I’m a 60-year young grandmother (Yaya) with NOTHING to do! I would LOVE to go back to school, but feel I’m too old, and also, who would hire me at my age? I don’t look 60 (or so I’ve been told) and I watch my four-year old granddaughter quite often. Her mom (my daughter) and she live with me and I feel that when they leave I’m gonna be lost! Would love to go into substance abuse counseling, but again, the age thing. Is there anyone else out there who has gone back to school at a later age? I’d love to hear from you. Sandy
My 86-year-old great aunt is taking Tai Chi. Have you looked into recreational classes? She’s also part of a knitting circle.
Other things you might consider:
–book clubs
–raising a guide dog puppy or service dog puppy
–fostering animals for a local rescue group or shelter
–some colleges/universities offer extension courses–you don’t have to be a student to enroll in them.
I’m 31 and taking a college German class. (As a professor, I can take up to one class per semester at my college–what fun! Maybe 30 years from now I’ll run out of classes to take, but until then, why not?)
When I was an undergrad, we had a 70ish graduate student in Microbiology. He was turned down for Physician’s Assistant school because of his age. He had spent his career at DuPont in one of their chemistry labs and wanted to do something during his retirement, so he went back to school.
IIRC, some state schools have reduced or no-cost tuition for seniors taking classes.
My father volunteers at the local senior center. He drives people to their doctor appointments, the hair salon, etc. He also plays cards one evening a week there.
You can walk dogs or care for cats at your local animal shelter. They always need volunteers. If you don’t want to work directly with animals, they probably have some administrative needs you can fill.
There is no age limit for wanting to go back to school.
Go back to school.
You’re so very lucky to be in a position to have the world wide open to you.
Go back to school.
You might end up teaching the whippersnappers why it’s a good idea to stay off the lawn, too.
Oh, for pete’s sake. Snap out of it. You’re not too old! The world needs more people with time and energy to share others. You mention substance abuse counseling - is that because you have past experience? personal soapbox? some other reason? Aw, heck, it doesn’t matter - you’re lucky to have a specific goal like that in mind, and it’s not like the substance abuse counseling industry is overflowing with counselors just begging for someone, anyone, to need their services. 
Don’t stagnate when your daughter and granddaughter move out … or before then…
The homeless, abused children, abandoned animals, the environment, the political scene, the local schools … they all need people to help. looks around Hey - that’s you!
And FWIW, there were always a few gray-haired students when I was in undergrad. No biggie - it’s not like they were pariahs or something.
My law school class included a guy in his 60s. He’d always wanted to go to law school, but family and career came first. After he retired, with his children grown and raising families of their own, he finally did it. He was a great classmate, with a unique perspective to share in discussions.
Or consider volunteering. Your local legal services office would likely love to have someone willing to answer phones, type, maintain files. Ditto for battered women shelters, various drug counseling programs, youth groups, senior centers, etc. If you still drive, maybe Meals on Wheels could put you to work delivering food to needy seniors…
Spend four years in college?? Look, if you go back to school to, say, get a BA in something, you’ll be 64 when you finish.
Oh, wait, you’ll be 64 in four years anyway?
It seems you consider your age a handicap but I believe it’s more of an asset in the form of wisdom. Don’t even consider your age when deciding on the rest of your life. Just consider what road will give you the most satisfaction and take that route.
Background info: it’s changing now, but Spain has/had two kinds of “banks”. Bancos were regular banks; cajas were required by their statutes to invest any benefits in “community services”. La Caixa, one of Spain’s biggest banks, is of this second type.
One of the community service programs they mentioned in their latest magazine was volunteer positions filled by seniors. They had a double interview with a lady in her 70s who learned to use computers in order to be able to teach computer skills to prison inmates, and with one of those inmates. Having teachers who were older, rather than younger, than the students, was mentioned by the student as a plus. I’ve also heard of associations of retired finance experts assisting inmigrants or start-ups. I don’t know how likely will companies where you live be to hiring someone over 60 as a substance-abuse counselor, but I imagine there will be volunteer organizations interested in your work.
If you decide to become a substance abuse counselor, would you necessarily have to work for someone else? Perhaps you could work independently as a therapist. It seems like that is the type of work that might be well-suited for someone who is older–many shelters and halfway houses have an older clientele, after all, and might really appreciate your age.
I have the same issues, although I’m only 46. I’d love to go back to school and get a nursing degree, but can’t afford it now and am still raising two young ones. I still don’t know if I can manage it or not, but if I could afford it, I’d at least be looking at classes in something I enjoy.
If your income doesn’t depend on your degree, study whatever you think you’d enjoy. Let us know what you decide, too!
Okay, sorry to rain on the parade of Pollyannas, but you’re going to have a lot of trouble finding a job at your age. And when I was in graduate school nobody thought the older students (though granted, I only remember two of them) were wiser or any kind of bullshit that people are making it sound like, as if we thoughtfully congregated in circles around them on the quad to receive wisdom. We thought they were annoying and condescending.
With that said, you should do whatever makes you happy because the ACT of doing it makes you happy. Go to school if you’ll enjoy being in school. But don’t incur hardship to be in school with the expectation of a job later.