Many older Americans regret career choices that have affected their retirement plans and job prospects. Regrets include not making education a priority, changing jobs too often, and getting involved in office drama. This is part of an ongoing series about the regrets of older Americans.
For millions of Americans, retiring at age 65 is just a dream.
Since September, BI has asked older Americans about their career regrets in two surveys.
More than 3,000 people between the ages of 48 and 96 completed a voluntary BI survey or emailed reporters about their life regrets. In another survey, more than 300 Americans over 50 who were recently laid off spoke of career regrets. To learn more, we followed up on 13 interviews. This is part of an ongoing series.
Common themes people discussed included not prioritizing education, changing jobs frequently, and struggling to navigate office politics. Many also mention age discrimination, with AARP data showing that 64% of people over 50 have seen or experienced age discrimination in the workplace. Almost all said they had been removed from some positions in favor of younger applicants with lower salary expectations, especially in white-collar jobs where hiring has slowed.
We look forward to hearing your opinions. Are you an older American with a life regret you would be happy to share with a reporter? Fill out this quick form.
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 18.9% of Americans age 65 and older, or about 11.4 million people, are still working, many for economic or social reasons. Some people have returned to work after quitting their jobs due to financial concerns.
Not prioritizing or getting the wrong kind of education
Lou Nelson, 63, had been an executive assistant in the medical device industry for 25 years, but had faced two layoffs since 2021. She hasn’t been able to secure a job since January.
For most of her career, she worked at top health tech companies and was well-respected, so she said she had few regrets about not completing her bachelor’s degree. But after sending in more than 50 applications, she suspects her lack of a degree is hindering her search.
“No one wants to hire a 63-year-old,” said Nelson, who lives in Texas. “I don’t know if it’s because of the salary or the experience.”
A college degree is still a huge benefit in finding and keeping a job. According to the latest employment report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for Americans with a bachelor’s degree or higher was 2.4% in November 2024, while the unemployment rate for those with only a high school diploma was 2.4%. It nearly doubled to 4.6%. .
Grover McBeth, 79, said neither has limited his career options. He struggled in school and dropped out in the eighth grade.
He joined the Air Force and worked in electronics for most of his career, but was not satisfied with his job. He traveled the world for work, earning up to $38,000 a year, but said he lived an “unstable, nomadic life.” McBeth enrolled in Social Security at age 62 and relies on the $1,108 she receives a month. He lives in affordable housing in Nevada and receives SNAP benefits to help pay for food.
“I was in a career field that wasn’t for me, and I kept getting lost and confused about what I was doing,” Macbeth said, adding that she wanted to prioritize. Added education.
Still, many people believe that a college degree is not worth the financial burden. A Pew Research Center survey of U.S. adults conducted in late 2023 found that only 22% of respondents believed it was worth getting a four-year college degree, even if it meant taking out loans. It was.
Several older Americans BI spoke to agreed that their degrees are not helping them advance their careers. Linda Namey, 54, worked as a health care business manager for 20 years, earning $62,000 a year at her peak. But after incurring debt from her divorce, she said she panicked and went back to school to earn a master’s degree and a doctorate in counseling from Liberty University. Although she didn’t have a strong desire to get a degree, she got one in hopes that it would help her land a well-paying job.
That didn’t work. The Alabama resident removed her doctorate from her resume so as not to seem overqualified. While searching for full-time work, she has held part-time consulting, life coaching, and independent contractor roles. She also teaches meditation.
“I’m a middle-aged woman who has to be completely self-sufficient. I pay my own insurance premiums. I also have to think about my future,” Namy said. “I can’t afford to take a job that pays $17 or $18 an hour, but those are the only jobs I get interviewed for.”
change jobs frequently instead of building a consistent career
While a small number of job seekers regret not searching hard enough for a new role, dozens are more intentional about moving back and forth between jobs and career paths and expanding their networks. He said he regrets not having done so.
Dawn Habena, 63, fell in love with human resources after working in a variety of industries. But after the company was sold, she took a compliance job at an asset management company, but it wasn’t as satisfying as HR.
Jabena struggled to return to human resources when she faced layoffs during the pandemic. After six months, she got a job in human resources at a manufacturing plant, but after moving to help her elderly mother, she took another job in human resources. She described the role as “absolutely awful” and has since struggled to find another job, even as a grocery checker, after sending in more than 1,000 applications.
Jabena wishes she had focused on human resources to gain more experience and continue to develop her computer skills. She lives in a one-bedroom apartment with her 86-year-old mother and drives to DoorDash to stay afloat.
“I wish I could have been more confident in what I did because I got knocked down so easily,” said Habbena, who lives in Texas.
Chuck Smith has worked in marketing for most of his life. chuck smith
Many older Americans, like 60-year-old Chuck Smith, have no control over how long they stay in office due to layoffs and wish they had settled somewhere more stable. Smith, a Massachusetts native, has spent most of his career in technology marketing, earning six-figure profits.
Related articles
Smith said he was laid off in June 2023 and has since applied for more than 2,700 positions and completed about 100 interviews. Smith said that while the couple is financially comfortable, without a steady income, they worry that their savings will quickly be depleted.
Although employment for low-income earners is stable, the job market for six-figure earners is sluggish. New data from LinkedIn shows that since 2018, hiring has fallen by 27% in IT and 23% in product management and marketing. Middle managers are also facing recruitment challenges, with hiring levels down 42% between April 2022 and October 2024, Revelio Labs data found.
Indeed, recent data shows that changing jobs often has financial benefits. Vanguard’s September report found that the median job changer received a 10% raise. Still, 401(k) plan benefits can fluctuate, and mistakes are often made when rolling over retirement accounts, which can reduce your retirement savings rate by 0.7 points when changing jobs. It became clear.
AARP found that older workers who voluntarily change roles or industries in their 40s and 50s tend to retire later and perform better at work than their colleagues who stay in the same role.
“They have better pay growth. They stay in the workforce versus people who may have been forced to change jobs later in their careers,” said Carly Roszkowski, vice president of AARP’s financial resilience program. The success rate is high.”
Taking risks for business, contractual roles, or the “office bully”
Some respondents risked financial harm.
Related articles
Michael R., 70, opened a toy store in New York throughout the 2000s and thought it had grown enough to allow him to retire comfortably. But when his business collapsed during the 2008 recession, he lost more than $650,000 and was declared bankrupt.
“If I wasn’t in business, I would have bought a house,” Michael said, adding that in that scenario he could sell his mother’s house and give the money to his siblings, helping the whole family. He added that it might have been.
However, he ended up living with his mother and rented a one-room apartment after her death. He said he works at a friend’s toy store almost every day and makes about $8,000 a month between his salary and Social Security benefits.
“I’m still struggling just to pay my rent, groceries and car. I don’t get a raise, I don’t get a bonus,” Michael said. “I’m grateful to be employed, but I can’t look for another job. No one would hire a 70-year-old.”
Mauricia Day continues to work into her 70s. maurisia day
Some regretted taking the risk of working in a contract role instead of prioritizing full-time work. Mauricia Day, 74, has never earned a degree and said she has worked more than 40 jobs, many on contract, in radio, tailoring and office management, earning up to $30,000 a year. . After being laid off in 2020, she hasn’t found steady work. She works for a non-profit organization in a part-time contract role that ends in December.
Day said she lived paycheck to paycheck because she knew little about saving and investing. She wished she could have focused on securing full-time employment in one field instead of relying on an unstable income. She receives $1,136 in Social Security and a $317 monthly pension, which is slightly more than her home payment.
“I wish I had focused more on my career. That might have helped me more with my retirement and my investments,” Day said, adding that she has been home raising her children for nearly 18 years. “I have a lot of friends who have been retired for 10, 15 years. I don’t know why I’m still looking, but I’m sure I’m still looking.”
Some wanted to reduce the risk of navigating a workplace situation. Robi Serra, 59, said she had a stable career as a biotech project manager and made good financial decisions, including maxing out her 401(k). However, she said she took some risks on the job that backfired.
Serra said he gave constructive feedback to the “company bully,” which he said contributed to his firing in February. She called the employment situation “dire” and said she wished she had kept quiet until she found another job.
Serra, who splits his time between California and Hawaii, said that despite being financially stable, the couple has drastically cut back on spending and rarely eats out or travels. She makes $20 an hour as a contract customer service agent in the airline industry and is looking for a higher paying job.
“I just keep swimming and hope something gets better,” Serra said.
Robbie Serra is having trouble finding work after being recently laid off. Robbie Serra
Are you an older American with a life regret you’d be happy to share with a reporter? Fill out this quick form or email nsheid lower@businessinsider.com.
