An article in the New York Times this morning suggests that Americans are finding it harder to secure new jobs and that the problem is directly related to older folks working longer. Many who had planned to retire by now find it impossible because of the losses in their retirement funds and/or the loss of a spouse’s income.
While that is tough on the older worker the downstream impact has significant issues as well. One area of concern is how this “tightness” in the job market may impact the economic recovery of the country.There is no easy answer. Older workers bring value and experience that may be hard to locate. Those looking for work, young or old, need to make sure that they properly train and equip themselves for the job market. Making sure that they push themselves to stand out in front of other candidates, regardless of age, is essential in this time of company cutbacks and needs to increase productivity.
One other way might be to avoid the corporate scene and start your own business? Could that be in your future?
Problems like this will correct themselves over time. Things will begin to move, new openings created, investments rise, etc. Labor markets will move again. However, problems like this will occur in the future as well.
Work now to manage your finances so that when the opportunity for your “retirement” has come, you can sign up and enjoy it. How does that happen? Manage what you have now effectively and put away all you can in diversified holdings. Make sure to manage those holdings and adjust them appropriately as you get closer to your retirement age.