Who's had a successful Second Act careerwise?

[Chris Pascale]

My spouse started a PhD at 49 and eventually went into higher ed teaching. He worked in that system for 10 years.

The best teacher I personally ever had was a police officer and transitioned to teaching.

So, in short, I think 2nd act teachers are amazing. If you feel called to it, I say go for it.

Teaching is my plan maybe from age 50-60. If I FI/RE because of my FNMA/FMCC gamble, it might start sooner, and perhaps as an adjunct for the duration.

[Metalcat]

I went back to school in my 40s, fully retrained as a therapist, and launched my own practice in September.

Hope it's going great because from the posts you've put up on here I would guess you are very good, and people are happy to see you.

Awe, thanks.

I am doing very well. It's a hugely oversaturated industry in Canada, we have a few schools churning out grads far faster than the market can bear, but I have a very specific and rare niche that keeps me as busy as I want to be doing work I deeply enjoy.

The people who read my info and actually want to come see me are exactly the kind of people I want to work with. I'm very, very proud of my marketing copy because of how selective it's been for the exact right kind of clients for my practice.

What's hilarious is that I used to help other healthcare professionals write marketing copy, and I put a huge amount of time and effort into my own only to publish it and then 20 minutes later go back in and delete everything and then write something totally off the cuff instead.

Apparently that's what I needed to do, write something really authentic to my personality, and now I attract like flies the exact kind of weirdos I want to work with.

It's been fun. I truly never expected it to work out this well.

[Nick_Miller]

I ran across an article that made me think of this thread again. It's a quick read but I found it very helpful in weighing the question of "Freedom vs. Income vs. Purpose" and those little charts in the article were interesting too.

https://www.blakeboles.com/2018/10/in-praise-of-the-low-income-high-purpose-high-freedom-career/

[roomtempmayo]

@Nick_Miller Interesting article.  Any movement on your second act?

[Nick_Miller]

@Nick_Miller Interesting article.  Any movement on your second act?

Not yet. The school year is coming up in August, and I'd have to really pivot fast to grab a teaching job this year. The problem is that my teaching cert will expire in 2 years if I don't use it now, so there's a bit of a "ticking clock" going on. It's either I jump in this year, or else I'd have to go back to school and take some classes to get a new cert.

Financially, jumping into teaching now would be challenging. I'd have to work until age 62 (even if I don't like it) and our financial momentum would slow greatly although I'm very confident I could retire at 62 if I wanted to.

But the thought of riding out another 2 or 3 years of legal work is almost equally distasteful. I feel like I'm "wasting" some of my last good years doing work I have no passion for.

So basically right now I'm High Income, Low Purpose, and Medium Freedom
Teaching would (maybe) be Medium Income, High Purpose, and Low Freedom.   

I say "low freedom" for teaching mostly because of all the red tape, plus having to physically be in a classroom every day (and having to learn how to time restroom needs), but also because our overall trajectory would be locked in for a decade.

Switching my plan to substitute teaching might be the answer:  Low Income, Medium Purpose, High Freedom.   Much less red tape, and I'd own my nights and weekends, plus have summers off. And I could do that without a cert. So maybe I limp along here for another year or 2 and then just throw myself into this.

I guess it comes down to that I want purpose in my work. I want to be proud of what I do every day. My heart's just not in this anymore. I want a new challenge, something to get excited about for my 50s and beyond. My current "Limping to the finish line" mindset is just really depressing and it makes me sad.

[Hula Hoop]

@Nick_Miller I can totally relate.  Also in my 50s and in a job which is medium income, medium to low purpose and medium freedom.  I saw medium freedom as I'm in an office all day but I get a lot of paid time off.

I just finished training to be an ADHD coach and I'm doing it evenings and weekends and during those days off.  My aim is just to do 50 hours this year so that I can get certified.  I'm really enjoying it but there's no money in it yet until I get more experience and certification.

Is there any way you could dip your toe into another more meaningful career?  For example, could you do your current job part time and then do adjunct teaching at a community college or something?

[Fru-Gal]

I would urge you if you are in your 50s, which is an amazing age to be, and have the financial wherewithal to leave, don’t waste your youth!!! Get out now.

You can figure out the next step when you’re out! You came/saw/conquered your previous career. You don’t have to plan out anything but take a bow and leave. Health is wealth.

[roomtempmayo]

I guess it comes down to that I want purpose in my work. I want to be proud of what I do every day. My heart's just not in this anymore. I want a new challenge, something to get excited about for my 50s and beyond. My current "Limping to the finish line" mindset is just really depressing and it makes me sad.

That's no way to live your life.  I'd go do something else, sooner rather than later.  You don't get these days and years back.

[MaybeBabyMustache]

I'll chime in, although I'm working on a pivot at the moment. I had a 25 year career at two big tech companies. I'm about to begin teaching an online marketing class for 10 weeks, 2 hours/week zoom + 2 hours/week prep. It pays $4k/session. You're not exactly going to get rich doing it, but 1) I am also interested in potentially pivoting to an education career, and this gives me a low risk chance to try it out. 2) I actually needed a bit more experience on one of the modules, and I took the class myself (for free) before teaching it, which has nicely rounded out my own experience. 3) It will look great on my resume in a variety of more traditional roles.

I'm also in the process of interviewing for roles that are more natural career extensions of what I've previously done, so for now I'm considering this a side hustle to explore a future pivot.

An update on this. I tried the teaching gig, and while I can see myself liking some elements of it, it would need to be pretty different for me to want to pursue it more (e.g. not remote/over Zoom, and a content area that's much more general & applicable to my background). I'd like to work another 3-5 years before I fully "FIRE" & while I greatly enjoyed my funemployment break (it will net out to be about 15 months when all is said & done), pivoting was just too hard for such a short time period. The job market (particularly tech) was abysmal, and to pivot, I'd have to drop down from my current seniority to a point where I'd be making 1/2 as much, in a really junior role.

Instead, I just accepted a job and am starting in a week. It's basically the most logical extension on my previous job, but theoretically, with a great team culture, some better benefits, better time off, less international traveling, etc. Of course, it's also about 75% of my previous comp, although I never expected to have another job where I'd be making that again. And, it's double what I'd make at the pivot jobs.

Who knows if it's the right step, but I'm generally excited about it & the people I'll be working for. Given it's such a limited time horizon (3-5 years), I feel a lot less anxious than I would if this needs to be a 10 year career or whatever.

[Nick_Miller]

@MaybeBabyMustache it's cool to get a 'post mortem' like yours! I understand what you mean about the short runway. It can limit viable options. Here's hoping you do get to FIRE by 2030 at the latest! Just one more presidential election to go.