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Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

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Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#1

Post by maheshs »

I have come across several advice posts targeted towards younger individuals, and sometimes I find myself thinking, "I wish I had known these things earlier in my life."

However, there are certain pieces of advice that are applicable to people of all ages, such as maintaining clean eating habits, engaging in regular exercise, fostering healthy relationships, and building a strong network of friends and acquaintances.

Considering this, what kind of advice can individuals in their 60s offer to those in their 40s?

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#6

Post by PreInternet01 »

Not quite in my 60s just yet, but close. Anyway:

Work: find your niche. Accept that you're not going to be a hotshot coder/consultant/whatever forever. However, outside of 'fashionable tech' there is an entire world where you can make a comfortable living and nobody cares about your age. That doesn't mean you can stop learning: remaining up-to-date on relevant skills is important, but 'relevant' does a lot of heavy lifting there. Be knowledgeable/reliable instead of trendy.

Leisure: don't put off things you truly want to do until some unspecified later date. You might not make it (see 'health' below). Find at least one activity to enjoy on at least a weekly basis, travel (even if it's close to home), go for walks, spend time with your loved ones.

Health: everything truly and rapidly gets worse once you're 50. Stop smoking now, stop drinking now (or at least moderate a lot), talk to a doctor on a regular basis, take care of your teeth (really).

(That last paragraph is awfully generic, but until such time that we invent time machines, a very important one...)

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#8

Post by gigatexal »

PreInternet01 wrote: post #6

Not quite in my 60s just yet, but close. Anyway: Work: find your niche. Accept that you're not going to be a hotshot coder/consultant/whatever forever. However, outside of 'fashionable tech' there is an entire world where you can make a comfortable living and nobody cares about your age. That doesn't mean you can stop learning: remaining up-to-date on relevant skills is important, but 'relevant' does a lot of heavy l…

This should probably be enshrined on tablets somewhere.

I too am worried about either moving into management or starting my own company or something else because there’s no way I’m going to be a worthwhile IC into my 50s. I need to do something more.

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#9

Post by GianFabien »

For me the biggest factor has been understanding how the hedonistic trap limited my options.

It works like this: you start a new job with a nice big bump in salary. You buy a new car, go to fancier restaurants, take dates to "in places", move into a nicer apartment. With each increment of income, expenses increase. Pretty soon you are trapped in an awful job but the pay is too good and you have no savings.

Getting off the hedonistic treadmill is very painful. But there's more to life than staring at computer screens and putting up with shitty bosses.

Re: Ask HN: What 60 folks can give career and general life advice for 40 folks

#10

Post by p-e-w »

WalterBright wrote: post #7

Max out contributions to your 401k, IRA, Roth IRA, and HSA accounts.

Assuming that there will be any actual money in those accounts by the time you get to retire is incredibly optimistic. With the way things are developing, everything being wiped out by some event in the next 20 years seems far more likely.

The list of potential causes is long: Bank and government failures, demographic collapse, AI, climate change, war, inflation. Or, some future government might simply decide that they need that money more than you do.

And no, "the people" won't revolt if that happens. They will be far too scared to do so.

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