As everyone who's read an alarmist story about America's looming entitlements crisis, or the New York Times's new Sunday column, Generation B, know, we're about to get a lot more old people. The Baby Boomers--that massive generation born in the years after World War II ended--have crashed the gates of 55 and 60, and some will soon start receiving Social Security checks. At the same time, advances in the realms of medicine, nutrition, and lifestyles have made these junior senior citizens, as a group, more active than ever before. In other words, many of them are likely to blow by 65 without retiring.
This new demographic and social fact, however, may produce a new paradigm, wherein 50- and 60-somethings who might be considering a career change or partial retirement may instead look to a new option: entrepreneurship. So suggests Entrepreneur.com, which talks to the experts and profiles several examples.
Part of the idea is that at this point in their lives, people tend to have more substantial savings, which can be quite helpful indeed when you're looking to finance a start-up (particularly in this credit market!). Starting your own business can also give you the greater work-life flexibility--including the prospect of working from home--that people who are old enough to want to leave the rat race but young enough to want to keep working may be looking for. This is one Boomer trend story that we think has something to it.
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April 03, 2009