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What should my uncle do?
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Short version on bottom, but it's missing some details (obviously).
My uncle is 45. He has spent the last 25 years or so playing drums. The past decade, he's been the band leader on a few major cruise ships (if you've ever been on a Princess cruise ship, chances are you've seen/heard him).
At some point before the band leader, he was married and lived in Australia. He wanted to come back to the States, but his wife didn't, so they divorced and he went and did the whole cruise ship thing (at least, that's how I think it went). A year or two ago, he met a woman on the ship, they started dating, got engaged, and were going to get married this coming November. The plan was for them to travel around the country with her tour, since she's also a performer. Something happened (I don't know what), and the broke up. He had a mental breakdown, left the cruise line, and came back to the States to try and get stuff together.
His main problem, I'm guessing, is money. He didn't get a college degree (since the drumming thing had worked out so well), and now that he's done (the cruise line won't let him come back now, due to some medical reason and they got bought out by Carnival, I think), so he can't get a job that pays well. Right now, he's working for a water filtering company, making $10 an hour. He's renting out his house for the price of his mortgage so he doesn't have to pay that, and he lives with his mom in the meantime.
He really wants to get on his own feet, have his own house, own steady job, and eventually a wife and hopefully family. He works 10 hours a day to make ends meet since his wage is so low, so he doesn't have time to get a degree, really.
I'm not asking for advice on how to give him money, but what can he do to get started on the right track?
In short: my uncle was a professional drummer, didn't have a college degree, stopped drumming, doesn't have enough money to get a college degree and a decent job. How does he fix this?
My uncle is 45. He has spent the last 25 years or so playing drums. The past decade, he's been the band leader on a few major cruise ships (if you've ever been on a Princess cruise ship, chances are you've seen/heard him).
At some point before the band leader, he was married and lived in Australia. He wanted to come back to the States, but his wife didn't, so they divorced and he went and did the whole cruise ship thing (at least, that's how I think it went). A year or two ago, he met a woman on the ship, they started dating, got engaged, and were going to get married this coming November. The plan was for them to travel around the country with her tour, since she's also a performer. Something happened (I don't know what), and the broke up. He had a mental breakdown, left the cruise line, and came back to the States to try and get stuff together.
His main problem, I'm guessing, is money. He didn't get a college degree (since the drumming thing had worked out so well), and now that he's done (the cruise line won't let him come back now, due to some medical reason and they got bought out by Carnival, I think), so he can't get a job that pays well. Right now, he's working for a water filtering company, making $10 an hour. He's renting out his house for the price of his mortgage so he doesn't have to pay that, and he lives with his mom in the meantime.
He really wants to get on his own feet, have his own house, own steady job, and eventually a wife and hopefully family. He works 10 hours a day to make ends meet since his wage is so low, so he doesn't have time to get a degree, really.
I'm not asking for advice on how to give him money, but what can he do to get started on the right track?
In short: my uncle was a professional drummer, didn't have a college degree, stopped drumming, doesn't have enough money to get a college degree and a decent job. How does he fix this?
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If he wants to do something else, I suggest checking into a vocational school, there are lots of technical jobs that pay well. Clinical Engineers for example make 30-40$ an hour, and fix hospital equipment. There are lots of technologist type jobs out there as well, that are 14-18 month courses and get you a job that pays enough to perhaps go to school for something bigger?
Not suggesting he actually run out and become a clinical engineer, but theres a niche for just about everyone if you look hard enough. "Getting his life straight" is a nice sounding goal, but it's not very descriptive of his priorities. If it's money, work is all that can fix that. If he has enough money in his house he can take out a loan against it and get grants for adult education.
If he has no interest in school and wants to continue to be a starving artist, he'll end out being just that. If he's good at leading a band, maybe he should get an agent to find him work? I really know nothing about how to go about getting jobs as a musician.