That Age Thing...

[JasonE]

Life transitions can make one's head spin in circles, can't they?

I'm fixin' to lead the way forward. One day another old dude can say, "If Les can do it, anyone can do it!"

I will make it work no matter what happens. I always do. I grew up poor and have so much more than my parents ever had. I achieved more in life by the age of 25 than my parents had achieved in their whole life. I felt like my parents were dealt some really crappy cards in life, but they were happy. They both died at way too young of ages and it was really tough on the family. I think my upbringing of hard knocks makes me find a way to make things work in just about any situation. I came from nothing and I know I could survive there again but don't have any ambition to go back if I don't have to.

I've decided to stick it out where I am and hope to ride it till retirement. I'm 60 and a change now would be difficult. The job market is interesting. There are less and less young kids trying to fill our slots. I'm an Engineer, and my company seems to have made a forward looking move however. They hired new Engineers to take our place when we retire, a few years early, so we can show them what we do before we exit. It's a pretty smart move for them. I realize I am teaching them to take my place, but as long as they don't show me the door early, I'm fine with it. If they do show me the door early, well they could have done that anyway.

And Les, composers acquire respect with time. Anybody that can last in that profession more than a 1 hit wonder has skills.

This happened to my wife when we moved to Florida. She tried to be nice to the company because they had been good to her. I moved down ahead of her and left her there to wrap things up with the house. She let them know that she would be resining in the months ahead once we got things heading in the right direction with selling our house. They hired two people to replace her and had her train each of them in different parts of her job. Once they felt the new people could possibly survive there, they told her they were ready for her to resign. She told them that she was not ready to resign yet because we were still working on getting our house sold. They basically told her that either she resigned or they were going to terminate her. Her boss at the time was a real jerk. Things escalated because she was not too far from getting an annual bonus. They worked out a deal where they let her take PTO time to get to the date where she would get the bonus and that was the end of it. I would never recommend to anyone to go this route anymore. Take care of yourself first.

 

[László]

Take care of yourself first.

I've told friends, "Be like a pro athlete. Play for the team that will pay you the most."

 

[dmatthews]

I've told friends, "Be like a pro athlete. Play for the team that will pay you the most."

I've got my pro "athlete's foot" in the door.

 

[andy474x]

Bah, I’ve had more problems with young employees, by far, than older ones. I’d reckon your age is probably playing in your favor.

 

[tiboy]

I've told friends, "Be like a pro athlete. Play for the team that will pay you the most."

Our situations are vastly different. I’ve always told friends work where you’ll be happiest with people you like because no amount of money is worth going to a job you hate with people you don’t respect.

 

[JasonE]

Our situations are vastly different. I’ve always told friends work where you’ll be happiest with people you like because no amount of money is worth going to a job you hate with people you don’t respect.

I agree with this as well. Having a job you enjoy vs one that is just a job is worth at least 20k per year IMHO. If you have a job that you hate or are working in a place that doesn't respect you, no amount of money is going to make that better. The health issues the stress is going to cause are going to cost you way more than the compensation you are receiving.

As long as you don't hate the job, I agree with Les, play for the team that pays you the most.

 

[JasonE]

Bah, I’ve had more problems with young employees, by far, than older ones. I’d reckon your age is probably playing in your favor.

I see that at the place I work at and even a little in the team I manage. The company loves to hire younger people that they can pay less though. They don't understand that people in my age range are not the type of people that are going to stick around for a year or two and request a huge raise or leave. That is what we get with the younger folks these days.

 

[11top]

I was communicating with an agency for film scores in London; they wanted to know my age on a form.

Well, I'm pretty old. I was very shy about answering, though I did. I understand that they need to know birth date for copyright purposes, etc (the copyright office wants that birth year). But for some reason, it made me feel like The World's Oldest Human,

I know I'm very good at what I do - scoring to picture. I have had many years of success in it.

But now I feel...I dunno...like people will think I'm past it. It kinda freaked me out. Am I alone in this?

The beauty of retirement. I no longer GAF.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

People are generally a bit sceptical when I answer the age question.

You just look so d@mn smexy Peter!

Here’s a tune for you Les

 

[matonanjin]

Oh, I kinda specialize in midlife crises. I've had several!

What?!?!? We can have more than 1? Why didn't anybody tell me?

 

[László]

What?!?!? We can have more than 1? Why didn't anybody tell me?

Haha! You're gonna have a long way to go to catch up to me - I have them all the time!

The beauty of retirement. I no longer GAF.

I get that, if the object of work is to make a nice living. When you've got enough, and you're done, retirement's the greatest.

The object of my work is in the process that I love: Scoring to picture, and creating music that gets out into the world. If I didn't do it for a living, I'd still do it for myself. So I might as well get paid.

 

[László]

Our situations are vastly different. I’ve always told friends work where you’ll be happiest with people you like because no amount of money is worth going to a job you hate with people you don’t respect.

That's true, too. My unstated context was that the job in question isn't heinous.

 

[11top]

I get that, if the object of work is to make a nice living. When you've got enough, and you're done, retirement's the greatest.

Not necessarily mutually exclusive. I liked what I did for a living, and I feel like I helped people. However, now that I’m not in that stage of my life, I don’t have to let my age (in that respect) get in my way. Maybe it’s the only thing good about being older than dirt.

 

[aamefford]

Midlife crisis. I’m having one now, and quite happy about it. Apparently, I’ll now live to be at least 128.

 

[Alnus Rubra]

Midlife crisis. I’m having one now, and quite happy about it. Apparently, I’ll now live to be at least 128, until my next one!

Fixed

 

[László]

Not necessarily mutually exclusive. I liked what I did for a living, and I feel like I helped people. However, now that I’m not in that stage of my life, I don’t have to let my age (in that respect) get in my way. Maybe it’s the only thing good about being older than dirt.

That, and having various body parts replaced by better-functioning replacement parts...

 

[rb1]

“It’s better to burn out than to fade away.”

That’s the Rock ‘n’ Roll mantra, right?

I don’t know. Neil Young is still working too and he ain’t young now. Is he still singing that tune?

I’m going to keep moving. The rest is noise.

 

[theDeepender]

Wife and I are both 57 and I don't mind admitting that to others.

What I don't like is what age has done to me.

I have seriously abused my body over the years and now I'm paying the price with constant discomfort.

I find myself consciously deciding to NOT do certain tasks that would make me pay later. At times it's quite embarrassing.

It has reinforced my desire to retire a little early while I can still enjoy my hobbies and fun projects.

I’ve never talked to anyone who said they regretted retiring early. Likewise, I’ve not heard anyone say they wished they had worked longer. I retired at 62. And this is the best job I’ve ever had!

 

[theDeepender]

That, and having various body parts replaced by better-functioning replacement parts...

Yup.
I’ve got three replacement joints.

 

[theDeepender]

I feel the age thing in my career. I am an old guy for what I do. I work in IT. I am 57. Both of my parents died before they made it to my age. I am still in good health. However, I am getting to a point in my career where I may want to get into the next thing to carry me through the rest of my work years. It is a lot harder for someone my age to get the opportunity to start into something new, especially at the rate of pay I am getting now. I will probably have to make this decision and start exploring options within the first quarter of next year. it keeps me up at nights sometimes thinking about it.

I’ll pray for you bro.