Boomer took $ 2187 Social Security early, has trouble finding a new job

This test also told is based on a conversation with the New Jersey resident, Donald Malone, 65, who held various blue collar roles after leaving the corporate world. Now he has trouble Find work and suspect his age And the gaps in his CV have hampered his chances. His words were published for duration and clarity.

I grew up in the north of New Jersey in a middle -class family. I was the first in the family to go to university after high school, to go to a community college.

I was undecided with what I wanted to do when I got out of high school. My parents asked me, “Where do you want to go?” What do you want to do? ‘ I didn’t know what to say. I was interested in science and I wanted to be like Neil Armstrong for exploration of space. I told my parents that I wanted to be an astronaut, and they looked at me as if I was stupid. They tried to help me support financially in college, which was in the late 1970s.

There were these recruiters who came to school for the programming and processing of data, and I thought it was interesting. They told us that it was a new and fast career that was evolving quickly. So I specialized in computer science, and my minor was in accounting, even if I did not finish school.

I worked on IBM Equipment and I made a lot of money by doing so. When I started, I obtained nearly $ 45,000 in the early 80s. I worked with smaller companies and I worked for a consulting group that treated many retail companies. I went to work for many companies in the fashion industry, working with certain consultants working for Ralph Lauren and a few others.

At the end of the 1940s, it began to become hard. I had faced dismissals. In a company, I needed a little more time on a project, and my manager was not satisfied with it and I felt that I was putting myself and had dismissed me. His boss had the impression that I was not worth awarded and should have just received a warning, but my boss insists.

I continued there and I had a lot of money. I have never made six figures, but I have always made at least $ 60,000. In 2017, I just have to be a little selfless. I just wanted to get out of this business.

I was dismissed and collected unemployment, but I just got to the point where I said: “I have to start looking at retirement and slowing down.” It was a very stressful work with all this competition and the demand for missions carried out at such or such time.

Take social security early and go to work in blue collar

I decided that I was going to ask Social Security early. I thought it was time to consider something different, so I had a job agency to help.

I found a job on Craigslist in 2017 for a large German company that manufactures machines to make paper and cardboard. What I liked in work is that I have traveled to Canada and through the United States, and we would go to these factories. I really enjoyed the work. They didn’t really pay much, but they paid for my hotel, my rent, a car and my trips.

When Covid struck, a large part of this closure. When Canada decided it was going to close the borders, I left this business. I went to Carvana and made details. It didn’t pay much, but I appreciated it. I worked the night quarter, even if it had to be too much for me physically. I earned less than $ 30,000, which was a huge drop in salary.

Then, I found a job for a trucking company called Hogan, and they hired me as a driver. One of their large customers was Carmax, so I went to Carmax and personally led certain vehicles to another Carmax location. I had the opportunity to drive sports cars. Unfortunately, they dismissed me.

I also worked for a life center for the elderly as a service supervisor making easy jobs. It’s almost like a security guard without a pistol. But unfortunately in January, I had a stroke and a heart attack on the same day. I’m getting back now. I was in intensive care for seven days, and unfortunately, they made me available because they needed someone to fill this place quickly.

Fighting to find a well -paid job

I’m just stopped. Right now, I’m doing nothing. I am not a lazy person. The passage of the white necklace with blue collar jobs was a transition that I appreciated, and I am happy to have done a quarter of work. But now I can’t even come back to the work of white passes. This has changed with artificial intelligence, and I’m late on technology.

I get older now, and I think companies are looking for younger candidates with more experience than just working with IBM Equipment. It is a quick career in robotics, artificial intelligence, game manufacturing, etc. I had the opportunity to work in video games, but I did not find any interest in it.

In applications for programming work, they wanted to know in which languages ​​I program, then I looked at how many years I worked and if there were gaps. Some of the shortcomings I had were because the company went bankrupt, I faced a layoff. When I entered the blue collar, it was even more years of a gap.

I’m looking for blue collar jobs now. But my wife is a real estate agent and has been in real estate for 20 years. Much of our money comes from my wife’s work. She encouraged me to join her and work with her as a seller for the broker. My wife and I also have a small side company where we take photos from outside houses for banks and real estate agents. This helps pay for grocery bills.

My social security of $ 2,187 per month really pays my mortgage and my taxes. I am happy to have deposited for that early, especially with stroke and the heart attack. I was able to manage every week with food on my table, clothes on my back and a roof above my head. I have never really been the type of person to spend money like crazy.

I am not trying to return to the general public businesses and put a 9 to 5. I pass the real estate exam. I also hope to do some small work. I like to work and I don’t want to be a sofa potato and lose the day doing nothing. Ideally, it would be a lower job that is not a coherent work of 9 to 5 each day.