25 Best Jobs for Boomers

25 Best Jobs for Boomers by Rachel Zupek, CareerBuilder.com

Attention baby boomers - If you're not ready to spend the rest of your life golfing, traveling or doing anything else that comes after retirement, good news awaits -- you don't have to. Today's retirees are defying the stereotypes that surround retirement by changing careers, rather than ending them.
Clarence "Nic" Nicodemus, 64, is living proof. At the ripe age of 61, Nicodemus graduated from Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine (COM) and was preparing for a one-year internship, according to a 2004 press release from Michigan State University. Nicodemus joined COM at age 57, after spending a decade teaching classes and doing orthopedic research at the University of Texas. He said going to med school was the next logical step in his career and a lifelong dream.
"I feel like I can relate to patients of any age," he said. "A patient can bring up any subject -- grandchildren or a death in the family or a disease in the family -- and I can relate to them."

Like Nicodemus, many baby boomers - the chunk of our population born in 1946 through 1964 - haven't been able to work in highly fulfilling jobs. Working lackluster, draining, even hazardous jobs just to bring home a paycheck was the norm for boomers just trying to get by. But times, they are a changin'. "The chances are good that you [baby boomers] are better able than at any time previously to choose work that will be fulfilling,"Michael Farr and Laurence Shatkin, Ph.D. write in their new book, "225 Best Jobs for Baby Boomers." For reasons that vary from being under less financial stress to being able to consider part-time work for the first time, boomers now have the option of making another career move instead of retiring. Farr and Shatkin analyzed data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to formulate lists of jobs with a high percentage of baby boomers -- specifically, the jobs for which 40 percent of the workforce is age 45 or older. The jobs listed had the best combination of high salaries, fast growth and ample job openings.
Of the 225 jobs highlighted in the book, here are the 25 best of the best according to Farr and Shatkin.

Management analysts
What they make: $60,921*
Projected annual openings: 78,00

Teachers,Postsecondary
What they make: $63,219
Projected annual openings: 216,000

Logisticians
What they make: $39,637
Projected annual openings: 162,000

General and Operations Managers
What they make: $78,762
Projected annual openings: 260,000

Registered Nurses
What they make: $53,865
Projected annual openings: 215,000

Anesthesiologists
What they make: $240,207
Projected annual openings: 38,000

General Internists
What they make: $310,072
Projected annual openings: 38,000

Obstetricians and Gynecologists
What they make: $238,714
Projected annual openings: 38,000

Family and General Practitioners
What they make: $154,264
Projected annual openings: 38,000

General Pediatricians
What they make: $159,625
Projected annual openings: 38,000

Medical
and Health Services Managers
What they make: $77,350
Projected annual openings: 33,000

Financial Managers, Branch or Department
What they make: $79,905
Projected annual openings: 71,000

Treasurers, Controllers and Chief Financial Officers
What they make: $113,344 - $196,538
Projected annual openings: 71,000

Chief Executives
What they make: $328,283
Projected annual openings: 63,000

Government Service Executives
What they make: $148,584
Projected annual openings: 63,000

Private Sector Executives
What they make: $148,584
Projected annual openings: 63,000

Pharmacists
What they make: $88,619
Projected annual openings: 23,000

Lawyers
What they make: $86,593
Projected annual openings: 53,000

Education Administrators, Elementary and Secondary School
What they make: $133,062
Projected annual openings: 31,000

Administrative Services Managers
What they make: $74,896
Projected annual openings: 40,000

Sales Representatives, Agricultural
What they make: $53,034
Projected annual openings: 44,000

Sales Representatives, Chemical and Pharmaceutical
What they make: $53,034
Projected annual openings: 44,000

Sales Representatives, Electrical/Electronics
What they make: $81,600
Projected annual openings: 44,000

*Salary figures based on data from CBsalary.com, powered by SalaryExpert.com

Rachel Zupek is a writer and blogger for CareerBuilder.com and its job blog, The Work Buzz. She researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/CBwriterRZ.