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　　导语：人到中年是每个在职场中搏杀者的最困惑阶段。他们此时肩上负担最重，承担风险的能力最弱。如何安排好工作一生的最后阶段是每个人都无法回避的问题。《财智月刊》最新一期封面文章给正经历此阶段的人士提出了些许建议。

　　中年人近期很少有人不感到难受，而对在此期间出现职业生涯变化者则是更大的挑战。人们只需简单想一下便能了解试图打破步入中年不适的风险和代价是出奇的高。中年人一旦在离开工作和赋闲后，再想重新就业将很难跟上市场变化。此外，这些人距退休年龄很近，且他们的养老金投资组合近期又遭重创。这可能使他们的后半段人生遭遇极大困境。

　　虽说所有年龄段的美国人都感到了经济糟糕的压力，但据美国心理协会(American Psychological Association)去年进行的调查结果显示，45－60岁被访者都表现出远高于其他年龄段的疲惫不堪的特征，其中近三分之一称自己压力极大，极度疲乏。人们因此对美劳工部近期发表的，称270万以上中年人失业赋闲期超过一年半的报告也就感到毫不奇怪，情况比以往历次衰退期内叠加的最糟情形更糟。

　　许多人因子女学费上涨，父母不断衰老而支出更多医疗费用深感负担沉重。这还未考虑他们自己的养老财富严重受损问题。据佩尤研究中心(Pew Research Center)估计，美国中年人在此次危机中遭受的投资亏损超过了任何其他年龄段人群，导致他们中很多人平均推迟3年退休。有投资界人士认为，这场衰退实际上给中年人生活造成了危机。

　　习惯于长年稳定职业生涯的二战后出生的一代人，可能会像心理学者和金融投资界人士所言的，难以避免遇到中年职业生涯变化。为应付如此困境，《财智月刊》以下为人到中年抑郁者分析了改变状况的隐含成本和解决问题的办法。

　　自己创业

　　大多数失业的中年人在面对当今就业市场情形下都会选择创业。据环球创业观察组织(Global Entrepreneurship Monitor,GEM)报告，去年新成立的小企业中25%是由裁员和其他原因导致丧失收入引起的"必须创业('necessity entrepreneurship')"，高于2008年的13%。即使对有稳定工作者而言，他们也面对工作时间更长、可用的资源更少，以及缺少能够提振士气的加薪。

　　然而，势单力薄者在市场上的竞争不一定能获成功。据考夫曼基金会(Kauffman Foundation)的调查，约半数新成立小企业在5年内失败了，即使是一些单干前已有相当市场脉络和必要经验者。

　　然而，现代中年人有着他们父辈所没有的方法、手段和途径。尽管创业投资机构在前期危机时拒绝再投资，但仍有人甘冒风险，去年为小企业的创业投资了154亿美元。另据全美小企业管理局(Small Business Administration，SBA)人士称，近期成立的小企业的注册资本相当低，最低只有5000美元。这是在填补规模更大的投资者撤出市场后留下的真空。

　　旅游散心

　　中年人通常是旅游业的宠儿，因他们有相当的积蓄和渴望看到外面的世界。然而，旅游业观察人士认为，传统旅游方式对二战后出生的一代已显陈旧，他们更倾向于到质朴的自然界去进行有冒险的旅游。据探险旅游贸易协会(Adventure Travel Trade Association)的统计，40-50岁年龄段人群现已占这类旅游总人数的半数，较20-30年龄段人群的比例高出两倍。

　　参与股市投资

　　已有研究结果表明，中年人在金融投资决策时有优势。有研究机构去年发表的，有关人们一生在理财上如何犯错的研究报告显示，中年人做出的投资决策最佳。除了人生经验有助于金融上的灵感外，他们的分析能力并未随年龄增长而受削弱。

　　但有研究金融心理学学者认为，许多在危机中损失了养老积蓄的人群已落入了以传统方式追逐高收益的诱惑，在其投资组合已实现了高增值后仍大量持有该组合。像科技和新兴市场这类波动性极高的投资构成的组合在市况突然暴跌时，组合的损失程度不言而喻。专家认为，在组合中添入少量有风险的投资品种对退休前的养老金投资是有益的，但必须将此与其他防守型的投资进行平衡。

　　让自己变得年轻

　　体现中年危机的典型时刻是这些人对着镜子端详自己：新生的灰白头发、松垮的眼袋和下颚。这不由得让他们拥抱整容手术。据研究机构全球产业分析(Global Industry Analysts，GIA)数据，包括面部护理和补充荷尔蒙在内的维持青春产业规模去年达680亿美元，预计2012年达878亿美元。中年人修饰自己外观的热情变得与年轻人同样高。虽有人认为经济危机会减少对价格昂贵的整容的需求，但据全美整容外科学会(American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery)的数据，仅华盛顿特区内男性做整容手术的数量在2005-2009年间就翻了5倍。更多男性做包括消除眼袋在内的各种眼部修补术，以让自己看起来更年轻。

　　这样做虽有虚荣之嫌，但有中年人称这迫于工作的需要。据近期一份研究报告发现，80%的整容外科医生称，经整容后的中年人在职场中已重获一份优势。(皖东)Midlife Crisis: How to Cut the Cost

　　By his own admission, Greg Abel is going through some sort of crisis, of the midlife variety. Until about a year ago, the 46-year-old from Austin, Texas, says, he was just like any other mild-mannered family man he knew, with two kids, a mortgage and a 9-to-5 job in tech management. But with a Ph.D. in microbiology, he always assumed he’d eventually get back to his first love, academia—until he began working longer days during the recession and had to drop his part-time teaching gig. That lifeline gone, he quickly found himself aimless and adrift, and ready to try something totally different。

　　It involved a parachute。

　　For many months now, he’s been throwing himself out of a plane from more than 10,000 feet. And that’s just one item on his bucket list of middle-aged must-dos. Mission 1: Get certified in skydiving. Mission 2: Take a grand tour of Europe’s capitals (staying in fancy hotels only). Mission 3: Blast down some back roads (on that chromed-up Harley-Davidson (HOG) Softail Fat Boy he’s been jonesing for). And did we mention the custom tattoo he’s planning? All of this will set his family back a pretty penny—especially since his wife, Anne, lost her job. “I told him my midlife transition is going to be easier,” she says。

　　These days, you can barely swing a cat without hitting a boomer in the throes of a midlife crisis. The symptoms are everywhere: On top of the usual hair plugs and Harleys, there are all the Facebook photos with prominently featured Stratocasters and those inescapable “Viva Viagra” ads. Midlife U-turns are almost always a challenge, but it doesn’t take a genius to see that the risks—and costs—of trying to break out of a midlife malaise are especially high now. As Abel discovered, there’s a decent chance now that one spouse won’t be able to financially back up the other. Even if one can, the midlifer gambling on that dog-grooming business will have a tough time returning to the executive suite in this job market if it fails. Divorce courts, meanwhile, have gotten tougher on spouses who drop longtime stay-at-home spouses, while the travel industry now targets boomers for pricey midlife splurges. Indeed, with retirement so close, and portfolios so battered, blow-the-bank moves are the last thing a boomer needs, says Patti Houlihan, president of Washington, D.C.–area Houlihan Financial Resource Group: “It will absolutely sabotage their plan。”

　　To be sure, Americans of all ages are feeling the pressures of the economy. But when the American Psychological Association conducted its annual stress survey last year, it was the 45- to 60-year-olds who earned the dubious distinction of being most frazzled, with nearly a third calling themselves “extremely stressed。” And it’s no wonder: The U.S. Department of Labor reports that more than 2.7 million midlifers have been unemployed for at least half a year, more than in the worst months of the past four recessions combined. Many are burdened by rising tuition bills for their kids and increasing care demands from aging parents—not to mention their own severely cracked nest eggs. According to the Pew Research Center, middle-aged Americans suffered bigger investment losses from the crash than any other group, causing many to push back retirement an average of three years. “The recession, in some cases, has actually caused a midlife crisis,” says Timothy Maurer, a Hunt Valley, Md.–based financial planner。

　　So what’s a boomer in a rut to do? Everyone from psychologists to financial planners says a bumpy midlife transition may be inevitable for many. But reaching a certain age doesn’t mean you automatically have to scratch the “Is this all there is?” itch with an overpriced convertible, ill-advised investment or lipstick-on-the-collar adventure. Below, our own guidebook to the hidden costs of—and solutions to—the midlife blues。

　　“I’ll Start My Own Business。”

　　Fantasizing about getting off the office treadmill to open a bistro or invent the next killer iPhone(手机上网) app? Going solo has always been high on the list of midlife moves, and it’s all the more common in a job market like today’s. According to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, a quarter of new U.S. ventures in 2009 were so-called “necessity entrepreneurship” moves (precipitated by a layoff or other income loss)， up from 13 percent in 2008. Even for those with a steady job, the longer hours, scarcer resources and dearth of raises only boosts the blue-funk factor. Hard times cause a lot of job-related soul-searching, says Tom Warschauer, a San Diego State University finance professor. “People have a tendency to review where they are,” he says。

　　Of course, there’s just one problem with hanging out a shingle: According to the Kauffman Foundation, about half of all new ventures fail within five years. In almost classic fashion, Kim Cameron, a 43-year-old from Washington, D.C., decided not long ago to trade in two decades of corporate IT work to become...a rock star. To her credit, she did create a detailed business plan (three-year target: sell 10,000 CDs)， and she did have experience fronting local bands. But the venture has pretty much been a big fat money pit—from the booking agent who couldn’t vault her band, Side FX, past the rinky-dink gigs ($5,000) to the poorly recorded demo (nearly $40,000). Add in wardrobe, touring costs and all the CD and merchandise production, and Cameron has spent over $500,000 living the dream, hawking her discs in shoe boutiques and hair salons. “The more money you waste, the smarter you get,” she says。

　　Experts say midlifers do have some tools at their disposal that their parents didn’t. With the click of a mouse, they can download business plans (106 different varieties for retail shops alone from Bplans.com) or turn to peer-to-peer loan sites when traditional lenders say no. Venture capital declined during the crash, but it’s still a force, with $15.4 billion of the stuff floating around last year. And while the cost of everything else keeps rising, Brian Headd, an economist with the Small Business Administration, says most businesses launch with surprisingly little capital—about $5,000. Plus, he says, “when some of the bigger guys pull back, small businesses can step in。”

　　“I’ll Travel the World。”

　　Ask anyone in the travel industry and they’ll tell you that March 2009, the month the U.S. stock market jolted to historic lows, wasn’t exactly a vacation-booking bonanza. But Irene Nathanson, fresh off a broken relationship, wasn’t thinking about her retirement portfolio. With her half of a dream-home down payment burning a hole in her pocket, the 45-year-old pharmaceutical sales rep from Bradenton, Fla., decided to book a sumptuous two-week safari in Botswana. Between the luxe $1,000-a-day encampments (think butlers running rose-petal baths)， a $1,000 safari wardrobe, a new camera and other incidentals, the excursion set her back nearly $17,000. “I have a bit of the ‘life is short’ kind of attitude,” she says。

　　Midlifers have long been a favorite target of the travel industry, since they tend to be active and have disposable income. And the marketing din is only growing louder, as the midlife crisis is pitched as an excuse for blowing bucks on everything from wine-country weekends to sojourns in Paris. But industry watchers say that a stroll down the Champs-Élysées has become increasingly old hat for restless boomers, more of whom are seeking pristine natural settings and exotic adventures. According to the Adventure Travel Trade Association, folks in their 40s and 50s now make up nearly half of those who book trips in the $52 billion adventure-tourism industry, roughly twice the share of those in their 20s and 30s。

　　But breaking the bank isn’t a prerequisite for a midlife blowout, with plenty of exotic tours available for a few thousand bucks, from Mountain Travel Sobek’s Moroccan camel trek ($3,995) to Bio Bio Expeditions’ 11-day Peruvian white-water-rafting adventure ($3,200). In addition to shaving costs the usual way—searching the Web, cashing in air miles, booking last-minute—more midlife travelers are choosing “semi-independent” tours. The concept there? Tour operators like Monograms or Intrepid Travel arrange the logistics of lodging and getting between major destinations, with daily excursions more loosely scheduled. To accommodate varying budgets, many tour companies now offer a range of lodging choices, from high-end hotels to more “authentic” home stays. Not that Nathanson has any regrets. “I’d do it again,” she says. “And spend twice as much。”

　　“I’ll Play the Stock Market。”

　　Strangely enough, research says that when it comes to making smart financial decisions, the odds are actually stacked in midlifers’ favor. Last year a study published in Brookings Papers on Economic Activity looked at how people make money-related mistakes throughout their lives. Its conclusion? The best decisions occur in middle age—peaking around 53—when experience lends financial wisdom but analytical abilities have not yet been impaired by advancing age。

　　But Atlanta-based financial planner Cass Chappell says controlling the urges of a client in the midlife danger zone isn’t always easy. A few weeks after he worked with one client to carefully craft a retirement plan, the guy ran out, he says, and spent $400,000 on a houseboat. “I asked him, ‘What was your thought process on this?’” says Chappell. (The client told him he did his own calculations。) And earlier this year, Scott Gillam decided the only way to catch up from a near 50 percent loss in his retirement portfolio—an all-too-common concern for this age group—was to quit his job and become a full-time day trader. The 59-year-old from Bristol, Conn., estimates that he makes profits on two-thirds of his trades but says it’s the finer points of investing that can trip him up. He’s still smarting, for example, from the $30,000 hit he took on a Chinese Internet company, which had been looking like an $8,000 windfall just one day earlier. “I’m learning to pull the trigger early,” he says。

　　Indeed, there’s an old adage on Wall Street: “Pigs get slaughtered。” And in the stuttering economy, says David Adler, author of the behavioral-finance book Snap Judgment, many folks who had their nest egg crushed are falling prey to the classic temptation to chase returns, piling into an investment after it’s already completed the bulk of its run-up. It’s certainly no secret that going bullish and overweighting a portfolio in volatile sectors like technology or emerging markets risks causing some serious carnage when those highfliers take a sudden nosedive. “If you get caught in a whipsaw, you’re dead,” says Ian Weinberg, a financial planner from Woodbury, N.Y. Experts say that incorporating some risk into a portfolio can be fine for pre-retirees, but recommend balancing the pursuit of jackrabbit gains with a smattering of slower, more bulletproof investments. That said, their other mantra is “Just keep it simple。”

　　“I’ll Upgrade My Look。”

　　It’s the classic midlife-crisis moment: You look in the mirror and notice the sprout of gray, the tired eyes and the softening jawline, and suddenly the ad for the cosmetic surgeon begins to have appeal. According to research firm Global Industry Analysts, the “I refuse to grow old without a fight” industry, which encompasses everything from face creams and hormone supplements to, yes, topical synthetic snake venom, reached $68 billion in 2009 and is projected to grow to $87.8 billion by 2012. And looking beyond lotions and potions, more midlifers are turning to the venerable nip and tuck. While experts say the economy has slowed demand for big-ticket cosmetic procedures like face-lifts, cheaper (under $1,000) ones are on the rise—and not just for the ladies. According to the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery, the number of men getting wrinkle-busting filler treatments, for example, jumped fivefold between 2005 and 2009. Steven Hopping, a cosmetic surgeon in Washington, D.C., and a past president of the academy, says he sees more men coming in for eye procedures, to remove bags and make them seem less tired。

　　Naturally, a lot of this will always be vanity. But some midlifers may be able to say, with a straight Botoxed face, that it’s a legitimate career move. A 2009 Harvard study found that 18- to 30-year-olds looking at photos of older faces made judgments about how aged a face appeared by fixating primarily on the eye region—a study the cosmetic industry is already marketing heavily to older job hunters. Another recent survey found that 80 percent of plastic surgeons said patients were going under the knife to gain an edge in the workplace. “They want to look younger and more competitive,” says Hopping. You won’t get an argument from Alan Horowitz, a 61-year-old real estate agent from Morristown, N.J. He says he recently got “a couple of shots in the face” because in his hard-hit business, agents can’t afford to look tired under the eyes. “People are shallow,” says Horowitz, whose Botox treatments come on top of a $15,000 face-lift a few years ago. “I’m a great advocate of this,” he says. “You only live once。”

　　(文章来源：财智月刊)