Very sorry to hear about your situation. Wishing you all the best.
I am just on the cusp of your situation. When I relocated about 10 years ago, I couldn’t find any work at the age of late 40’s. Taco Bell and McDonalds wouldn’t even give me a minimum wage job. Both times they said “you’re a veteran and you have a college degree. The minute you find something good, I’d be sure you’re out of here. So I don’t want to waste my time training you for this job”. Currently, I am seeking out a federal job. That way, I can “buy back” the time I spent in the army and potentially retire with a partial pension. I would rather not be working well into my 70’s or 80’s. Been searching for two years now.
I don’t think that applying for jobs during an off-hiring season is a waste of time. At the very least, you’ll have your name in somebody’s inbox, and they might be able to put your info in the “maybe” pile, for when jobs do reopen.
best of luck Kambuckta! I’m about your age, and deeply empathize. I got laid off about 5 years ago, and it was not pleasant although I was gainfully employeed at a higher salary within and couple of months.
I’ll ask you what I asked myself: “What do you want to do when you grow up?”
My wife’s planning to retire from her high-stress job early, and get a new lower-stress job. She has no idea what yet, but is willing to start at the bottom somewhere. In her case, any job would be less emotionally fatiguing for her then where she is now.
Me, I realized I shouldn’t stay at my soul- (and time-) sucking job much longer, and took a lower-paying job: teaching at a local tech school (basically a community college). Ours hires a lot of part-timers, no teaching license or degree needed. The only requirement is “Experience in the field”. I loved it, and the students laughed at my stories of stupid people, as examples of how not to do this at your future jobs.
Oh, and they don’t take age into account. We had a number of new teachers in their 60s.
Hi Kambuckta,
Fellow Aussie here. Note: I am not a Professional Financial adviser.
Unless you are in some very special super scheme, you can access your super once you reach what’s called Preservation Age. In your case (being 61), the age would be 56 or 57 (depending on exact birthday).
You can’t get the Government pension until you are 67 (and that is asset-tested).
You can even access your super from Preservation age while still working via Transition to Retirement. This enables you to receive some income from an employer and some from your Super. Very useful if you can only get part-time work - which is not uncommon for people of your age.
Important: I am not a Financial adviser. I am 60 and I have been having these discussions with various professional financial advisers over the last year or so (including my Chief FA - the wife).
A good starting point for research is the ATO website.