I’m 59 and retired with $810 per month in retirement income. I can’t live on that amount. In 3 years I’ll be able to get $900 per month in Social Security. I’ve been looking for work for several years. I have been told I don’t fit employer profiles despite having a BA and an M.Ed in Counseling. I am too old to go back to my old profession. I have applied for 100+ jobs with no success. I lack other credentials, state certifications and licenses as well as computer skills and political connections. I have exhausted my resources and savings. My retirement account lost 45% in the market crash leaving me only enough for a few years even though I could start drawing that income at 59.I have some commercial property I inherited which has been for sale for 10 months but commercial property isn’t selling nor are the residential lots I own next to my house. If I could sell the properties I could invest in CD’s and use the interest to stretch my income and survive.

I live a frugal lifestyle stretching every penny. I don’t drive unless absolutely necessary and I cook simple food at home. I am healthy though I do have arthritis. I am in trouble financially when my taxes and home insurance are next due. I have no family except my son who is not close by, doesn’t want to live here and is not willing or able to help me financially. I know I am having a 6th house Saturn return during 2009 and 2010. I just had an 11th house Jupiter return. Pluto is conjunct my 9th house Mars which is square natal Saturn. Can you foresee which direction things are going or a direction I should take that could succeed? I was born November 19, 1950. (NN)

Your chart is a difficult one financially with Venus ruling the 2nd house of earnings and Pluto ruling the 8th house of savings, investments and retirement income. These two planets are opposite one another in your natal chart. I do not think your son is going to be a savior for you since your natal Pluto is in the house of children.

Yes, you have just had your 2nd Saturn return in your 6th house of jobs with transiting Uranus still opposing that Saturn until early 2011 providing hope for a new job by then which might be part time or temporary though, certainly, a help. In addition transiting Saturn is still in your 6th house and will be for another year slowing down progress there. While you did recently have a Jupiter return, transiting Jupiter is now in your 12th house where it is of little help in the outer world though it is a wonderful, inner opportunity to know your spirit better and find greater peace. Jupiter will conjunct your ascendant in April of 2011 beginning a new 12 year cycle of opportunity and confidence for you. Transiting Neptune is stimulating your natal Jupiter this year and next year by conjunction which can be quite inspiring and creative offering you many new ideas for your future though it isn’t usually much help financially. With transiting Pluto conjuncting your Mars this year I am sure you have worked very diligently to find any work or way to proceed noticing that Pluto seems to frustrate one’s objectives until we learn to let go and ask for help spiritually.

The next three to six months, as your progressed Moon squares your natal Venus and Sun and opposes your natal Pluto, will continue to be challenging. In September of this year and January of 2011 transiting Jupiter will oppose your Saturn which is not only in your 6th house but rules your 10th house of career leading to a job possibility. This last year has been especially tough for you with your progressed Sun squaring your Neptune in the 6th continuing to disappoint in every direction. That obstacle is ending now while your solar arc Saturn is about to change signs, your solar arc Uranus is moving into the 6th house and solar arc Pluto will soon leave your 6th house creating new opportunities for work. After November when Pluto is no longer conjunct your natal Mars there may be a sale of one or both of your lots.

This is a hard time yet it is a time when you could be online learning computer skills, volunteering in your community which often leads to connections and opportunities and doing the inner work which will lead to a significant change internally followed by external changes later this year and next year. There is hope despite these last few years. Good luck!

Ouch, it is so painful to lose touch with a child. You sent along birth data for you, your husband and your son which is quite revealing. Transiting Pluto is coming into a square to your son’s Moon (family) as transiting Saturn begins to oppose his Moon in September, and transiting Uranus conjuncts it in 2012. So, yes, this is the time when your son is hyper sensitive to his family, his feelings and to any hurtful history. Natally, your son’s Moon is quincunx his Mars/Pluto conjunction in Scorpio though it is also trine his Uranus. There is a history of hurt that underlies his current reaction, the time he would feel this hurt and be triggered is now and yet there can be healing in the future.

First, your husband has changed significantly which is a crucial start, he needs to apologize to his son, tell him what he has done about his behavior and acknowledge the past honestly. Your son does love his Dad (his Venus conjunct his Dad’s Sun) but he also feels criticized and hurt by his Dad (his natal Sun square his Saturn/Mars). As an Aquarian your son needs this time to find his own perspective, attend to his own life and only gradually return to his family (leaving him time for his own process and life during the Pluto transit to his Moon) a mature, man and son.

You correctly note that your husband can be harsh. I would say he can be reactive, domineering and patriarchal though he does care deeply (Cancer Moon in the 4th house) about his family. With his sensitive Moon squaring his Saturn/Neptune your husband should not be drinking and should be credited with his choice to stop. With your husband’s Venus opposing his Pluto his study of non-violence is a perfect vehicle for transforming his intense need (Pluto in the 5th house of children) to shape his children and bind them to him. Violence is not just physical but also emotional and spiritual as he is learning. In 2013 your husband will experience transiting Pluto conjuncting his Sun changing him, his life and his career forever. Thankfully, he has made and is making an impressive start in remaking himself which is the right foundation for 2013.

As close as you and your son have been, your two charts also have some conflicts which will need to be discussed in the future. Meanwhile, you cannot fix this immediately and are being asked to trust what is unfolding. Your Gemini Moon cannot stand it when people are not talking but your son will find his way back on his terms and in his time. Your job is to trust him. I think your son will come around slowly, needs time to choose his responses and that you must be patient appreciating the need and opportunity for healing which underlies this painful process. The inheritance only triggered what was already there to be healed.