when are you too old??

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I'll vouch for x-ray techs as I hold that license. Good career in many ways. But also, like nursing, it can be hard to land a fulltime job right out of school. Per diem for awhile but that's okay.

But. . .will he be able to work nights/weekends and 12 hour shifts? For example. . .I did a 12 hour shift this Sunday (10:30 to 11 p.m.) then i was on call at 3:30 to 7 a.m. And wouldn't you know. . ring, ring, at 2:45 - we gotta a CAT scan for ya. Out of bed and into the car. . .

It seems though a lateral move of some sort may be better at his age.

He is a chemical engineer (that used to be the highest paid college grad). Okay, there are no job engineering chemicals. . .could he do some technical writing for a company? I think a better strategy would be to take 1/2 to 1/10th of his experience and apply it something related vs. starting all over and learnign about x-ray photons. Maybe pick up a writing class here or there, I dunno.

But no, he isnt' too old. There are people of all ages in classrooms at community colleges and honestly, it's BETTER than the frat boy/sorority girl atmosphere at 4 year colleges. He's not too old. The old mediate the young and stupid behavior and the youth bring energy.

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I know you are at a bad place right now, thinking you are "too old" but honestly, i see your husband as a knowledge worker. Okay, maybe a bit overspecialized. . .he may need to back up and generalize.

Our country has dropped the term knowledge worker and I am not sure why.

It seems like the political conversations dominate "jobs, jobs, jobs." Well, cleaning the toilet is a job. And that's fine for temporary work. Your husband like any normal man or woman wants a career, even if it's winding down at 59.

Here is a primer on knowledge worker:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knowledge_worker

Maybe something in customer support at Dupont or Monstanto or something like that. I mean I don't know his field. But. . .

Maybe this article can give you food for brainstorming. I hate to see everyone default to "RN" when money is needed. I am not criticizing that move because you said he always wanted to do it and RN is a great career . . .he could do so much with the degree but I think the pop journalism on this overrates on how easy it is to move into nurse case manager, or nursing supervisor, or nurse anesthetist, or nurse practitioner. Or even floor nurse. The Pop Journalists don't really do their research.

That's why those positions pay a lot. . .the forces that be make it very difficult to get there.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I don't think that going back and spending a fortune is the answer. Even if you don't accumulate debt spending savings instead of working could be detrimental to the future. Do you live in rural missori? What are other options for making money?

What do you do? Is there a business he can focus on? Landscaping? Construction? What about even doing newspaper delivery for now?

How large is your family? How much longer do you have kids to support? Do you have enough for early retirement? Can you start tapping savings? Or use savings to tap until you have all the kids gone and downsize?

[jbax]

Even if the company is not a US owned company, they still have to pay into unemployment to employ anyone in the US. Just as a portion of every paycheck, unless he is considered a contract employee, has unemployment taken out.

This, although not ideal, should still be an option to help.