Fiftyshift

Is it time for a career reinvention?

Tue, 05 Feb 2013 17:14:20 GMT

Resources to get you moving.

The oldest lady in the (conference) room

Sat, 29 Dec 2012 23:44:50 GMT

Don't let age stop you from keeping up with new developments in your field.

A father reminds us, we've been here before

Sun, 16 Dec 2012 15:27:37 GMT

It's hard to believe now that there was a time when the word "shooting" or "rampage" rarely appeared in the same sentence as "school." It was before December 14, 1992, when a student named Wayne Lo went on a rampage...

Why your fortieth class reunion is way more fun than your tenth

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 14:04:23 GMT

In the list of Life's Strangest Moments, few rank higher than pulling out of the driveway of your childhood home to go to your fortieth high school class reunion. Weren't you just sitting there a minute ago listening to "Riders...

How to winterize your parents

Thu, 04 Oct 2012 16:56:54 GMT

When youre a parent, autumn brings homework checks and a return to a regular schedule. But if youre caring for your own elderly parents, its also time to plan for the challenges of winter. With a bit of planning, you...

Guest post: When the nest empties

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 15:38:52 GMT

When you spend time on a college campus, where small electronic devices are basically a fifth limb, it's hard not to overhear student conversations with mom. Sometimes I smile at the care I'm imagining coming from the other end...

Time to have the drug talk...with your parents

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 15:30:22 GMT

First. The irony. Could it be that it's now our parents who have a drug problem? Maybe this crosses your mind as you plunk mom's meds into her little pill daily pill boxes each week. (And maybe the stress of...

Honoring a child who has passed away

Wed, 18 Jul 2012 13:59:37 GMT

I spent a Sunday awhile back digging up hundreds of daffodils in my garden, and in the evening we had dinner with friends who had lost their son a few years ago. Their world is still raw, and it seemed...

To have it all and to have not

Sun, 01 Jul 2012 16:24:25 GMT

At UMass Amherst in the early 1970's, a smart and funny economist named Jane Humphries taught a class called Women and the Economy, and for a bunch of 20-year-olds raised on Young Miss and Seventeen magazine, it was the beginning...

Making that big career change at midlife

Wed, 13 Jun 2012 21:05:33 GMT

If there's a motto for your 50s, it should probably be, "If not now, when?" For most of us, change isn't easy, but there's an emerging cottage industry out there helping baby boomers figure out the next stage of their work lives, whether that be a career change or entrepreneurship.

The high mileage marriage

Thu, 31 May 2012 21:47:34 GMT

Click and Clack, the Car Talk Guys, got something started last weekend with a call from Dan: Dan took a look at his family, with 5 brothers and sisters, and parents who've been married for more than 50 years and...

Painfully straight talk about caring for aging parents

Wed, 23 May 2012 02:35:29 GMT

For a long time, it seemed like the costs and stresses of senior caregiving was one of those huge silent burdens being shared by women of a certain age. But now the costs, difficulties, and societal impact of caring for aging parents in decline has taken center stage in the media.

Our number's up: saving for retirement when you can't afford to retire

Fri, 11 May 2012 17:03:17 GMT

The problem for most of us over the past decade is that, even if you followed all the financial advice: maxed out the 401k, contributed to a Roth IRA, got yourself a diversified portfolio, just when you thought you might get there, 2008 happens.

Fifty things to know by 50. With a lot of help from my friends.

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:31:09 GMT

What are the 50 things you should know by your 50s?

College game plan, Part 2: Student loan debt

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:30:34 GMT

One of the biggest issues facing graduating seniors these days is just how they'll manage the debt they've accumulated over the previous four years. It's quite a chunk of change for a lot of students. According to The Project on Student Debt, the average 2010 college graduate left school with more than $25,000 in loan debt.

Helping your college senior develop a game plan, Part 1

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 15:23:08 GMT

It's a bittersweet time if your offspring are entering their final semester of college. This spring I teach my Launchpad Workshop for graduating seniors in my program at UMass, and here are a few tips I'll be sharing.

Thank you for not sharing

Mon, 02 Jan 2012 18:51:48 GMT

Is it passe, or even bad advice to a young person building a career to suggest that you hold back a piece of yourself from the great digital maw? Does privacy matter any more?

Shorter days offer time to slow down

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:38:12 GMT

At a time and in a season when none of your 753 Facebook friends has time for a face-to-face cup of coffee, something is amiss. Is it time for a slowdown? To stop checking that e-mail 50 times a day? To go for a walk?

Don't get old; get active

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 22:13:46 GMT

Where would we be without Dr. Oz? In this month's AARP magazine, he's got a piece called "24 Hours to a Longer Life." It's a day that begins with yoga, ends with sex, and includes a few hits of astragalus at 3:30 p.m. Hey, I can do that. But what if we transferred a little of that energy into preserving the world for our grandchildren and their kids?