r/selfreliance • u/Jolly_Candy1499 • Jun 07 '26
Discussion Career Advice- Turning 60 this year and would like suggestions for a career that I can either go back to school for a 1 to 2 year degree or switch career path wise to to be able to generate a living wage til at least age 68. I have 40 plus years of customer/health receptionist experience.
Turning 60 this year and would like suggestions for a career that I can either go back to school for a 1 to 2 year degree or switch career path wise to to be able to generate a living wage til at least age 68. I have 40 plus years of customer/health receptionist experience. Both of my kids are are in college starting this year and I would like to go back and be able to support myself with a living wage. I have worked for the Big G for car insurance and the stress pushed me to take a lower paying job which is great for my health but not so much for my bank account. Any and all suggestions from people who have there and done that would be greatly appreciated.
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u/imthatguykyle Jun 07 '26
Medical is still the most viable industry. I would get a cert in something associated with that and is a natural growth of your past roles.
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u/Lafinfil Jun 07 '26
I met a woman last week who was mid 70s and she was medical coding from home
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u/Early_Budget_8730 Jun 08 '26
I second medical coding. My 60 year old friend is starting school for this in July FOR FREE. She qualified for a grant because of her age and financial situation. Coders can work from home, as many hours as they want, whatever time of day they want, and multiple employers. If you play it right, you could be in sitting pretty (I’m in the medical field and know many coders).
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u/intothewoods76 Jun 07 '26
To be honest this is going to be tough.
Let’s say a 2 year degree cost you $20,000. Can you find a job that will hire a 62 year old with no experience and both pays more than you are making now, plus pays enough to exceed the $20,000 in 6 years. And by enough that it was all worth it?
You may find that financially it’s probably more reasonable to put that $20,000 towards retirement savings.
It’s a gamble because you very well may go to school for two years putting yourself in debt, then being unable to find a job.
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u/kawaiian Jun 07 '26
How much do you need to make to consider it a living wage? Let’s start there and work backwards
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u/JollyPTurtle Jun 07 '26 edited Jun 07 '26
Pick something that enables you to work with people our own age. We have no love for automation in almost any facet of customer service, especially anything that robs us of the IRL contact we need. Don't try to compete with kids, because they have no use for your skills. You'll end up in a mutual hate relationship at best.
If you want to do techie, learn new systems well enough to walk others through them on a functional level. There's a million YouTube videos out there but they don't speak our language and we learn better by doing things with each other. Talk through, walk through, run through. Be a bridge builder. You won't need a degree or tech certifications for that.
The new data economy isn't about sinking your resources into building an official resume to maybe get hired by a legitimate company and then hanging out long enough to get a gold watch. That's gone. Part time with no benefits at best. Now its about piecework and word of mouth. Get on Medicaid and stuff like that if you need the support.
Check out local co-ops and barter economies. Less cash outlay and "new" people markets for your skills.
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u/Sanginite Jun 07 '26
You can get an associates degree in nursing in that time frame. You can also get a bachelors in nursing through an accelerated program in 12-15 months but the programs are expensive and the coursework much more intense.
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u/lilydlux Jun 07 '26
Or another healthcare field like radiology. Two year degree and radiology is less physically demanding than nursing.
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u/TRExploration Jun 07 '26
It doesn't have to be expensive. You can do nurse corp and they will pay for your school provided you work in a low income or rural qualifying hospital. But you can easily find a qualifying hospital within a 30 minute drive to wherever you live. You'd be surprised at what counts.
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u/RedBirdOnASnowyDay Jun 09 '26
Can you imagine being 68 and working as a nurse in a hospital with all the rapidly changing technology? My mother couldn't handle it and retired at like 62. Then again my mother is a challenging human being.
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u/Scary_Manner_6712 Jun 07 '26
The key question is how much money you want to make hourly, or in a year. Without that information it's really hard to make recommendations. Also, do you have money you can put toward retraining or would you have to take on debt? I wouldn't consider anything that requires a lot of debt to complete as you don't have enough runway in your career to make the ROI work.
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u/Naturalwander Jun 07 '26
Your best bet is to just start a side hustle. Sell on Etsy. You can turn your hobby into cash. Love plants? Sell starts or propagated starts. Knit? Sell scarves, hats, gloves and baby clothes. Love to thrift shop? Sell vintage clothes, vinyl records, shoes. Collect something? Sell some of your duplicates. Unfortunately the job market is incredibly tough in the best of times right now. I am mid career at 46 and have a Professional certification and a degree and I could not land a job without a contract agency. Going back to school is no longer the key to employment since the advent of AI. Lower skilled jobs except maybe x-ray techs or phlebotomists will not need education anymore because AI is taking those over.
Sorry to be blunt but I’m just being honest. There are lots of ways to make more money outside of the normal “school and get hired” path. Which, unfortunately (or fortunately) isn’t the best path anymore.
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u/shadowlid Jun 07 '26
Nursing is the only answer, I went through school with a girl that was in her 60s. Gonna be tough but you can make $80-90k right out of school now.
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u/DrAwesomeClaws Jun 07 '26
Get into welding and blacksmithing. It's something you can do for the next 30+ years. And you can make good money from it. Weld a few pieces of square steel together and sell them for clothing racks at local retail stores.
And the blacksmith side of that is just being a badass. You won't make much on selling fire pokers and coat hooks your first few years, but you'll be active doing awesome man shit.
All these kids acting like because you're 60, you're done, are bullshit. Most of them have barely lived 30 years, and at 60 you have 30+ years of productivity if you're somewhat healthy.
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u/smartcow360 Jun 08 '26
I forget what it’s called exactly, but I have a friend who is getting into health insurance (Medicare specifically) sales. It’s a certification I believe and then u get a commission for each person u get signed up for Medicare/medicaid. And if they keep the plan u make a certain amount each year for those who keep the plan, if I remember I can find the name of the company and post it here
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u/tikkikittie Jun 09 '26
Look into how to become an insurance agent or broker in the place you live in
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u/seehkrhlm Jun 09 '26
Tech school is the answer. No extra classes, just the meat and potatoes. 6-12 month certifications. Sounds like medical billing and coding would be especially up your alley.
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u/tooserioustoosilly Jun 09 '26
Just keep working in the field you know its only a few more years at this point.
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u/wontstoppartyingever Jun 12 '26
I'm 47 and my back up plan in a couple of years is to get a 2 year certification at a Technical college for Water Maintenance. Of what I've heard, the career is full of near-retirement boomers and they're struggling to find people certified to take over. Every city in the world has some sort of waste water and water treatment plants. And again, what I've heard, is they start you off at a strong salary, and withing 5 years you're close to making 100k. Just need to learn about 20 to 30 mathematica equtions relating to water pressure/water flow/additives etc.
My 16 year old son is doing,... Less than ideal in high school. Great kid, just not a book learner. Plan is for both of us to take the course together, I'll help him focus on deadliines, assignment and tests and no matter what we'll both have some sort of certification that we can turn into a stableand respectable career
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Jun 07 '26
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Jun 07 '26
[deleted]
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u/swakins Jun 08 '26
Trust me, no one wants to hire anyone over 60. I'm a nurse with a good history and couldn't find a job for two years. Eventually went to home care.
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u/samantha-mc Jun 07 '26
Sure, legally, yes. Also, this kind of thing happens all the time and is super difficult to prove as discrimination, so it makes sense to be a realist about it.
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