Baby Boomers are Redefining Our Retirement?

Baby Boomers, who comprise the largest generation in history, have been redefining American life as we know it for decades.

The Baby Boomer Generation is now redefining the traditional notion of retirement as well.

Chances are we've been thinking about how we'll spend our retirement years.


Many Baby Boomers have been in a job for 25 years and are facing the prospect of a layoff due to downsizing. Or our pension isn't going to stretch as far as we thought it would. Or our investments aren't performing the way you had envisioned.

Members of the Baby Boomer Generation are realizing that there is a reasonable chance that we will live to be 90 or even 100, and I don't know about you but I don't want to spend the last 30 years of my life in endless meetings.

Most Baby Boomers have had a satisfying career, but deep down feel it was time to move on and so something else.

Today's Baby Boomers see a new opportunity to start a business that we love. Rather than leaving our careers for lives of leisure, golfing or touring the country in RVs, many Baby Boomers are choosing to start a new career - but not just any career. We're applying our experience in management, finance, marketing and other business disciplines to businesses of our own that are personally fulfilling, exciting and fun.

According to a recent study by the AARP, 16.4 percent of the 5.6 million Baby Boomer workers aged 50 and older, were self-employed. What's more, 1 out of 3 of us made the leap into self-employment after age 50, either as a transition to retirement or as a way to supplement our incomes while doing something interesting and fulfilling with the next few decades of our lives.

So, What type of business should we choose? According to Paul and Sarah Edwards, authors of The Best Home Businesses for People 50+, the hottest self-employment careers for new Baby Boomer entrepreneurs involve filling a need or fixing a problem for three market segments: business clients, businesses and consumers, and individuals and families. Examples of service businesses in high demand are senior care, financial management for senior citizens and business image consulting - all of which are great for Baby Boomers who are helpers and improvers by nature. Also very popular trend for Baby Boomers is turning a hobby into income. We find it very gratifying to take something that we love and make it into our retirement career.

No matter which type of new career that we choose to pursue, we're bound to find that our previous business experience, skills, expertise, contacts and successes will give us a competitive edge for building a new post-retirement career. 

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