Are you too worried about financial security?

YOUR CAREER  IF YOU ARE WORRIED THAT YOU’VE LOST YOUR JOB, OR YOU THINK YOU MIGHT LOSE IT: * know that in the months after the Great Recession, the peak unemployment rate for workers 55 and

older was 26 percent lower than for the overall population. In good times and bad, the jobless rate for older workers tends to be lower than that for all workers. In the wake of the downturn

a decade ago, unemployment peaked at 10 percent overall but at 7.4 percent for workers 55-plus. Even though the jobless rate for people 55 and older was 11.8 percent in May 2020, it was

still slightly lower than the overall rate. After the Great Recession, it did take some workers in their 50s and 60s longer than younger workers to find a job, points out Catherine

Collinson, CEO of the nonprofit Transamerica Center for Retirement Studies. “Some people gave up, but don’t give up,” she says. “Things will improve.” After the Great Recession, she adds,

surveys found that people who accepted some job after being laid off — even if they were under-employed — tended to fare better in the long run than did those who remained unemployed. “Maybe

they took a job that was beneath their skills and experience,” she says, “but by virtue of bringing in income and staying in the workforce, that helped them financially and helped them

improve their prospects when the employment market picked back up.” IF YOU ARE WORRIED THAT NOBODY WILL HIRE YOU: * know that people founding a business at age 50 are nearly twice as likely

to succeed as those who are 30. A recent study by MIT and Northwestern University professors and a U.S. Census Bureau economist showed that the most successful entrepreneurs are middle-aged

and older, primarily because of their experience, industry knowledge, financial resources and social networks. Chances of success (defined as a sale of the business or a public stock

offering) increased with age until 60. “An increasing number of people over 50 will shift careers or start their own business. That is exactly what happened after 9/11 and during the Great

Recession,” says Kerry Hannon, a career strategist and the author of _Never Too Old to Get Rich: The Entrepreneur’s Guide to Starting a Business Mid-Life._ In fact, the percentage of new

entrepreneurs who were ages 55 to 64 grew from 14.8 percent in 1996 to 25.8 percent in 2018, reports the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. “This kind of life event that we are currently

experiencing can be a huge motivator to try something new,” Hannon notes. JOE MCKENDRY If the market is making you nervous, keep these facts in mind: * Since World War II, following the

onset of a bear market, stocks have recovered to their previous levels in an average of 4.3 years, according to the Charles Schwab brokerage. * Reinvesting dividends during the 10 biggest

declines between 1950 and 2019 would have led to regaining portfolio losses within 2 1/2 years, notes investment firm Towneley Capital Management. * The best year ever for stocks was 1933.

“Often the highest returns come right after the biggest drops,” says James Angel, a professor at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business. YOUR LIFE IF YOU ARE WORRIED THAT

YOU WON’T EVER FEEL SAFE ENOUGH TO GO TO THE THEATER OR A MUSEUM: * know that from late 1592 to early 1594, the bubonic plague killed more than 10,000 people living in London. It’s a

fascinating bit of history: In the midst of William Shakespeare’s career, all of London’s theaters were shuttered for over a year, in an effort to halt the plague’s spread. But when

theaters, including Shakespeare’s Globe, reopened, the gate receipts were huge, according to James Shapiro, an English professor at Columbia University and author of _Shakespeare in a

Divided America_. Soon afterward, Shakespeare wrote _Romeo and Juliet_ and _A Midsummer Night’s Dream. _And he continued to write plays through a second wave of the plague in 1603,

completing _King Lear_ and _Macbeth_ a few years later. “If Shakespeare’s [era] offers any model and consolation, it’s how quickly numbers were back to normal and people were living their

lives again,” Shapiro observes. “Cities bounce back, and people crave theater.” IF YOU ARE WORRIED THAT YOU’LL NEVER BE HAPPY AGAIN: * know that during December 2008, 80 percent of Americans

said they were satisfied with how things were going in their personal life at the time. How you feel about life isn’t always ruled by the economy and current events. Even during the worst

of the Great Recession, 47 percent of people polled by Gallup said they were very satisfied with their life, and another 33 percent were “somewhat” satisfied. Recent polls, mostly conducted

before the death of George Floyd, showed mixed results. Seventy-two percent of people surveyed by Gallup from late April to early May said that they had experienced feelings of happiness “a

lot” the previous day, up from 67 percent one month earlier. A survey conducted in late May by the University of Chicago’s NORC found a sharp decline in people who said they were “very

happy,” but an increase, to over 60 percent, in the share of Americans who said they were “pretty happy.” “The key to finding happiness during this time is not through social distancing but

rather through distance socializing,” the authors of the “World Happiness Report 2020,” an annual survey of global happiness, wrote on March 23, when cities around the world were shutting

down. “Remaining socially connected with friends, colleagues and family is crucial in finding happiness during this public health crisis.”  _Kimberly Lankford, a longtime columnist at

_Kiplinger's Personal Finance_, is the author of _Rescue Your Financial Life_._