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64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

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Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#41

Post by maerF0x0 »

yardie wrote: post #28
maerF0x0 wrote: post #5

I feel for this guy. Ageism is completely real and mostly missing from D&I initiatives. However there is a 2nd lesson to be learned here. Why in the world does he not have any savings at 64? The article is scant on details, but does mention he was in the computer industry from his 20s, and raised his son, say, until roughly his 40s. That leaves 20 prime years of earning power w/o savings? Something is amiss. To me th…

I don't like this blaming of people for not having foresight. You can do everything right and still lose it all. Let's say he started a 401K in his 20s and slid the meter all the way to right (riskier investments). He would have encountered: - 1980 recession, the one that got Reagan elected. - 1990 recession, the one that got Clinton elected. - 2001 recession, this one mainly affected tech workers. - 2008 recession,…

I see your point, however we all should have long term savings that we do not touch, even if things are falling apart. That used to be how pensions were.

Also keep in mind this guy is in Canada and the GFC was not nearly as severe as in the USA.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#42

Post by WestCoastJustin »

UnpossibleJim wrote: post #38
skizm wrote: post #29

I feel like there is less of a stigma for older contractors. Might be a good idea if you’re getting older in a tech career to shift from full time to contract work?

Health insurance is a son of a bitch when you're older, though =[ it's not necessarily a bad plan, but those insurance rates go through the roof.

He's from Canada. We get basic medial coverage for free. Well, if you are not working it is free, if you are working it is like $50-100/month (depending on your pay level). This is often covered by your employer too, again if you are working. So, there is no real issues there as he gets older.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#43

Post by jorgeleo »

maerF0x0 wrote: post #5

I feel for this guy. Ageism is completely real and mostly missing from D&I initiatives. However there is a 2nd lesson to be learned here. Why in the world does he not have any savings at 64? The article is scant on details, but does mention he was in the computer industry from his 20s, and raised his son, say, until roughly his 40s. That leaves 20 prime years of earning power w/o savings? Something is amiss. To me th…

the article didn’t say he didn’t save, the article said that he run out consuming his savings. he also talks about buying meds. Life can throw curves at you that no saving account can sustain. Don’t judge people unless you have walked on their shoes would be a reasonable advice.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#44

Post by maerF0x0 »

scottlocklin wrote: post #10
maerF0x0 wrote: post #5

I feel for this guy. Ageism is completely real and mostly missing from D&I initiatives. However there is a 2nd lesson to be learned here. Why in the world does he not have any savings at 64? The article is scant on details, but does mention he was in the computer industry from his 20s, and raised his son, say, until roughly his 40s. That leaves 20 prime years of earning power w/o savings? Something is amiss. To me th…

Divorce or family illness are two things you can't plan for, either one of which could wipe you out no matter how much you saved.

his divorce was in his 20s. Alimony couldn't be longer than 10 yrs (note he's in Canada, so Canadian law applies), similar for health care.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#45

Post by agumonkey »

towaway1138 wrote: post #15

I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…

Serving food is more than honest IMO, but still a bit of a waste.. Also it seems a lot of capable coders are struggling with harsh if not inhuman business structures. Maybe regroup and form a nice company of nice people.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#46

Post by jorblumesea »

yardie wrote: post #28
maerF0x0 wrote: post #5

I feel for this guy. Ageism is completely real and mostly missing from D&I initiatives. However there is a 2nd lesson to be learned here. Why in the world does he not have any savings at 64? The article is scant on details, but does mention he was in the computer industry from his 20s, and raised his son, say, until roughly his 40s. That leaves 20 prime years of earning power w/o savings? Something is amiss. To me th…

I don't like this blaming of people for not having foresight. You can do everything right and still lose it all. Let's say he started a 401K in his 20s and slid the meter all the way to right (riskier investments). He would have encountered: - 1980 recession, the one that got Reagan elected. - 1990 recession, the one that got Clinton elected. - 2001 recession, this one mainly affected tech workers. - 2008 recession,…

If you had a 100% stock allocation for your 401k, you still would be fine, provided you picked broad market indexes. In fact, you'd have beaten most other portfolios.

It's not that 100% stocks doesn't give you long term return, on a 30 year spread, it gives better returns (although more volatile) than more balanced portfolios. 10% bonds, while you're young, is mostly just to keep you from freaking out and selling at a low point. If you have an iron will, there's nothing mathematically wrong with that level of risk.

My guess is there's more to this story than poor allocation.

Some really good Bogleheads discussion here:

https://www.bogleheads.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=10&t=196011

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#48

Post by jolmg »

towaway1138 wrote: post #15

I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…

You could also look to start your own business to not require the approval of any hiring committee. Customers are not going to care, and you can probably get them to buy into your product/service without them even knowing much about you, let alone your age.

The difference between being hired into a business and working on your own is that you'll have to create stability on your own, but the benefits seem worth it.

Making a change like that probably takes time to adapt, but fuck me if I ever fail to make use of the skills I've honed throughout my whole life and that I know are useful for people. One just has to bridge the gap between what one can provide and what people need. If someone gets in the way of that because of their own misjudgments, sidestep them and prove them wrong!

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#49

Post by asdfasgasdgasdg »

yardie wrote: post #28
maerF0x0 wrote: post #5

I feel for this guy. Ageism is completely real and mostly missing from D&I initiatives. However there is a 2nd lesson to be learned here. Why in the world does he not have any savings at 64? The article is scant on details, but does mention he was in the computer industry from his 20s, and raised his son, say, until roughly his 40s. That leaves 20 prime years of earning power w/o savings? Something is amiss. To me th…

I don't like this blaming of people for not having foresight. You can do everything right and still lose it all. Let's say he started a 401K in his 20s and slid the meter all the way to right (riskier investments). He would have encountered: - 1980 recession, the one that got Reagan elected. - 1990 recession, the one that got Clinton elected. - 2001 recession, this one mainly affected tech workers. - 2008 recession,…

If he started in the eighties and contributed even a third of the limit, he'd be quite wealthy now even with the setbacks you mentioned. I've only been contributing since '07 and I'm at nearly $700k in my 401k.

Now, the information wasn't as easily available about how to properly invest back then, and I don't necessarily blame the guy for it. Not necessarily, but there is still probably a better than even chance that he has mismanaged his money, as so many do. Doesn't mean he should have to suffer, though.

Re: 64 and unemployed: One man's struggle to be taken seriously as a job applicant

#50

Post by perryh2 »

crispyambulance wrote: post #32
towaway1138 wrote: post #15

I'm only in my 50s, but this is very relateable. Did a couple dozen interviews a year or two ago before finally getting a bite. Somewhat amazingly, even passed the hiring committee at a FANG, only to get swatted down by a rare strike from the executive level. In one interview, was asked to produce a class that could serialize and deserialize a list of numbers, to/from a string of chars. Sure, it's not that hard. Took…

I find it disturbing he can't find work as a project manager. If anything, that's one role where the practitioners typically know fuck-all about nothing and where good ones are worth their weight in gold. I LOVE to work with ADULT project managers who have a clue about how projects actually unfold and how things actually get done with a wide variety of personalities in the mix. Instead, more often than not, you get 2…

In today's world of agile development, I haven't met any project managers worthy of anything. I feel that strong product managers are capable of managing development as well. I can't believe there are actual people getting paid to move JIRA tickets around full-time.
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