What is a good second career?
What is a good second career?
The wife and I are getting older. We have been working for decades at this point. But we are too young to retire, and we had kids late. But one of us could totally switch over to a lower stress second career. Ideally something with benefits, maybe even a chance to get a pension. And since we still have kids, needs to be flexible. One of our kids has autism, so lots of random doctors appointment and stuff.
We both work with computers all day. What are some good options for a second career that doesn't need to have long term growth potential. We have 8 years where ideally both of us are working so we can cover each other with benefits if something happens. After that, the kids are out of high school at least. So it isn't like it would be a "short" term career/job. Just not a 30 year thing. And ideally, something that could at least partially be done at home.
Real-talk, pensions don't exist anymore.
Best bet for getting benefits and flexibility is working for the government.
If you have a government job, pensions are still very much a thing. Something like 1/3 of jobs are in the public sector and the majority of them offer a pension, and they're pretty rare but there are still some private sector jobs offering pensions as well, though I wouldn't hold my breath trying to get one of those.
It takes a whole lot of people to keep the local, state, and federal governments running, pull up your county job listings sometimes, they're probably hiring for a few different jobs at any given time, some require very specific skills, training, or education, others are going to be basic janitorial work, office clerks, etc. and everything in between that pretty much anyone could manage, and everything in between, and almost all of them will qualify for a pension plan.
Source- am 911 dispatcher, vested in my pension, still another 15-20ish years before I can collect on it
If you have a government job, pensions are still very much a thing.
I just retired from a government job 2 years ago (US military). I received a pension, but only because I was grandfathered into the old pension plan. The military stopped giving out pensions in 2017. They switched to the BRS (Basic Retirement System), which is basically their version of a 401K.
When they switched, they gave all service members with less than 12 years of service the option to switch to the BRS or stick with the old pension program. Anyone who joined after the switch doesn't get a choice. They're automatically enrolled in the BRS.
I had 15 years of service at the time, so I didn't qualify for BRS. It wouldn't have benefited me anyway; there's no way I could've saved up enough money to retire on in my 5 remaining years. I much prefer my monthly direct deposit for the rest of my life.
The only problem is that they do not pay commensurate to similar jobs in non-gov positions.
Oh, and also for many gov jobs you must conduct mandatory quarterly drug tests to ensure you are in compliance to federal drug laws.
Oh, and also you must submit fingerprint and/or DNA samples to gov databases in case you are/ become a criminal and they can use it against you.
Oh, and also you must disclose many financial, foreign family, or unusual hobbies, so they can legally deny you things such as certain rights in case you are in a job that requires security clearances or NDAs.
Oh, and also, it's difficult to promote to higher pay positions unless you grease the right hands and network the right people or simply be lucky right-place-right-time, you will simply stagnate in your place for a long time (or just simply be furloughed).
Oh, and also, if the gov shuts down, you don't get paid.
Got a friend who got his CDL and drives a school bus in the morning and afternoon. It came with benefits and mediocre pay. And lots of unruly kids!
You had me at mediocre kids!
And unruly pay!
OK - this is going to be a crazy suggestion. Do you have any storytelling or entertainer chops? How do you feel in front of small audiences?
I am a part-time magician. (Thus my user name.) I started at about age 40, with a minor interest in magic, which grew over time until I started going pro. It hasn't supplanted my regular job, but I currently get as much work as I can handle, and then some.
I joined a local club, the International Brotherhood of Magicians (IBM), but there are other groups: Society of American Magicians, Fellowship of Christian Magicians, and others. They are all over the world and in most major cities, holding local meetings.
You can become a strolling magician with a small repertoire of solid close-up tricks. I literally took one of my first close-up tricks out of the Mark Wilson's Course of Magic - a beginner's book. But most beginner's magic books have a couple or more of hidden gems in there that are powerful stuff. There are absolutely amazing tricks that require no sleight-of-hand whatsoever. You can launch a complete career out of a beginner's book. I use some in my own pro repertoire. Note that, magic is about 95% storytelling skill and acting, and only about 5% special effects.
After probably not enough preparation on my part, a friend asked me if I wanted to do walk-around magic at an after-prom party for a little money. That started me off. After that, I developed a few more tricks for a stage/parlor act. About 3-7 tricks can make a parlor act, depending how good you are at the communication/acting stuff. I've seen magicians entertain with one trick for 20-30 minutes, and it works.
Here is a step-by-step plan for an entertainer part-time-pro career path:
- Start doing free shows. Say yes to any that will let you perform and be bad.
- Do a bunch of shows. Learn more and expand your repertoire.
- Once you seem to be getting too many shows, and you are getting better with more experience, increase your prices just a bit. Go to Step 2.
I can give more details if anyone is interested. AMA.
Edit to add: I don't know to what degree your kid has autism, but I'm come across an autistic fellow that became a magician, and uses his autism in his act. He uses magic to bring autism awareness. He's a heckuva nice guy, too. Check out magician Cody Clark in the Louisville, Kentucky area - from the same magic club that Mac King and Lance Burton came from! Cody tours nationally.
A very interesting idea. Not something any of us can do. We aren't what you call people persons. And none of us are good a practicing even the things we like. But that part is a longer story. Thanks for the suggestion though.
No worries. Best wishes and good luck to you and your family.
‘I’m the Wiz, and nooooooobody beats me!’ https://youtu.be/ZtjI0tDLr3A
I just met someone who was going through the same question. They decided to take a two-year course and become a Physical Therapist, focusing on the elderly.
Said options were working with a medical group, at a nursing home, visiting people at home, or opening an office. Maybe a combination.
Their thinking was there was no way to get 'disrupted' and there would be endless demand. Made a lot of sense.
Some friends of mine in new Zealand had their own company growing and selling lily's and other plants. Became a huge thing, bought a huge house. A decade ago they sold their entire company and went to picking strawberries. They just pick strawberries all day every day, and they love it. I was pretty jealous. So maybe you could stay in your field but just a completely different position. You'll already have connections and experience.
Assuming you're based in the US.
Anything on usajobs.gov that you can message your resume into matching will do a good job of having good benefits, relatively low stress, and average pay.
Don't use the builder on the website; it breaks and makes your resume illegible sometimes. Do look into what a federal resume has to look like in order to work.
Most of the sailing classes I’ve taken have been taught by older guys in their 2nd career.
OF feet pics obvs
Learn to fix things: get small a set of good tools (don't bother buying cheap ones because they break easily and will also break the things you're fixing) andthen practice with stuff from friends and family first
Conversely, go the harbor freight route. If you use it until it wears out then upgrade.
I don't know how much money there is in fixing things though? Between hard to find parts, general lack of repairability, and the fairly low cost of new it doesn't seem like there's much opportunity there.
Conversely, go the harbor freight route. If you use it until it wears out then upgrade.
If you have a faulty wrench you'll strip your bolts and turn your next hour into a nightmare. It's objectively better to get a small set of essential quality tools and expand your game later.
I don't know how much money there is in fixing things though?
Well, there are still things that are worth repairing and need constant maintenance, like bicycles and guitars. If you specialyze you'll always have clients.
Does working with computers mean that you know programming? Then I would suggest cybersecurity.
Ah yes, spend your golden years getting expensive certs for the low stress job of cybersecurity.
Are you high?
Are you high?
Is that a requirement for a job in cybersecurity?
I work for a cybersecurity software company. My wife doesn't do software stuff, she mentally could but has no taste for it. I just get tired of how the software process has to cut soo many corners to make money.
Not what you asked, but make sure you're accessing all of the benefits available for your kiddo with autism, as well as getting guardianship paperwork ready before they're 18 - if that applies in your situation. Your school district may have a transition specialist or someone who can help you with it.
On topic, do you have any hobbies that could be marketable? Woodworking, knowledge of plants and gardening, etc? Could you get the library or senior center to pay you to teach basic computer classes or help people set up their phones?
The doctors are very hopefully he will be self sufficient when he matures... but until puberty, we have very little energy left for hobbies.
Infinity has a subscription concierge service.
https://www.infinitipersonalassistant.com/
I don't know how to apply or what qualifications they're looking for, but it sounds like it could be a good gig for computer-savvy telework.
Pornstar ...
Edit, not for you probably, but who knows