My boss gave me the heads-up saying my position was not in the budget for 2006 and I needed to find a new job.

I had to move across the state to find a comparable paying job. It was pretty damn scary for a while there, 51 years old and looking for a job.

Your husband has experience. Good luck.

But that's just the opinion of someone without connections.

a lot of my friends made it to social security by selling their stuff on e-bay. long holidays with bad weather are the best time to sell, thanks giving weekend is the best time to sell. if you want to discuss this off line, I will be home on the weekend,having key board troubles on vacation, have to type slowly.

What career are we talking here, some areas are better for certain jobs than others. If you have never worked, do you have skill sets?

decide the minimum you need to live on and look at your savings, is it possible to sell your house and move to a less expensive area? Can you take a job that pays less?

Change your spending habits immediately until you get the lay of the land,many people keep sspending normally until they are in a deep hole.

I was laid off at 58, many f my friends were laid off around the same age and we never found jobs again. I just applied for early retirement and gave away a large percentage of what I should have received by applying early but it worked out for me and my expected age at death.

Network network network. I got a few offers from people I had worked for years before both employers and staff. Make sure everyone one you used to work for that liked you know you are available, a lot of people don't trust their employees and prefer friends that would be easy to work with.

It is tough. I wish you both the best.

Get your expenses down as quickly as possible. Contact your local unemployment office to learn about programs, unemployment benefits, and COBRA so that you can create a budget.

Take walks. Get outdoors. Try to meditate. Keeping your mental health up will help with your physical health.

good list, very good list.

are important. Get in touch with anyone/everyone that may have a link to a possible job, whether it is in the same field or something a little different for him.

I hope you two have some savings. My thoughts are with you - I'll be back in that boat soon.

and we moved to Maryland because my uncle and aunt said they had a job for him. When we got there no job. He never collected unemployment before. My mom never worked other than taking care of us 6 kids. My dad worried alot. I remember seeing him cry. He eventually found another job. It is scary out there especially now and your ages. I retired at 62 last year. You do what you have to do. You will find your way. I tell you this much I would go to early mass in the morning and pray by myself and then attend the morning mass. There were people that were always there and they knew I was sitting back. One day the priest came over and talked with me and told him what was going on in my life and I felt overwhelmed. He was able to give me the strength I needed and I started joining in at the mass. It was helpful. I was very surprised how the church helped me alot. It helped me realize I wasn't alone. You be surprised you might find some comfort and some connections for job outlook. God bless and good luck.

I saved a posting I found here because we've been worried too.

Use the search at the top of the page and enter these words "action list newly unemployed" the posting should come up first on the list. I'm sure there's many more things to do but this is a start.

Good luck to you.

I am also 54 and lost a job in February. I am in IT and found another job a month later.

I am having to learn a lot of new things, but that is normal in IT.

that makes building products.

Has he considered getting into sales? With that kind of experience he might be able to get a supervisory position at a Home Depot or Lowe's or some other place that sells building materials.

where you live, there's very little that's uber useful that someone can tell you. But I'll give it a shot.

First, I am a firm believer that everyone, no exceptions, needs to have some skill or education to have a way to earn a living. If you do, you will find a job in time, tho the pay won't be great. But you'll have benefits.

If he's being laid off, he should try to get a new job asap, preferably before the layoff.

If he's not able to get a job in his field before he's laid off, take heart. He WILL find another job. It will take time. Looking for a job will be very hard work, frustrating, disappointing. But it WILL happen. Please don't forget that.

You are lucky that there are two of you. Twice the chance that you'll get some income soon.

Do as others say, and get your medical checkups taken care of, while you're insured.

I'm 58 and I voluntarily quit my job. I had another job within a month. It was an awful time in my life. I felt I had to quit...couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep, was not being treated well, etc. I had a hefty savings account, so I took a chance and quit. So take heart. If I could get a job at my age, you and your husband can get jobs at your age.

Employers aren't paying much, but they seem to be hungry for mature workers who are reliable, have good referenced, and have a stable work history. So many younger workers job hop or miss a lot of work.

GOOD REFERENCES. Your husband should try to get at least two good job references from prior supervisors. That will be extremely helpful, if not essential.

Your husband should have a presence on LinkedIn.com. And he should NOT have anything questionable or controversial on Facebook or any other social media. Employers check those things.

I hope you have an emergency savings account that will pay your bills for at least six months. Please say you do! And no credit card debt, except the regular monthly charges you pay off every month. Having no debt will make your ability to stretch a dollar go much farther.

Try not to panic. He WILL get another job. And if you keep looking, YOU will get a job in your field, as well.

Try to be positive about what you have, whether it's good health, no debt, good skills, friends and family, whatever. I found my friends and family to be essential while I was going through the unemployment period. I would've become extremely depressed to the point of not being able to do anything, if it hadn't been for my friends and family. Even with them, I got very depressed and had to seek medical help for it. I can't imagine what it would've been like iwthout my friends and family.

Good luck. Please try to remember that things WILL get better. They always do. You and your husband may find that things work out for the best in the long run...he may find a job he likes better, you may find new joy and new friends in your job. AND BE GLAD IT HAPPENED NOW INSTEAD OF FIVE YEARS FROM NOW.

- I'd worked at the firm since the late 1970's. I did take off some time when my children were young but I had been there about 25 years all combined.

The emotional toll of being tossed out from a place you've given your best years to is almost worse than the financial toll. It was like being divorced. I not only lost my income, I lost daily contact with people that had become my surrogate family.

Things to remember - be open to changing professions. If you're laid off, it's a good sign that particular profession isn't doing so hot in your area and jobs in that field won't be easy to find.

Don't wait for full time work as few offer it initially. Most hire part time, at least in the beginning. You can take part time and hope to work up to full (that's what I did) or take two part time jobs until you can get the hours you need.

Buff up on your technology. I had to fib by saying I was trained in a software program and then study it like crazy so that I knew it. Technology is key and all the younger people looking for jobs are expert at it.

Don't discuss your age. Don't even make reference to it. Don't say "I remember when . . ." Ageism is horrific and rampant (I was your husbands age when laid off) and I lost at least one job to it. Don't talk about your adult children and certainly not your grandchildren until you have landed the job.

This may be more important for a woman but I had to make sure my hair was freshly dyed - no gray roots. I buffed up on current fashion, updated my interview wardrobe, updated my hair style. It took months but I finally got another job. Part time. Less hours. Less pay per hour. No benefits. I'm thankful I have it. And I really enjoy it as it's a different type and field of work than I did before. Plus, I have been promoted and am getting more hours now.

It's not easy and I truly feel for you. Even after two+ years, I'm still not over the being discarded. One of the most hurtful and destroying experiences I've ever had and I have been divorced. Good Luck!

My son-in-law is becoming a small farmer who does refrigeration/air conditioning on the side.

I will be 64 in less than 2 weeks. Just over 3 weeks ago, I got mad at my last employer because they were jerking me around. I told them to shove their part-time job. Today I started a new job that pays better per hour than the old one and is full-time. It's nothing special (just a blue collar job), but it will pay me enough to manage. The reason I'm telling you this story is to emphasize that it can be done even if you're over 50. In my case, I'm well over and yet I still managed. For your husband, filing for unemployment is the obvious first step. That will help for awhile. Another thing anyone can do if they find themselves in this situation is to get one of the easiest and quickest licenses available - a commercial driver's license. It doesn't need to be Class A for 18 wheelers. Go for a Class B with school-bus and passenger endorsement. Many school districts will train you for free so that you can pass the road test, and even though it's summer they're hiring now for the fall term. You first go take your written test (the district will require that step), and then they will train you on the buses so that you can pass the road test. After you pass, they will put you to work. Maybe you don't want to drive a school-bus. That's understandable, but once you have the license they can't force you to stay there. Get the training and leave if you want. There are lots of other jobs available for drivers with a CDL-B. How do I know all this? Because that's what I did 5 years ago. Right after I got the license I got offered a lab job (my background is in molecular biology). I worked that job til it folded due to funding issues and then put my CDL-B back to work for me. I worked the last job for about 8 or 9 months until they cut my hours down so low it didn't pay to go to work, and that's when I told them to shove it. Now 3 weeks later I'm working again still using my CDL-B. Check it out. Transportation is always hiring, and you don't have to be young to get the jobs. Best wishes.

I made nearly 50k just driving Town Cars.

I am scared to death.

near a large urban area. Example I live in North East Jersey, 20 miles west of NYC. NJ is home to many pharma companies. Thats a great combination. Airports that support corp travel, LaGuardia, JFK, Newark, even Philly.

Best of luck.

What you are trying to do would also be helpful.

a building products company.

The supervisory experience can be quite helpful if he's forced to take a McJob. He could at least be a manager instead of a peon.

may help: "What Color is Your Parachute?" (now in like the 10-11th edition).

Based on my experiences over the past 20 months looking, I'd stay away from Craigslist.org and look for smaller, specialty job boards. CL seems to have become the new decade's Monster.com (which is not even worth 5 minutes of your time).

Good luck and please know that my thoughts are with you.

In this economic environment those of us over 50 that lose a job almost never do as well as we used to if we do find work. I have been out of work for over a year.... best of luck.

for whatever its worth, you have us.

and the high tech crash, when I was pushing 50. It was kind of a triple whammy, quadruple when you add that shortly after that, Mittens was elected governor and dropped Mass job creation from 37th to 47th in the country.

It has not been easy, to say the least. But looking back at the 2000 elections, and with W making noise about attacking Iraq, I knew the entire game had changed for good and made a decision to follow a lifelong dream while I had the one chance to do it. I "failed" but at least I tried and learned a lot. If a miracle falls on my head and I get a second chance at following it, I'll have a better chance at succeeding, lol. I've met many people who lost a ton from their 401Ks who regretted not following their lifelong dream instead...

I looked at it as an adventure, and I would still recommend that, but be very careful at the same time. Because where there are adventures, there are thieves every step of the way...

Look very closely at your expenses and see what you can cut. Look at your stuff and see what you can sell. Can you grow some of your food? Gardening is healthy physically and mentally, and depending on how food prices are in your area, it can cut a small but significant chunk from your grocery bill.

Take very good care of your health. Dental appointments at top of list of what you don't cut; tooth and gum health is critical to overall health for a number of reasons.

But also enjoy the time off (hard to do when you are scared, but do it). The reality is there is no real security in anything. Take one day at a time, one hour at a time. If necessary, one breath at a time.

And do breathe...deep.

A lot depends on your husband's profession. Research it: is it booming in another part of the country and can you relocate there? If you can, especially if you already have contacts there, consider it.

If either or both of you decides to re-train, be careful. Do formal research, but also find a way to do informal research. The biggest mistake I think I made in my particular situation was, after I failed at my dream, going back to school and re-training in healthcare. I hate what I'm doing and most of the people I work with/for, government statistics are really detached from the reality on the ground....plus I was lied to by the HR department at the local hospital re: salary ranges. So I'm screwed totally on that front. Sadly, it is booming on the other side of the country, but it's too late for me to relocate there.

It really, truly sucks. It's as if there was a conscious decision made at the upper echelons to dump people right when they're turning 50...right when they should be at their peak earning years, too old to get hired, too young to retire.

One thing I've been looking at is re-locating to another country via teaching English as a second language.

Open it up to 600 or 800 mile radius and you may need to move if something comes along.