Over-50

Perk of Aging - Giving Up on Trying to "Be An Adult"

Buzzfeed nails it. It publishes all the groans about becoming an adult. 

Yet, in order to succeed in our careers during our peak earning years and guard the return on our investments, most of us had actually to try to "Be An Adult" or create the illusion we were one of those responsible creatures.

Deviation from that was unforgivable. Others mandated we all be as miserable as they were.

Sure, celebrities like Paris Hilton can get away without doing that. But the rest of us, once we completed our fun formal education, had to accept that was that: We had to, as the cliché goes, "grow up."

Then, we aged. Usually we didn't have to be at the top of a game any more. Our wealth was more or less set at X amount or Y. 

Ironically, it also helps us detox from adulting because we become invisible. Increasingly the younger generations as well as marketers glaze ignore us. No longer are we inspected daily to determine if we are fulfilling all the specs for the adult life.

And, somewhere after 50, 60, or 70, we acquire the mindset freedom to understand we didn't have to "Be An Adult" any more. We also wonder: Was all that supposed maturing really necessary to support ourselves? Or did we just buy into the experts' mandates - and our mothers' nagging? 

In a sense, at our age, we can return to the idiosyncratic ideologies and lifestyles of our student days. 

For example, remember how poor we were? Unlike Millennial and iGens we weren't encouraged to take out the max allowed on student loans. Instead we bunked in firetrap boarding houses, spent hours with one cup of coffee, and did what it took to shun debt of all types. Yeah, remember, we had real friends.

Currently, more of us are admitting, no, we don't agree with you or are even shutting you out of our lives. One day someone from my mid-career called. I said I couldn't talk since aliens had just landed their spaceship on the lawn and I had to welcome them. Look at me now, I thought to myself. I don't have to put up with those on a professional network, not any more.

And some of us may have actually adopted minimalism, that is consuming the bare minimum. Enough is enough. It's the more of less.

Since we probably don't have and/or don't want those big jobs or major assignments we no longer need the brandname attire, attache case, and upscale car.

Telecommuting for 99% of my business, I fashioned myself for last winter at the Austintown, Ohio Goodwill for $34 dollars.

When the 2010 car goes, next will be a motorized bicycle which doesn't require the insurance company middleman, at least not in most states. I have had living in fear of the insurance industry since I had to buy my first car to get to a job I hated. It wasn't until I launched my own business that I adjusted to having to work.

With such little stress, who needs exotic vacations? If my business continues its moderate success, I may be able to buy for cash a getaway mobile home wherever my motorized bike will get me. 

And, I'm not scared all the time. Only now and then, before my annual medical tests.

As younger gens observe us not acting like adults are supposed to they may decide they don't want to conform to that either. least, not the way it used to be.

Traditional adulting may be replaced by a hybrid of the joyful student we had been and only what protective coloring is absolutely necessary to earn a good living and build a nest egg. 

Not getting results from your marketing communications? Complimentary consultation – janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

U.S. - No Country for Retirement, Rates Global Retirement Index

No longer odd is the idea of leaving the U.S. after retiring and setting down new roots elsewhere around the globe.

So, studies such as the Global Retirement Index, reports MarketWatch, are getting lots of attention. Those assess the best countries around the world for retirement. Measured are items such as financial matters and quality of life. Well, the U.S. didn't make the top 10. 

The nations which did make that top 10 are:

Iceland

Switzerland

Norway

Ireland

New Zeland

Sweden

Denmark

Canada

Australia

Luxemberg.

The U.S. came in 11th. That ranking can plummet if the Social Security system becomes insolvent. Floating around is that retirees' benefits could be reduced by 20%.

However, the reality is this: Adjusting to another culture is difficult.

Before those planning retirement do that they should spend time in the nation they are considering for relocation.

If they are toying with the idea of encore careers or launching a business after ending their first career, they have to get the real scoop on work Visas and permission to be self-employed. The latter includes telecommuting enterprises. In addition, what is the tax situation? Will they have to pay double taxes?

Not getting results from your marketing communications? Complimentary consultation – janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

 

Aging W/O Family, Like My Sister Anne Murga-Ring - Hey, That's Totally Doable, Frees Up Holidays for Travel

In November 2003, my younger sister Anne Murga-Ring and I became estranged. I was 58, at the time: young old. 

But even then I got it: I was w/o family, at least the nuclear kind. Parents and older sister had died. Relationships with cousins and their children, always frayed, had split their seams. I felt unhinged. After all, the ethnic ethos in America is All in the Family.

Now, experts on aging confirm that my distress was appropriate. They warn that navigating aging can be more difficult w/o family. Increasingly, more of us are winding up just that way: flying solo and often flying blind.

What's coming up is the 16th anniversary of that estrangement. In my thinking and in how I conduct my personal and professional affairs plenty has changed since then. 

Let's cut to the chase. What I have discovered is that a satisfying secure life can be put together while getting older w/o any family members. 

This is what I know:

• Actress Betty White, who has become advocate for older Americans, has hammered that aging isn't for sissies. This stage of a life represents as challenging a rite of passage as transitioning from formal education to the world of work. Therefore, I had to and continually still have t0 invest time and attention in figuring out what are the obstacles and opportunities in no longer being young. The number-one problem was denial. The major advantage was breaking open to forms of satisfaction beyond a career.
• Estate planning doesn't mean creating an inheritance for siblings. My beneficiary is an animal cause.
• Lawyers can be contracted to handle every detail. That ranges from whether to pull the plug to closing down all matters after I die. Sure, there's a fee. But there is also always a kind of fee in the complex maze of family relationships. 
• Holidays can represent startups. Mine has been to use them to see the USA in my Chevrolet. That need not be expensive. Discount Motel 6 takes dogs free. LOV, my four-legged son, enjoys the holidays as much as I do.
• Developing a small circle of trusted allies is mandatory. They provide early warning systems of what is going wrong. During the past two years that network has included a millennial. She flagged me that I had to end my preoccupation with money. I had "enough." And enough is enough. In the book "Making Toast," Roger Rosenblatt pointed out how little we really need later in life. 
• For those of us still determined to keep working, an executive coach is useful. From mine I "needed permission" to turn down assignments I didn't sense were a fit. Sure, I have down cold the Pareto Rule (80% of revenue comes for 20% of clients). But the residual insecure parts of me still required permission.

Not that getting older has been a wonderful "growth" experience. However, the process took on the quality of an adventure when I got the hang of transcending my own comfort zones. Here, free to download, is my book on all that. 

As my communications clients were observing how I was mastering aging, w/o family, they asked me to assist them. Where they especially found guidance useful was the professional identity piece. They wondered: How could they play better the cards they still held and how could they manage to get different ones? Yes, it's possible to be a Late Bloomer. Look at Betty White, Clint Eastwood, et al.

I have added over-50 coaching to the menu of services I offer.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on aging.  

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Aging - Sensing You're No Longer Who You Used to Be Professionally

Professionals over-50 come to me for career coaching or ghostwriting a book for them primarily for this cluster of reasons.

They sense they're no longer at the top of their game.

They fear others also perceive them that way.

And they observe that their competitors are younger than they are and armed with tools, such as technical wizardry, they don't have.

After listening to them, I usually have to agree that their professional identity is in transition.

Probably everything has changed and continues to change. And they may never recapture the extreme mastery they had of their former game.

In addition, there is the reality, especially since The Great Recession, of cost-efficiency in organizations. They are at a high salary. The organization decision-makers could determine that is too high. Soon a much lower-paid millennial replaces them.

The irony is that once they embrace those developments, they find the insight and drive to play better the cards they hold and to figure out how to get some better cards.

One professional in a prestigious public relations firm, for example, knew she was losing ground. While her brand still had some clout, she conducted a stealth search for a leadership communications job in a nonprofit. That's where she is now.

A hair salon owner, whose customer base was shrinking, sold the shop when it was still marketable. He didn't get what he had hoped for but it was enough to fund an entrepreneurial effort in selling online specialty hair products. It looks like he could reach the breakeven point within another year.

A nonequity partner in a law firm saw the handwriting on the wall. He was no longer able to bring in enough new business. Unfortunately, he didn't put together a career transition before he was let go in a stealth layoff. But he has been receiving interviews for a variety of positions in which he can leverage his legal background.

Of course, there are the professionals whose careers aren't impacted by the combination of industry change and aging.

But if you're not among them, you can still enjoy a fulfilling professional life. Only it may be different from what you had mapped out in your mind. Here, free to download, is my book on finding your way out of your comfort zone. 

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on aging.

 For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Post-Successful Career: Failing Retirement

The toughest rite of passage among successful professionals is moving on to retirement. 

In her book "Retirement reinvention," Robin Ryan discusses how many are failing at that. That is, they can't put together a meaningful lifestyle after their career ends. Signs of the failure range from boredom to a sense of being irrelevant. 

Given the combination of the need for extreme cost efficiency and age bias, what we traditionally classify as a "career," is ending sooner and often abruptly. Jobs are quitting the older professional versus the professional deciding to hang it up. In denial of that reality, many simply haven't prepared for the transition.

The rawness of being thrown up against The Next is nothing new. As Don Draper from "Mad Men" brought out in his iconic Kodak slide show, teenagers mourn the loss of the identity of being a child. Few ever emerge from the years of formal education and glide smoothly into the very different context of work. 

Yet, the expectation is that the passage into a post-career part of a life should be almost an instinctual process. 

Instead it is being put out there for what could be 30 or 40 years without any guidance from the past. Today's retirees are generational pioneers. 

Some, after suffering greatly, are finding a path toward meaning - as well as the added income to make ends meet. The Federal Reserve documents that one-third of those who rode into the sunset have headed back into the workplace. The amazing thing is that they can accept the lower compensation and status of those jobs. 

Another experiment is radical relocation. It's not simply the move from pricey Manhattan to less expensive North Carolina. It's the willingness to start over again in Mexico or Ecuador. They are fleeing the "Cheers" phenomenon of everyone knowing their name. 

A third is training for another line of work. That can range from becoming certified as a substance abuse counselor to long-distance truck driver. Unlike the academic degree route, this way is fast and relatively cheap. 

And, a fourth is wild experimentation. In total openness, former comfort zones are fled. The introvert does the online dating. The extrovert takes a seminar in listening. Everything becomes possible.

The major obstacle to mastering this rite of passage is usually the aging themselves. They tend to shoot themselves in the foot. Here, free to download, is my book on taming the dark forces which keep human beings over-50 from grabbing out for a new kind of satisfaction.

Coaching, lecturing, and writing/ghostwriting thought leadership content on ageism.

 

For individual coaching – sliding scale fees. Complimentary initial consultation. The displaced over-50 get back to work. Please contact Jane Genova janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

 

New York State - Retire Just About Anywhere But There

Affordability.

Culture

Weather

Wellness.

Based on all those metrics, several recent surveys document that New York state is among the least best places to retire.

Depending on what organization is conducting the survey, New York state ranks at the bottom or a only a few notches above. Here are more details from the New York Post. 

The New York Post, along with myriad other media outlets, has been tracking the exodus out of New York State by all generations. That includes millennials uprooting from New York City.

The uprooting reflects the phenomenon that most of the Northeast is simply unaffordable.

It's not just the property taxes or the rent. It's also the cost of transportation. Getting to work or just getting around eats into the budget. For example, the New York City subway system used to be the poor man's human conveyor belt. Now, it's hardly cheap. Crossing any bridges in a car also empties the traveler's pocket.

However, other options for retirement or just setting up an adult lifestyle keep shifting.

Parts of southwestern Arizona are no longer cheap.

Climate change positions and packages old standbys like eastern North Carolina as question marks.

State auto registration inspection laws, as in Texas, rule that location out for those with clunkers which would never pass those safety and emission tests. It's become very expensive to buy a new car. Even a sedan can run five figures. The new rule of financial common sense is to keep the old car going. 

Meanwhile some midwestern states such as Ohio are getting a careful look. For instance, Toledo is among the top 10 places to retire in terms of affordability. Residents there have to cope with winter but other seasons are moderate. Part of the cultural infrastructure is the art museum. It's free. There are also the University of Toledo and a 50-minute-ride away is Ann Arbor, Michigan where the University of Michigan is based.

No matter what state is tried out as a retirement choice (yes, tried out, since rising cost of living could force those on fixed budgets out) the emotional and social adjustment can be brutal. 

In April 2014, I pulled out of the New York Metro area. There were two reasons for relocation.

Price was only one of them. Yes, rent kept going up. (I had sold my house because of escalating property taxes.) Car insurance was wild. Going into New York City became a three-digit financial transaction.

The other was that it had become possible to do business without being near the media capital of the world. Then and now, nearly all my assignments are through telecommuting. 

To reverse that and return to pitching in person I would have to invest in brandname professional attire, designer hair styling, a high-quality attache case, and a late model car.

Not having to do all that any more has allowed me to continue to invest. Despite the volatility, my Edward Jones financial planner Michael Hernan has enabled me to build new wealth. He listens. I made a point of needing a conservative approach. Hernan structured that in a way that didn't limit ROI opportunities.

That's the positive side of migrating.

What throws shade on those outcomes is that only now am I getting my footing in feeling a sense of being home and having those in the new location invite me into their circles. This weekend, to use that old-fashioned saying, my dance card is full. 

During that time of such inner distress I had developed enormous compassion for my immigrant relatives who journeyed from Italy and Poland to Jersey City, New Jersey. I remember their having it hard. But only in the last 5+ years have I been able to factor in their emotional and social challenges. Those immigrating or trying to currently might have no idea about the ordeal of adapting.

Not getting results from your marketing communications? Complimentary consultation – janegenova374@gmail.com.

Aging - Those Rapidly Mutating Financial Monsters & How to Slay Them

In youth and middle age, the meme was about the "wolf at the door." The game was to keep that beast from getting in. 

Those of you who made it to 65 and older obviously were successful at blocking that wolf.

You might even have decided to relax a bit about money. After all, Medicare and free Medicare supplements like Medicare Advantage limit out-of-product healthcare costs. If you didn't already take Social Security at 62, you can take it at 66. Or, you can hold on for more of a monthly payment and not collect until 70.

Well, the brutal reality is that, no, you can't ease off paying attention to money.

Instead of the wolf at the door there have emerged from the deep very dangerous Financial Monsters. They can eat much of what you got. And, more bad news, they keep mutating as technology, industries, values, and you change. No, when it comes to money and aging, you haven't "got it."

MarketWatch calls those dangers to your financial security "Money Pits." The article, reprinted from NextAvenue.org, discusses 10. After each one, I provide a possible solution.

Frequent withdrawals from ATMs, leading to unconscious spending. Leave the ATM card home.

Dental costs (not covered by any insurance). Consider dental tourism outside the U.S. For instance, a hard mouth guard in Nogales, Mexico costs less than a third what it would in America. Turn that trip into a vacation. Nogales doesn't require a passport, just birth certificate and driver's license.

Unused subscriptions, as to publications you no longer read online or television you no longer watch. Check credit card bills for what you're still paying for and cancel what you don't use. Think how to get the content another way before signing up for new subscriptions

Life insurance policies, after your children are grown. You don't have to leave behind anything.

Eating out. That should have become a ritual only for special occasions. 

Gifts to adult children. A token is fine. The $5,000 ones you will probably come to regret.

Maintaining credit card balances. Interest is piling up. If necessary, find a side hustle for the income to pay them all off.

Refusing to set up a budget and sticking to it. When interviewing the aging in Oro Valley, Arizona, I found that many initially had problems adjusting to not simply purchasing what they wanted, when they wanted it. But, all did adjust. Most developed the mindset of being thankful for what they did currently have.

Engaging in continuous home remodeling. Unless it's to accommodate a disability or impairment associated with aging, that should not factor into spending. Learn to live with what is. If you've come to hate the house, sell it at the right time in the real estate market and rent. 

Health care costs not covered by any insurance. There is medical tourism outside the U.S. Research that before you need a major heart operation or experimental therapy. 

To these, I would add four more for the aging who are determined to keep working. What they earn or even hope to earn from a job, side hustles, and running a business often become dinner for the Financial Monsters.

Here's what to avoid:

Expecting to match or exceed compensation received in middle age. That can happen. However, "holding out" for what former earnings had been can not only prevent any income from coming in. You will also not be able to keep your skills up to date and learn new ones. One laid-off communications professional "held out" for two years. By time he was ready to accept a lower annual salary his industry had changed so much that he wasn't marketable. He wound up being a driver for Uber.

Investing in expensive formal degree or certificate programs as well as trade-schools. Calculate the expected income from that education/training versus the expense, plus the interest from student loans. Remember that age bias is real. Even with that shiny new whatever to do a job search, you may not be hired, at least to the jobs you anticipated getting. A better bet is upgrading the skills you have through free or low-cost instruction. In addition, you can add on new credentials by simply getting an entry-level job in a new field. Those range from loss prevention to healthcare helper.

Assuming you got a contract before everything is signed on the dotted line. Many prospects are interviewing vendors just to derive information. So, there are two things involved here. Assume nothing until the legalities and down payment are processed. And, don't give away the store when pitching. Instead, have the confidence to say, "I can guide you on that but that represents billable time."

Purchasing top of the line equipment and furnishings for home office. The cost-saver associated with a home office is that it needn't look professional. Conduct client meetings in Starbucks or at a rent-a-conference-room centers. In addition, gently used electronic equipment and furniture save a bundle.

Jane Genova has special expertise in the life challenges of Baby Boomers. That includes career coaching for the over-50, available on a sliding scale fee structure. Complimentary consultation available - janegenova374@gmail.com.

 

Sure Baby Boomers Face Age Bias, But Millennials Are in Unique Financial Pickle

The next recession, warns Annie Lowrey in The Atlantic, could topple Millennials into the financial point of no return - that is, no real shot at building financial security. 

Sure, Baby Boomers encounter bias when they seek income from working. And, more of those who have retired find they need to return to the workforce to make ends meet. The Federal Reserve documents that one-third of those who rode into the sunset have been riding back into the harsh light of a labor market tilted against age. 

But Baby Boomers' peak years were during economic and stock market booms. Jobs paid well. College and even professional degrees had low cost tuition. That means big student loan debt wasn't standard. Renting and utilities were cheap. Employers had retirement plans. A fixer-upper house could be purchased for peanuts.

Millennials, in general, have only known struggle. 

As Lowrey documents, they entered the worst job market in 80 years. To get in and stay in they competed against seasoned older workers who pulled out all stops to continue being employed.

When working, Millennials earn 10% less than Baby Boomers. About 2/3rds have no real savings. Only 37% own stock currently. In addition, if Social Security is still around, their monthly check will not be high because their earnings aren't high. Also, there is the massive problem of student loan debt. Interest keeps growing on those loans from undergraduate, graduate, and professional school. Yes, there remains blind faith in higher education. 

Meanwhile, Baby Boomers are not really sitting pretty, of course.

Because of relatively high earnings, they are targets for layoffs. If their get the boot and lose their employer-funded medical insurance what they purchase will be high because of their age. Medicare doesn't kick in until age 65.

For work, their best bet is the gig economy or launching a business/purchasing a franchise. But to adjust to that new reality, they will have to take a leap out of the comfort zone. Here, free to download, is my book on that.

In addition, more and more Baby Boomers get it that they can no longer afford to live in the locations where they did their careers. Relocation is soul-wrenching, not an adventure. And, although media outlets position and package doing the golden years aboard, that represents a challenge many can't master. 

Baby Boomers unable to find work might shift their mindsets and strategies about earning a living. Here, also free to click open, is my guide to all that Download Outwitting ageism.

Not getting results from your marketing communications? Complimentary consultation – janegenova374@gmail.com

Retirement/Semi-Retirement - Those "White Swans"

Retirement/semi-retirement might involve more turmoil than navigating the rat race of doing a career.

Increasingly, the aging who leave or are forced out of full-time work are experiencing what are being called "white swan" developments. Essentially white swans are unexpected events which disrupt planning. Unlike the famous "black swan" events, they usually are not catastrophic game-changers. Only mini upheavals.

In MarketWatch, Chris Mamula discusses his experience with several white swans. He and his wife did a FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). Like so many, they were unprepared for things not playing out as planned.

For example, Mamula intended to continue working at his profession - physical therapy - part-time. He had factored in that extra income. Instead, he collaborated on communications projects, which brought in less income. The satisfaction is huge. But, in retirement/semi-retirement, money is a top priority.

Another white swan was that downsizing housing generated a new expense. Yes, they did well financially in selling their house. But the one they bought did not suit them. They wound up plowing in about $30,000 in renovations.

Even before actual semi-retirement, there are white swans and the experience can be jarring.

To downsize my cost of living and gain access to the Western market for my communications services, I relocated from the New York Metro area to the Southwest. That was April 2014. In August 2016, I was heading back to as far east as I could afford. Climate change had already made temperatures in Tucson, Arizona around 122 degrees. And, sigh, how I mist the east.

In 2017, at the request of several clients, I developed a side hustle in coaching the over-50 on how to remain marketable in professional life. The revenues from that were disappointing. What I didn't expect was that the business would generate assignments to write paid content on aging and careers. Of course, that was great but it wasn't what I set out to do. 

One white swan I haven't bumped into, at least not yet, is bad health. But I have gone on the offense for that possibility. I have increased the amount of money put into my investment portfolio and simultaneously lowered further my cost of living and the cost of doing business. 

Takeaway: Retirement/semi-retirement rarely goes as planned.

Not getting results from your marketing communications? Complimentary consultation – janegenova374@gmail.com.

RATTLED! - The 5 Pivots

Today, the Dow closed down 800 points.

That's primarily because too many fear another 2008.

As MarketWatch details, a recession could be global.

Already Germany and China have released data showing their economies are stuck.

So, what should we over-50 do, right now?

As any financial planner would advise: nothing.

The Dow could bounce back. A recession could be months or years off in the U.S. And it may or may not be severe.

But longer term we should be getting ourselves ready for the end of the long expansion.

What does that entail?

Here are 5 pivots we could find useful to make:

• If we are still working as a full-time employee there could be a target on my back. That's a reality. Yes, make ourselves seem irreplaceable. Of course, if the powers that be love face time, put in more of it. Learn new stuff. If we still receive that tap on the shoulder some Monday morning and are escorted out of the building, here, free to click open, is my book on landing, holding, and moving on to better work, no matter our age Download Outwitting ageism. Anyone determined to work can and will work.
• Don't take on new debt. Sure, you might be able to afford a getaway cottage in Northern Michigan. But cash is becoming king. Hold onto the money.
• Pay off existing debt. We can accelerate that by picking up some gig assignments. Also that experience can introduce us to other lines of work. Our industry might collapse. Mine did in 2001. Taking on a survival job gave me clarity. "At my age" I became a prominent blogger.
• Figure out if it's a better financial situation and a warm and fuzzy to hold onto the family house or sell it. Renting can prove to be a brutal adjustment. Some of us can hang onto the house through co-living, that is renting out room to like-minded people. That situation is ideal if the co-livers bring with them skills we don't have, for example, landscaping.
•  Begin embracing the possibility that we have to relocate to where the cost of living is significantly lower. That might be to look around parts of Ohio or a city in Ecuador. Moving from the New York Metro area in 2014 to the Southwest cut my monthly nut in half.

In addition, we must set up inside ourselves a zone of calm. There we can retreat when we begin to freak out.  On YouTube there are free videos teaching meditation. Community centers provide free yoga lessons. Also free are 12-step meetings for programs such as Emotions Anonymous.

In 2012, I began practicing zen. The mantra was: Clear Thinking, Don't Know. Shifting to that mindset helped me embrace the uncertainty of leaving where I had spent most of my career. 

Not getting results from your marketing communications? Complimentary consultation – janegenova374@gmail.com.