re: Starting a new career in your 40’s. Have you done it? Ideas and advice needed.

TulaneLSU ima need you to stop teasing us and start putting out

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Career change means you give up experience which means you also give that up as a negotiation tool when discussing salary. I tried this when I was 31 and thought my teaching experience and master’s degree would parlay into something making north of $50k. I was told point blank by someone who owned a successful ad agency that companies had no incentive to hire me as an entry level employee at a respectable salary when they could pay a 22 year old squirt $35k and work the hell out of them. They would be young, ambitious to learn, and have no responsibilities outside of work

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Nail on the head. Older workers can work as consultants or start their own business, otherwise good luck finding any kind of job. Think there is no age discrimination out there, think again.

Outside sales is great, but they don’t just hand out 80k/year gigs. I’ve been in outside sales/sales management for 12 years. I know a lot of outside sales reps that make under 80k. Some on my team make 200k, some make 60k.

Real estate is a tough business to break into, especially NOLA. Just to give you some insight into how the realtor pay scale works - Average gross commission is 6% but that’s split between the listing agent and selling agent. Then you would have to split with the broker, which is usually 60/40. So, on a 100k sale, you’d make $1800. For every 1mm sold you’d earn 18k which means you’d have to sell about 4.5mm to get you were you want to be. That will take years to do, unless you luck up into something. I know a realtor down there that specializes in commercial leases. She makes less per transaction but has much higher volume. You could look into that. Keep in mind Most, if not all, of your cost comes from your pocket. The example I gave is just an average. There are situations where you could earn more or less per transaction.

I'm not even bullshitting OP, if I did a career change I'd go into a trade. Plumbing, HVAC, or Electrical. You don't need to be a plumber the rest of your life, you own a plumbing business as your long term goal.

ETA: If you are willing to hustle for 2-3 years you can easily earn $80k with overtime. Work hard for a bigger company for 2-3 years, then go out on your own. Then overtime add some employees. The average tradesman is not that smart nor has much business intellect. The ones that do, own their own company pretty quickly.

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Do tugboat drivers do well?

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If 500k a year is good then I say yes

Pick up the book “What Color Is Your Parachute” by Richard Bolles. It’s designed for those looking to switch careers mid-life. Best of luck to ya friend.

Learn to code.

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right their own ticket

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What if he lefts his own ticket?

I really wanted to transition from software development to accounting when I was about 40, but the obstacles are too great.

Going the opposite direction, i.e. into software, seems possible if you can actually program a computer.

Have you considered opening up another small gym. Uptown needs another decent 24hr fitness studio that doesn’t break the bank.

Outside medical personnel, lawyers, some banking and IT—Nola sucks for jobs. I have a bunch of friends that work for the IT firm Accruent and they seem to like to hire locals.