re: How old is too old to change careers or start your own business?

You will get a lot of idealistic-type, “it’s never too late” answers to this question. On a practical level, I disagree. I think once you get to about 45 years old, it is too late to change careers entirely. The reason is, if you do that you will be hired as an entry-level employee with basically no benefits or PTO and entry-level pay. I’m not saying you can’t do it, but you need to stick with a field that values your prior experience.

Atleast 78?

Why are you basing it off of being an employee?

Work is a huge portion of your life and time. Even as an employee you'd rather spend 20+ more years in a role or industry you hate then start something new?

Thats crazy to me

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Seriously burnt out with work. Great money just tired of working for frickin retards. Contemplating venturing out on my own or changing careers but will take some time to get my income to where it is now.

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I don't have any experience working for someone else in a "real" job. Meaning that I've worked plenty of low level jobs when I was younger, but as an adult professional I have only worked for myself.

I have plenty of experience starting my own businesses.

I will answer your question this way: It depends.

It depends on what the career change would be and how long it would take you to become qualified for it. It depends on what the entrepreneurial venture would be. It depends on how old you are. It depends on what your family income situation is like. It depends on how much cash you have squirreled away.

I can tell you this. Relatively few people have the mentality to start their own business and make it successful. Because now it's not just about hard work—and it will be hard work, for some time...you'll be the first one there in the morning and the last to leave in the evening, for a while—but it's also about risk.

Risk aversion is why more people don't go into business for themselves.

I had a clinic director who was a rock star employee and when i sold my last clinic the company I sold it to didn't retain him. I was going to take some of the money from the sale and go into business with him as equal partners. He has everything he needs to succeed in business—brains, managerial skills, hard worker, etc.

As we got closer and closer to the sale, he started getting cold feet. It started getting real. He started thinking about having watched me start a couple of ventures that didn't work out (half of all businesses fail within 5 years of startup...by year 10 it's 65%), and then you still have to figure out a way to pay the money back that you borrowed to start it up, deal with leases on properties, etc.

He finally backed out because he couldn't stand the risk.

So my advice is to think twice. I'm not saying don't do this, but I am saying that you need to be SURE that making this move is going to scratch the itch you're feeling, because it could end up costing you a lot, and there's no guarantee that you won't end up working with frickin retards all over again.

Even if you own the business. You still have to have employees. And when you're the owner every single retarded employee is your problem, not just the ones in a specific department.

i recommend you take some time to contemplate the view from the other side of the desk. I got to where my main business could run without me being there all the time, but I still had to know what was going on. And it took about 15 years to get it to that point.

I'm planning to start my own thing at some point. With an 18 month old now isn't the ideal time but, if pushed to, I'd jump in head first.

Define early

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Define early

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57 yo

Could have pretty easily gone at 55, but just wasn’t psychologically ready.

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Because that’s what the vast majority of people in this world are….employees. I was an employee and I was able to retire very comfortably quite early in life.

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Yeah, IME people who think everybody needs to go into business for themselves either don't have any experience with doing it, or they only have experience with doing it, and they don't understand that it takes a completely different mentality to start a business and grow it to success and that it's a mentality that most people just don't have.

It's not a better mentality, it's just different. It doesn't mean that people who start/own rather than work as employees are better, smarter, etc., but it is a different mindset.

IME most people would honestly either fail at it or be very unhappy with it.

Not trying to convince anyone of anything. If someone asked for advice, I'd give them mine based on experience.

Of course you need more than passion and a plan, but you do need a plan for your business, personal finances, etc and it better be something you care about because otherwise it's going to suck way worse than any job you're burnt out from