Is it too late to start again?

[Saluki]

At 50 its time to stop working for others, ride bikes, play guitars, and be a bum. That's what I do, and I'm an expert at it.

I'm with BOAB on this.
I was 50 last week, I am sorting out a new business so that I can have a total change of career (not sure if career is the word really) and in a couple of months I am looking to move house to Cornwall or Devon or somewhere similar. We are having a total change.

Just do it. You are never too old to do what you want to do.

 

[Dave 123]

Do you need to bother with another degree?
What are your practical skills?
By the time you have your degree you could have set up a nice little business.

 

[Moon bunny]

Who said you are 50 ?
My Dad was was a self employed contractor from aged 50 onwards, his CV always had his age as 10 years younger.
He finally gave up work when aged 65 (or 80 in real years)

He always claimed you are as old as the woman you feel (and she was considerably younger)

Since age discrimination legislation came into force, there is no need to put any age or date of birth on a CV.

 

[ASC1951]

...Sadly there's nothing I can change. There is a recruitment freeze at work and with no one to take up my work I'd not get any voluntary redundancy. There are a good many incompetent staff in my place of work and none of them have been got rid of or been given any form of disciplinary for that matter, so there's no chance of that either..

Well, that does at least simplify your decisions! In my early years in local government I saw people in their 40s just going through the motions until early retirement, so I left in my early 30s to set up my own business and have never regretted it. My philosophy was 'I might be working for an idiot, but at least I wasn't surrounded by them'.

Two warnings:-
- you really do have to do some research if you are making a big change. 'Just going for it' is attractive, but you can end up somewhere worse, especially if it is your own business. There are few things worse for sanity and health than trying to keep a marginal business afloat. You need to be very realistic about your skills and contacts, what demand there is for them and where, and what you want out of life. Don't laugh at putting it down in a spreadsheet and going through it with someone whose judgement you respect.
- once you start down that road, it has its own momentum. You quickly become even more dissatisfied with where you are and that can push you into unwise choices.

You haven't given any details about what you do and what you want to do, but FWIW I can't think of many areas where at your age your career would be enhanced by a degree as opposed to making good use of the three+ years it would take.

 

[colly]

At 50 you might well have another 20 years of working life ahead of you. So if you can find the time/ money/enthusiasm to start again go for it.

What have you got to lose? ............just a job you hate.

 

[buggi]

At 50 you might well have another 20 years of working life ahead of you. So if you can find the time/ money/enthusiasm to start again go for it.

What have you got to lose? ............just a job you hate.

this is exactly what i said to my friend. She was 50, unhappy and resigned to just plodding along until she retired. I reminded her that was 15 years away...
she got a new job

go for it.

 

[TheDoctor]

Is there any way you can use your skills / experience to get into another industry or line of work?
I've gone from working in a calibration lab, to a test equipment manufacturer, to satcomms, to aerospace instrumentation engineer, and now into Quality Assurance. Getting a degree along the way helped, but I didn't take any time out for it. The OU is a wonderful thing...

 

[jazzkat]

I saw people in their 40s just going through the motions until early retirement

That's exactly what I don't want to do.

My philosophy was 'I might be working for an idiot, but at least I wasn't surrounded by them'.

that is quite possibly quote of the week!

Two warnings:-
- you really do have to do some research if you are making a big change. 'Just going for it' is attractive, but you can end up somewhere worse, especially if it is your own business. There are few things worse for sanity and health than trying to keep a marginal business afloat. You need to be very realistic about your skills and contacts, what demand there is for them and where, and what you want out of life. Don't laugh at putting it down in a spreadsheet and going through it with someone whose judgement you respect.
- once you start down that road, it has its own momentum. You quickly become even more dissatisfied with where you are and that can push you into unwise choices.

I'm not really in the situation to just throw it in on a whim, as much as I'd like! I'm relatively 'institutionalised' and wouldn't know the first thing about starting my own business, add in the fact that I am a cautious kind of person and it would be a lot of research and a steep learning curve. Thanks for the warning though.
I know what you mean about momentum, just this last couple of days I've gone through real mood swings from the depths to relative joy knowing that I've kind of made the resolution to 'get out'. Of course the stupid thing is I've made no such 'real' resolution at all.