Is Cutthroat Capitalism Pushing a Growing Number of Baby Boomers to Suicide?

[magical thyme]

30. you don't need to cut it off at 55, either

I'm 59, and experienced the same struggle to get established working. When I finally did, it was entry level which for a single woman means secretary. My full time job lasted 9 years while I climbed the ladder a bit until the '93 high tech crash, so my pension will be all of $300/month when I hit 65. It helps, but really is a drop in the bucket. They were pushing us hard into 401Ks, but I didn't trust it and didn't bite, due to the way I was raised. Stock market is a gamble, and it's rigged. 2008 proved my early lessons right.

I got contracted back and went for the cash instead. When I was laid off post 9/11, I couldn't get re-hired so put everything into a little antique farm with the intent to "slow flip" by fixing it up and re-selling. But I was defrauded when I bought it plus the first contractor I hired trashed the place with his bulldozer, so it took me 2 years just to undo that damage and the first round of upgrades.

I did ultimately find work...at 20% of what I used to earn. I went back to school to retrain in health care, but the job prospects were a blatant lie, as was the salary range. So 20% of what I used to earn is the level I'm stuck at, but now with student loans that I can't even begin to pay off.

I swing between hope and hopeless. If the economy would improve enough for me to sell my house, I could pay off the student loans and downsize further north. I have my eye on a cute little cottage which was all I wanted to begin with.