Unemployment Among Those Over 50

Lee County, Florida, where I am spending the holidays, has an overall unemployment rate of 13.9%. The area experienced an incredible housing bubble due to the subtropical climate, excellent health care facilities, abundant recreation opportunities and lack of state income tax, all of which are extremely desirable to baby boomers. Alas, the value of residential real estate has declined by two thirds since the peak in 2005. The thousands of jobs supported by real estate transactions and new construction have been drastically reduced.

A good percentage of the over fifty population in Lee County is made up of retired people which complicates the unemployment statistics. My intuition tells me the rate is high.  Unless you have training and experience in the health care field, your prospects for getting a good job are pretty slim.  The school district website does not encourage applications, not even for substitute teaching positions.

In a previous blog I referred to the Encore.org website. They now have an excellent, free, 28 page resource guide with valuable tips for exploring careers in the nonprofit sector, government, teaching , etc. I recommend that you download a copy.

Help others get started on their encore careers.
http://www.encore.org/find/guide

During the upcoming week I will reconnect with my college days by attending the Outback Bowl. Go Northwestern!!!

My First Follower

After blogging for three months I have my first follower. This is thrilling news because I had no idea if anyone was reading my material. It turns out that my follower and I have very similar interests. While I hope to engage retired educators in meaningful encore careers, he is all about assisting educators in making wise financial decisions. His blog is excellent and I am including the link here.
http://www.theeducatorsretirement.com/

Please take some time to learn about your retirement options.