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What about a masters and then teaching or school counselor?

I would see how much schooling would be necessary to get his teaching certificate. I'm assuming he already has a bachelor or masters degree based on his current career. He could even look into the possibility of being a school social worker if that would be enough of a change for him, that would likely still be quite different from his current role and would not be likely to require additional schooling.

I know it's not a trade, but that's what I would do! And I would advise against carpentry - very hard to break into as a long term career from what I've seen among my friends and family.

I would look on Craigslist, Monster, etc. to see what's available in my area. You'd be surprised how many decent jobs are available that don't require a specific degree or certification. At the least, it'd give him an idea of what's in demand in your geographic area, and he can work towards becoming qualified for a position that interests him (if he isn't already qualified.)

What about seeing a career counselor? Does he want a people job or a desk job? I'm in engineering and I'm moving to intellectual property and patent harvesting but I am thinking about occupational therapy in a few years.

Well, maybe he could network a bit first. What types of jobs do your fiends have? Your siblings, parents and the people close to you(geographically). If I was going to switch careers at 40,I'd be checking with my friends to see what industries I could get hired in easily. And I would see if there was something I could do training as I go (like the trades, but 40 is a bit old to be starting that, in my opinion).

I would go to something that I would need training for so I could learn a skill and have some sort of qualifications in the new field because of it, but that also wouldn't take too long. One of my cousins is an ultrasound technician and was able to complete the program in 2 years and has a GREAT work-life balance. Predictable hours, a fair amount of open jobs in the field in our area, good salary and benefits for a job that you don't need a long degree for.

I didn't read pp, but my first thought is teaching! If he wants to go get his post-bac there are some pretty quick ways to do that and get a job fast. If he could do math/science/or special education he could get hired very quickly.

@lizzywiz: nuclear medicine technologist?

Does he have enough of a science background to get his PA or NP? Great pay, rewarding work, builds on his pre-existing skill set. My other thought is to do a masters in counseling so that he can build a clientele less in need of social work and more in need of a "life coach" type person?

Oh and my dad had to retire from the trades early too. They are not really something I'd start to think about in my 40's.

@lizzywiz: I always say nursing because there are SO many avenues to take with that education. He could be a case manager which is kind of similar to social work, but different much much more lucrative and deals more with insurance. If he absolutely didn't want to do any sort of case managing anymore, he could work in a hospital in any number of specialties and find something that speaks to him. He could even transition to working in a school if we wants a job with more normal hours. When I was getting my RN there were people of ALL ages. I think the oldest was in their 60's but there were tons of people in their 40's and 50's. Radiology technician is also a good field, but I think more limiting than nursing.

Do benefits matter to you?

You are looking for an 17 dollar an hour job (17 x 40 hours x 52 weeks = 35,360). That could be anything like a waiter, game tester, quality assurance person but these jobs don't usually have benefits

@lizzywiz: I hear you. Fair enough.

My brother was a game tester... we live in the bay area and he was paid about 20 dollars an hour but no benefits. He actually did like it but what was annoying for him was that his job was tied to a game so when that was done he had to apply for another job for another game which was annoying if another game either wasn't ready for testers yet or they already had enough testers, so he was job less at least 2-3 months a year when he was doing that. He did for about 3 years before he found his current full time with benefits job, he's an artist.

My brother in law is a waiter, he actually likes it a lot because of the tips. The only problem is that he works odd hours... he usually works from 5pm - 1am usually. But I believe he picked that. The only thing is that he has to fight for hours he only works 3 days a week and wants 5 or more days a week but that would put him in the zone of the restaurant having to give benefits. What he does to combat that is he has two waiter jobs.

I am going to suggest maybe your husband just needs to take some time and try our a few careers to see what fits him. Good luck!