How late it too late to totally change careers? Who's done it (w/o being $$-secure already)?

[Slugz]

I played Navy for 27 years flying in the backseats of F14s and FA-18s as a RIO/WSO. Retired then at the age of 45 with the military pension. There wasn't any jobs out there for a guy who was good at dropping bombs and blowing other peoples stuff up I went into the oilfield based upon someone's suggestion and it worked out. I'm 52 now living by myself and work a 35 on /35 off schedule. I'm roughly getting paid 40% less than what I would make back in the states working a upper level management, 9 to 5, 40 hour week job. I bring this up because as I get older my time is more valuable than my lifestyle or cash I have in the bank. Not working 6 months out of the year and having to flexibility to hunt and fish those months far outweigh the 24 hours on duty for 35 days straight while I'm at work and reduced annual pay.

I'm going through the process now of looking at the books of a small business (would be a complete career change for me) that appears to be leaving a lot of work on the table because the current owners are 65+ and just don't wanna work/manage it any more. My concern is how much time I would have to put into it for 3-4 years to get it rolling at a level I could step aside and let others make money for me.

I keep coming back to the fact that I'm not getting younger, I have so many elk pack outs left in me and wanna do as many as possible in my life.

So the long ramble is.....time is more valuable to me than the money. I think all have to evaluate that based upon age and stages of life.

 

[BLJ]

Tagged for suggestions. I feel ya OP.

 

[Steve from GA]

Hey man - thanks for creating this post and sharing. I have not been in your exact situation, but at 49, I have successfully reinvented myself twice. And believe me, I truly understand what it feel like to be facing doubt and risk when you are looking at that next big step.

Here's the truth - while you may luck out and find a way to easily make the transition from where you are now to where you want to be, that's unlikely. If you are going to truly recalibrate yourself, then it's going to be risky, you are going to have serious fears and doubts. In order to make that next big move, there's usually a lot that you have to lay on the alter of sacrifice in order to get where you want to go. The universe won't typically pay you back unless you prove that you are willing to jump off the cliff.

My recommendation is this. First, set your personal fears aside for a minute - forget about the "what ifs" at least temporarily. Get a good clear idea of what you want to achieve (the type of position/business, the funding/steps necessary to get it launched etc.). Lay it out as best you can as if you were laying it out for someone else - though you don't have to have EVERY step figured out. Be practical, but try to suspend the fear voice telling you things are impossible.

So once you have done all of that - you do the most important part. You make it exist in the future. You literally place it on the timeline of your future. I'm not talking about make believe - I'm talking about creating it in the future and making it wait for your arrival. You might not know exactly where it is on the timeline, but you keep pushing forward, because it's there. At times, you'll have to pivot right, pivot left, whatever. But it's there waiting for you, and eventually, you will push right into it.

Sounds like some whacky shit, right? It works. Good luck!

 

[Opah]

With this covid crap I had a lot of Unpaid time off, really made me look at myself hard.
figured I was getting to old to be hanging 30 feet off of the floor torqueing on some motor.
I swore 10 12 years ago that I never would go back into management but here I am, Hard times
deserve hard thought and decisions.
This time around I am i a fairly decent environment with a fairly decent manager, and I away from the postal mentality.

 

[wingmaster]

This. I drive around town and look at everyone driving $60k brand new diesels. I'm positive that more then half of them don't need them and can not afford them.

I drive around in a 98 F150 with roll up windows and 240k miles, but I'm about to build my house in cash and have no mortgage. Success means very different things for many people.

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Aside from Rokslide I frequent a financial forum, and recently there was a bragging thread where they proudly posted their POS vehicles and how many miles it had. You just barely beat my vehicle (233k miles) and I'm envious.

As for the career change topic, I've always thought the most impressive type of person is someone who is older and decides he isn't done achieving his dreams. I'm currently pursuing a career change (although I'm in my 30's), it has been 3 years now of going back to school and studying while working full-time so it definitely isn't easy. But if you want it badly enough and you can make the time, I don't see a reason to wait.

 

[woods89]

As others have said, don't be too affected by those who would sacrifice success for the trappings of success. There are lots of people upside down on nice SUV's and pickups.

As someone who works in the construction industry and has seen a few people go through the process of building a house, I'd hesitate to buy/build a house for the few weekends you might have family over per year. Best of luck, and honestly, it sounds like you have a lot going right.

 

[Terrapin]

There is nothing wrong with wanting and buying nice things. Just find a way to make more money… that’s how capitalism works. If I had a low stress, low pay job at 50; I would immediately start figuring out a small business that I enjoyed and made me more money. Then do it better than anyone else.

Travel a couple hours to a similar sized town. Drive around and find businesses that are making the owner’s the lifestyle you want. Learn everything you can about that business. Go back to your town and copy them. Keep your day job until you can’t afford to… you’ll know it when the time comes.

You have a PhD and can form a coherent sentence; you are just as smart as every successful business owner you’ve ever met… they are just braver.


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[roadrunner]

There right now as well and pretty close to the same age. Everything I know is being phased out, so am in the career pivot "thing" of trying to leave the hard core industry and enter the world of professional training/education.

My advice is to get involved in something like LinkedIn.

 

[hawkman71]

Good gravy, folks. Thanks so much! I started adding all your comments in the "multiple quote" option but I think I'm gonna chill and re-read your comments before replying. I applaud all of you who have done whatever it took to do what you did for yourselves, your families, and your careers.

If I didn't say it up front - I'm so blessed with a wonderful, faithful, hard-working, low-maintenance wife and four wonderful kids.

I think my main concern is I haven't lived up to my potential.

More to come....thanks again.

 

[kit_man_duu]

I think it was a thread I saw on Rokslide about "what we do for a living/what funds the hunting" that made me think about posting this here. Not sure if this is complicated or if it's a common situation - probably more so than I realize.

I know we barely know each other - what is this, maybe my 2nd post but I thought I'd ask.

• 50yo.
• Ph.D. in Agronomy but have worked in the field and research a lot. Actually did the grad school on the side. Not an ivory tower guy. (Getting a Ph.D. is more a sign of perseverance than intelligence, imho).
• Worked Saturdays and summers from 12yo to adulthood working my ass off in greenhouses, construction, and farming, etc.
• Varied interests - I feel I could do anything, work in many fields.
• Point is - not scared of working with my hands.
• 
  
• Married with 4 kids. One grown, one in college, and two in middle school.
• Wife is a teacher but makes little money at a small, rural Christian school.
• I worked for the state for 19 years making poor money but wasn't aware of what was "out there".
• Frugal but not much to show for it after 25 years.
• Doubled my salary by going to the private industry and thought "I'm finally there".
• ...but 19 years of struggle means you are behind.
• Saving for a better house, one my wife could be proud of. (She's LOW maintenance but the tiny, old p.o.s. we gutted, remodeled, and have lived in with four kids isn't the one to expand with. We had 3 girls and a boy with only two bedrooms for the four of them. Hey she/we would like kids and their families to come visit someday!)
• 
  
• I look around and see what other people are driving (new Tahoes, building homes, or barns/mancaves; vacations, etc) and I'm blown away.
• What do these people DO for a living?
• Sure, maybe some of them have inherited money or received help from parents, etc., but I don't just assume that nor critique anyone for that. I assume they have worked hard and earned it.
• I work for a retailer of agronomic inputs (seed, fertilizer, chemical) but am not a salesman. Not a position in the company that is rewarded with incentives. (The age-old mentality is we sell stuff. The service side of the business is hard to understand even though service increases sales).

Yet, I know I'm blessed and wealthy compared to so many people. I also have the blessing of a wonderful family and good health and I'm thankful to God for that.

I'll cut to the chase. I feel I'm too chicken to go on my own and start a business (probably b/c I've had five mouths depending on me plus my own) Maybe I shouldn't feel that way.

Have any of you felt lost at this stage of your life, maybe filled with regret, and then made a change that yielded dividends, either financially, personal wellbeing, or family-wise, or all of the above? I may have come across as being a crybaby. I hope not. Just in a bit of a slump mentally.

hawkman.

I would recommend trying to get in to the software field as a software tester or a business analyst. The software field is huge and not everyone who works in it has a computer science or software engineering degree. Google for "QA Analyst" or "Software Business Analyst" and read about what they do, if that is something you think you might want to pursue, send me a PM, I can send some additional stuff your way.

 

[Eagle]

I left a stable (read government) job for a large pay increase (40k) at the age of 31, then had to leave that job due to shady owners becoming too greedy and had to take a pay cut (20k). I was not enjoying the work I had been doing since graduating college (helicopter structural engineering related work) so was constantly looking for a way to at least get out of the south and to the Rockies.

Had a couple good college friends that worked for a different government office talk me into giving that a shot, so I applied thinking the odds of all the various moving parts working out was about zero. I felt like I had to give it a shot with an opportunity to move to Denver, CO coming along with the job change; and the chance to work from home full time after two years in the office. I would also be going back in the government, and with that would be taking an additional pay cut (30K, so I essentially took 2.5 years to go from 95K to 135K to 115K to 85k) and moving to a higher cost of living (Alabama vs Colorado), but I felt like the risk was worth it.

Now, four years later, I'm making more than I did when I originally went into private (should gross close to 160k this year), I work from home full time, make my own schedule, and within 7 months should essentially be my own boss signing all my own work without supervision. Due to the pandemic, everyone in the office has been working from home fulltime, but if/when things return to normal, I'll still be home fulltime. The only bad part is my wife hated the mountains, so we moved back to my birth place and built a house last summer in Kentucky, but this job allows that kind of location flexibility once your allowed full time telework.

 

[FLATHEAD]

21 years in Agriculture(Govt) here, 55 y/o. Too late for me to start a new job.
If I had to give it up, I would flip houses or start a landscape business.
5-7 years from retirement right now, trying to make it.

 

[String&stick]

Are you opposed to the sales side of ag? With your degree and experience I think there would be a lot of seed and chemical companies willing to hiring you. District sales managers in my areas are making 80k base salary and make 20-40k in commissions depending on the company.

They work but no more or less than any job.

Also point your wife towards the nearest public school! I know christian schools are great and all, And maybe your kids keep going there if that's where they are. But my mother in law worked at Christian schools for 16 years. Then she made the switch to public schools. Public schools paid more, covered all health insurance, and have a defined benefit pension program! YMMV based on state by my wife and sister-in-law are both public school teachers, they took classes and moved across the pay scale and both make around 60k, plus get health insurance premium paid 100%, a pension, and have summers and all school breaks off. . . And we live in Nebraska where cost of living is pretty dang cheap.

Your only 50, get busy living or get busy dying! You've got another 15 years easy to work. Pick something you enjoy and make a switch!

 

[cbat]

I am 5 years older than you and retired 3 years ago. I have been pretty much self employed my whole life. I have told lots of people over the years that you will never get rich working for someone else.
You have the credentials to become an ag consultant or something in a close field. Your wife can work on line teaching English to foreign students and make really good money with no stress. Options are there when you take the blinders off. Good luck.

 

[wayoh22]

It's never too late. I just quit my job when COVID hit and started teaching myself to code. Worked part time 30-39hrs/wk at a retail store and refereed soccer to make ends meet but I was up early studying andstaying up late studying. Just received an offer for a web position at a very popular outdoors company and have been loving it ever since. Wouldn't regret a thing.

 

[Rich M]

Sounds like a midlife crisis.

Im 50+ and can attest that hitting 50 makes a guy think. My thoughts went to things ive always wanted to do. You seem to be wanting some shiny toys. No shame in that.

you have plenty of time to shift careers if you wish. Sometimes a job change in your existing career can yield extra income.

people sell businesses all the time. You buy it and guy or gal works beside you for a year or so, hands it off and into the sunset they go.

do some research and make sure you make the right choice. Self employment is a lot of work. Running a company is easier. Not sure how it will affect your family life.

 

[Carpenterant]

There’s a lot of ways to financial independence and no way is more right then another. I understand financial independence isn’t the same as happiness. Career changes can be tricky and your ultimate financial goals may never be achieved.

I switched careers last year after having spent the last 13 in a different industry. I started a business so it may not be a fair comparison. There has been pros and cons but I don’t regret the decision.

The risk is there. One industry may not be as stable as another, you may not have an aptitude like you think. Sometimes risk carries reward.

my advice would be that the risk you take has an even higher upside of reward

 

[MuleyFever]

I am not quite 50 yet but I have changed careers a few times. I worked for Sysco for 9 years in the warehouse. Went into mortgages as a broker. Went back to school and became an staff accountant. Quit to move "out west". Worked as a guy that built spec sheets for a design company for 5 years. Went into manufacturing as a machine operator. Got promoted to a transportation planner booking flatbeds. Got promoted to production manager over a polyiso line, then moved to a TPO line where I am now.

My point is if you are capable you can do just about anything. Get out there and start exploring. Dont paint yourself into a corner.

 

[Yoder]

I'm 48 and I'm thinking the same thing. I work in equipment maintenance on automated machines in a factory. I only have an Associates degree but I make more than most real engineers. I've been doing this since I was 19. The problem is I really hate my job. They couldn't pay me enough to like it anymore. I don't care about fancy vehicles or a big house. I own my car and my house will be paid off in 5 years. Once my house is paid off I really need to figure out something else to do. I just have no idea what that will be.

My ex loved stuff. Cars most of all. We had a new car every 2-3 years. We also had all our credit cards maxed out, had no savings and I had to make sure I didn't bounce checks. It was so bad I actually paid one credit card bill with a cash advance check from my other card. What's better than expensive stuff is money in the bank and being debt free. I'm not debt free yet but I'm close. I can actually sleep at night. It's weird how all my financial problems went away as soon as I got divorced.

 

[FatCampzWife]

Almost 50 yo with a PhD in Plant Sci, 30 yrs ag research under her belt here. I quit the tenure track rat race after getting my PhD late in life (@ 45). Was tired of working ALL THE TIME, weekends & holidays included.
Long story short, if you have experience, you may want to look into QA auditing for ag companies & labs. I had a summer gig that was awesome side money for a little work, but some political b.s. cut it short this year. PM me for more ideas.