Real Life Retirement:  what real people are doing after age 55 

 

Best retiree job Budget travel tips The Bucket List Retire to sunbelt Travel and work
Other great jobs Extra cash work Medigap details Retiring abroad Early retirement
Make money online Online Publishing Guaranteed income Stretch your budget Retirement fun

Self-employment for retirees

Self-employment after you have retired can combine the best of two worlds: additional retiree income and control of your free time.   As we discuss on our Best Retiree Job page, your first choice for self-employment would most likely be working freelance or consulting using the work skills you already have.   

  The beauty of being a self-employed freelance or consultant is that you simply offer your services to companies.  You do not have to buy much, if any, equipment or software.  You do not have to rent office space--your clients' meeting room is "your office".   And if you are working from your home, a desk is probably all you will need--and you probably already have that.  Your overhead is minimal, as are the costs to set up your business.  And the rates you charge are negotiated with every assignment or contract.

How to start a self-employed consulting business 
when you are retired

1.  Order Business Cards.  Business cards mean you are serious.  Your new cards should include your name, your personal (or new business) phone number, your email address and website printed on them.  Omit a street address; meet your new clients in restaurants or their offices, not in your home.  You can tell them your address when they are ready to send a check to you.  If you use your personal phone number you should answer it in a business-like manner during business hours.

2.  Set Up Your Self-Employment Website or Blog.  A website also means are you serious and keeping up with the digital age!  Get the url (the domain address for your website) before you order business cards so you can include it on the card.  

No need to program a website, however, or spend a fortune getting someone else to do it.  You can get a pre-formatted website for less than $10 a month--set up and ready to go.  Many url registrars offer these kinds of websites.  You just fill in your information in the blank spaces.  Don't know where to get the url?  Google the keywords "url registration".   Blogs are free. 

3. What Should Go On Your  Website.  At a minimum your new website should include your name, phone number, your email, and the services you are offering.  You may also want to write a paragraph or two highlighting your skills and the names of no more than three companies you have worked for in the past.  But stop there.  

Do not include your entire resume.  Do not include dates--especially ones that go back for decades.  Your website should be a lead generator to get someone to call you--not a full sales pitch for your services.  

And do not under any circumstances put your rates or prices on the site.  They are always negotiable in a phone or face-to-face conversation.  If you have testimonials from people and companies you have worked with, put them on your website. 

4.  Start With Your Current or Most Recent Employer.  Speak with your boss or the human resources  department about using your services part time after your retirement date.   Ask if you can work shorter hours or--even better--do work that you can complete at home so you will have more free time.  You may be happily surprised by a "Yes".  In fact, they may offer you a continuing contract.   

From a company's viewpoint it is more cost-effective to keep an employee than to hire and train a new one.  And if they say "No, Thanks", smile confidently, hand out your new business cards and be on your way.   They may change their minds later and call you then.
A Real Life Retirement: 

Karen, a senior executive in an ad agency, decided to start freelancing.  Fortunately, she was well-known in Southern California where she had lived and worked for years.   She made a half a dozen phone calls to other ad agencies and to clients she had previously worked with--being very careful not to contact any of her current employer's active clients.  For the next 18 years she was self-employed with freelance work that kept her busy--without ever having to make another phone call to solicit new assignments.   She got assignments year after year  based on her reputation.  

5.  Call Companies That Compete With Your (about-to-be-former) Employer.  Next, call competing companies.  They may jump at the chance to employ your services, even work for them part time.  Be sure to wait until the first day of your retirement to do this so you avoid any conflict or non-compete problems.

6.  Find Out About Taxes and Licenses.  You may need to have a tax number from a government entity (State, Local or Federal)  to set up your new business.  Unless you decide to incorporate or set up an LLC, you will be a sole proprietor and can use your Social Security Number.  Ask your accountant about this.  Licensing may also be an issue.  Be sure to check this out.  

7.  Tell The World.   We have  specific suggestions for building your business once you get it started.  

NOTE:  All names on this site have been changed to protect individual privacy.  
The stories are real, the names are not. 
Turn your hobbies into extra cash.


How to find cheap but nice vacation rooms worldwide.


How to plan your retirement with a Bucket List.
 

Home

Contact Us   About   Privacy policy: We do not rent, sell, or exchange the e-mail addresses or names of people who contact us.
Entire website, photos, wording, design:  Copyright © 2008-2011  Carol Lightwood  All Rights Reserved.