With a self-employed retirement, you can find the perfect balance between enjoying a peaceful retirement, and a stimulating retirement where your new, day-to-day employment keeps you active and gives you added income. Self-employment is popular in certain areas and career paths. Most people who start a self employed retirement have a background in the field of their business; most likely it is an extension of the career had before retirement.
Choosing a self employed retirement is a lifestyle choice that takes a lot of thought and weighing of the pros and cons. To become self-employed, one can set up a business, work as a freelancer or contractor, or buy into a franchise. People may decide to go into a self employed retirement for multiple reasons:
- The desire to sell skills and/or expertise
- Desire to prove an idea
- Relish the challenge
- Want to generate a second form of income
- Reaction to an ill-formed first career decision
- Peer or family pressure
- To be your own boss
- Make your own schedule and workload
Forming your own business takes a lot of hard work, dedication and-in the beginning, a lot more spending than profit. However, this can make it the perfect solution to retirement! Many retirees get bored with retirement and want a task that will challenge them physically and mentally without having to deal with anyone else’s rules. Living under someone else’s rule your entire life can push an individual to want to work for themselves.
Certain areas of work are better than others for a self-employed retirement. The Internet has revolutionized the self-employment industry in that it allows a plethora of opportunities in multiple fields to be sold online. An industry could range from owning your own business of selling precious coins online to creating web page designs for small business owners. Here is a list of common areas of work for a self-employed retirement.
- Information Technologies
- IT consultant
- IT trainer
- Web designer
- Visual arts
- Graphic designer
- Illustrator
- Printmaker
- Metalwork/silversmith designer
- Health and exercise
- Dentist
- Counselor
- Osteopath
- Podiatrist/chiropodist
- Sports therapist
- Media
- Film/video editor
- Magazine journalist
- Make-up artist
- Runner, broadcasting/film/video
- Writer
- Performing arts
- Actor
- Musician
- Theater stage manager
- Business and the law
- Chartered accountant
- Barrister
- Human resource officer
- Management consultant
- Environmental consultant
- Other occupations
- Photography
- Language translation
- Freelance teaching
- Wine importing
- Sub-aqua diving instruction
As you can tell, the options available for self-employment range dramatically, and most need a previous knowledge in the field. If, however, you are planning a smaller company with no other employees and giving a service rather than a product, your skill level doesn’t have to be as intense as some (like those that include extra schooling or training).
The Benefits of a Self Employed Retirement
- Being your own boss
- Earning more money
- Working fewer hours
- Independence
- Variety and choosing the work you enjoy
The Drawbacks of a Self Employed Retirement
- Make your own tax, pension and health insurance arrangements
- In the beginning, resources and money are hard to attain so you might find yourself doing tasks you don’t want to do as well as not making as much money as you will in later months (or years)
- You might need to change services to what there is a demand for which might make the process not as enjoyable for you
- The typical woes of any business- pressures from clients, employees and customers; losing a range of benefits and a support infrastructure of being an employee, not employer.
What to get from all this is that self-employment after retirement can have amazing benefits to you, your family and your wallet. However, there are some definite issues surrounding the logistics of self-employment that will not only give a lot of stress and strain on your mental capabilities, but also on your bank account. The pros and cons need to be weighed and you need to decide for yourself if the self-employment idea you have is worth the risk.
Tags: Self-Employed Retirement