Retirement is normally considered a much-deserved rest after a lifetime of hard work.
This concept is rapidly changing. I was born in 1947 at that time life expectancy was 64.4 years for men. A significant amount of work was manual and much of it monotonous and mind numbing.
The percentage of men who enjoyed any years of retirement was very small.
How the world has changed. Fewer jobs require hard physical activities with a number of people retiring at 60 years old, especially post-Covid.
Add to that the 74 million baby boomers and you have an enormous resource that is, in many cases, wasted. The skills and wisdom accumulated over 45 years which could make a great contribution are now sidelined.
The increased longevity further drains social security and personal retirement funds.
What can be done to alleviate this train wreck?
One thing that is almost never discussed is starting a business in your retirement. Whenever I mention it to my business colleagues they reel back in horror. “Why risk everything I have worked for and saved “is their first reaction and for a majority a quiet uneventful retirement is their choice, I believe there are a significant number of people in the 75 million baby boomers like Colonel Sanders who at the age of 65 decided to launch his franchise business after working on a fried chicken recipe for a number of years. He lived until he was 90 with a very active and fun job promoting his franchises worldwide. Maybe working increases your longevity
To start a business is a daunting task, having started a number of businesses myself I am fully aware of the fear in taking the plunge. Timing is everything and frequently the time is just not right. You are on a “career path” and are reluctant to take a risk. You are mid-career have a family and a mortgage and its just not a good time. You are close to retirement and feel it is just too risky to start a business.
Starting a business in retirement is frequently an overlooked opportunity, it actually can be the best time to start a business. That wonderful idea or product you felt would be very successful has gathered dust over the years. There were many justifiable reasons why it was not a good time to start a business. The impediments almost always revolved around your employment.
Full time employment absorbs not only time but energy but when you retire you are completely free of those obligations. You are also at your highest skill level and in all probably in a comfortable financial position. Starting a business in retirement is certainly an option worth looking at.
There is statistical evidence of living longer and happier if you keep working. Working for yourself is not like working for someone else, all the stresses of trying to meet someone else’s obligations are gone and you suddenly find enormous freedom to make decisions and enjoy your successes
Socialization is another enjoyment of having your own business, learning new skills refreshes the mind. What seems like initially a modest idea suddenly starts blossoming. Starting a small business is a lot simpler today , it can be started with a limited amount of capital and can utilize all the great products that assist on line marketing and sales. All the fulfillment side of the business including payment can be taken care of alleviating all the complexity of product fulfillment in the past. Simple accounting systems like QuickBooks can take care of the accounting, billing, and collections. If you have only worked in a large corporate environment you will be stunned by the sophistication and simplicity of the supports products now available.
That gem of an idea that you thought of while working for someone else can now materialized and a whole new chapter of your life can commence. You have complete control of how much you grow when you start and when you stop.
Look at Berkshire Hathaway Warren Buffets and Charlie Mounger’s brainchild. Had Warren and Charlie retired at 65 to go and play golf their company would have been worth $38.3 billion certainly a successful business. They did not retire, they continued working. They got better and better at what they did, they had wisdom which is only gained from many years of work. The business is now worth $875 billion In their quote retirement years they have multiplied the business value twenty times, A staggering 95% of their business value has been achieved after they were 65 years old. The years after sixty-five were always promoted as being the golden years perhaps they really are.
Starting a business is not for everyone but if only 10% of the boomers start a business in retirement that is seven million new businesses if only 10% survive and prosper that is 700,000 prosperous new businesses. Relying on someone else’s acumen to invest your money in retirement is always risky. Trees do not grow to the sun, at some point there will be a correction. Why not take 20 % of your retirement funds and invest in it yourself? You could also join forces with a friend and form a partnership. If your retirement fund has $750,000 and you take 20% of it for your starting capital that is $150,000 if you add a couple of friends, you now have nearly half a million capital to start your new business. I believe there a millions of potential entrepreneurs out there bored to tears with playing golf and endless discussions with their friends about the doctor’s appointments. They are no longer participants in life they are in gods waiting room, a giant predeparture room like Baskins and Robbins waiting for their number to be called.
The joy of working with this current young generation with all their energy, enthusiasm and technical knowledge is the most wonderful therapy that lets you quickly forget all your aches and pains.
Working for yourself is genuienely rejuvenating and creates a real life Benjamin Button effect. You get younger, you look younger and behave younger and, in many cases, live longer. So if you start a small business and hire some of these wonderful young people. you will gain immense enjoyment in seeing them prosper. You will also provide them with your invaluable mentorship that they will pass on to the future generations.
Dylan Thomas
Do not go gentle into that goodnight.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
