Retrenchment

Recently the office informed everyone that an exercise in efficiency will be undertaken next year. It may or may not entail reductions in people. Although it will be un fair to say that it will not. Kudos on honesty but their frankess increased the anxiety of everyone in the office. Since the announcement I have been updating my CV and looking at the internet job sites just to be prepared. But I will soon be 43 and I wonder if my job prospects will be good.
I work in information systems though not at the technical level anymore. I started as a programmer but through the years I have move to the project management side of the business.

Now I wonder if my age and experience and qualification will be enough to find me a job at my age. Such is the predicament of life in the rat race. I have started to read books on having an independent financial life. Reading self-help books and starting a business tell us that a whole new world is existing that promises 'revolutionary weálth' if one is just willing to change mindsets and have a will to pursue a dream. Now with the possibility of losing my job in the coming months, I have the option of looking for another job or trying things on my own.
I used to read these books with scepticism and with a cynic's eye, I think that these books peddle wishful thinking and raises hopes of people. At the end of the day, these works just mean money for the authors and they are in the business of selling hope.

Then again maybe one should regain one's dream or sense of youthful hope to be able to start over again. This is the experiment that I will undertake or at least try to next year.
A few months ago I started to read on the stock market. This is the place where most authors say promises a lot of wealth. But before anyone can get into the game, one should be familiar with all the rules and jargon that come with it. In orders words, to increase one's financial and investment skills similar to increasing ones' social skills or dating skills. It all seems so easy. Of course, one should never bet on the stok market to get rich so I have done my bit of exploring all the options. But what is really availble out there for anyone in his 40's?