Baby chasing your way to an encore hustle - Hustler Daily Thumbs Up - October 11

Hello fellow Encore Hustlers

Mr EH loves to hear about additions to the lexicon relating senior entrepreneurs.

If you, like Mr EH, have never heard of "baby chasing", then read this story that explains the phenomena. It turns out that baby chasers are retired, or near retired, boomers who relocate to be near their grandchildren.

However, boomers being boomers are not content just being maw-maw and pop-pop.  Instead, many baby chasers are opting the move to be an opportunity to pursue an encore hustle.

If you are considering being a baby chaser and moving to a new community then it would definitely worth your time to tap local resources to help support launching your new business.  As an example, check out this link to the Asheville (North Carolina) chapter of SCORE, a nonprofit partner of the Small Business Administration that mentors aspiring entrepreneurs.

Cheers
Mr. EH

The Hustle High Five - Hustler News of the Week - April 21

Hello Encore Hustlers.

Buckle up and enjoy today's stories.

1)  One of the common concerns we have in our late careers is convincing employers that we have still so much to offer.  Check out this story from Marketwatch about a CFO who couldn't get hired at 61, so he stared his own business.  Also it is never too late to achieve late career success as featured in the interview with Rich Karlgaard, the author of Late Bloomers: The Power of Patience in a World Obsessed with Early Achievement.  In Maine the older worker is hot commodity, they are the largest segement of the labor force, so read about the Boomer Institute that matches them with compatible employers.  One option that many employers now offer is to continue working but remotely from home.  If you think this appeals to you then read this story of What Working Remotely Means For Baby Boomers' Retirement Plans.

2)   Rather than playing the interviewing game to convince employers of your worth, this might be the best time to pursue your passion and strike out on an encore career.  Read these two stories, the first gives an appraisal of the positives and negatives for an encore careen and the second on how to pursue your passion.  Also check this piece on how to retirement can mean reinventing yourself.

3)   If you do return to work after retiring, it is critical that you protect the benefits that you earned before retirement.  This story is about how it will affect your social security.  If you are a retired Federal employee then check this article about how to boost your benefits if you "unretire".

4)  Forbes magazine has great articles about retirement and side hustles.  Here are three stories from Forbes that I really enjoyed. The first is about Becoming An Apartment Rental Agent as an encore career.  The second is how to Increase the Odds That You Can Continue Working In Your Retirement Years. The third is Retirement is Dead!.  I hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

5)  Here is interesting story from the New York Times about a 71 year old artist from California who makes $40K per year driving for Uber.  It details the long hours and expenses involved in being an Uber drive that does not paint a flattering picture of this gig.  Of course, while I am reading it I am wondering why does he keep driving for Uber?  There are many other options for work that he could explore, Trader Joes' is well known as workplace for seniors that provides good salary and benefits, for example.  If your side hustle is not working, it might be time to explore other options.

6)  And here is a bonus story that I just had to include.  You know I am a sucker encore hustlers that are on the long tail of the curve and here is a story about a 100-year-old yoga teacher that is really an inspiration.

As always, enjoy the hustle.

Cheers,
Mr. EH

The Hustle High Five - Hustler News of the Week - March 23

Hello EncoreHustlers

Some weeks when I am researching (aka Googling) articles to feature in a posting there seems to be very few stories that are worth including.

This is not one of those weeks.  And rather than limiting myself to just a handful of stories I have, like Hemingway's six toed cats, added a few digits.  I hope you enjoy reading them.

1)   Deciding at what age to take Social Security can have ramifications that can last decades.  So what happens if you decide to unretire (to return to work) after starting receiving Social Security. Check out this article from MarketWatch How "Unretirement" Affects Your Social Security.  It turns out you have several options including: reimbursing the Social Security Administration for payments you already received, pausing your benefit or continuing to work but being mindful that earnings above $17,640 will result in clawbacks on your Social Security benefit.

2)   If you are looking to work full or part-time here are two good articles to get you launched on your job search: How To Find A Great Part-time Job In Your Retirement from the Oakland Press and Are You A Baby Boomer Looking For Work: Where To Find The Best Opportunities from Forbes.

3)   If you are unsure whether to retire full-time or continue working part-time check out this study from the UK, Average Retiree Grows Bored After Just One Year.

4)   Here are two stories about efforts to lure seniors back to work.  The first is from Maine where seniors are sought by companies due to historic low unemployment rates and the second is from Scotland where retired doctors are recruited to work in underserved rural areas.

5)   Creativity does not necessarily decline when we age.  Read this story from Long Island, New York about three senior inventors who have found their Eureka moment.

6)   The US Bureau of Labor keeps all sorts of interesting employment statics, including worker age and employment numbers.  It turns out that there are more than 250,000 workers aged 85 or older who still draw a paycheck.  But even amongst this cohort the story of a 97 year old veteran, who bags groceries two days a week at a New Jersey store, is an outlier.

7)   This week was the start of baseball season and this story from Decatur, Illinois about a softball umpire school, although published a couple of weeks ago, has come off the bench.  It turns out umpiring for softball is a pretty good encore hustle.  An umpire can earn $35 per game that typically lasts 70 minutes.  During a tournament weekend this could mean hundreds of dollars, not a bad return for participating in America's pastime.

I hope these stories inform you and inspire you to start your EncoreHustle.  And I love to hear your comments and your stories.

So until next week, keep hustling.

Mr. EH

The Hustle High Five - Hustler News of the Week - March 2

Hello EncoreHustlers!  Without preamble here are the High Fives

1)  Many companies are now recognizing the value of keeping and pampering older employees.  Back in day getting a steady paycheck was a great perk.  Now yoga and coffee bars are in vogue.  Check out this story from Barron's on the next workplace trend.

2)  As a companion to the story above here is a very good piece from The Washington Post about companies dealing with the Boomer Generation. It appears the need to retain older workers is not uniform across the economy.

3)  Mystery shopping is a great side hustle to makes a few extra bucks. Read this story about a music teacher who gets assigned to being a secret shopper at luxury hotels

4)  Retired government employees are usually restricted from returning to work to the agency they left. Now many civic governments are reconsidering this rule, and Pensacola is looking at allowing retired police officers to return to duty on a part time basis.

5)  Everyone believes that they have a novel in them just waiting to be put on paper. Retirement might be the best time to see if you have a story worth telling. Read about this retired Virginia dentist who finally realized his dream by authoring thriller themed novels.

Have a great week. Hope your hustles are successful.

Cheers
Mr 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.

Where's our Jetpacks?

In the scrub desert of eastern Washington near where I work there is a laboratory that measures gravitational waves, essentially the ripples of space and time, when black holes collide.  Much like these distortions of the fabric of universe, the Baby Boom continues to be a seismic event that sends ripples through our society and the economy.

As I mentioned in my first post, an estimated 10,000 Americans turn 65 every day and people over 65 now outnumber teens for the first time since 1948.  By 2029 the +65 cohort will number over 71 million or about 20% of the population.  And yet as the ranks of seniors swell recent polls asking if people plan to continue working, either full or part-time, past 65 have resulted in a responses ranging from 48 to 74%.  Which means that if you are not planning on working past 65 I am sure you know someone who does.

So what happened to the traditional retirement model that our parents enjoyed a generation ago?  Where did the secure retirement go that allowed for lazy days of golf, fishing and bridge that could be enjoyed after a lifetime of labor?  I am afraid that for most of us that idea has gone the way of the jetpacks that we were promised when we were growing up in the 60's.

I am sure we all experienced several of the following that resulted in the "new" retirement model:

• A shift from defined benefit plans (pensions) to defined contribution plans (the 401k). For example, in 2015 only 20% of the Fortune 500 companies offered pension plans down from 59% back in 1998.  The onus on retirement planning has been placed our shoulders and for many of us we have not been up the task.  We did not max our our contributions or understand the nature of risk while investing for the long term.
• We are living longer than our parents.  Advances in healthcare means that we are living about 10 years longer than our parents which means we increase the chances that we will outlive our savings.
• Wages have been stagnant for close to 40 years.  Real median wages have only risen 9% since 1979.  For comparison, real wages in the 25 years after the end of WWII rose 91%.
• Lifestyle inflation.  Our parents didn't have three gas guzzlers in the driveway of our McMansions.  Nuff said.
• Increased personnel debt has become a way of life.  For example, in 2016 the average household had credit credit debt of $6,184.  That is on top of the other debts: auto, student and mortgage.  You can't save for retirement if your are in hock to the bank and MasterCard.
• The rise in the cost of medical expenses and college tuition has been raising faster than inflation. Since 1978 college tuition has increased 1,120% (four times faster than the consumer price index).  Over the same period medical expenses have risen 601% while food has increased 244%.  Many of us are still paying for students loans taken out decades ago (not to mention the loans we co-signed for our children) and the burden of medical debt is a leading cause of personal bankruptcy. 
• We have become a "sandwich" generation with about 15% of middle-aged households providing financial support to both an aging parent and a child, siphoning money away from retirement savings.
• The restructuring of the American economy that shattered traditional industries resulting in many workers being fired from companies with whom they thought they would have lifetime employment.  This resulted in millions of workers having long term unemployment, a reduction in savings and for many employment in positions at lower wages and benefits.
• And let us not forget the Subprime Mortgage Crisis of 2007 and the subsequent Great Recession.  A recent poll has indicated that these events have left almost half of Boomer households significantly less prepared for retirement.

Ok, enough of that, sorry for being a Debbie Downer.  Now on the flip side, there numerous reasons embrace the "new" retirement and the Encore Hustle:

• We are living longer and overall we are healthier! The old model of retiring at 65 was started at a time when if you lived to 68 you were considered lucky.  So, in addition to advances in healthcare, we have come to realize that the continuance of work has huge health benefits.  It keeps us active and engaged.  It can strengthen our social network and stave off cognitive decline.
• We are a more educated workforce.  In 1950 only about 7% of the workforce had a college degree.  By 1990 this increased to about 24%. This education doesn't expire when we turn 65!  Put it work.
• The economy has shifted where the workforce is employed in manufacturing to one of services and knowledge based.  This benefits the older worker.
• Conversely since the number of workers in trades and crafts have declined there is a generational gap in this sector.  If you have these skills and don't mind grease under your fingernails there will always be a place for you.
• Current unemployment rates are low and many employers appreciate flexibility and work ethic of older worker.  In some cases companies are actively seeking out that sector of the workforce.
• The internet and the sharing economy has made it incredibly easy to network, search for work and start businesses.  Linkedin, Monster, eBay, Facebook, Payday, Alibaba, Uber, Airbnb, eLance, Craigslist etc are all household words that did not exist 15 years ago.

Sure we are not strapping on our jetpacks or booking vacations to the moon yet.  But we do have electric cars, solar energy and gene therapy.  I personally can't wait to see what the next 30 years will hold.  How about you?