I’m 85, Looking for Work, No Job After Hundreds of Applications

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Pat Fagin Scott, an 85-year-old woman who lives in Washington, DC. Despite working in the corporate world and for the US government, she hasn’t been able to find a job recently, believing her age has hindered her from landing anywhere. She needs to work to supplement her retirement income. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I was born and raised in Washington, DC, and attended Howard University. My first job was teaching because I wanted to be an assistant principal.

I did my practice teaching at a junior high school. It was an awful job, and I needed to get out of there. I got an offer to be a guide at the United Nations, stayed there for 13 years, and became a guide supervisor.

I then got jobs in the corporate world, advertising, and the film industry. I worked for Dustin Hoffman, the Urban Institute, and the DC government.

In 2017, I retired from the DC Housing Authority after 16 years. I didn’t feel that I needed to retire, but I felt pressure to.

I’m now struggling to support myself on my retirement income and am looking for more work.

I moved to DC after a stint in New York

I married an actor in New York, which kept me in the city, but my father died in DC, so I came back in 1973. At that point, I was married with a two-year-old, and my marriage was starting to go south.

I found a great apartment in Northwest DC for my daughter and me. We lived there until I bought a detached home nearby, and that’s where I’ve been for the last 47 years.

It has five bedrooms and three bathrooms, which I don’t need. I’ve been looking for smaller quarters, but most senior places don’t have washers and dryers in the units, which is a dealbreaker for me.

When you retire, you’re often not going to get enough to survive when the cost of living keeps increasing every year

When I retired, I was making over $150,000 a year. My family borrowed money from me, but it didn’t hurt me.

I had a 401(a), a defined-contribution plan, through which the company offered to contribute a percentage of my salary every payday. I also had a 457(b), an educational annuity.

I was told that if I didn’t contribute to the 401(a), I would still get what the employer contributed. The money, though, was ultimately not mine.

Social Security and a pension are not enough to live comfortably on

I get $2,500 a month in Social Security and another $2,500 a month from the government, plus a small annuity for essentials. I just took out a reverse mortgage because it’s still not enough.

Social Security comes on the third Wednesday of the month, and the pension comes at the end of the month. I have to wait for both to pay my bills: gas, electricity, water, groceries, car insurance, car note, and anything else I might deem necessary. My granddaughter racked up $6,000 in speeding tickets that I’m going to pay. I’m trying to set up a payment arrangement for that.

There are so many things going on in my life that it’s like a boat that is gathering water. Every time I plug up a hole, another hole comes. I’m sinking, but I’m not sinking fast enough to drown yet.

My shopping has been modified tremendously. I buy a lot more vegetables and fruit. I don’t eat out unless I’m invited. I don’t have to go to the cleaners to get clothes cleaned because I don’t go to work.

I need a rainy day fund because appliances go bad. I have some plumbing issues that I can’t take care of because I don’t have the money to pay a plumber. I don’t water the grass at all, and I can’t afford a new car tire.

I’ve done some volunteer jobs but nothing paid since I retired

I’ve been job hunting on and off ever since I retired. I’ve found there’s discrimination when you get older — nobody wants to hire you because of your age.

I’ve applied for many jobs through Indeed and LinkedIn, tried connecting with people online, and gotten a few interviews. One time, I interviewed for a university desk job and thought I was really good for that, but I was informed there were other candidates who were more suited for the job. That was one of the first times that I felt my age made a difference.

I even applied to join the Army, but I found out there was an age ceiling. My only “work” is volunteering at the Hillwood Estate, Museum, and Gardens in Washington, DC.

When people in this world find old people who have the ability to move and are of sound mind and body, it feels like they so badly want to kill you off. Who the hell are you who has survived all these years and still functions like a normal human being? Didn’t we tell you to die when you stopped working? If you stopped working in 2017, what are you still doing around in 2025, talking about work?

At one point, I stopped applying after not getting any follow-ups

I’ve had a very successful career, and I’ve got good credentials, but all you have to do is do the math to see I’m not a 30-year-old. I’m an old girl, but I’m not a dead girl.

I avoid putting my age on my résumé. I stopped submitting a résumé unless they ask because as soon as they add up the years, that job is no longer available.

The positions I’ve been applying for are mostly sedentary. They’re receptionist, file clerk, and concierge positions — nothing that involves heavy lifting or analytical thinking.

I’m physically fine

I don’t walk with a cane, I’m not in a wheelchair, and I’m not on a walker. My brain cells are perfectly healthy.

I’m a breast cancer survivor, and I was first diagnosed 35 years ago. In 2021, my right breast showed cancer, but it was in the very early stages. I had the in and out surgery, and then it was followed by radiation for two weeks.

I’m doing fine, aside from the elements of old age that are plaguing me. Everything is working as it should. I see my doctors on a regular basis.

I see nothing in my future except staying as healthy and busy as possible. I don’t want to fall into sedentary mode.

Financial information and guidance ought to be required in schools

The reality in America is like mine, unless somebody has talked to you about money, which my parents didn’t.

During the Howard University commencement last year, the speaker said if you put 10% of what you earn to the side every year from the time you begin earning (and projected earnings start around $60,000 to $70,000), with an interest rate of 2% or 3%, you’ll have $2.5 million when you reach 62. I jumped out of my seat, hearing that. If I had known that, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.

What we need as a country is to prepare our young people for a time in our lives when they may not be earning an income from a job, but they will be earning an income if they invest properly in dividends and annuities. If they want to have money, the opportunity is there. Just put it away and sit on it.

Can you imagine how wonderful this country would be if everybody who finished work in their 60s were a millionaire?