Testing Your Retirement Budget

Testing your retirement budget

If you've always enjoyed spending right up to the limits of your income (or even exceeding them) whilst you've been working, how will things need to change for you when you retire?

Most people have to have some sort of budget in place once they retire - after all, there aren't many people who would tell you that they have so much money from their retirement income that they'll never again have to worry about their cash flow.

If you're worried about your ability to cope on your retirement income, give it a trial run for six months now to see how you get on. This is easy enough to do:

1. Find out what your projected retirement income will be.

2. You're going to need two bank accounts. The first is your current account which you're going to use as your 'pension account', i.e., the account in which you keep your projected retirement income and the money which you'll live on for the next 6 months. The second account will be a deposit account and you'll 'sweep' the difference between your net salary and your pension into this.

So, for example, if you were expecting a total monthly retirement income of £1000 and you receive a salary of £2000, on pay day, you sweep the excess £1000 from your current account into your deposit account, leaving yourself £1000 to live on for the next month.

3. After you've done this for 3 months, you'll be able to tell if you're going to be able to cope on your projected retirement income or not. If it becomes obvious that you're going to struggle, you have time to do something about that situation now. Maybe you need to have a word with your employer and arrange to continue working a little longer to accrue more pension savings. Or maybe you could get a part-tine job somewhere else. Or start a retirement business.


11 Famous People That Succeeded Later in Life

Late success
Do you feel like it’s too late to achieve a significant amount of success? Okay - so many of the most successful people did start at a young age. Which can be disheartening for the late bloomers among us. But many of the most successful people you know didn’t get started until much later in life.

If you think you missed the boat because you’re not in the first flush of youth, you couldn’t be more wrong. In fact, you’re wrong even if you’re 80.

Success often isn’t achieved until later in life:

Samuel L. Jackson didn’t get his first big role until the age of 43. Prior to that he was a struggling actor with little future. Now he’s known by people all over the world for his acting. How many movies, TV shows, and video games has he been in since that first big role in Jungle Fever? 140!

Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart at the age of 44. He had been successful in the retail environment in his younger years, but nothing out of the ordinary. Wal-Mart went on to become one the biggest companies in the world, and Walton become one of the world’s richest.

Stan Lee. Known to everyone as the creator of Spiderman and the X-Men, Stan Lee didn’t experience success until the age of 39. And his most well-known work didn’t occur until several years after that. Who says it’s too late to do something incredible with your life?

Ronald Reagan never held a political office until the age of 55! He became one of the most popular presidents in modern history.

Colonel Sanders didn’t invent his famous chicken recipe until he was 50. His famous chain of restaurants is still doing well today. His likeness has been used to market KFC since the very beginning.

College students everywhere owe a debt of thanks to Momofuku Ando. At the age of 48, he created those Ramen noodles that poor students rely on for life itself. How many times have you had Ramen noodles in your life?

Charles Darwin wrote On the Origin of Species at the age of 50. No book has had a greater effect on the theory of evolution than Charles Darwin’s iconic book.

Taikichiro Mori became a real estate investor at the age of 55. He was a professor before that. He was the richest man in the world in 1992 with a net worth $13 billion. He inherited his first building from his father. The rest he accomplished on his own.

And they were all just babies in comparision to:

Grandma Moses who started painting at the age of 78. If you have the gumption, you can still make an impact after 70. One of her paintings sold for over a million dollars.

Laura Ingalls Wilder didn’t publish her first novel until she was 65-years old. She wrote an additional 12 novels after that. A successful television series was built around her series of books. Older children still read her books today.

Peter Roget created the first thesaurus when he was 73-years old. He was trained as a medical doctor but had an obsession with words, especially words that had the same meaning. He quit his medical career to focus on the creation of the first thesaurus. The most popular thesaurus in the world still bears his name.

So you see - it’s never too late to leave your mark on the world! But time is constantly passing, so it’s time to start making it happen. Spend the later portion of your life pursuing something you love. There’s still time to do something amazing!

 


6 Tips for Becoming an Entrepreneur Later in Life

Boomer bizEntrepreneurs aren't limited by age, and you can start a successful business at any stage of your life. However, becoming an entrepreneur later in life has its own unique challenges.
 
Consider these tips for starting a business as a senior:
 
1. Avoid allowing others to limit your goals. As you get older, you may have more people in your life who try to persuade you away from the entrepreneur lifestyle. 
 
* Your family and friends may have good intentions, but they can also limit your dreams.
 
* They may remind you that it's more difficult to start a new business as you get older because you have other responsibilities. Children, aging parents, and others can take up a lot of your time and present challenges when starting a business. However, knowing that these challenges exist can also help you make contingency plans for when time is tight. 
 
2. Ignore your age. Dreams don't have expiration dates, and entrepreneurs don't have age limits. As they say, "you're only as old as you feel." So if you feel like taking on the rigors of starting a new business, let your age be the last thing on your mind as you move forward with your business plans.
 
3. Be open to learning from others. The most successful entrepreneurs are open to learning new ideas.
 
* Stay up to date on new advancements in your field, either by keeping in the loop yourself or by hiring employees or contractors that incorporate this into their tasks.
 
* Finding a mentor with successful business experience in your field can help your new business see profits quickly and plan for successful growth.
 
4. Get your family involved. Successful entrepreneurs often have their family members involved in the business. 
 
* Do your children want to help you build a business? Does your spouse have interesting ideas and want to collaborate with you? Your family can help you make your dream come true.
 
5. Consider the impact of the business on your personal life. If you're still working, how will the business affect your family and ability to continue working your regular day job? 
 
* A new business venture may be exciting, but it has consequences.
 
* It's important to consider the full impact of the new business on your personal life. Will you be able to spend time with your children and spouse as you launch the business?
 
* Your personal finances are another area that can be deeply affected by a new business. How do you plan to pay for the business? If your plan involves draining personal finances or getting new loans, then this can affect your entire family. It's important to discuss the changes with them before you take action.
 
6. Consider the impact of your parents on the business. As your parents age, they may become dependent on you. Can you handle the complexities of being an entrepreneur and caring for your parents?
 
* Younger entrepreneurs may have decades before they have to worry about caring for their aging parents. However, as an older entrepreneur, you don't have this luxury.
 
* You may have to handle multiple roles at the same time. How will you balance your lifestyle and finances to manage everything? Can you afford to start a new business if your parents need your help?
 
* Your parents can have a serious accident or health issue that makes you responsible for taking care of them. The expense of this situation can be detrimental to your efforts with your new business.
 
You can become a successful entrepreneur and build a strong business at any age. However, it's important to stay aware of the challenges that come with being an entrepreneur and make plans that will help you overcome these challenges.
 
Check out our Boomers Starting Businesses blog for more ideas and information about starting a business in your retirement...
 



How to Become an Online Infopreneur

Solution Depositphotos_13165668_s-2015Information marketing has taken the internet by storm. As more and more people begin utilizing digital information, and reading and learning online, more opportunities open up for information marketers. If you have specialty information or have a passion for a topic, information marketing may be the perfect business model for you.

What Is an Online Infopreneur?

An online infopreneur is someone who makes a living selling information. It can be a very profitable business model. An example is someone who is an expert when it comes to bird training. They have a passion for or a strong interest in training birds. They might create training manuals, videos and courses on how to train your pet bird. The information could range from beginner to advanced tricks like how to train your parrot to play dead. Sounds crazy, right? I mean, who needs to train their parrot to do that? Believe it or not, there’s a market for it.

An online infopreneur’s first job is to determine what their passions are and if there’s a market for it. You might begin by making a list of the topics you’re knowledgeable in or passionate about. Then you begin your research. Using keyword research tools and investigating online, you’d look to see if people are searching for that topic.

Continuing with the parrot training topic, perhaps that infopreneur began with a passion for birds. They found during their research that many people were struggling with their exotic birds. They were biting and screaming and being generally unruly. This infopreneur then saw that there weren’t a lot of other businesses providing information on the topic. In short, there was a good demand for the information but not much supply. This is the perfect opportunity to create an information marketing business.

So your first step is to find your interests and passions. Your second step is to research them for profitable niches. A niche is a specialty topic. It can also be a demographic like teen bird trainers or bird training in the desert south-west. Or it can be a skill level - beginner bird training, for example.

Once you’ve chosen a niche, it’s time to create your website and information products. Your website will be dedicated to helping your audience learn what they need to know or want to know about your topic. You might post free article or video content. You may offer free reports and digital downloads.

Once you have people interested and accessing your free information, you can take them to the next step which is to offer them a product to buy. Often this is an ebook, an online course or a video series. The information products that are successful generally solve a problem for their audience. For example, “How to stop your parrot from biting.” You may uncover common problems during your research or you may need to do additional research to find the answers.

If you have a passion, interest or specialty knowledge about a topic, consider using that to create an information marketing business. It’s a great way to make an income. Some information marketers have gone on to make millions from their books, courses and videos. Here's to your retirement business success!




How to Turn Your Jewellery Making Hobby into a Successful Retirement Business

Hobby Depositphotos_55029521_s-2015
Do you enjoy making jewellery and wish there was a way to make money from it? Good news - there is. You can turn your jewellery making hobby into a successful retirement business. Full time, part time or somewhere in between, you can create a business selling your jewellery. Here’s how:

#1 Research your competition and your market. The first step to creating a successful business is finding a unique niche or market. If you make a variety of jewellery types and styles, then there’s a great chance you can find a unique niche. Research online to learn who your market is and who your competition may be.

In addition to researching jewellery websites, also visit etsy.com, eBay and other seller websites to see what’s available there. Based on your research, determine the approach you want to take. Do you want to specialize in single stone rings? Do you want to specialize in zodiac jewellery? Or wedding jewellery?  What’s your unique niche?

#2 Create your inventory. In addition to having a range of stock to sell, you can take photos of your items for your online catalogue. Potential customers will want to see samples, and the photos of your jewellery will motivate them to purchase. Have fun with this part of the business-building phase and do your best work.

#3 Price your jewellery. This is the fun part; don’t underprice your jewellery because you want to sell it. Price it for what it’s worth, price it to make a profit, but price it competitively. This will require a bit of research.

#4 Create your website, or have someone create it for you. Your website needs to accomplish several goals. It needs to market your business and your jewellery and provide the opportunity for people to order your creations and pay for them. This can be accomplished by using several approaches, including ensuring your website has search engine friendly content, a product catalogue and information about you and your art. You’ll also need some way for people to order jewellery, a shopping cart system, and a fulfilment procedure.

#5 Consider creating stores on other websites like etsy.com, eBay, or even Amazon.com. These sites offer you the ability to create ‘stores’ and they manage the shopping cart and search engine aspect of business. It can be a great way to start out.

#6 Market your jewellery. There are various ways you can market your business. In addition to creating stores on the websites mentioned in #4, you can also advertise online or utilize content marketing and search engine optimization tactics to drive traffic to your website. However, don’t forget your community. Friends, family, and local advertising can be a wonderful way to get your first few clients. In fact, word of mouth is one of the best marketing tactics there is.

For example, you could host a home party to sell your jewellery, or give it to family to wear with the agreement that they hand out your card every time someone compliments them on their jewellery.

I hope that's convinced you to give it a go!  Launch your business, get your beautiful designs out there and make money from your jewellery hobby. Have fun with it and enjoy the process.


How to Turn Your Ideas into e-Books

EbooksInformation marketing is a wonderful business model. It can be quite lucrative as a standalone retirement business and you can also incorporate it into an existing business model for more profits and credibility. However, sometimes taking that leap from idea to e-book can be quite a challenge. Here are a few ideas to get your idea turned into an e-book reality.

#1 Get someone else to write it. No, we’re not talking about hiring a ghostwriter, though that’s certainly an option. Some of the best e-books are actually collections of articles written by industry experts.

For example, if you have a website devoted to dog training and want to write an e-book about training your dog unusual tricks, you could ask ten animal trainers to each contribute their favourite trick to the book. Each dog trainer would get exposure for their business in the book and you’d get a complete, and quite valuable, e-book to sell. You didn’t have to write a single word!

#2 Break it down. Sometimes the hurdle between book idea and actual product is a feeling of being overwhelmed. There’s an easy way around that challenge. Break your main topic into ten to twenty supporting topics. It may be easier to pose them as questions.

For example, an e-book on sales techniques might have the following supporting points or chapters:

  • What are the benefits of better selling?
  • How do listening skills play a role in increased sales?
  • How important is relationship building?
  • Should I network for more sales?

Each of these supporting chapters can then be divided even more into ten or more supporting points. Thus, for a ten chapter book you end up with 100 smaller, almost article size, topics to address. It makes writing a book much more manageable.

#3 Turn to audio. Some people just don’t have the time or the inclination to write a book, but still want the results. No problem. You can create an audio file instead. There are actually two ways to approach this. You can interview people on your topic, have the interviews transcribed, edited and polished. Then compile them into an e-book format.

Or you can simply speak your book and then have someone transcribe it and edit and polish it into an e-book. For some, it’s easier to flesh out their ideas if they’re talking. If this is you, consider recording your book instead of putting fingers to keyboard. Additionally, there is software like Dragon Naturally Speaking that will transcribe your audio for you. This saves you the cost of a transcriptionist, though you may still want to hire someone to edit and polish your book.

Finally, though we did mention it in the beginning, if you do have an idea for an e-book but don’t have the time or inclination to turn it into a reality, then consider hiring a ghostwriter. Look for one who is experienced with writing books. Discuss your needs and work together to turn your idea into e-book profits.


Retirement Business Ideas #8: Start a Household Clearance Business

House clearanceA household clearance business can be a huge help to a whole variety of people. The house clearers enter the homes of those who have deceased or vacated and essentially clean them out top to bottom. They get rid of everything inside from garbage to collectibles and everything in between.

How Does a Household Clearance Business Make Money?

A household clearance business generally makes money by selling the items they find inside the home. A home that’s been foreclosed on is often left full of furniture, appliances and equipment that the previous owners just couldn’t take with them. A clearance business can sell all of these items for a profit. In the case of foreclosure or a death, that’s generally how they profit. However, a clearance business can also charge by the hour or by the home or project.

What Do You Need to Start a Household Clearance Business?

If you’re going to be removing and transporting garbage, you’ll want to look into your local licensing regulations. Many communities require a special license for transporting waste. Additionally, you will likely want to make sure your business is insured.

You’ll need vehicles to transport all of the waste and items found inside the home. Storage for the items you find inside the home and intend to sell is also helpful. You may also need a few employees unless you are content to work long and laborious days on your own.

You’ll want to have some basic cleaning equipment as well. These might include gloves, shovels, and containers for waste and items to be removed. While no formal training or education is required, if you’re looking to sell collectibles then knowledge of antiques and collectibles will help.   Marketing Your Household Clearance Business

In this business it pays to have connections. You will want to connect with funeral homes that can pass out your card when a client asks for guidance. You can also connect with real estate agents who will be aware of foreclosed homes. You can also market your business online and in local business directories. Think about where someone would look for your service and then make sure you’re represented there.

Owning a household clearance business can be a lot of work but it can also be a lot of fun. You’re able to see real progress as you clear out a home. You might find rare and valuable items inside a home and you’re providing a service. If you don’t mind working the occasional long day and you do enjoy clearing, cleaning and selling items, then a household clearance business may be your dream opportunity.