of Pinnacle Airlines - Philip Trenary.

He was gunned down on a Memphis street yesterday. In addition he had headed the Greater Memphis Chamber of Commerce. Here are more details from the New York Post. 

"Being safe" is a myth.

If some miscreant or loved one isn't trying to off us, then some desperate hustler is pushing to sell us something.

Increasingly the collective fantasy is going off to bunk in a cabin in woods or the desert, totally off the grid. No electricity. For the internet we navigate the terrain to find a hotspot. The best term for that is probably The New Minimalism. 

Attention is the currency of the 21^st century. Jane Genova helps you get it for products, services, points of view, causes, branding, careers after-50, and college admission.

In addition, this blog welcomes paid sponsored content.

Free consultation janegenova374@gmail.com

 

New Formula For Extreme Success, W/O Much Stress, Lots More Goodies

A funny emotional, physical, and spiritual game is going on. 

It might be called Now That I Decided To Retire.

Those who opt to play that game find that they can "start over" again with a mindset that reduces stress significantly. (Yeah, one for university folks to research). Consequently they can remain full-time or part-time in the workforce - perhaps forever. Without the traditional pressures.

Those of us who understand how the world operates would attribute the major changes associated with this shift in perspective to just not taking professional life all that seriously.

Many of us have observed over and over again that detachment - a fundamental of zen - often increases success. In contrast, professionals who try so hard often become targets for abuse in organizations. 

Several years ago, an eight-year associate was knocked out of the box at BigLaw. Because law had been his second career he was not young. After being treated by a psychiatrist for clinical depression, he came to me for career coaching.

His total assets enabled him to retire from the legal sector. He planned to do just that, exploring other career paths in which he could earn part-time income.

That was settled.

Then, he decided he owed it to himself to give law one more try. Detached, he landed a partner position in a midsized law firm. He is still there. Yes, in his head, he remains committed to retirement from the law. Only, not today.

The same phenomenon is taking place with a corporate communications expert I coach. I have a hunch that since he had become committed to retiring he will remain on this career path until his health gives out or he dies putting together strategy for a crisis in higher education.

For those considering finding an exit off a career path, here is my book, free to download, on how to land, hold, and move on to better work in myriad other fields  Download Outwitting ageism.

Toying with retirement or semi-retirement? You owe it to yourself to schedule a complimentary consultation at janegenova374@gmail.com. If that proves helpful and you want to continue coaching, there is a sliding scale fee schedule. 

Social Security at 62? No Right Answers, Of Course

There is a movement which is getting a lot of attention in financial circles, the media, and, of course, the aging themselves. 

That's FIRE - Financial Independence, Retire Early.

Those doing a FIRE aren't necessarily leaving work and living the good life. All FIRE entails is being able to pay the bills without earning income from work.

Frequently, FIRE becomes possible through filing for Social Security benefits early - that is, at age 62. The lifetime consequence of that is a reduction of the monthly benefit.

Many traditional financial types advise against that. However, there are no right answers. 

A recent study, for example, found that "early claimers" are more likely to wind up in poverty than those who wait until the usual age to start drawing on Social Security. Here in MarketWatch Mark Hulbert gives the details. His analysis points out, though, that it might be those already financially marginal who are among the early claimers. 

There are many advantages associated with being an early claimer, however.

The classic one is that having such a financial floor under you can be a sturdy platform for The Next. For example, a lawyer I coached had been shocked when she bumped up against ageism. After years of landing full-time jobs easily she found herself unemployed for seven months. That's why she decided to consult with me.

It was a soul-wrenching step for her to sign up for Social Security at 62. But that she did. That, combined with her pension from working for the state as a lawyer for a decade, put her in the FIRE movement.

She didn't stay there long. The new floor under her put her in a position of strength. That naturally enhanced her ability on how to sell herself.

Currently, she has a 30-hour-a-week job managing a law office. In addition, she has another one working for pay in what has been a passion to her: training horses. 

Her situation is ideal because state retirement also brought her health coverage. Others usually have to wait until Medicare. That is a strong motivator for them to stick to searching for and holding on to full-time jobs with medical benefits. FIRE is not an option. 

Health care costs are likely to push those without good insurance coverage into bankruptcy. 

For both early claimers and those who haven't rocked the boat on pursuing work for income, my new book, free to download, provides guidance on how to get work when it's needed  Download Outwitting ageism.

Could coaching be useful? Find out with a complimentary consultation. Please set up an appointment by contacting janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) - No, You Don't Have to Be Rich to Pull That Off

Capitalism, at least the American version, has become binary. 

There are those who are going on it, creating ways to become wealthy. That's one part. And, unofficially, that's The American Way. Yes, it's been the nation's religion since the Puritans settled in New England. 

The other part is represented by the FIRE Movement - Financial Independence Retire Early. 

The amazing thing about that part is that you don't have to be wealthy to participate.

Here is the coverage of FIRE by Alessandra Malito in MarketWatch about this phenomenon. 

All you need to join FIRE is enough to pay your bills without having to earn income through actually working.

For this group, working is about as relevant to their lives in 2018 as buying a two-bedroom condo on the planet Mars.

No, they don't "need" to work for their personal identity, establishing and holding a place in society, and avoiding derailing through drugs or alcohol. 

"Early" can mean as early as their 20s or as far along in their lives as opting to take Social Security at age 62, the first time one's eligible for it. Depending on one's date of birth the "official" age to take Social Security, without a reduction in lifetime monthly income, can begin at 66 or older. 

Since they don't have to work, they can do anything they want.

And, if you know someone who is part of FIRE, hold the advice on what they ought to be doing. Given that they have earned the right to not work they have absolute confidence in their ability to choose their lifestyles. 

So what are some of the early retirement roads being traveled?

MarketWatch mentions one man who, at age 41, retired in order to be the in-house "nanny." His wife continues to work. 

There are those who pursue a cause, a hobby, an art. They're not necessarily rich, by conventional standards. They just have adequate financial resources to do those things without adding more income earned from work.

A classic example are the professionals who exit the rat race at age 62, taking social security and drawing from their 401k. No one looking at them would label them as belonging to the 1%. But they don't have to go to work. For them that means psychological wealth.

The perils of FIRE include unexpected reversals of fortune, such as the plunging value of an investment portfolio or a whopper of a medical bill that's not covered by medical insurance. The latter is often the cause of personal bankruptcy. Those who wait to retire until they are eligible for Medicare, and sign up for a supplement such as through AARP, can dodge this bullet. 

Another danger is the inability to withstand that in American style capitalism those who aren't working become invisible.

In a real sense you are your professional title.

The lawyers who successfully argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and retired at age 58 will likely receive a glaze-through in social life. They are no longer the cog in the wheel of capitalism they had been.

Poof - their professional place-holder in a society is gone. In Law.com, former in-house general counsels complain about that. Overnight, others stop deferring to them. They mutate into Everyman and Everywoman. 

In my coaching, despite the potential problems associated with FIRE, worn-out professionals often have that as a goal.

Of course, they keep it highly confidential, fearing their employers, clients, or customers will ditch them if their know they will soon be retired. In America, retirement tends to have a bad smell. 

Typically, what we focus on during pre-FIRE is reducing fixed expenses.

For example, it's smart to sell the house if it's a sellers' market. That not only can provide a nest egg. It cuts the monthly nut and prevents unplanned money-suckers such as the roof that's blown off which is not fully covered by insurance. 

In addition, we come up with ways to ramp up earn income, usually through adding sources beyond what comes from the main career.

Lawyers in small firms might pick up teaching assignments.

A vice president of communications in a corporation who wants out does about 30 hours of freelance marketing communications.

A manager of human resources in a department store publishes a paid-subscription newsletter under another name.

Of course, not all FIRE schemes pan out forever.

There might be a return to work. Here is my new book on how to navigate that reverse rite of passage  Download Outwitting ageism.

The road back to a lucrative earning pattern can start with a survival job. Yes, the old adage still is true: Nothing gets you a job like a job. And capitalism continues to be a platform for moving on to better and better jobs or starting a business or more. 

Communications Strategy/Services and Career Coaching. Special areas of expertise include professionals over-50 and students applying to degree programs in higher education.

 

Complimentary initial consultation. Sliding scale fees. Contact Jane Genova for an appointment janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

“Over-50: Outsmarting Your Comfort Zone” http://over-50.typepad.com/over-50/2018/05/outsmarting-your-comfort-zone-free-book.html

 “Over-50: The Four Monsters in the Mind” http://over-50.typepad.com/over-50/2018/04/ageism-bites-.html