Dear Annie: I am middle-aged and lost my job during the pandemic when the company I had been with for years eliminated my position. Despite my experience and education, I have not been able to find anything permanent or full-time since.

I feel like I am too old to be hired and too young to retire. My husband and I live in an economically repressed region with a limited job market, and he refuses to leave his job and relocate, despite offers and interest from other companies in more lucrative areas and my pleas over the years to leave this one-horse town. He is also not interested in promotions where he works, though he could easily qualify for one.