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  CNBC reports (at 9 PM ET): "Stock futures rose Wednesday night after easing geopolitical fears sparked a broad-based market rally … Futures tied to the  Dow Jones Industrial Average  advanced 64 points, or 0.1%." That's a relief to us Boomers. But we'll probably never feel that our nest egg is safe, not ever again. The geopolitical crazies and the overall uncertainty will probably be sustained. Success is a mental game. Failure comes from being done in by the “committee” in your head. Together, we liberate your thinking. Then we change your story. And, unleash success. Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, becoming a solopreneur and aging. Psychic/tarot readings, upon request. Complimentary consultation with Jane Genova (Text 203-468-8579,  janegenova374@gmail.com ). Yes, test out the chemistry. Zero risk. Don’t give up before the miracle.  

Let's cut to the chase. Most unemployed knowledge workers come to me for a complimentary consultation when their sources of income run out. Those include severance, unemployment, savings and investments. At that point, of course, they're in a panic. But there's still the residue of magical thinking. They ask me when they should give up hunting for a job in their field.  That's not the issue.  The issue is this: How to keep bringing in income to pay the bills while they figure out the next. Had they asked me before the money ran out I would have dished common sense. That's this. Unless you have money coming in, no matter your future career path, you're not in a position of strength. Not to make wise decisions. Not how you network. Not how you present yourself in interviews. Meanwhile, unless you have family to move in with, you could wind up homeless.  To keep up cash flow might mean grabbing a survival job, any job. Not only does that goes toward being able to k...

  After the carnage yesterday the Dow is heading back up. But smug no more. Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 48,666.52 USD ▲  +177.93 (+0.37%) today January 21, 9:36 AM EST  ·  Market Open

  It makes news that at the World Economic Forum leaders' meetings at Davos Palantir CEO Alex Karp warned humanities students and recent graduates that what they're pitching for work isn't marketable.  Okay, Karp says, you want that kind of traditional classical elite education - one which he himself had. Good, go for it. But it won't provide the skill set which opens up the paths to earning a good living. There is a chance, though, that you can still secure work. However, it won't be through that particular background. It could be, yes, despite your major area of study. But that really isn't news, at least to those of us who did attend liberal arts colleges and majored in the humanities decades ago. That umbrella includes: Philosophy History Literature Art Linguistics.  It was always rough sledding to get that first job unless you went into teaching or was hired into one of those large corporations' management training programs such as at the P&G back ...

  Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 48,493.75 USD ▼  -865.58 (-1.75%) today January 20, 3:45 PM EST  ·  Market Open

 T hose getting the brunt of the bad publicity and even loss of titles (like Leon Black and Larry Summers) because of the Epstein connection could be taking such a hit because of this simple reality: We don't like them. Across sectors, likability is the survival platform. On that list on unlikables could be added top lawyer at Goldman Sachs Kathryn Ruemmler. The Wall Street Journal just published a very long-form analysis of her relationship with the late disgraced pedophile.  Internally, she could be on thin ice: "The extent of their relationship has drawn scrutiny inside Goldman Sachs, where the 54-year-old lawyer is general counsel and a top adviser to CEO David Solomon."  Those who can decode corporatespeak point to the red flags in sizing up her chance of holding onto her job. They include phrases such as having the full support of the board. Yeah, sure.  Externally, the reputational risk can be equally great. For her next those in the loop will size up how...

  Dow Jones Industrial Average Index Index: DJI Compare 48,691.37 USD ▼  -667.96 (-1.35%) today January 20, 9:37 AM EST  ·  Market Open

The preoccupation with the impact of AI on jobs, sizes up CNBC , had been an undercurrent. Among world leaders, workers and those searching for work. That was then. Now it's surfaced and is making a lot of noise all the way to the relevant-again Davos meeting of the World Economic Forum.  Within circles of workers the angst has increased from 28% in 2024 to 40% in 2026. A major focus is what's known as "AI Redundancy Washing." That is the contention by employers that the Reductions in Force (RIFs) are overdue because AI is taking over those tasks.  That could be a common move by large employers. In announcing financial performance what matters not so much to analysts is the historic numbers. It's what goes on in the actual earnings call in which corporate leaders look forward. The looking forward probably will hammer a boost in plans about the role of AI. Those likely will estimate how many human jobs can be lopped off. Investors love RIFs. AI Redundancy Washing c...

 Yes, it's Greenland. Dow futures plunge 700 points . How bad will it get? And, we Boomers were feeling so smug about our investments.

Actual markets are down in Europe. And futures here in the US are also down, although the markets are closed today for Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Wall Street Journal posits that those downward trajectories are driven by the Trump administration's aggressive stance on Greenland. Meanwhile, we Boomers obsessed with our nest-egg investments have to wait until tomorrow to size up what the geopolitical chaos will do to our financial security. So far there seemed to be an unbundling between what was happening in world politics and the American economy. The bull market was holding up. Since our income, as with younger generations, wasn't primarily tied to jobs we are insulated from the no-hiring catastrophe. Now we might no longer be sitting pretty. Already I had asked my financial advisor how much of a percentage of a drop in my account could happen in a crash. Like so many other Boomers I have learned never to become comfortable in a bout of good fortune. We may be The Lucky Ge...

  It almost has a sci-fi ethos: The crash of pricey advanced degrees.  The other day The Wall Street Journal features newly minted PhDs in Economics who can't find jobs, which I covered here . Both law firms  Paul, Weiss  and  Sullivan and Cromwell  sketched out some of how life in the legal sector will implode. Because of AI, demand will plummet for junior lawyers. Also because of AI, many practices will devalue into commodities. Still want to go to law school? Today the  WSJ discusses MBAs from top graduate schools of business who remain unemployed. With some exceptions I advise the over-50 out-of-work to leave the MBA off their job-search materials. Because it positions them as maybe too expensive that could knock them out of the box. On LinkedIn I don't list next to my name my two advanced degrees. Some graduate schools of business are getting hit less than others. For example, at Harvard "only" 16% are still hunting for a job three months a...

  Monday the market is closed for Martin Luther King Jr.'s Day. But futures trade.  CNBC reports they're down in response to Trump's tariffs on NATO nations because of their non-support of the administration's Greenland strategy: "Dow Jones futures fell 0.5% vs. fair value. S&P 500 futures declined 0.6% and Nasdaq 100 futures lost 0.8%." So, here we are Boomers. Should we be having a case of the jitters about our nest eggs? Could equities markets remain unbundled from the current geopolitical chaos? In coaching I guide the over-50 how to find opportunity in turbulence.  One way is finding a gap in what people want/need and setting yourself up as a solopreneur to fill it. Amid disruption, want/need can mutate rapidly. Success is a mental game. Failure comes from being done in by the “committee” in your head. Together, we liberate your thinking. Then we change your story. And, unleash success. Intuitive Coaching. Special expertise with transitions, becomin...

Monitor postings on Reddit subunits focused on careers and it's no longer news that PhDs, both newly minted and those already in the labor market, generally are finding the credential an obstacle in the search for a job or even contract assignments. No, not an asset.  Let's cut to the chase. The highly educated have to get smart about this, fast. With some exceptions, I advise those I coach to leave the PhD off job-search materials. The negative assumptions among those hiring range from that you expect too much money to you'll be a know-it-all.  When my boutique collapsed post-9/11 and I had to land a survival job I lopped off everything but the BA. At the interview I dumbed-down my vocabulary. Sure Harvard was started in 1636 but America remains anti-intellectual. In addition, the integration of AI into strategy and operations makes knowledge work in general less and less marketable.  That's the narrative of our times: Advanced degrees having low or no ROI. The result,...

In capitalistic America the world of aging has bifurcated: There are those of us still finding purpose through work and "mattering." And there are those described in The Wall Street Journal as lost after their careers wind down and the opportunities for meaning they anticipated don't happen. That latter group, research shows, can tumble into psychological depression: "A 2020 meta-analysis published in the journal Healthcare, drawing on data from over 3,000 retirees, found that nearly a third experienced depressive symptoms, with higher rates among those pushed into retirement by illness, layoffs or mandatory exits." Other studies show they are apt to even die earlier than the aging worker bees and entrepreneurs over-65. No wonder after their cardiac events JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon and Paul, Weiss chair Brad Karp opted to stay with their leadership positions. The demands of those jobs could be keeping them alive.  Another behavior pattern I have noticed both a...

To some it's that bad: the geopolitical chaos associated with Greenland, Iran and Venezuela. They have told me that they even have stopped watching the news. The world seems on fire. But the stock market keeps rising, not crashing because of the Trump administration's statements about what it intends to do as it aims to establish a sphere of influence. CNBC looked into this disconnect between global developments and equity markets. The headlining observation is by Benjamin Jones, head of global research at Invesco: “Many geopolitical events are troubling, but markets are callous and only react meaningfully and sustainably when these events impact economic fundamentals or lead to a change in policy ..." In addition, CNBC adds that where there is geopolitical risk, but not yet action taken, the market tends to chug along okay. This morning futures are up.  We Boomers who are monitoring our investments obsessively can't believe our good fortune. So far, so good. The hope...

 " Experienced workers have been slower to recognize job-market shifts that create new roles in construction and similar industries." - The Wall Street Journal, January 14, 2025 As a career coach specializing in the over-50 segment I have a front-row seat on some of the mindsets in the labor market. Among the aging - the majority of whom Pro Publica predicts will be out of their knowledge work jobs - there remains a bias against doing anything that doesn't involve the trappings of the office. That's their comfort zone: the desk, the organizational hierarchy, the processes, the policies. And the polite well-measured conversations. That means they probably wouldn't even consider a shift to those jobs in blue-collar industries where they essentially would be doing knowledge tasks. WSJ presents the service advisor positions at car-repair chain Crash Champions. That's white-collar work in a blue-collar setting.   With good reason, they would wonder: Could I fit in...

Early one morning you're crowing about your golf game. As the day moves on your life changes in minutes: You're told by HR that your job no longer exists. Terms of severance are announced. And you stumble home to your family, then outplacement, then the abyss of months and months of no luck landing a comparable job. If you're over-50, Pro Publica documents that's inevitable for the majority of you. That series of events is showcased in the 2011 film "The Company Man."  Two older executives and one younger one are forced out.  You can catch the movie on the free streaming platform Tubi.  Back then this loss of the American Dream was called "downsizing." Currently it goes by labels such as: Cost efficiency Shareholder Value Automating tasks through AI. But the dislocation is the same. As an intuitive coach I bear witness to the usually irreversible blip in a well-planned career path. Even if another good job turns up - and that happens now and then - ...

The new CEO at Verizon Daniel Schulman is starting out 2026 on a sour note. At least for businesses which depend on its telecommunications. Today there was an outage in several large metro areas such as New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. The impact of that extends to how the corporation handled the crisis.  The Wall Street Journal reports that its spokesperson officially said: “We know this is a huge inconvenience, and our top priority is to get you back online and connected as fast as possible. We appreciate your patience while we work to resolve this issue.” How a major provider of telecommunications dare tell subscribers they are only experiencing a "huge inconvenience." The economy runs on telecommunications. The reality for businesses is that this shut down some of their core channels of communications, including voice and texting. Although my service was not in the disrupted regions, as soon as I heard about the outage I notified a business whose clients I service that...

  Dow Jones Industrial Average INDEXDJX: .DJI 49,149.63 −42.36  (0.086%) today

We coaches learn the most from our clients. Everything from just-in-time practices in recruitment to what kinds of workers are getting promoted.  What I have been observing in this challenging and ever-changing labor market is this: Too many of those coming to me for a complimentary consultation have an unrealistic mindset about how to get, hold and more on to better work. They share a fantasy of The Big Score.  For example, they want a better paying job than what they had had before being laid off. If they're making a career shift they want to surge to the top quickly. There's no factoring in how to get there in 2026.  So they turn down work not aligned with that fantasy. They remain jobless. And in increasing isolation. Those once on their network start to duck them. Financial reserves are running low. Meanwhile they blow off the recommendation to grab a survival job to restore their confidence (which they might not realize they've lost) and reset their persona as work-...

  Dow Jones Industrial Average INDEXDJX: .DJI 49,344.29 −245.91  (0.50%) today Jan 13, 9:46 AM EST  •  Disclaimer