When you eventually reach the age of 50, two things can easily happen to your career: You get the itch to try your hand at a different type of work that you’ve always dreamed of, or you find yourself being nudged (or forced) into a new line of work by an employer looking for new blood.
Either way, changing careers in midlife is exciting but also frightening. I went through it more than 10 years ago, and luckily it worked out well for me—but it wasn’t easy. Here are a few things I learned along the way that may help you decide whether to pull the trigger and change careers at midlife, or to stick with what you’ve got. Either option can be the right one; it depends on your situation.
1. Make sure you have more than just “passion”
You’ll hear it said that it takes passion to succeed in a career. This is only partly true; it also takes talent and hard work. Before you dive into a new career because you’re passionate about it, consider your degree of talent dispassionately. I love to sing, but if you ever hear me “execute” a song, you’ll know there’s no money to be made by me in that field!
Also, consider your willingness and ability to work hard. Starting a new career takes the energy of a 20-something. Do you have it? Just as important, do you want to work that hard? Many 50-somethings have a lot of stuff going on in their lives—family, travel, hobbies. You may have to give up some (or even a lot) of your quality time to do the drudge work of setting up a new business or learning a new set of skills.
Bottom line on passion: A successful career change requires a sober, practical business assessment as much as it does a heart full of passion.
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2. Consider your financial position with great care
If you can change careers and start doing new work that you love, while still making the same or higher salary, well … you probably don’t need to read this article. Usually, however, a career change involves taking a pay cut and losing benefits. Can you afford that? Do you want the deal with the stress of holding to a tight budget for an unknown period of time?
As you get older, health insurance gets to be a bigger worry than salary. Insurance is expensive, and if you’re going from a company plan to self-insurance, get ready to take on the red tape and hassles of processing claims. It’s no fun.
In addition, if you have dependents, you’ve got to consider how an abrupt change in finances could affect them, both materially and emotionally. This can be a major consideration—maybe the major consideration—if your finances put your home, your family’s healthcare coverage, or your children’s college tuition in jeopardy.