Tax Shock: 57, Out of Work, and Staring Down the IRS

The reality of unemployment gets worse: a recent conversation with an accountant confirms a massive tax bill is due, intensifying an already precarious financial situation. At 57, facing a difficult job market and dwindling runway, the pressure has led to "analysis paralysis" — the inability to choose the next move out of fear of making the wrong decision. In this unscripted episode, I discuss the emotional toll of this uncertainty, the struggle for employment after 50, and the high-stakes options being considered: starting a new business or renting out the house and moving to a cheaper country in Southeast Asia (like the Philippines or Thailand).

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Transcript

Well, welcome to the Empower over 50 Podcast. Today is April 12, 2026 and this is the first of the new style of podcast. In the past, I basically just knit the audio portion of a YouTube video and put it into a podcast, or make a podcast out of it. But no more. No, no, no. Now we're doing a specially recorded podcast, and how it's going to work is like this. So yesterday, which was Saturday, kind of an unusual thing, because I don't normally post on a Saturday, but I did post a video yesterday talking about my financial shock of getting the tax bill. So going forward, what we're going to do is, when a pop, when a YouTube video comes out on, say, a Monday, we're going to do an in depth analysis on a Tuesday. So basically, they'll be easy to explain, YouTube video one day the next day, podcast in depth. That's what we're going for here. So let's start Yes. Yesterday, I was talking about the receiving my my my tax bill, and it was not nice, not nice at all. I was kind of expecting the ballpark figure, to be honest, so it really wasn't a big surprise, but it doesn't make it any easier when you actually see it written down on paper, and it will make it even less easier when it goes out of my bank account on Wednesday. So it kind of really brought home to me my personal situation with my finances and the exact runway that I have left. Now I want to just stipulate, or just say basically that I fully appreciate how fortunate I am to have that runway. And there are plenty of people out there who are not in such a fortunate situation. And my heart really goes out to you. I can't imagine for one second what it must feel like to be in that situation. And I really I can't imagine it. For me, this tax bill has definitely shortened my runway significantly, and in yesterday's YouTube video, I talked about this thing, analysis paralysis, and that's where I've been finding myself lately. So to give you some context, I created this, this YouTube channel back in January of 2025, and in the June, I lost my job, rebranded the channel to empower over 50. And here we are, and the channel is, the YouTube channel is monetized, so I am making some money from it, but trust me, it's not even a week's worth of groceries, not even close that's per month. And I need to get a job or I need to do something. Now, my situation is I don't really want to go back into working in an office. I had remote, worked remotely for the last 11 years, and I have been thinking about starting my own company using the experience that I've garnished over the last 1112, years, working in social media, both my former employer, and also with YouTube channel. But I've also thought about moving abroad, going somewhere like Southeast Asia, for example, the Philippines, Thailand, and I even heard somewhere a little bit closer to home, that. Portugal isn't a bad place to look at, because in that scenario, realistically, I could probably survive. And when I say survive, I just want to bring context to that as well. I'm 57 so basically I got 10 years until I hit 67 and I can get full Social Security now, you can get Social Security at 62 Yes, but you will lose a percentage. Now, don't quote me on this, but I think it's somewhere in the in the region of 20% maybe comment in the section, comment below and let me know, because I'm not entirely sure about that,
and that 20% or whatever the percentage is, isn't temporary. It isn't until you hit 67 that's permanent. So you could be losing 20% of Social Security for the rest of your life. So if you can hold on to your 67 the better. And it might even be 65 I got a question that, too, to be honest with you, but I think it's 67 so I need to get to full Social Security age and be able to claim my Social Security. And then I've like, Haha, I've hit the wonderful part where I'm getting Social Security, and I can draw from my savings and my investments, and I'm good, but I've still got quite a few years left to go until get to Social Security, and I'm not going to make it unless I find another source of income. Now I know I can't. I am not in the in the position of luxury, if that's even the right word, where not choosing to look for a job isn't an option, because it may well have to be an option. And in fact, I've been thinking recently about looking for work online, seeing what's out there, to get a feel. But I also am very keen about this whole media business that I'm thinking of building, nothing huge. But then again, there's also the online, not, sorry, not online. There's, there's moving abroad. And actually the beauty of moving abroad is I can carry on doing YouTube, and I could even carry on doing a media business for aboard, because everything's remote, everything's online nowadays. But the point I'm coming to is you get this analysis paralysis where you don't know which way to turn first. You get a good idea, and you get really excited. You do your research, you do your due diligence, and it looks good on paper. And then the next day, you think of something. You're like, Well, I'm not so sure if that will work. And then you go into a depression, you go into a lull, and meanwhile, you're thinking of something else, like, in my case, moving aboard seems like a good idea. And you suddenly imagine thinking of things like, Oh, the warmer weather, although I am in Florida, so I shouldn't complain nicer property, because you can rent property out there really cheap and get something really nice. You can even hire a maid, a cook cleaner, for like $150 a month. And you think, wow, that'd be really nice too. And I could do my my my social media, I could do my media business, and you can get carried away, and all of that too. And of course, the reality can be very different. Now also, just to add, I have moved abroad twice. I mean, I lived in France when I was younger, and that really wasn't for that long, to be honest with you, but I've lived here in the US now for coming on 30 years. So moving to a foreign country for me isn't a real stretch. Whereas I can understand a lot of people who perhaps haven't been or haven't traveled that much in their life, it could be a really good, a really questionable decision to make, and before you make any decision like that, you'll want to go and visit the country to get a feel. But even going to visit a country for a few weeks doesn't really give you the full experience. And you know that but that's a whole another thing, but going back to the analysis paralysis. So what do you do? Some days you're good, some days you're bad, you got to make a decision. It's like a roller coaster or a hamster wheel going around, and you don't feel like you're getting anywhere. But here's the thing, if you're in a similar situation to myself, you can't stand still. You can't it's not an option. In my case, if I stood still, I'm in big trouble. I mean, we're talking losing everything, home, cars, the lot,
eventually it will happen. That's the reality, and you have to keep focused on the reality. Yeah, and like I said, standing still is not an option, so you have to be proactive. You have to do your research, be diligent. Speak to your partner, if you, if you, if you're married or you got a significant other, speak to friends, close friends. Speak to former colleagues, people that you know maybe if you're thinking about starting your own business or hustle try and find out information, and the longer you stand still, the more time, and more importantly, the more money you are wasting. I mean, if you're like me, I'm paying for my health insurance from Cobra, which is $1,200 a month. And that's another reason why moving aboard is a is a wonderful idea, because in the Philippines, you know, you they have very good health care at a very reasonable price. Unlike the US, which is a really big thing even, and even if you have health care here for an employer, you know, it's still expensive. Now, if you're thinking of looking for a job, you know, you got to be realistic about the job market too. You know, the job market right now is absolutely awful, particularly if you're over 50. And I feel sorry for the young people personally. I mean, here they are, they're studying, they've got student loans, and a lot of the employees and employers now aren't even taking on entry level jobs. I don't think it's too bad at the moment, but I think literally, in the next year or two, we're going to see completely different picture, and we're already seeing entry level jobs disappearing. So you know, you've got a young person fresh out of college student loan for the next 2030, years, and they can't get a job, forget getting a place to live or no Buying or renting. They're back at home with you, and they you know, they've got this loan to pay, and that's not going to go anywhere. So I feel safe with the youth, but if you're in your 50s and you lose your job, it's miserable out there. I had a comment from my video a couple of days ago from a gentleman in England, I think he's in England, and he was saying that he had written to three agencies just trying to get, like, an interview, just so he can interview, sign up to the agency to have them help him find work. He didn't hear them back. Didn't hear anything back from them. Completely ghosted and that. And what is with that? What is with this ghosting nowadays? You know, I mean, the Gen X generation, I don't think would have done that, certainly from my experience when I was younger, looking for work, you know, and so I'm dealing with boomers or even older Gen X's, we always got responses, you know. I mean, even, even if it was just a simple thank you, but no thank you. But nowadays, you know, ghosting is like a thing which comes from social media, comes from like dating sites. Somebody doesn't want to know you, it goes to you. That's easy. I don't need to reply. And now it's spreading over into the business. So it's tough out there. I'm not saying there aren't jobs out there, but certainly if you're in your 50s, good chance you're taking a pay cut, and it could be a drastic pay cut too. So keep that in mind also. And if you are working, if you're fortunate to be in a job right now and you're in your 50s or older, and even if you're in your 40s, get prepared. Make sure you've got savings to have for a runway so that if you do lose your job. You're not. You're somewhat protected for a while. Now, the old advice used to be three to six months. I'm talking maybe, I think 12 to 18 months. Minimum of 12 months, but 12 to 18 months, and here's an interesting stat for you, 24% of people over 50 who lose their job don't get employed again. Think about that. That's one in four are not ever employed again. That's it.
That is the state of where we're back right now in 2026
and as I mentioned earlier, if you think it's going to get better, I would rethink that very carefully, because it's not, it's not going to get better, it's only going to get worse. Every day we're hearing about companies laying off staff. There was Amazon, Nike and one other, I can't think who it was now ups, who between them, I think let go, like 45 or 60,000 jobs. I just heard recently, also, Oracle have also mentioned or given layoffs. The company, Salesforce, I believe, are letting people go. And they basically said, Yeah, we have ai do this. So, so if you're in a job. I don't think you're safe. Don't think you're secure. Don't because 12 months ago, I thought I was and it just took one Wednesday afternoon in June, a one on one call with my manager, that my life changed out the blue. So don't think your job is safe. Companies are no longer loyal to employees the days of a job for life where they disappeared years ago, and at least in those days, you know, companies were more loyal now, no particularly here in the US, most states have the at will, so they don't even need to give you a reason. Now, if you're over 50, and this was my experience, companies are a little bit more resident or hesitant, because they know there are laws in place. For example, if you're over 40 and you're basically being given a severance package you can have. I think it's 20 days, 21 days before you have to give an answer, to give you time to talk to a lawyer. I did not know this when it happened to me. My company did not inform me. And I think there should be a law where in that situation, a company should be obliged to inform you of all your rights. But that was not the case. And in hindsight, I wish I had actually spoken to a lawyer before agreeing to anything, because I think I have the classic ageism case, but I didn't so but that's also due to the pressure that I was put under. I was given basically 48 hours to make a decision, and over that period was a holiday. So, you know, try and getting hold of a lawyer on a holiday. Good luck with that timing. I'm sure it was coincidence to be over a holiday. I'm sure it was, yeah, right now, just want to give a mention to the YouTube channel. It's youtube.com, forward slash, empower over 50. So check out the YouTube channel and watch yesterday's video where I talk about what we just discussed, the tax bill, the analysis paralysis. But also I just recently created a message board on the Empower over 50 calm website. And what I'm really trying to do is create a community where we can help each other. You know, somebody like myself, I've lost my job, I've been through the last 10 months. I've gained things, knowledge, experience from that time, and somebody who just lost their job, they're going to be in shock, trust me, they're going to be in shock, and they won't know which way to turn. And I want to build a community where we all help each other. That is the purpose. It's a message board. So you've got a problem, or you have a you know, you're in shock. You don't know what to do. You post a message and hopefully not, hopefully somebody, and I guarantee you somebody will get back to you. Now, I'll be honest, I just created this message board, so right now, it's kind of lonely there, but if there's nobody else there right now to get back to you, I will personally. It's also an area to celebrate. If you have like, you know, if you got a win, you got to, you know, you got an interview. Maybe there's something that you did that you felt was that, yeah, that worked. Share it on the message board. There's an area for that. So take a look at it. Check it out. It's an empower over 50 calm, forward slash community, and I'll leave a link to that also in the description below. So thank you guys. I hope you like the new format of podcast. The next YouTube video, video will be coming out on Monday, which is actually tomorrow, so the next podcast will be Tuesday. So make sure to subscribe to you to the YouTube channel@youtube.com
forward slash Empower over 50. Check it out. Subscribe and also subscribe to the podcast channel, where, on Tuesday, we'll do a deeper dive analysis into Monday's video. Okay. Thanks. Great talking to you all, and I'll speak to you soon.
Thank you.