I mentioned Fifty-Five,
Unemployed, and Faking Normal in a post in February titled “The Chickens Are
Coming Home to Roost.” Here’s the link:
https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=2939412508503235475#editor/target=post;postID=4928010732861946006;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=13;src=postname
I hadn’t read the book,
which I saw featured a couple of times on the PBS NewsHour. Sawbuck, one of my
favorite readers, who had just gone through a period of prolonged unemployment
that required him to move to another state to accept a lower-paying job and
cost him his relationship, wrote me that the book was excellent and I really
should read it. It finally became available through the library’s interlibrary
loan program. Sawbuck is right.
The book, by Elizabeth White, was independently published
last year. I would like to have known more about Ms. White’s story, but even
without that background, she has written a helpful book, and we know that as
far as faking normal, she’s been there.
Ms. White points out that today’s 55-year-olds who are in
financial trouble are in the perfect storm of age discrimination, pay that has
not kept up with inflation, the elimination of defined-benefit pensions, and a
401(k) defined-contribution retirement system that most employees don’t
understand and that come with high fees that will reduce or eliminate much of
the earnings that one would expect from constant investing.
On a personal note, Dan
converted his 401(k) to an IRA when he lost his job (at age 56) last year. It
is doing better than it ever did at his employer, Three Initial Company (TIC).
Under a normal administration, we could expect, perhaps, some examination of
401(k) abuses. Perhaps we’ll see what happens when we have a normal
administration again.
Ms. White recommends forming Resilience Circles with a few
friends who are in the same situation. The circles can meet in person or
online. Each person must be honest, and put aside faking it at least during the
meetings.
In addition to Resilience Circles, Ms. White lists more
than 100 online resources that may help with everything from food assistance to
saving your home from foreclosure or you from eviction. I had no idea there was
so much help available. It certainly doesn’t get advertised much.
Ms. White explores ways to turn what you have into income—maybe
renting a bedroom if you can. She discusses tiny houses and cohousing. Kansas
City has put together a tiny housing community for homeless veterans. I’m
curious to see how that works out. As for cohousing, my limited explorations
into that option led me to, gosh, how to put this, yuppie nutjobs who were far
more interested in style over substance, and, I suspect they would have been
very much into power once the project was completed. For more than the cost of
a freestanding home, they were proposing individual units and a central kitchen
where everyone would share meals. Maybe I’m odd (OK, I’ll admit I’m odd), but I
have times when I need to be alone and not share meals with anyone. It could be
dangerous to their health. And the group was anti-car, so parking was
inconvenient, which would make aging in place a challenge.
And Ms. White has attitude advice. Probably the most
helpful is, when you get offered something that’s a lot lower on the totem pole
(or pay scale) than you’re used to, “Get off your throne!”
As I mentioned earlier, the book was independently
published, which means it’s a challenge to get libraries to order it in spite
of its being mentioned on PBS and other media. (The copy I read came from a
Jefferson City library.) As I write this, Amazon.com has it for $13.24 plus
shipping. The ISBN is 9781530055852
If you have someone on your shopping list this season who
may fall into the fifty-five, unemployed, and faking it category, this would
make an excellent gift. I have someone in that category, and this is what
they’re getting for Christmas.
©
2017 Larry Roth
