Pay cuts forced him out of a 30-year journalism career — his next job pays 3x more; All you need to know

After three decades in journalism, Jim Lexa watched his salary plummet as print journalism faded. — until he walked away at 53 with no backup plan.

What followed was an unlikely reinvention! After working as a handyman for days, he then got a job awith the Postal Service. Today, he earns nearly three times his former salary — and clocks up to 40,000 steps a day on the job.

In an interview with Business Insider, Lexa said he didn't pick up journalism for money. But as he was caught the writing bug early, he was hired by a local newspaper in Lily Lake, Illinois, to cover sports, especially football.

Then after getting a journalism degree, he started working as a sports reporter for a regional newspaper group in Amarillo, Texas in 1984 for a salary of $230 a week. Then, in 1998, he moved to the copy desk, “where my responsibilities included clearing the front page and assigning tasks.”

By this time, the popularity of newspapers have already started dwindling. As circulation dropped, publishers stopped hiring new people and old employee started seeing pay cuts. Then “when my $37,500 annual base salary was reduced to $30,000, I started to seriously worry.” Lex started counting each penny he was spending. By 2015, he was fed up with the entire process and decided to quit.

Lex moved to DeKalb, Illinois, and did whatever job that was offered to him. Finally, in 2016, at the age of 53, he made a career shift and joined the post office as a assitant city carrier. In two years time, he was promoted to letter carrier.

This past year, I topped $85,000 — nearly three times as much as my base salary in newspapers. My wife and I don't have to worry about dining out, and we enjoy nice vacations together.

Apart from that, he feels much fitter than before. On an average, he gets to walk 30,000 steps. And during winters it goes upto 40,000 steps

“I'm so glad that I made the switch. I've got a decent salary with less stress, good benefits, a friendly relationship with my regular customers, and a spring in my step at 63.”