what happens in your 40s / 50s
 

I'll be hitting the big 4-O very soon. As I'm just a middle manager, I think I may have already hit a plateau in my career.

I have some questions which I constantly worry about:

1. Is it much harder to switch jobs in your 40s-50s? What do the older people usually do if they are unhappy with their current job and/or the company situation becomes unfavourable?

2. Will the salary hit a certain level and stay there? My older friends seem to suggest that salaries will hit a plateau, e.g. salary hits 10k and stays at 10k till retirement / retrenchment. Is this true for the companies you know?

3. This question may seem silly, but I don't see many old people in my company. Do you observe this in your company? Where do the older people go? I constantly wonder what will happen to me when I get older.

Appreciate your advice and sharing.

Most important is never say die! Keep going !

when you are old, just don't expect too much. not everyone can be a CEO or SVP. you are right about the pay peaking. it may even go down if you switch jobs. i've heard of this strategy: join the civil service in your late 30s and stay there.

sometimes the only way forward is to get out of your comfort zone and move to another organization (promotion) if you are hitting that plateau in your current workplace. start sending out some resumes to test the response.

i noticed that in many organizations there is a gap of PMETs in the range of 30-45 years old. you get many entry level to 5 years, then there is a gap which is usually filled by FTs, then the management at late 30s/ early 40s onwards.

Get ready to be retrenched when you hit 40. Be prepared. Make sure by the time you reach 40, your home loan is paid up (you should since you bought BTO flat so cheap many years ago). So, of you got retrenched, you are ready. Learn new skills if you need to switch lines.

what company are you working in where there aren't many old people?

for question 1 and 2, it really depends on your market value. be an expert in 1 or 2 areas, and continue to keep your knowledge up to date so it doesn't become obsolete. if your skills are are hard to replace, the company will not fire you even if you don't always listen to management. also, be aware of the market rate for someone of your skill and experience level. it will be hard to ask for more unless it is a job which the company cannot do without and very few people can do the job.

for question 3, i see older people in many organizations including govt ministries, stat boards, banks, law firms, logistics, airlines and petrochemical. less so in tech companies and consulting firms.

I am 41 this year. I have learnt to adopt the 'I don't know what will happen tomorrow' mentality. Thus, I try and make sure I don't spend every last cent, and have some money invested. That way, if I am retrenched, or if I get fed up and want to leave, I won't be in a pickle.

It doesn't matter if your pay plateaus. The same principle should remain. Make hay while the sun shines, but make sure you store some of that hay for when the sun doesn't.

Thanks for all the responses. I like the "make hay while the sun shines" advice.

I work in an MNC with a small presence in Asia. Before age caught up with me, I used to think that the sky is the limit and that my salary would keep increasing year after year.

However, the reality is -- as I alluded to earlier -- not everyone can keep climbing upwards. Everyone has a different summit and there are only so many SVPs and CEOs, and all the rest of us will just be playing minor supporting roles.

Age, health, family and office politics will increasingly affect one's ability to work and make money. The older you are, the more dispensable you become.

Finally, to be brutally honest, "skills" are HUGELY overrated, including mine. I look around me and all I see are people, including myself, who just push papers and attend meetings day in day out. Any fresh grad with general intelligence and average speaking skills can easily replace people like me after working 2-3 years.

As risk of retrenchments are higher in yr 40s and 50s, one should invest for passive income if able to when younger.

I can identify with the skills are hugely overrated remark. I write a lot of papers and do a lot of coordination. Over the years, my salary has increased and I suppose I have gotten better at what I do, but I suspect not that much better to justify the increase in salary. Looking around me, I think the same can be said of my colleagues. A lot of the work can probably be done by people who are paid less.