How do I approach my later years in life?

[resy]

Hi all!

I have a bit of a conundrum and am in search of some grounded, sound advice. I think this is the best place for me to ask as my peers are just in a completely different path and mentality than me and you people are so smart and great :)
Ok. So, I have just hit my 30th birthday and after a very rough 2015 I have gained some clarity in certain areas in my life. For the past few years I have gone back to school (part time) taken general classes and have been trying to figure out just what I want to have a career in.
After tons of anxiety and getting very honest with myself I have reached the conclusion that the only reason I really want a career is the stability it would bring me in my later years (as opposed to prestige, etc).
I spent my 20s self employeed as a house cleaner and while I know many of you make much more, at $25 hourly I find it has allowed me a standard of living I would be pressed to recreate with my lack of education. I love many things about it, the pay is great, and I make my schedule but after burning myself out physically (the downfall is that it is very hard on your body) I have spent the past few years reducing my hours to part time.
In many ways I have a life so many would love to have, I have enough money to cover my needs (I am married so my income alone doesnt support the entire household), I have a ton of free time to spend on my family and personal pursuits (I am into simple living, and minimalism to give an idea of my lifestyle).
The problem is that I dont know how sustainable this is for later in life.
I dont ever want to own a big, traditional home (we currently rent but one day would like to own a very small home 1000sqft or less), dont do and never will do car payments, and generally imagine keeping a very low key lifestyle.
As a 30 year old woman which many refer to as "with so much potential" I feel a lot of pressure to get an education and career but I just dont see myself working at what many describe as soul sucking jobs for 40 hours (at least!) weekly.

What strategies should I consider if I were to stick with house cleaning?
Should I go after a career for security in later years? If so, are there fields with greater flexibility than others?

The part that worries me about that line of work is that at some point you cant really do it anymore because of the wear and tear on your body (thats mainly why I am part time after a decade in it).  Also, life happens and what if my husband died, became disabled, divorced me, etc and I became dependant on solely my income; would that kind of income be ok later in life with lifestyle inflation kept low? I do have a child now but will be "out of the nest" by the time I reach my 40s and I have no plans to have any more children, ever.

Thanks so much for any and all input.

[arebelspy]

What's your savings rate (as a household)? 

Becoming FI might solve some of your worries about not being able to do physically demanding labor later, about needing a stable career, etc.

Don't do things because of the pressure you feel from others.

I'm an example of so much wasted potential, but I'm happy, and doing well, and doing good, and that's enough, for me.

I do hear you about the mid-life feelings of uncertainty. I just turned 30 in June and have also been trying to figure out what I want the back half to two-thirds of my life to look like.

Design it purposefully, either way.

Articulating some of what you consider different options may help us advise, or give other options you may not have thought of.

But it goes back--to me--to the first question I posed. If you can hit FI pretty quickly, it opens up a lot of possibilities.  If you're in debt and paycheck to paycheck right now, and needing to figure out how to support that lifestyle and probably going to need to work for 40 years, it's a whole different set of scenarios and potential answers.

Let us know.

Good luck!

[deborah]

My Aunt is in her mid 80s and is still a house cleaner. If what you do turns you on, why change? Many of those careers you talk about have a lot less probability of being around in the future than house cleaning has. Also career seems to be a term for a job where they don't want you after you reach a certain age.

What you really need to do is look at the possible scenarios, and work out how they would pan out in the future, and what your budget might be. You may be pleasantly surprised and find that your lifestyle could continue. Or you might find that some scenarios are a real problem. Once you have worked out where the problems lie, I'm sure you could address them.

[soccerluvof4]

What's your savings rate (as a household)? 

Becoming FI might solve some of your worries about not being able to do physically demanding labor later, about needing a stable career, etc.

Don't do things because of the pressure you feel from others.

I'm an example of so much wasted potential, but I'm happy, and doing well, and doing good, and that's enough, for me.

I do hear you about the mid-life feelings of uncertainty. I just turned 30 in June and have also been trying to figure out what I want the back half to two-thirds of my life to look like.

Design it purposefully, either way.

Articulating some of what you consider different options may help us advise, or give other options you may not have thought of.

But it goes back--to me--to the first question I posed. If you can hit FI pretty quickly, it opens up a lot of possibilities.  If you're in debt and paycheck to paycheck right now, and needing to figure out how to support that lifestyle and probably going to need to work for 40 years, it's a whole different set of scenarios and potential answers.

Let us know.

Good luck!

This in a nutshell! and on a personal note I really dont need or want to hear about my potential anymore. I have done what i needed to afford the life I want to live.

[GreenSheep]

Don't go for the career unless it's something you truly love and would do regardless of money or stability. I have what many would consider a prestigious job title, and I earn ridiculous money, but I hate it. I'm not happy. That's why I found this site and am saving for FI. In general, it seems that doing what you enjoy leads to the right outcome in the end. People work hard for something like like doing.

My good friend's 86 year old grandmother still cleans 2 houses a week to keep herself busy. Meanwhile, the same friend's 60-something mother-in-law just tired a house cleaner because she gets out of breath while vacuuming and can't bend over to clean the bathtub. That's all anecdotal, of course, but it appears that if you keep yourself in good health and good shape, you can continue to do this job you enjoy.

And yes, save, save, save! Being financially independent, or at least having a large chunk of what you need saved, will help offset any worries about what to do when you're older.

[MrsPete]

So these are the main points I'm hearing:

- You're doing well financially cleaning houses, you're happy with the money, and you find the work acceptable at least for now.
- You're concerned that this job isn't something that you can continue to do "forever" because it's physically demanding.  I'd add to that, it probably doesn't have any benefits, so the paycheck is probably represents your complete financial compensation. 
- You're feeling bad that others think you should have "a better job". 
- You're moderately interested in going back to school, but that seems to be based upon your feelings of "I should" and "other people think" more than actual motivation to move into a professional field. 

I think your best course of action is to open a small business of your own:  Hire more house cleaners (probably you know who's good) and work towards YOU staying home, managing the business, setting up new clients ... while your workers go out and do the actual cleaning.  Perhaps you could incorporate yard service and commercial cleaning into the same company; in other words, look for ways to expand. 

This would solve your problems:  Owning a small business would make you feel you're reaching your "potential", you'd make more money and would decrease your physical labor as you age, and you wouldn't need much education to make it happen. 

[Dee18]

You could also have a consultation with a physical therapist or occupational therapist about how to do things in ways that are easy on your body....or try a Feldenkrais class.