Reply #3: I wouldn't know what that would be

[Coyote_Bandit]

I worked in reinsurance and insurance management for a period of time. The company I worked with was forced out of business (but not into receivership or liquidation) through no fault of their own. And I was involved in some extended multi million dollar reinsurance litigation (subpoenaed as a witness but not named as a party in any case). I've not been able to work in the insurance industry since and that was some 15 years ago. There are already more than enough insurance agents selling various kinds of policies in the area.

I worked in investment management. There are brokers in the area and banks that offer investment and trust services. There is very little turnover in these positions - and few positions. Most of the banks are smaller and offer these services without earning high profits (this is mostly due to the expense involved in offering the services without having a large volume of customers and is unrelated to the fees charged) and so are not expanding these services. Wealth is leaving the area as older generations pass and their inheritances go to children who usually live in metropolitan areas. There is also the problem of the large multi-national private banks who draw customers from these areas when the smaller local banks might otherwise serve them. I've not worked in banking outside of investment management. I'm forty something and not likely to find a salaried position in banking or investment management. I also view that as being a service which will have less demand as assets continue to be transferred to population centers and as the economy continues to worsen.

I have a law degree and could sit for the bar exam in that particular state. It has been 20 years since I graduated from law school. I have never worked in a law office or practiced law. I am unacquainted with any attorney licensed in that state and so lack any kind of mentor or adviser. Many rural sparsely populated counties in the mid-west have only 3 resident attorneys - usually they each maintain a private practice and one will fill the role of judge, while the other two fill the role of prosecutor and defender. Many rural counties simply cannot support more attorneys. There are few businesses that have any frequent need for legal services and poor folks don't hire attorneys unless they just absolutely have to. It is hard to break into that circle because those three attorneys are usually well established and well known in their communities. It is harder still if you are a female in the Bible Belt - or if you are an outsider and do not already have established ties in the community. Legal practice can be fairly expensive to establish and maintain. As a rural practitioner without ready access to an established law library you would have a higher than average expenditure to establish a library. Then you would have annual expenses to maintain that library, pay professional dues, earn continuing legal education, and pay malpractice insurance coverage. Add to that the expense of maintaining and furnishing an office and hiring somebody capable of simultaneously filling the role of secretary, receptionist and paralegal. Honestly, I cannot think of a better way to lose money than to move to the middle of nowhere and try to establish a legal practice.

Not trying to be a wet blanket. I just honestly do not see how anything I have done can transfer to a rural setting. I am not married to any career or job I have ever had. I am more than willing to consider alternatives, learn new skills, and take calculated risks. And I am not limiting my options to stereotypical white collar work options.