I was laid off nearly six years ago, and I ended up "temporarily retiring" at 45. It wasn't a specific decision but, due to some very fortunate circumstances, it just ended up that way. I knew it couldn't last forever, and now I need to go back to work. The problem is, I have absolutely no earthly idea what I want to do -- only what I DON'T want to do.

I'm in my early fifties. I spent twenty years in IT, advancing from user support, to operations and project management, to product engineering. No degree -- all self-taught and learned on the job. The first ten years were with a big-eight accounting firm, then ten years with a science and technology company -- five years with their scientific consulting subsidiary and five with their industrial computer manufacturing subsidiary. In both cases, I was laid off. Before my last layoff, my salary was in the mid-$50Ks.

I took a sabbatical break, then started pursuing a career in mortgage lending (well before the real estate market slump and the subprime mortgage crisis). Then a family situation developed, so I sold my home in southern California and moved to Colorado. For the past few years, I've been working on family affairs and the family rental properties business -- unpaid, but with my housing provided. These matters are now under control, and it's time for me to move on.

After two decades of disappointment, frustration and betrayal by the corporate world, I have absolutely no desire to return to a cubicled, salaryman situation. I've had it with being at the mercy of greedy, incompetent, short-sighted senior executives with golden parachutes. I've learned that unless you generate revenue directly, your compensation has absolutely nothing to do with your performance. I need to work in a field where my prosperity, or lack thereof, is directly and solely tied to my own personal efforts.

The mortgage lending plan is obviously long since scrapped. I honestly don't know what kind of work I want to do. I've started looking for a career counselor but so far, internet searches are mostly turning up only university services for their own students, candidate power-marketing companies, and wacko combination career/life/romance coaches.

There are a couple private services that look promising, but they want big money and I have no way of finding out if they're worth it. I'm looking into county/state services, but they look like they're more geared to low-wage, entry-level or unskilled unemployed.

Any advice on finding somebody reputable who can help me zero in on what kind of work I should look for?