We are never to old to learn

At 66 years of age, I am still working. Why? Because I like buying me things and, as costly as it was to care for children, I am not cheap! I do not spend money on hair and nails, clothing or restaurants, I spend money on books and craft items! I did not save money while raising children and then I got a divorce therefore, my financial lifestyle is my responsibility!
I am a Tax Preparer with over 25 years of experience and, though I could retire, I choose to work parttime, which qualifies me as semi-retired. 😊
Unfortunately for many of us who are over 60, the employment market is not the same as it was when we first started working. Age is a factor if you are re-entering the job market and it is important to not take your career choice for granted.
Example 1: Recently approximately 4,000 nurses went on a one-day strike at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, they were restrained from returning to work, they were replaced. The replacements were allowed to complete their temporary contract and then the striking nurses were allowed to return. This is not a victory! I suspect, those 4,000 nurses will discover they will be replaced in the upcoming years.
Example 2: As doctors are using Ai to assist them in quickly evaluating patients, people are using Ai to replace doctor visits.
There will always be a need for people in most professions, the question becomes: Are you the one that is needed. At 66, I am at the end of my career path, what keeps me hireable is my experience not my knowledge, I am an uncredentialed tax preparer – not an C.T.A., E.A. or, C.P.A.. Which is why, I am adding, trying to add, Bookkeeper to my resume as well as update my knowledge on tax returns.
I love it and I hate it! Learning at my age is good for the brain. “Learning at age 65 is essential for building cognitive reserve, which helps protect the brain against memory loss and diseases like Alzheimer’s. It improves emotional well-being by providing a renewed sense of purpose and acts as an “exercise” that stimulates the growth of new brain cells.” (please read the article: WHAT LIFELONG LEARNING REALLY LOOKS LIKE AFTER 65) Learning something new is a challenge but having learned something new is an accomplishment that brings joy.
I failed the tax class the first time because I did not read much of the information provided in the online course and failed the final test, so now I am taking it over. I am struggling with the Bookkeeping class, the first week was hard.
I discovered, I need to slow down, take notes, and utilize the information available on YouTube to help me understand what I do not fully understand. Because this is an on-line course, I can repeat the sections I am not confident in. My biggest problem was navigating the lessons, a programming issue, when I took the tax course I missed a few key bits of information because the next visual was accessed in a segment that I missed. (sometimes there were two ways to advance to the next lesson- push the arrow that was in the top right or push the arrow on the bottom. I pushed the top when it should have been the bottom. Now I know!) Note to self: The reason it is set up the way the program is set up is to keep it proprietary! My original goal was to be finished both classes by the end of July, that is not happening! Now my plan is to finish by the end of August, I will probably be finished before then.
I believe we should all try to challenge our brain: read, use audiobooks, talk to people about things you don’t know about. Be open to learning intentionally.
Written by Marsha L Floyd
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