The number of entrepreneurs between 55 and 64 years old who incorporated new businesses increased 22% over the past decade, compared with a 0.6% increase in total population. I’m also seeing a larger number of entrepreneurs who alter their businesses instead of retiring completely, to provide continuing income during retirement.
My point is that a business should fit the entrepreneur, rather than the other way around. Therefore, one should consider many options when planning for a long retirement.
The Carpenter
Let’s say that you’re a contractor, or that you own some other type of business that requires physical labor. You’ve been climbing ladders and swinging hammers for the past thirty years.
All of a sudden you’re in your late sixties and your body isn’t cooperating like it used to. In the old days, many would just close up shop, sell off their equipment, and retire based on their savings and a Social Security check.
But you have thirty years of happy and loyal customers who are going to continue to call you. As such, there are options to consider.
I have lots of clients who decided to continue taking those calls and selling those jobs. They simply find another company or someone younger to handle the physical work.
At that point, they can continue to earn much needed retirement income and not have to worry about a long retirement.
The Grocery Store Owner
Let’s say that you’ve owned a retail store for the past forty years. You work fifty hours per week and just can’t stock the shelves the way you could in your thirties.
You want to take some time getting to know your grandchildren and are worried about outliving your money. These crazy doctors are keeping people alive much longer than they used to.
Do you face an either – or situation? Do you either work your store or get completely out?
There was a time when that was true, but that’s no longer the case.
You could hire a store manager to work the long hours and focus only on the CEO parts of the job that require your skill set. At that point you still have a retirement income and you get to spend time teaching your grandkids to fish.
There’s a difference between owning a business and running one. Again, the business should fit you and your lifestyle.
Increasingly, entrepreneurs realize this basic fact and make changes that better reflect the changing world around them.
Let me leave you with this…
If you’ve read me long enough you probably know that I’m one-third Native and one-sixth Black on my Mother’s side. My father died when I was four, and I was raised primarily by my Mother as well as my Grandfather and Grandmother in the Cherokee Tradition.
For thousands of years, when a Cherokee Boy reaches the age of twelve or thirteen and it’s time for him to become a man in eyes of the tribe, he is given a test. He’s taken out to the woods where he must stay the entire night, by himself without any weapons, and not go home.
If he does go home during the trial, he will never be considered a man and is usually expelled from the tribe altogether. Imagine the bravery that such a test requires.
You’re twelve-years-old, spending a night in the woods by yourself. Every rustling leaf, every sound an animal makes in the night scares the living daylights out of you.
You imagine bears coming to eat you, snakes coming to kill you, and anything else your twelve-year-old mind can possibly conjure. It ain’t easy.
You want to run home. You need to run home. But you don’t because the alternative of no longer having a home is much more scary.
And by some wild happenstance, you make it. The sun rises in the east, and what do you see?
Your Father or Grandfather stands thirty or forty feet away with a forty-five on their hip and a shotgun in their hands. They’ve been there all night long, making sure you were safe.
You erupt in tears and run to them shouting, “Why? Why would you leave me alone and not let me know that you were here all along?”
Your family member’s answer is always the same. It’s the same answer Cherokee Boys have heard for millennia.
“So that you would learn that as long as you have family, as long as you are Cherokee and a part of the tribe, that no matter what happens in this life, no matter what troubles befall you, you will never, ever be truly alone.”
I tell you this story so that you can understand what my organization actually is to all of our clients
.
We’re that Father or Grandfather standing in the woods, protecting all of our clients in the dark of night. As long as we’re there, they are never truly alone.
In other words, we’re family.
If you’re having problems with your accounting and tax work, I’m waiting for your call.
We’re all going to get through this. Let’s get through it together…
Accounting Solutions Ltd. stands ready to complete our mission and purpose of protecting you, your family, and your business. Whether you need Payroll Services, Accounting and Tax Work, Tax Planning, or Tax Representation, you have but to ask. I’m here and I remain,
Sincerely yours,
Chris Amundson
President
Accounting Solutions Ltd.
773-267-7500
888-310-0300
www.AccountingSolutionsLtd.com
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