If you're not successful by the time you're in your 40s...

[ShoshanaUK]

If you're not successful (in worldly terms, I'm talking a comfortable level of wealth etc) by the time you're in your 40s, is it too late?

 

[Jfrsmth]

No! Not at all. We are still young enough to make some adjustments in life to achieve that end. However, if that is our goal, it may not lead to a fulfilling life.

 

[ShoshanaUK]

I am just feeling a little bit troubled that I don't have anything like the life I thought I would have by the time I hit my 40s. But that is partly because we did have it but we lost it (lost our house a couple of years ago). I'm not working and I don't have a career to step back into, and my husband is earning minimum wage, so I can't see clearly how we could get back what we lost. But maybe I'm just not trusting God enough. My sister-in-law is about to lose her home, but they will get a cash settlement so they are planning to travel the world in their late 50s! I'm not so brave! I just want a quiet, comfortable life!!

 

[Josh3908]

I'm 43 earning about $17000 a year, have very little pension plan and don't own my own place, just a room, and have a 19 year old car. I do worry about the future.

 

[royal priest]

I am just feeling a little bit troubled that I don't have anything like the life I thought I would have by the time I hit my 40s. But that is partly because we did have it but we lost it (lost our house a couple of years ago). I'm not working and I don't have a career to step back into, and my husband is earning minimum wage, so I can't see clearly how we could get back what we lost. But maybe I'm just not trusting God enough. My sister-in-law is about to lose her home, but they will get a cash settlement so they are planning to travel the world in their late 50s! I'm not so brave! I just want a quiet, comfortable life!!

As far as our lives not turning out the way we planned, it ought to be okay with us because life is turning out exactly as God had planned.
James 4:13-15,
"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.”"

The question which ought to preoccupy our minds is, "What does God say in His Word regarding the kind of life He wants me to have?"
Micah 6:8,
"He has told you, O man, what is good;
and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness,and to walk humbly with your God."
As nice as the comforts of this life are, they are incomparable to those that are being prepared in eternity. We may be the poorest people in temporal things, but if we have Christ, then we are among the richest citizens of the eternal. Don't be overly concerned about the possessions of this life. Rather, focus on those things that are above where Christ is. Try not to be sad over your lot in this life, but rather focus your efforts on gaining those goods which are above Matthew 6:19-21, Luke 12:31-32.

 

[andy b]

The reality is there is always someone worse off so you have to suck it up

 

[dude99]

count me in. I in debt, never married and don't have a secure job. Yet even so I fully believe the Lord will provide.

 

[royal priest]

count me in. I in debt, never married and don't have a secure job. Yet even so I fully believe the Lord will provide.

And if not in this world, He surely will in the world to come!

 

[WretchedGoat]

I'm 39, in student loan debt up to my eyeballs, no steady work, divorced, tons of health issues. Not worried about it one little bit. "success" is a subjective term, and it doesn't matter what other people think. It never does.

 

[dude99]

And if not in this world, He surely will in the world to come!

Yes that is true. The best is yet to come. In the meantime I pray to the Lord, and yes the Lord answers prayers, it is yes, wait or I got something better.

I need to trust in the Lord always. Even though I am in huge debt and at times have no money at all, I trust myself in the Lord as after all he can deliver people out of poverty. Psalm 113: 7-8 He raises the poor from the dust And lifts the needy from the ash heap,To make them sit with princes.

For me I also need to have a budget and spend less and spend more time looking for work.

Even so the Lord is doing a new thing and he has not finished with me or anyone here yet:
Isiah 43: 19 Behold, I will do something new, Now it will spring forth; Will you not be aware of it? I will even make a roadway in the wilderness, Rivers in the desert

 

[Servant68]

Meh... I'm 47. 3 years ago I was married for 20 years to a beautiful Christian woman with 2 great kids. I lived in a 3k sq ft 5-bedroom house in Arizona, made 6 figures, had a brand new car, lots of toys, great friends, great church, etc, etc.

My wife asked for a divorce (because she reconnected with an old high-school boyfriend on Facebook), I got fired, my kids moved away, and I found myself living on my brother's couch in Idaho, deep in debt, making $8 an hour inspecting ammunition.

Three years later, I have a good job at $18 an hour, bought a humble little house, moved to Washington State, still deep in debt, but digging myself out every day.

Am I successful compared to the 28 year old engineer in the cubicle next to me making six figures, driving a new BMW, and living in a new custom home? Well, not according to the world. But, worldly success and Godly success are two very different things.

Being happy and satisfied with life means different things to different people. Do I consider myself successful? No. But not because of my lack of material things, but because of spiritual things.

 

[Mydnyte]

Nope, I landed the best job I've had yet last fall at the age of 41. I'm way behind where I wanted to be, but i'm not giving up.

 

[nightflight]

I was 52 years old. I had diabetes and incipient arthritis. I had lost my gall bladder and most of my thyroid gland in earlier campaigns. But I was convinced that the best was ahead of me… - Ray Kroc

 

[Murby]

If you're not successful (in worldly terms, I'm talking a comfortable level of wealth etc) by the time you're in your 40s, is it too late?

Yes, for most people, its too late. While there are a few who are physically fit enough and have the genetics to meet the burden of the workload, for most of us, its too much.

That's a very general statement however and only applies to the largest majority of success paths.
Here are some comments.. sort of classifications of these paths to success..

Intellectual Means to Success:
Those who obtain success through intellectual means usually do it by learning something unique or in high demand in their 20's and 30's.. Professionals like doctors and lawyers and engineers. By the time a human reaches 40, the creation of new neural pathways within the brain has slowed to only a small fraction of what it was during our younger years.. You can forget about learning anything ground shaking new. Almost everyone has heard the phrase "You can't teach an old dog new tricks".. this is exactly what it means.

Entrepreneurial Success: (this was mine).
Any normal business that is going to make you successful isn't going to be easy. People who open tanning salons or hot dog stands don't make much money. To open a meaningful business and turn it into a money making engine, takes several years worth of 80 to 100 hour work weeks. Interestingly, the longer the duration required to mature the business, the more profitable and stable they usually are. Businesses like restaurants can usually mature within two or three years but they're not usually very stable or lucrative. Manufacturing facilities (my area) can take up to 10 - 15 years to mature, but when they do, they are usually rock solid stable and provide a nice income.

The point is that when you've reached your 40's, most of us no longer possess the youthful energy required to put in the long work hours required without some type of medical consequences. I used to work 16 to 18 hours a day and would sometimes fall asleep next to a piece of machinery only to be found the next morning.. Usually by an employee trying to wake me up with a cup of coffee. I couldn't hold that pace today if my life depended on it.

Inventing Something:
Even in your 40's this one still holds much promise. Inventing something and carrying it to market is one of those area's where age actually provides some advantage.. The drawback is that most don't have the intellectual horsepower to invent anything meaningful or they just don't run across that magic spark that brings the idea to them. Its a very "hit-and-miss" type of thing and not something anyone can count on.

Cheap, Massless, and Lacking Substance:
This category describes everything that has little physical value or real world usefulness but which can be marketed to the masses for a pretty penny. Writing a book that has a good story.. Most folks don't know that when Sylvester Stallone wrote the first Rocky movie that he only had about $300 in left in his bank account. The movie studio wanted someone else to play the part but he was prepared to walk away if it wasn't him. Anyone of any age can write a book and if your story is clever, you can make a lot of money.
Other things in this category include re-branding and relabeling existing products for new applications, insightful investments (kind of far fetched), and most entertainment related successes..

Conclusion:
For the most part, once you reach your 40's, your chances of financial success take a nose dive. But that doesn't mean you can't find other ways of being successful. Many folks don't measure success by monetary means.. their measuring stick is based on family and friends and relationships. Others base their success on personal goals or other things that have little to do with financial numbers.

It is said that money doesn't buy happiness and that statement is true for the most part. I have friends who's wealth is in the high 7 figures and I wouldn't want to live my life in their shoes even with all that money.. and I have another friend who barely clears $40K/year and I can tell you that when he dies, you won't want to be caught at the traffic light when his funeral procession drives by because it will probably be 4 miles long.

Good luck,,,

 

[DerekJM]

Some of us are late bloomers, so it is never too late.
Doing ok now, but bad luck. poor choices and business failings etc can happen to anyone, you can always recover.

 

[JAM2b]

My parents raised us in poverty. Looking back if they had made different choices, it would not have been as bad as it was. My father didn't earn much because he put a lot into his construction business just to keep it floating. If he had been willing to work for a construction company instead, he would have earned more money and not had business expenses. He also kept them broke with spending on a small farm he didn't have enough time or money to run properly. The farm was wasted money every single year. mother refused to work most of the time, even after we were in school. They used up everything they got in foolish ways. If it hadn't been for the farm, and if my mother had carried some of the financial burden, things could have been better for us.

After I was grown my father changed careers in his early 50's, and became an insurance adjuster, working disaster areas. He made way more money that we ever had when I was a kid. My mother would spend 2000.00-3000.00 in one weekend of shopping. They now have nothing to show for it. They spent through it all, and are drowning in debt. Often in life, it is not how much you get, it's what you do with what you've got.

 

[blackribbon]

I was a stay at home mom when my husband died when I was 43. I started pursuing my nursing degree at 45 (lots of stupid prerequisites) and graduated at 49. I was not the oldest student by far. 40 is not old.

 

[Ladyghosthunter]

I decided after having a really bad life and my life not turning out to what I thought it would be is to go to school and follow my dream of being in Criminal Justice. This is what I did:
1. I dumped my toxic and dysfunctional family
2. Was diagnosed with PTSD and now seeking help for the disease
3. Decided I came first instead of others
4. I'm 46 so I'm an older student but I don't care. I feel as if I get to adopt a lot of students as my "kids" because they look up to me like a Mom.
5. I get to practice the faith I choose to and have experienced many miracles because of my chosen Godly belief.
6. Learned to forgive but to also think about myself for the first time in my life. No one in my family thought of me and no one really cared about me. I was abused all of my life and now, after dumping my family, I no longer have the abuse but am dealing with the afteraffects.
7. I'm now a published author
8. I have a 4.0 GPA in college
9. I have a great part time job that I love
10. Am grateful for the very very close friends that I have which I can count on one hand...

When I took control of my life and when God reentered my life and performed miracles in my life (I was pagan for a time or a heathen, pick your poison), my life became great. Now mind you I do have trials I go through however I'm living proof that God can pick you up from the Hell you've been put through and made anew.

Heather

 

[giftofGod2]

JOY--

Jesus

Others

You

 

[UnitedweStand000000]

I'm really successful at being unsuccessful financially, it matters not to me because I feel like there are far more important things in life than money.

The love and respect from my family and friends are worth far more to me than any material possessions could ever be.