Why Life After 50 Is The New Black 

Very soon I’ll be officially living life after 50. It’s a funny old age 50 (that’s me next month) mind you so was 40! 1964 was in many ways an inconvenient time to be born: A little too late to enjoy the 60s and 70 culture fully and a little too young to take advantage of the Internet’s first coming of age. Sort of on the cusp of Generations W and X but not quite chiming with either. Not really old but not really young.

For most it’s meant an early adulthood that witnessed the greed of the 80’s but which also remembers the austerity of the 70’s. From a musical point of view those two decades saw some interesting stuff. From Punk to Synthesizers it moved from a desire for anarchy to a fondness for sharp suits. Haircuts remained uniformly dire however.

For me and I’m sure, others all these influences and changes made picking a career and sticking with it pretty tough going. Now that we are well into 2010’s many of the traditional careers we chose are simply surplus to requirements and lots of us have found ourselves out in the cold at that funny age. Trouble is it’s not that funny.

But life after 50 is not all doom and gloom though, far from it. Although we might have missed the first dot.com bubble we are actually just in time for the real start of the internet – the digital economy. So we can make a new start, start building again for that retirement dream in a young industry. Do something we always wanted to do but never quite got round to.

Put an End to The Life After 50 Personal Recession

Because although technology may have made the old job redundant or the recession stole the pension, both have inadvertently created more opportunity than ever before. Both have made a new economy come of age. Us life after 50 somethings may not be quite as tech savvy as the average 10 year old but we’re certainly young enough to learn.

In any case technology is much more user friendly. As it becomes more widespread and commonplace it has to. We live in an age of technology: Fact. It’s the way the world is (and all because of those pesky kids! lol)

In a round about way I feel like hitting 50 in 2014 is just about right for me. I’m seriously looking forward to living life after 50 (next month) I’ve grown up a bit, lived a bit and have kept abreast of technology along the way – most of us have had too anyway.

I didn’t start a traditional business that’s become a recession-blighted weight around my neck when I was younger. I have started one in the last couple of years however. I started a digital business and it was the best move I’ve made yet. Even if I had not been made redundant I would have been looking at another 20 years of work with not much to show for it in my dotage. LIke any business it’s not all plain sailing but I’ve discovered a new thirst for learning.

Living Life After 50 Wherever And However You Want to 

I doubt retiring abroad would have been an option not long ago but now it’s both a realistic possibility and one that can happen far sooner.

I find too that I’m far from unusual in choosing this direction “at my age?!!” There are a lot of us out there living life after 50 in new ways: Some through redundancy, others through plain old common sense. They’ve seen a way to replace and even supersede their incomes but in a way that frees them from years more long working hours and an earnings ceiling.

So if you find yourself contemplating that “funny” what do I do with my life after 50 question, look on the bright side. You’ve got years of experience, a wide range of skills which are actually very sought after in the digital world, and probably everything you need to get started – a computer, some time and a modest start up fund. You will also need to pick up some new skills and I can point you in the right direction there. The link below will introduce you to some amazing people, and incredible learning platform and everything you need to start building your exciting new life after 50 in the digital economy.

By Dave Menzies