CompuServe Messages

Gary I'm in my 50s, so I guess that qualifies me to give unsolicited advice. Unless you are a very unusual person, you ought to do the following. 1. Learn a "trade" — plumbing, engineering, medicine, whatever. Something you can do well that will put bread on the table. If you enjoy it, that's great. If you don't, you're not alone. Money isn't everything, but not having it is damnably inconvenient. In your specific case, I think, you already have a trade. Unless you are sure that you've picked a field that is going to go away — buggy whip making — why learn another unless there is a near certainty that you will like it? 2. You will have 10 or 15 hours a week left over after work, play, and some volunteer work for the community. Take 5 years of it and learn something about financial management. Figure out what sort of savings you need and how to manage them. Learn about stocks, bonds, insurance, how much it'll really cost to send the kids to college, and how to avoid loosing your life savings (a real possibility if you trust them blindly to professionals — 85% of the whom have only seen 1 week of a REAL bear market in stocks during their careers). In your case, I think you already have this step largely out of the way. But just for kicks, put together a lifetime financial plan and see how long you are going to have to plug away at your trade. Too long? Maybe you need to spend a little less and save a little more. And Oh, yes — unless you're a total klutz, take another 500 hours and learn how do your own automobile repair work. Every year you can keep an older car running well saves enough money to cut your term in a job you don't like by a month. 3. Once you have a trade and know how to handle money, spend your 10-15 hours a week on a hobby you really enjoy. For the first decade, just dink around. Then start trying to figure out how you can convert your hobby into a paying business. Start building that business while you are still working at your trade. It may take you 20 years to get to where you can tell the establishment to take that lousy job and shove it. It may never happen. At least you have a fighting chance that way. Sounds like hard work? You bet. Mundane? Sure. You want it all now? Well, you could buy some lottery tickets. Don