Mid Life Crisis

[aimless74]

hi ,

yes i am trying to get out of this cycle. i believe no one like retrenched
but no one can foresee the market or econ.
well good for u is your still got a job to work for. also got a BTO
great for u. for me my contract coming to an end in end Sep. so i am
searching. company not renewing as it is not doing well as well.
i do hope all engineering and those young or old one, doing much better
and what they want.

regards

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I am an engineer too graduated in 2000 from NUS electrical engineering 2nd upper honours majoring in microelectronics.
Currently age is 35, started off worked as production engineer in chartered semiconductor, initial pay is high at 2750 per month. The cyclical nature of electronics manufacturing led to 2 retrenchment for past 11 years. Currently working in a new plant, same technical job scope earning $3900 per month.
Feeling the same way like you, similar to my engineering peers from same cohort. Only consolation is that we didnt go hungry, still qualify for BTO flats, and have understanding gf/wife.

[Hermit]

Hi guys, if you are still below 40, you are not facing your mid life crisis yet. You are feeling down because the future does not look bright. But once you are in your mid 40s, that feeling is going to be worse, believe me.

But since you are in your 30s you have the chance to steer yourselves out of the rut. Start thinking about starting a small business or something. Don't sit there and be at the mercy of your educational cert and your employer.

If you make it now, the future can only be worse with so many foreigners coming in. It won't just be the PRCs and Indians. Lots of people in the US, UK and Europe will be heading here soon when their economies crash and burn.

I'm 32, earning $3800/month in the training profession, unmarried and feeling mid-career crisis, or so I thought.

Thinking of starting my own business and looking around for franchise opportunties.
Anyone went through similar thought process?

[Hermit]

Originally Posted by bioman

I'm 32, earning $3800/month in the training profession, unmarried and feeling mid-career crisis, or so I thought.

Thinking of starting my own business and looking around for franchise opportunties.
Anyone went through similar thought process?

Better to follow traditional wisdom.

成家立業 - start your family. mature. then strike out.

[aimless74]

hi hermit,

i am approaching 40 soon, starting a small business is easier to say than done. i do agree with u at the mercy of my employer. i am trying to get out
of this mercy.

yes those foreigners are coming in and squeezing us out of job.
however, these days business are not easy going. lotsa failure out there as well.

Originally Posted by Hermit

Hi guys, if you are still below 40, you are not facing your mid life crisis yet. You are feeling down because the future does not look bright. But once you are in your mid 40s, that feeling is going to be worse, believe me.

But since you are in your 30s you have the chance to steer yourselves out of the rut. Start thinking about starting a small business or something. Don't sit there and be at the mercy of your educational cert and your employer.

If you make it now, the future can only be worse with so many foreigners coming in. It won't just be the PRCs and Indians. Lots of people in the US, UK and Europe will be heading here soon when their economies crash and burn.

[aimless74]

hi bioman,

i thought those MLM are those doing it.
i am not sure about u however i saw some friends doing amway or whatever mlm.
franchising have to pay the license fee which is expensive.
push cart business ?

Originally Posted by bioman

I'm 32, earning $3800/month in the training profession, unmarried and feeling mid-career crisis, or so I thought.

Thinking of starting my own business and looking around for franchise opportunties.
Anyone went through similar thought process?

[bioman]

Yes, need to pay license fee in exchange for using their established brand, products and processes.
Thus no need to start from scratch, so to speak.

There's a Franchising and Licensing Show this weekend at MBS.
Thus will drop by to find out more and see how.

Originally Posted by aimless74

hi bioman,

i thought those MLM are those doing it.
i am not sure about u however i saw some friends doing amway or whatever mlm.
franchising have to pay the license fee which is expensive.
push cart business ?

[Hermit]

Originally Posted by aimless74

hi hermit,

i am approaching 40 soon, starting a small business is easier to say than done. i do agree with u at the mercy of my employer. i am trying to get out
of this mercy.

yes those foreigners are coming in and squeezing us out of job.
however, these days business are not easy going. lotsa failure out there as well.

aimless74... your age is considered sunset years in employment. But it is a good age to start a business. You can always start small. Even contracting yourself out as a consultant to your ex-employer is a small step. Employment is a vicious cycle. The stability keeps you trapped longer and longer until the day you discovered you are totally not in demand by any one.

I started my business at around 40. And generally clients like their vendors/contractors/consultants/suppliers not to be too young. Age lends some extra credibility.

Business is hard? Yes. But starting small and taking some small risks is not hard. Be prepared for 1 year of eating into savings. You may succeed after that, or learn something along the way. But the key thing is to get started. You already can see a few years down the road. So you are smarter than many guys. The next step is to have some courage and do something about it.

[Hermit]

Originally Posted by bioman

I'm 32, earning $3800/month in the training profession, unmarried and feeling mid-career crisis, or so I thought.

Thinking of starting my own business and looking around for franchise opportunties.
Anyone went through similar thought process?

bioman....

It is good that you are already looking around.

MLM and franchising is an ok way to start. The downside of these avenues is that you build your principal's brand and not your own brand.

I have friends who are franchisees and they are neither unhappy nor very happy with their businesses. But they can survive. On the other hand, they are still looking for other kinds of opportunities.

If you can start something of your own, you will channel more energy and effort into it. But the reward is that people will recognise you and your brand. That goes a long way in future.

Originally Posted by aimless74

hi ALL,

anyone age 37 male experience mid life crisis ? eg out of job etc?
care to share experience how do u overcome this?
i feel that i am sinking into depression due to the pressure of finding a job and supporting familiy and job market are just not so promising.

regards

just some sharing which I hope could be of use in your next steps.
I graduated in 93 with a science degree. Pretty useless degree unless you want to be a teacher. nonetheless, at that point Singapore was facing shortage of semiconductor engineers and IT people. All my friends went to either teaching, semiconductor engineers, or switch to IT. I didn't know what I wanted but was sure I did not want to pick those three sectors above. I tried different jobs from BD job in some ulu manufacturing company in Jurong, Senior Officer in statutory board helping SMEs in assistance programmes, etc. Along the way, I did a distance learning MBA. When I was 29 I realized that VC/PE was an interesting sector, and paid my way to attend a module in MBA program to learn as much as I can in this area. When I was 30, I took an entry level job in an investment firm looking at private equity in Asia. I had 8000 SGD in savings as was paid 3200SGD/month. in 2005, I took another MBA (with firm's partial sponsorship) at IMD and switched to another firm in HK after graduation. I am now based in China (over 42 now) and looking to work for another 3 years before taking things slow and retire. Lessons I learnt:

a) it is okay to be lost, if you don't know what you want to do next, you need to at least know what you do NOT want to do.
b) if you get it right, 5-10 good years can set you to retirement if you hit on the right job or prospects.
c) don't use your friends as benchmark or models, find your own path and try to focus on what you really want (even if you find out through trial and error).
d) not every one can be an entrepreneur to start businesses, but you can learn from them and have an entrepreneurial approach/mindset to your career. ie take risks, make small bets, invest in yourself, learn new things, keep thinking forward on what's next, who will hire you, which market is best for you etc.
e) there is always something positive in every situation.

all the best!

CK