Casey,
What an incredible story. Mine wasn't quite as difficult. But my father got laid off by the the Pillsbury Company at about the same age. In other words, before they had to pay him a retirement. He worked as a shoe store salesman and a furniture store salesman after that. The whole thing made me so angry and I was determined that no company would ever do that to me. So I did leave Lucent before they got rid of me.

But the bottom line is that we have to watch and learn and take care of ourselves. I'm glad to hear that you have done that. Be proud! Take care of yourself!

Judy

Casey

Wow, what a story. I wish I had been as aware as you were. It took me a long time to get to your endpoint.

I am so sorry about your father's suicide, that must have been devastating.

My father also worked for RCA, had 5 heart attacks by 52 and retired. Your "retirement is a second chance for a first dream" worked for him- he retired to Florida, played golf every day and lived till he was 81.

It took me longer as he did to get to retirement (55 Years old) but the idea of retirement being a second chance for a first dream is such a nice idea.

Kathy

This brought to mind my girlfriend who was very close to her grandmother, who raised eight children. She told my friend to never get married and have children until she was much older. She encouraged her to seek a different kind of life...something exciting.

So, she applied for and got a very interesting job: Playboy Bunny! Does she ever have stories to tell.

<chuckle> Playboy Bunny! How cool -- I think :--)) But those heels!

I was recently laid off from IBM. It was a mutual decision in reality since I had told them I was planning on moving to 1/2 days and then retiring by the end of the year. I just couldn't do the corporate thing any more. Well, actually, I'd never done it well, but I couldn't even pretend anymore! And as for learning any more new technology - yick!!! LOL!

But so many companies continue to down-size, move work overseas, reneg on pensions, etc. How is that going to shape our generation as we move towards retirement, whatever its shape? In spite of the lawsuits, we're not going to change multi-national corporations and how they do business since the primary aim for much of them is the shareholder price.

How do we expand on the wisdom of this book, that there is a life that is possible and different from what there was before?

Casey

It sounds like you've grown a lot, and given much thought to what kind of person you want to be. Would you be willing to share more?

Carol K.

Hi

I've been thinking a little more about this issue of , male or female, losing you job in your 50"s. I've come to the conclusion that it's a spoken or unspoken goal of corporations. When I really thought about it, I knew quite a few people that this happened to -going all the way back to my maternal great grandfather who was let go from the mines when he was in his fifties. Based on the people I know, it's pervasive across industries and sizes of business. My cousin worked as a book keeper for a small business and she was let go because she knew too much about the books. My friend worked for a small manufacturer who was infamous for forcing people out when they reached their ten year threshold. She started to work there in her forties and was let go in her fifties. (Maybe she doesn't count as much, but it does give insight into how companies may think.)

Anyway, I won't bore you with all my other examples. I'm sure you've experienced fairly close to the same thing.

Carol K

Hi

I won't be able to access the forum for a few days, so I wanted to wish you all a happy holiday season. Stay safe, warm, and sane and enjoy your days.

Carol

Thanks and you do the same!

How about we get back to the topic of daughters, or women from the younger generations. What advice would you give a gal who wants to move away from her family and friend right out of college to work her dream job at a rate that will barely cover expenses?

OK. Sounds good. I would probably ask a lot of questions and do a lot of listening. Some of the things that come to mind are:
How independent is this girl? Does she make friends easily or is her support system of family and friends necessary for her good health -- both physical and mental?
What will the dream job provide? Scratch an itch? Tell her whether or not it's the right one for her? Provide a building block for a future life?
Is money important to her? Is she high maintenance? How will the lack of money affect her? Is she good at money maintenance or will she get into debt easily? Or maybe she doesn't care?
And finally, is she going to a job or running away from something else?

Casey, Dotsie et al

I don't know that I can give advice on this specific topic, but I can share that one of the things NineWomen talked about was our need to succeed and how it sometimes drove conservative behaviour. Many of us feel that we wished we had been willing to take more risks. This is one of the reasons we encourage each other to do things outside our comfort zones now and to approach life with a sense of adventure.

Have a nice Thanksgiving.

Kathy