Silverjobs in Singapore - Hustler Daily Thumbs Up - August 22

Hello fellow Encore Hustlers

Singapore, like many developed nations, is having to deal with an aging population.  Currently the Singaporean government is planning on rising the retirement age for its citizens from 62 to 70 any 2030 as a means of increasing pension payouts.  Also recent polls indicate that Singaporean seniors want to continuing working.

Read this story about how the Singaporean government is providing training and resources such a Silverjobs that match seniors with employers.  A check of Silverjobs has opportunities ranging from package delivery to engineering assignments, and positions are part or full time.

Cheers Mr EH

This third act is totally legal - Hustler Daily Thumbs Up - July 2

Hello fellow Encore Hustlers

Another name for an encore hustle is a second act career.  So what happens when you pursue a third act career?  Read this article about Too Yong Chuan from Singapore who joined the Singapore Straits Times as a correspondent in. 2011 after 18 years as a civil servant.  After surviving several reorganizations at the Straits Times he made the decision in 2017 to enroll in law school as a part-time student.

To prepare for the four year commitment he paid off his mortgage and enlisted the support of his wife and children.  While he is the oldest student in his class he feels that his life experience gives him an advantage over his much younger cohort.  He also hopes that this will provide him an advantage when he applies for a law clerking position in two years.

I somehow have the feeling that Mr. Chuan will not settle for just a third act when it comes to career reinvention.

Cheers,
Mr. EH

Asia moves to productive longevity - Hustler Daily Thumbs Up - June 18

Hello fellow Encore Hustlers

Here is a link to an article from Nikkei Asian Review about how Asian policymakers are grappling with seismic shifts in their economies due to aging populations, pension funding concerns and shrinking labor forces.

Countries like Singapore, Japan, Korea and Vietnam are actively pursuing "productive longevity" by creating initiatives and policies that promote seniors remaining in the workforce by retraining older workers and partnering with companies to find ways to accommodate an aging labor pool.

I believe these initiatives will be closely monitored by the rest of the world.  But until public policy catches up with reality it is up to you to plot your course towards your encore hustle.

Cheers,
Mr EH

Malaysian encore hustle is a marathon not a race - Hustler Daily Thumbs Up - May 10

Hello fellow Encore Hustlers

I love finding stories about encore hustlers anywhere in the world and I am glad that I came across this piece from Malaysia about Wan Yew Leong, a retired banker and runner.

Encore hustles have been slow to catch on in Malaysia but Leong was inspired to become a seniorpreneur after a visit to nearby Singapore and noticing the large number of seniors still in the workforce.  Leong, live many encore hustlers, decided to combine passion and experience into a business opportunity.

He has been a marathon runner since his 20's and from experience he knew how important hydration is during a race.  He decided to establish a business that would manage marathon hydration stations, including setting up tables, stocking water and isotonic beverages, and filling cups to hand out to the runners.  While most of the hydration team are volunteers, provided by race organizers, there has to a core group of employees to handle the organizing and logistics and that is the service Leong provides.  He also has the policy of hiring seniors and about half his employees are over 60 years.

I definitely think that Leong deserves a victory lap with this encore hustle.

Cheers,
Mr. EH

The Hustle High Five - Hustler News of the Week - March 16

Hello fellow EncoreHustlers.

I hope these weekly posts inspire you toward you starting your encore career or continuing your side hustle.  If you do not have a encorehustle I am sure you know someone who does.  Without further ado here are this weeks high five.

1)   Public sector employees often have pension plans that the envy of the private sector workforce.   The Dallas Police and Fire Pension System has a sweet perk called the Deferred Retirement Option (DROP) that guaranteed their members a minimum 8% return if they continued to work past retirement age.  However this generous benefit has stressed the sustainability of the pension plan and the Texas Supreme Court has handed down a decision that allows the benefits to be dropped (sorry for the pun) to 5%.

2)   The US has IRA's and Canada has RRSP's.  New Zealand's version is KiwiSaver and in recognition of an older workforce the fund now allows workers over age 65 to start contributing to the plan.  Previously one had to be enrolled in the plan before age 65.

3)   Here is a great analysis of pensions and retirement from an Asian perspective.  How retirement is funded across Asia varies from nation to nation.  China has traditionally gone with the Defined Benefit (DB) model that has the state or company fund the pension.  Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia follows the Defined Contribution (DC) model that relies heavily on worker contributions and more risk taking, similar to the US 401(k) model.  Like the Baby Boomer generation in the US, Asia also has a tidal wave of aging and it will have significant effects across the globe, involving billions of people and trillions of dollars.  Retirement age in Asia is rising and millions of retirees are continuing to work to make up for the shortfalls in their pension payments.

4)   Following your passion is often cited as a major contributor to both successful careers and to successful retirements.  In the case of Mary Knox-Johnson, she has used this advice for her encore career.  After 32 years of teaching high school English, speech, and theatre in North Dakota, she took a retirement gap year to visit relatives, swim with dolphins and write a book.  With that done she became an adjunct professor teaching speech at Bemidji State University (Minnesota) and a director at the Community Theatre.

5)   From Canada here is a great story about two seniors who have no plans to retire ever. Brian Dickens a commercial fisherman from British Columbia is refitting his boat to allow him to extend his fishing range to the open ocean.  David Morrison, a Toronto business executive, is launching an app called FOOi, a digital app for peer-to-peer and peer-to-business financial transactions.

Have a great week and I would really appreciate you sharing this post.

Cheers
M. EH

The Hustler High Five - Hustler News of the Week - January 18

Hello fellow EncoreHustlers.

I rounded up some great stories this week and I hope you enjoy reading them and find them useful and inspiring.

1)  Age discrimination in the workplace is real and your resume should always be evergreen.  Here is some good career advice in this Forbes article Baby Boomers: Get Ready to Job Hunt in 2019.

2)  It is never too late to start a business to pursue your passion.  Check out this story about Lynn Bright, from West Virginia, who opened the Old Mill Bakery after nearly 50 years in positions as varied as being a youth director for the Army, a recreation director for the Federal Bureau of Prisons and an English teacher in China. Once you finish reading Bright's story click to Time to 2: 5 Steps to Find Your Ideal Encore Career.

3)  After years of working the 9 to 5, with long commutes and office politics why not trade it in for working from home.  AARP profiles five people who have made telecommuting work for them in You Can Earn a Living While Working From Home.

4)  Working past the traditional retirement age is a global phenomenon.  In Singapore, for example, 27 percent of the population past age 65 continue to work.  Yes, it is true that many seniors work for strictly financial reasons, but a significant number work because they enjoy the challenge and their skills are in demand.  Read Aging Singapore: City-state helps firms retain workers past retirement age to see how the government provides grants to employers to help make the workplace older worker friendly.

5)  It is not uncommon for people to "fail at retirement", when they decide to return to working after a short period of retirement.  Read The Age of Unretirement for advice on returning to the workforce.

The Hustle High Five - Hustler News of the Week - January 11

Hello EncoreHustlers.

It is only the second Hustle High Five post and I am already fudging the numbers.  It is has been such a good week for side hustle stories that I couldn't resist adding a few extra.

1)  Quartz has an interesting report on the benefits of continuing to work after what is typically considered retirement age in the story The Secret of a Secure Retirement is Not Retiring at All.

2)  The New York Times profiled Marc Freedman, the founder of Encore.org, an organization with the mission to "tap the skills and experience of people in midlife and beyond to improve communities".  Read Bringing Older Americans Back Into the Fold.

3)  Check out this story What to do after retirement, about a Senior Job Club being established in Garden City, Kansas to assist retirees who want to return to work.

4)  This is a good article, from the Longview (Texas) News-Journal, stressing the importance of meeting Medicare application deadlines as you approach 65, Working past 65? Here's what to know about Medicare.

5)  Here are two articles about government employees working side hustles while on furlough.  The first about a diplomat writing on-line product reviews and the second about two sisters starting a cheesecake business.

6)  Just to remind everyone that retirees seeking side hustles is not just an American phenomena here are two international stories, the first from Germany, and the second from Singapore.  The interesting aspect of these two stories is that other countries, especially those with strong economies, such as Germany and Singapore have pension systems that leave their elder citizens barely living above the poverty line.