I recently found myself shopping for a new cell phone for my mother.  “I just need a phone that dials with a larger number pad and a phone I can hear on.”  Those were her only requirements. I figured that this would be a simple purchase and I was wrong; it’s with this that I share my research and hope that you find it useful and hopefully will lessen the hassle that you encounter should you need to make a cellular purchase anytime soon.

First I found that there are 4 major companies that cater to your demographic with not only special phones but also special call plans. I found 2 companies that only deal with the older/senior demographic and 2 other national carriers that have created special cell phone plans for the older worker. They were all around the $30.00 a month plan and some featured better phone options.

Verizon: They feature a 65 and older senior plan; Unlimited Mobile to Mobile Calling to any other Verizon Wireless customer; you won’t incur any domestic roaming or long distance charges. The account holder must be 65 or older to qualify for this plan. $29.99 you get 200 anytime minutes and 500 nights and weekend minutes.  

AT&T: Senior Nation 200 wireless plan is intended to meet the needs of consumers aged 65 and older. Great coverage plan and you have access to any of your family members who are already on their network.

Consumer Cellular: They have a few phone choices that are senior friendly simple functions and bug buttons; good coverage plan and decent rate plans.

Jitterbug: Probably the most advertised plan out there for the senior demographic.  They feature different rate plans with several options; but not a wide selection of phones they do boast large key pads and loud speakers.  They show a very wide coverage area for their product.

While all these plans are more affordable, they have a limited amount of usage minutes attached to the plans and people who may use a cell phone more often may find that other, more common plans may better fit their needs. It can be difficult to track the actual number of minutes used and we tend to use our phones more often than we expect. So before you make a purchase its wise to know who you speak to most and who they already use and how much time you spend talking on the phone.

Happy Chatting!

Over the last few days there have been quite a few articles on the older worker unemployment rate; while it’s still a problem; it’s also an opportunity.  An opportunity to reinvest yourself and maybe find a job doing something you never thought you might do and heck maybe you can even find something you enjoy doing. However invest in yourself wisely, too often I find older workers short change themselves in the quest for a job.

Recently I attended a job fair and the most common response to the question: What kind of job are you looking for what this: “I’ll do anything”.  This answer makes me cringe……Really would you do anything?  You might think this answer makes you sound attractive to the employer because you will adapt; but what it really says is you specialize in nothing and your desperate and worse yet you are not the best candidate senior, older or otherwise.  

So what is it you CAN do and do successfully? Take off your blinders, open your mind and take a chance. Sounds bold but believe it; not enough people take a chance on themselves and the end result is you end up holding yourself back.

When you create your resume, peruse the classifieds or attend a job fair you better be able to answer this question. And I can assure you of one thing……I will work anywhere isn’t going to work.  I recently attended a career fair event and it was incredible how many people didn’t know the answer to what they were looking for, how do you know you have found something if you don’t know what you are looking for? It’s an age old problem but ones that’s even more magnified in a time when the labor market is so tough.  

So how do you find out what you are looking for?  Start with looking at what you have done, both professionally and personally; and figure out what skills you can use for the new step in your job search. A real world application might look like this: Perhaps you have worked as a lab manager for the last 20 year and now would like to find a new job. As a manager of a lab you most likely picked up many transferable skills that can be used in a number of new positions not limited to this list….

·         Customer Service Manager

·         Sales Manager

·         Customer Service Reps

·         Call Center Manager

·         Data Entry

·         Hospitality

Notice none of these were medical; you can apply skills that you have to almost any type of industry. So when you are creating a resume keep this in mind. Create a resume that tells a story of what you can do now what you have done before. You need to convey a story of what you bring to the table and how you can benefit a company now.

Social Security insures families against the loss of income caused by retirement, disability, or death, with nearly universal coverage; Social Security insurance covers 94 percent of workers in paid employment and self-employment. The program has been a success; however, Social Security has a long-term solvency challenge.

Social Security insurance protects all age groups.

Social Security provides a retirement benefit that is guaranteed for life and is adjusted to keep pace with inflation.

Social Security benefits are adequately funded for another 32 years.

Social Security is the principal source of family income for nearly half of older Americans.

Social Security keeps older Americans out of poverty.

Social Security provides critical income support to minorities.

Social Security is crucial for women.

Social Security is the foundation of workers’ retirement security, but it was never intended to be the only source.

Source AARP.org