Over-50

Get FIREd Up, At Any Age, Your Way

In a growing number of career paths we professionals are aging in dog years. 

By time we are in our 50s, too often we sit at our desks and daydream about how we can retire.

Yet, the cool new way of doing that - FIRE (financial independence, retire early) - seems beyond our grasp. We assume it's too late to get FIREd up.

Wrong. 

Radical savings can produce, within a few years, the option to shift to no work, a different type of work, or the same work but according to our own terms and conditions. The big misunderstanding is that FIRE indicates stopping working entirely. It may or may not.

More good news is that there is no one way to get FIREd up. After all, we are all different. And where we can adopt extreme frugality is therefore different for each of us.

One lawyer I coached after he was released from prison launched an online business off the grid in a cabin in Oregon. The only concessions to the modern age have been the electricity for the digital devices and what it takes for internet access. 

Me? My version of FIRE involved first paying down six-figure debt. The universe was smiling on me. It was before the real estate and global financial crashes. The house in West Hartford, Connecticut sold for a nice profit. High paying work came my way.

The debt out of the way, I had the option to go totally FIRE.

The dog and I took the I-95 ramp out of expensive CT to the dirt-cheap desert of Arizona. That was after we donated all our worldly goods, including his boxes of toys, to charity. That enabled me to choose what assignments I would accept - telecommuting, of course. 

Soon enough I had saved enough to return as far east as I was willing to pay for. That has been Ohio. I missed the four seasons. 

The next phase of FIRE will be to migrate next fall to a U.S. town on the border of Mexico.

My rent will be a third-less of what I pony up now.

Also my choice of assignments will expand because I will have access to all the western states (time zones matter) as well as enterprises in Mexico.

There, I can cross the border to Nogales, Mexico for dental tourism. Replacing any of my aging crowns will cost about a third what U.S dentists charge.

Recreationally, I can see the U.S. in my (2010) Chevrolet. I hate airplanes, which also seem unduly expensive. 

However, you may not want to embrace FIRE.

It's not for everyone.

One 50-something vice president of whatever I coached continues to spend lavishly on his avocation - classic cars. So far, he has been able to do that without destroying his health or his marriage. But, no, he doesn't like his job. That he can blow off.

We are all different. I couldn't shake off doing assignments I didn't find stimulating.

Coaching and Thought Leadership Ghostwriting about Issues Associated with Aging.

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

 

The New Cool: Extreme Frugality

FIRE - Financial Freedom, Retire Early - is a movement gaining traction. 

Among its participants are not only those in their 50s and beyond yearning to flee the rat race. That's my generation. 

As The Wall Street Journal reports, it's also attracting relatively young professionals.

Featured in the article is 38-year-old Seattle lawyer Sylvia Hall. She manages to not spend 70% of her after-tax income. By age 40, she hopes to have socked away $2 million in assets. Then she can do a FIRE. 

That means she can do whatever she wants.

Whatever she and the rest of us embracing FIRE want to do is all over the place.

Many of my generation continue with our professional lives but on a selective basis. We carefully choose what work we will do, for whom, and for how much. The mindset is: No, we don't need the money, not any more. But, sure, we can use it to enrich our lifestyle.

Some simply cash out the family home in Darien, Connecticut, and head to Oro Valley, Arizona to just be. They have had it boarding the Metro North commuter train to Grand Central in Manhattan before dawn and coming back after the kids are in bed. 

There are those who scratch the entrepreneurial niche. One former D.C. policy analyst started up a we-come-to-you tutoring service. 

And the common fantasy of traveling the world can be lived out.

All nice.

But the cost to the economy could be profound. After all, the U.S. economy is driven primarily by consumer spending. Recently, that was at about 70%.

Hall and the rest of us FIRE devotees aren't spending much. That's the new game: Extreme frugality. To us it doesn't entail pain. Actually, making every penny scream can bring unique satisfaction. In some ways, it's a lifestyle filled with adventure.

All that, of course, puts how other people make their living in transition. The upscale retailer in gentrified Jersey City, New Jersey might have to shift to retrofitting the enterprise as a consignment shop. And even if the owners succeed their gross revenues and profits may be below what they used to generate. 

It's not hyperbolic to predict that FIRE could shoot an arrow directly in the heart of the consumer economy. Gone, at least for generations, will be keeping up with the Jonses in the size of the house, the year model of thc SUV, and having the kids enrolled in prep schools. 

Some top public relations agency will have to be hired to persuade Americans to start spending again. My hunch is that the campaign won't be effective. Too many of us have almost died for a paycheck. That's exactly why we're Doing A Fire.

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

 

October 30, 2018 - GE Changed Forever Concept of Retirement

Retirees in general, those who had retired from GE, and those who were planning to retire from GE but can't afford to got the rug pulled from under them - the financial one.

To rebuild its balance sheet, GE slashed its more than century old quarterly dividend. It had been 12-cents a share. It will be a mere penny. That, reports CNN, will save the company about $3.9 billion annually.

Although Wall Street had been expecting GE to re-think the dividend few anticipated this kind of downsizing. 

This is yet another brutal example of the surprises which can undo even the most conservative retirement planning. To apply that crude saying: No retiree can ever assume he or she is sitting pretty in terms of funding the next 10, 20, 30, or even 40 years.

Already, found the Federal Reserve Board, about one third of retirees have already returned to the workforce.  With inflation back, there will probably be more.

But even before inflation returned, in what might be thought of as Retirement Paradise - southwestern Arizona - those who had been living the easy life scrambled to figure out how to get back in the labor market. I coached some of them in 2014, including creating the new kinds of resumes and cover letters. Both those had to shift from a laundry list of credentials to: Here is what I can do for you.

Also, many of them had that raw moment of clarity that they had to erase their dream of international travel and perhaps buying a second home in Mexico or Belize. 

The survival measure GE took could represent just the beginning of jolts for those in the retirement or pre-retirement box. Meanwhile, other cruel developments had bit them in their golden age dreams.

For example, with GE relocating from Fairfield, Connecticut to Boston, employees and other aging professionals are discovering that they cannot sell their houses in CT. They are stuck with their property at a time when the population movement is out of high-tax CT. 

The old-line concept of retirement - never doing paid work again - may have died today with GE's announcement of the extreme dividend cut.

From the get-go, aging professionals have to wrap their heads around to embrace the earning power they have now, not what they used to have. And, must number-two is: No one wants to hear them grousing about it. The new ethos is to be realistic about the kind of work that can be gotten. 

The marketing communications experts who used to bill at $50 an hour may have to be grateful to pick up $19 hourly doing telecommuting assignments. No one might hire them if they show up in person. Major metro areas have become corridors of doors shut against the aging.

Yes, age bias is real. It happens to even big Brandnames in professional life. 

Here is my recent book on financial survival measures for those who start bouncing up against that kind of discrimination  Download Outwitting ageism.

Takeaway: The aging have to depend on themselves and their own wits to make ends meet. Not a supposed great corporation. Not a financial planner. Not a track record from the past. Not that gold-plated network. The latter will ditch them as soon as they displays signs of reduced marketability.

Career coaching and preparation of job search and small business promotional materials. Complimentary consultation. Sliding scale fees. You owe yourself the best shot at finding, holding, and moving on to better work. Please contact janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Takeaway from Current Stock Market: Never Stop Working

"RED OCTOBER: Amazon, Google, and Snap are plunging and taking global stocks down with them." 

That's the headline this morning in BusinessInsider. Here is the article. Meanwhile, at 9:55 A.M. New York time, the Dow is down 244.46. 

Of course, many in the U.S. are spooked. However, only some believe The End Is Near.

They include The Seeming Smugs in locations like Oro Valley, in southwestern Arizona.

I met The Seeming Smugs through former college acquaintance Kathleen Huebner. She had purchased a house in one of those growing number of retirement communities. 

The Seeming Smugs rode off into the sunset, assuming all paid labor was in the past. Since the stock market had entered its bull run, there was rarely a crack in their complacency. 

In fact, one indicated he was miffed that now he could not do everything he wanted when he wanted because the big money from a job was no longer coming in. Otherwise, he was fairly content with his daily routine of going to Starbucks in the A.M. with his dog (AZ allows dogs in because of the heat). He was going back and forth on whether to learn Spanish.

Now, globally equities aren't doing so hot. Most financial planners will tell us to sit tight. Many of the stock prices will return.

The issue, of course, is that could take time. Lots of time. Meanwhile, there is less for The Seeming Smugs to withdraw and fund the upkeep on their totally retired lifestyles.

It should dawn on them to join the one-third who have already returned to work after retiring. That has become so mainstream that there is even a term for it: Reverse Retirement. The good news for them is that some locations such as AZ tend to be age-neutral. Barriers to entry are low for landing paid work, both full time and part-time.

The emerging meme could be, as with the Seven Dwarfs, off to work we go. 

Given the uncertainty about Social Security and Medicare, plus how scary equities have become, it seems dumb not to do paid work. That includes operating a business.

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 Northeast - Yes, You Can Finally Flee the Scene and Still Have a Wonderful Career

" … getting the hell out of the Northeast" is part of the headline for Moneyish. Here is that article. 

Once the go-to place for a career, the Northeast is becoming a tarnished brand.

It's not unthinkable that BigLaw firms will have to shut down their headquarters there and establish a presence where folks are migrating. Those locations range from Texas to Florida.

United Van Lines found that the three Northeast states losing the most population are New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. 

As Catey Hill points out in the Moneyish article, there are three reasons for that:

Cost. To make ends meet for a growing number of people entails going into debt. So, common sense dictates that to exit debt means fleeing that scene.

For example, even a modest lifestyle in CT requires property taxes of about $21,000  on a house in Trumbull, ongoing property taxes on automobiles (a real ouch on newer cars), high car insurance, big nut to pony up for the commuter ticket to Manhattan on Metro North, and possible five-figure annual tuition for private schools. 

Horrendous Weather. The winters have been becoming colder - and with more snow. During one of the polar vortexes, it was tough to land a spot in the WalMart parking lot in New Haven, CT. What took most of the space were the several-foot piles of snow. In addition, just like parts of the southeast coastal areas, New Jersey has been hit over and over again with hurricanes such as Sandy. If climate change exists, there will be more of those.

Jobs Being Shipped to Lower-Cost Locations. Yes, the world of business is getting smaller, thanks to digital. Business owners and developers of startups have run the numbers. They get it that they can significantly lower the cost of doing business by heading west on I-95. That means the good jobs go with them.

For example, about 400 miles from New York is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is evolving into a hub for tech. Although that is inching up the price of housing, overall that metro area remains affordable. 

In April 2014, after decades of operating several enterprises in the New York Metro area, I headed to the southwest. Do the math:

• Rent was one-half what I had paid in Central CT (not even part of the Gold Coast)
• No property tax on my relatively new car
• Car insurance was one-half
• Gasoline was a few bucks less a gallon
• Hair styling and coloring were one-third
• Only one-tenth the car washes needed (without snow no worries about getting rid of the salt on the undercarriage)
• Dental procedures were one-third through dental tourism to Northern Mexico
• Vet bills were about half (with no upselling).

In the 27 months I bunked there I paid off the car loan and credit card balances. Because there were so many jobs I picked up three part-time ones to learn the technology such as CRM "on the company." I even socked away enough to begin investing again. 

Business demanded I parachute into Eastern Ohio in September 2016. There, surprise surprise, the cost of living is even less than that of the southeast. 

Meanwhile a client who is a lawyer in CT has to put semi-retirement on-hold. Once GE announced it was pulling up roots in Fairfield, CT for Boston, houses in his suburb stopped selling, at least at the price he needs to cash out. He is dreading his energy bill this coming winter. He has a hunch it won't be his last in the northeast.

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

 

We Baby Boomers Have Been Through This Before

The Internet has failed to live up to the early promise that it would create a level playing field in just about everything.

Instead, the Barbarians are at gate.

That everything the internet was suppose to usher in ranged from universal access to media attention to being able to succeed in business without a huge budget or even a gold-plated network. 

Like the leaders of the emerging counterculture in the late 1960s, the front lines of the internet - the Netizens - were positioned and packaged as spiritually, socially, and intellectually evolved. 

And, the obstacles of class, gender, language, and geography in connecting with other human beings would no longer exist. 

Little of that has come to pass.

In Vanity Fair, Maya Kosoff documents the failure.

Sure, all voices can be heard. But the loudest ones on the internet tend to promote hate or seek to confuse.

Businesses using supposedly low-cost Facebook advertising are now suing Facebook for allegedly inflating, up to 900%, the user metrics associated with video. The higher the metrics, the more Facebook billed. And, how many lawyers have been badly burned by web con artists? 

As in Orwell's  "Animal Farm," many of the Netizens considered themselves more equal that other Netizens.

Some of those more equal than others seem to have the darkness and myopia of human nature of William Shakespeare's classic characters like King Lear. 

Yeah, as the counterculture movement hardened it seemed to mutate into propaganda endorsing sex-on-demand, drug-taking, cult thinking, violence, and throwing away a career. 

The impediments to connecting seem to be increasing, not melting away like the Wicked Witch in "The Wizard of Oz."

Who hasn't been flamed on the internet because they were different from those who had figured out how to attract, hold, and grow followers?

The gang of earnest freelancers at Mediabistro.com put me under attack for two days.

The fans of Gawker explicitly tormented me for about four years. Included were weekly executions in which the decision would be made if I would be granted clemency. 

Unfortunately, being on the internet, both web and mobile, is a necessary evil. The snail mail mode of developing business is dead. Attending conferences in-person to network and job hunt has become too expensive at this time of stagnant wages and fees.

Yes, google has become the resume for individuals. That's what Richard Bolles hammers in the 2019 edition of "What Color Is Your Parachute?"

Google also has become the homepage for businesses. It overrides websites. And in his book "The Four," Scott Galloway predicts it will eliminate the concept of branding. Instead of sticking with brand choice Planet Fitness when we move to Ohio, we know to key in on google "fitness centers - Eastern OH." A lower-cost fit might pop up on the first page of google. 

Here's an analogy to the wonderous potential of the internet: baby boomers' access to a college education.

That seemed like the exit from being regulated to low-status, low-earning work.

Then, soon enough, it became obvious that not all school credentials were equal. That is exactly what the current trial "Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard" is about.

The stink that stuck on our realization that the game was still rigged hasn't diminished. But, we tell our grandchildren that they must go to college - and beyond in higher education. 

Likewise, we are locked into the internet. 

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

Wire Up! Pushing Back on Financial Services Players Who Are Using "Boo Marketing"

We received a 2.8% boost in our Social Security monthly payment, beginning in 2019.

Medicare only went up $1.50 a month.

At my apartment complex I get 25 bucks off a month because I am a senior.

At Regal Cinema I got to see "A Star Is Born" for peanuts.

Despite the gyrations in the stock market, my investment portfolio is holding up.

The concept of "rational suicide" is catching on. My friends and I candidly discuss how we will off ourselves if we find that we are sliding into dementia. 

And two out of my three businesses have caught fire. When in southwestern Arizona, I was able to pick up three part-time jobs to learn technology "on the company."

Probably no aging population in human history has had it better than my generation of those over-60.

Yet, the financial services types have become downright compulsive in figuring out new and better ways to scare us about tomorrow. I call it "Boo Marketing."

For instance, in MarketWatch, Paul Brandus headlines that "seniors are in trouble." Here is the article.

Essentially his message is that the future is uncertain. Smirk smirk. When was the future not uncertain?

So many in the financial services box trot out that Social Security could be cut back about 21% when I am 89. Mmnnnn. Should I really be in total angst about that now? Let me enjoy the Young Old Age.

For the now, my lifestyle is not only good. From my government entitlements, self-employment, and a side hustle working for someone else here and there I can even continue saving.

Watching my pennies has been fun, rather than emotionally and socially degrading. This month I knocked down my VISA credit card bill by $250 simply by shopping more wisely for groceries. 

The time is overdue for a regulatory agency or Congressional committee to ban the scary commercial messaging that the financial services folks are using. Boo Marketing has to be stopped.

Any individual financial planner or any financial services firm engaging in it should be fined $100,000 for each incident.

If government doesn't do its part on this one then on a grassroots level, we aging must create a version of Nader's Raiders from the late 1960s. Yeah, trap and catch the miscreants. You bet, wire up, fellow seniors.  

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

 

It Isn't You - In 42 States in America Cost Of Living Higher than Media Income

It's official. 

GoBankRates documented that most of us can't afford to live where we are living.

In 42 states, it found, the cost of living was higher than the median income.

The two major reasons for that were stagnant wages and rising housing costs. Regarding the latter, as every renter has noticed, leasing isn't cheap any more. Landlord Nation can jack up the teaser first-year rate at lease renewal time.  Here are more details from the Daily Mail. 

So, no surprise, becoming an expat is increasingly attractive.

And not just to retirees.

Members of younger generations who can operate their own businesses in a foreign country or receive a work permit have also been researching leaving the U.S.

For some, though, this is nothing new.

Mexico, for example, has long been a magnet for those who wanted to live cheaply and flee the extreme success ethos of the U.S. The healthcare system, including dental, is high quality and low cost. Also, there are detailed reports of crime locations to avoid. 

When I was living in southern Arizona, I crossed the border to Mexico often for dental procedures (dental tourism). The fee for service was about one-third what it would have cost me, even with dental insurance, in the U.S. The waiting rooms were packed with American families. The staff spoke fluent English.

In addition, I discovered that there are thriving communities of diverse kinds of expats in Mexico. Just about anyone can find a group whose members are simpatico. 

Other low-cost locations becoming popular are Ecuador, Belize, Costa Rica, the Philippines, and parts of southern Europe.

International Living is a good source to begin researching migrating from the U.S.

The next step would be to use vacation time-off to visit in-person. That's essential. Clients of mine in their late 50s are making those visits at least annually. 

The film "The Best Marigold Hotel" plays out the horror which can happen when the relocation is done, site-unseen. 

Full Disclosure: I have been researching becoming an expat for six years. The number-one choice has shifted from Ecuador to Mexico. Spain, where I had lived and worked in my 20s, has become relatively expensive.

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

 

Working - We Are Back to a Hunter Society

Since the 1970s, the "What Color Is Your Parachute?" job-search guide has been a must, for all phases of a career.

Overseen by Richard N. Bolles, it documents that the job offer frequently goes to those best at pitching themselves, not necessarily the most qualified.

In addition, the good jobs usually aren't advertised. You find them through networking, the right kind of cold-calling, and being at the right place at the right time. 

All that hasn't changed. Bolles labels those who open doors to the hidden marketplace "bridge people."

The way we build relationships with them is the "Parachute Way." Among the ways to reach out to them is through the LinkedIn professional network. Also, your presence on social media is your business card. As Bolles puts it, Google is your new resume. 

Because the formula remains the same, no surprise, the 2019 edition ranks 1,253 on Amazon. Here you can order it. 

What has changed is that Bolles is emphasizing the importance of knowing who you are. To find that out, he even provides a mini workbook in the front section of the guide. 

Self-knowledge, according to Bolles, is essential in navigating a labor market which keeps changing, where positions have shorter shelf lives, and that it takes longer to find a job or contract assignment. Knowing who we are gives us direction in what we go after. And prevents our getting worn out or embittered chasing after what's not the right fit.

Obviously, that chase probably won't result in paid work. Also, because we don't fit, we likely won't last long. And, that horrific ordeal could burn us out or even kill us. 

What used to thought of as a "career" has mutated into a continual search for paid work. Nobody should ever ditch the job-search mindset, even when enjoying a great job with great benefits. Soon enough the hunt could be back on.

Bolles doesn't use this analogy but we really are back to a hunter society. 

According the Parachute Way, hunters must know their strengths and weaknesses, likes and dislikes. Given those, they must then find out the best kinds of work situations for themselves and where.

In a sense, the Parachute Way puts those looking for work in a position of strength. Yes, we may always be hunting but the process can seem "normal," rather than a "punishment" for not doing a job right. 

The new edition has a section for the self-employed. Gig economy players should think of themselves as self-employed. 

Full Disclosure: During the late 1970s, I read in "What Color Is Your Parachute?" how requesting "informational interviews" can lead to job offers. I was struggling to make ends meet working for a non-profit.

I got up the courage to compose snail mail asking those in communications at local corporations for 10 minutes of their time for career guidance. Within three weeks, I had an offer from a global energy company. My annual salary more than doubled. Even better jobs in Corporate American opened to me. 

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