What career can I begin aged 38?

SFH wrote:

Whore!

+1

Realtor. Success is built on the quality of your network, your determination to become/stay top of mind with them, and your commitment to delivering excellent service. A focused individual can get licensed in 3-4 weeks (online course and licensing tests). You make your own hours and get to control how you do business. Reality check: Comes with a 4-6 month ramp up where you make no money at all. On the flip side, the upshot is higher than many other careers if you gain some traction and keep growing the business.

You might want to consider various roles in healthcare. The path to nursing is generally not prohibitively expensive, especially if there is a good and well-respected community college program in your area. If you become a nurse and have to start in a nursing home that is ok too, after a year or two spent working and getting an online bachelors in nursing you can work wherever you want. There is also the Physicians Assistant path, though that is a more intensive, selective, and expensive program.

Forgot to mention, I started my career as a realtor a little over a year ago at age 38 coincidentally, and I think it is a great industry if you have work ethic and grit. As someone mentioned, at 38, you're still young . You have plenty of time left in life (I hope) to forge a new career path, make a difference in people's lives and presumably earn a good living.

If there is a job you really want that requires a degree why don't you go get said degree? 38 isn't that old.

Actuary

Go to any large insurance company and you'll see tons of 30+ people in the actuarial rotations. They come from everywhere. An FSA I know was a social worker until his mid-30s. I know another who was a music teacher. Several math PhDs. You'll see all background types. What's good about being an actuary is that if you pass the tests, you have a job (still up to you to keep it!). You'll get paid to study. You can stop at the ASA and still make a very good 100k+ living. Get your FSA and you can make even more.

Avoid teaching. Every year we have a couple new teachers at our school your age or older who transitioned from "more stressful" jobs. They typically last one year, if that.

I agree with the poster who suggested long-haul truck driver.

opposite of right wrote:

Fart Garfunkel wrote:

Police officer, professional fire fighter, gym teacher

Right out of the gate you're wrong. Fire fighters and police officers have age restrictions, due to the physically demanding aspects of the job that are required on a daily basis. I'm sure there are exceptions, but by and large a 38 year old would have aged out of these choices by 35 or even 30

I believe you are wrong sir. I know someone who became a firefighter in his early 40’s because he had no retirement or medical benefits. Even at his age he was able to get on.

Word is Professional World Of Warcraft players make $1,000,000 a year.

I don't know who or why someone used the term "whore" in this thread, but having had to work with and know personally many real estate agents the term fits.

They will do or say anything to get a listing or make a sale.

And why they expect to be guaranteed a share of a 6% commission when they've done little or nothing is criminal.

Dromano19 wrote:

opposite of right wrote:

Right out of the gate you're wrong. Fire fighters and police officers have age restrictions, due to the physically demanding aspects of the job that are required on a daily basis. I'm sure there are exceptions, but by and large a 38 year old would have aged out of these choices by 35 or even 30

I believe you are wrong sir. I know someone who became a firefighter in his early 40’s because he had no retirement or medical benefits. Even at his age he was able to get on.

opposite of right wrote:

Fart Garfunkel wrote:

Police officer, professional fire fighter, gym teacher

Right out of the gate you're wrong. Fire fighters and police officers have age restrictions, due to the physically demanding aspects of the job that are required on a daily basis. I'm sure there are exceptions, but by and large a 38 year old would have aged out of these choices by 35 or even 30

Yeah, and he's not gonna get hired as a gym teacher. All kinds of teacher/coach/sports bros go for the very few gym positions there are, and the school's gonna hire someone younger, with a relevant degree, with connections to someone in the athletic department.

crosscounts wrote:

You might want to consider various roles in healthcare. The path to nursing is generally not prohibitively expensive, especially if there is a good and well-respected community college program in your area. If you become a nurse and have to start in a nursing home that is ok too, after a year or two spent working and getting an online bachelors in nursing you can work wherever you want. There is also the Physicians Assistant path, though that is a more intensive, selective, and expensive program.

Second nursing. It will take you 2-3 years (you'll need clinical experience to get into nursing school, as well as the right coursework) but, assuming you're a dude, this is a huge advantage for schools and jobs. The country needs nurses, nursing pays well, and if you get serious you can proceed far in the profession: RN, NP, PhD, etc.

DevinChaulk wrote:

Realtor. Success is built on the quality of your network, your determination to become/stay top of mind with them, and your commitment to delivering excellent service. A focused individual can get licensed in 3-4 weeks (online course and licensing tests). You make your own hours and get to control how you do business. Reality check: Comes with a 4-6 month ramp up where you make no money at all. On the flip side, the upshot is higher than many other careers if you gain some traction and keep growing the business.

Couldn't agree more. Yes it takes a little time to ramp up, but where else can you get to executive level comp so quickly? I actually made this switch and went from 125K corporate "yes" man to a $500K NET income in 2 years.

Work in a warehouse

Entry level sales

Uber/Lyft

Union labor.

Rent out bounce houses

Buy / Manage vending machines

Resell stuff on the interwebs

This is a serious reply. I would look into woodworking, specifically finish carpentry. You can make kitchens as your main business which are essentially a series of large boxes. Woodworking is really rewarding and if you get good at it you can make a ton of money. Some of the things that I've made as a hobby are cabinets (kitchen and garage), patio covers, tables for work and a friend's party rental company, cribs, dressers, bookshelves, picture frames. With about $500 of tools off of craigslist you can get started. Look at the woodworking sub on reddit for more examples.