Attention baby boomers - If you're not ready to spend the rest of your life golfing, traveling or doing anything else that comes after retirement, good news awaits -- you don't have to. Today's retiree's are defying the stereotypes that surround retirement by changing careers, rather than ending them.
Clarence "Nic" Nicodemus, 64, is living proof. At the ripe age of 61, Nicodemus graduated from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) and was preparing for a one-year internship, according to a 2004 press release from Michigan State University. Nicodemus joined COM at age 57, after spending a decade teaching classes and doing orthopedic research at the University of Texas. He said going to med school was the next logical step in his career and a lifelong dream.
"I feel like I can relate to patients of any age," he said. "A patient can bring up any subject -- grandchildren or a death in the family or a disease in the family -- and I can relate to them."
Like Nicodemus, many baby boomers - the chunk of our population born in 1946 through 1964 - haven't been able to work in highly fulfilling jobs. Working lackluster, draining, even hazardous jobs just to bring home a paycheck was the norm for boomers just trying to get by. But times, they are a changin'.
"The chances are good that you baby boomers are better able than at any time previously to choose work that will be fulfilling," Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D. write in their new book, "225 Best Jobs for Baby Boomers." For reasons that vary from being under less financial stress to being able to consider part-time work for the first time, boomers now have the option of making another career move instead of retiring.
Farr and Shatkin analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to formulate lists of jobs with a high percentage of baby boomers -- specifically, the jobs for which 40 percent of the workforce is age 45 or older. The jobs listed had the best combination of high salaries, fast growth and ample job openings.
Of the 225 jobs highlighted in the book, here are the 25 best of the best according to Farr and Shatkin.
Management Analysts
What they make: $67,800
Projected annual openings: 78,000
Teachers, Postsecondary
What they make: $66,000
Projected annual openings: 216,000
Logisticians
What they make: $56,300
Projected annual openings: 162,000
General and Operations Managers
What they make: $68,700
Projected annual openings: 260,000
Registered Nurses
What they make: $58,600
Projected annual openings: 215,000
Anesthesiologists
What they make: $250,200
Projected annual openings: 38,000
General Internists
What they make: $152,700
Projected annual openings: 38,000
Obstetricians and Gynecologists
What they make: $193,500
Projected annual openings: 38,000
Psychiatrists
What they make: $140,200
Projected annual openings: 38,000
Surgeons
What they make: $198,200
Projected annual openings: 38,000
Family and General Practitioners
What they make: $131,000
Projected annual openings: 38,000
General Pediatricians
What they make: $128,300
Projected annual openings: 38,000
Medical and Health Services Managers
What they make: $75,000
Projected annual openings: 33,000
Financial Managers, Branch or Department
What they make: $73,600
Projected annual openings: 71,000
Treasurers, Controllers and Chief Financial Officers
What they make:$95,200-$119,700
Projected annual openings: 71,000
Chief Executives
What they make: $168,100
Projected annual openings: 63,000
Government Service Executives
What they make: $72,900
Projected annual openings: 63,000
Private Sector Executives
What they make: $113,000-$123,600
Projected annual openings: 63,000
Pharmacists
What they make: $93,600
Projected annual openings: 23,000
Lawyers
What they make: $110,200
Projected annual openings: 53,000
Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School
What they make: $59,800
Projected annual openings: 31,000
Administrative Services Managers
What they make: $41,100
Projected annual openings: 40,000
Sales Representatives, Agricultural
What they make: $60,900* (wholesale & manufacturing)
Projected annual openings: 44,000
Sales Representatives, Chemical and Pharmaceutical
What they make: $90,700
Projected annual openings: 44,000
Sales Representatives, Electrical/Electronic
What they make: $81,600
Projected annual openings: 44,000
Salary data provided by PayScale.com for CB Salary.
All salaries are total cash compensation: includes bonus, profit share, commission, and base salary, but does not include equity compensation. Salaries are for experienced (>5 years) employees: pay varies substantially with experience for all positions. Salaries are for experienced (>5 years) employees: pay varies substantially with experience for all positions. For executives, pay varies widely based on scope of responsibility: company size, budget managed, etc. Salaries above are typical for small- to medium-sized companies (20-200 employees).
Copyright 2007 CareerBuilder.com.
