Review: 55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Life

55, Underemployed, and Faking Normal: Your Guide to a Better Life by Elizabeth White
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I found myself in the age group in the title, and laid off the week before I picked this book up. I wanted to understand if this was more of a guidebook or more of a motivational book. It is a combination. Much of the book is what I would call coach-talk, in effect a coach trying to restore the fire in a team that’s way down at the half. The author intersperses the motivational content with some specific content related to key methods she’s investigated to reduce expenses in order to eke out a life when dealing with a reduced standard of living.

Overall, I kind of liked the book, but there were two things I hated about it. First, the “coach-talk” started with the trope that the downwardly mobile middle ager is in the situation they are in because society made it so. The author repeats her message that “you are a victim, just like everyone else” many times. In actuality, the author’s own story and some of the others she uses for illustration seem to show how many otherwise smart people don’t plan for a future without a job with any rigor. As someone who has read dozens of books on FIRE (financial independence, retire early) and who actively planned for an early retirement, I know that people make choices on investing or spending their earnings, and in many or not most cases, people are agents of their own future. The author is focused on the spenders with this book. So I felt this wasn’t aimed at me.

The author also builds into the book a plan to use the book as a group discussion tool for those middle aged and under- or unemployed. Certainly that’s an interesting use, but I wasn’t looking to lead group discussions, and those sections didn’t help much with individual reflection. If you do think you can lead or join a group discussion of this book, then I think it can be a good blueprint for discussions.

As for the ideas for, let’s call it forced downsizing, the author describes some ideas that I haven’t seen described for older adults. Some, like renting out rooms, I’ve certainly seen before, but not in this context. Other points of discussion include borrowing money, moving to a less expensive country, communal living, and getting a freelance job. I found her ideas interesting and her list of resources for further investigation were also useful. I hope I don’t need these ideas, but it’s good to know there’s a place to find these thoughts laid out with a little motivational talk. Which may or may not make you mad.



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