Retirement for Small Business Owners

Business owners retire later in life than people who have been employees.  Some say this is because people who run their own business are more likley to be doing what they love and don't see any reason to retire.  Others say it is because succession planning is complicated.  And some say it is tough to give up the business income, especially if there is going to be a substantial drop in income once the business has been sold/closed.

Depending upon the type of business, some owners have the option of either dropping some of their lines of business to free up more time, or cutting back on the hours during which they offer their services.  My esthetician only works 4 days a week; she is prepared to sacrifice income for free time.  In the summer she only works 3 days a week.  Most importantly, she hasn't lost any of her clients by doing this.  She is fully booked year round.

The best advice I can offer to small business owners is that it is important to invest time in succession planning, to consider who might be intereted in buying your business, and in the end, even be prepared to shut it down if no one wants to buy it from you.  We have friends who were running a thriving and prosperous framing business in a nearby small town.  When they decided they wanted to do something else, the could not find a buyer and in the end decided to simply close it.   This can be tough to do but in some cases it ends up being the only choice. 

Semi-retirement: Is it for you?

So...I haven't posted in awhile.  It isn't that I'm ignoring issues that relate to retirement.  Quite the contrary, I spend a lot of time reading, and thinking and pondering the issues.  What I'm finding is that since I began splitting my time between working and leisure, I seem to have lost some of my "edge".  By this I mean that the more leisure time I have, the harder it is to move back into work mode. 

Don't get me wrong.  Once I'm in work mode, I really get into it.  I think that issues around retirement and aging are fascinating and when I'm working, I quite enjoy myself.  But be forewarned if you are thinking of moving from full time work to semi-retirement, you may enjoy it, but you may find that you lose your "edge" too.

Maybe my next post will be about whether "losing one's edge" is a bad thing or perhaps a good thing.

Accepting Aging Gracefully

We have been leasing a fantastic island cottage for several years now.  It is a wonderful old 1920s cottage, the island is situated on a beautiful lake, and we have spent many peaceful, relaxing and enjoyable weeks during the summer months engaged in island living.  We have friends on the lake and many friends and relatives who spend the summer nearby.  It is a perfect summer lifestyle.

However, one day the owners will decide to sell the island and we agonize over whether we would be able to buy it.  Given that we are in our 60s and are only going to get older, that we invested in a fantastic kitchen extension on our house a few years ago using our Home Owner Line of Credit, and really don't want to tie up our savings (not to mention some of our cash flow) on a second property, it is highly likely that we will decide that it doesn't make sense to buy a cottage property at this point in our lives.

I have to admit that losing access to this cottage will be devastating to me.  I love being on the water, I love the laid back lifestyle, the privacy, and the fact that we connect with so many friends and family in this place.   I'm always trying to concoct schemes that will make buying the island a possibility.   My husband is less disturbed about losing access to the cottage; he takes the more philosophical view that we will find new and interesting things to do during the summer; he has no great interest in ever renting a cottage again.  As a retirement planner, I would probably advise someone else in the same circumstances to do the practical and rational thing, i.e. let it go, but as a person I might say that not all decisions in life should be based solely on rational thinking and that sometimes decisions based on emotional considerations should be pursued.  What do you think?

Will They Remember Me?

Some individuals retire and have high expectation that they will receive all kinds of calls from their colleagues and that the work will just come.  Sadly, many retirees discover that once gone, quickly forgotten.  A close friend recently retired who expected that many former colleagues would be beating down his door.  They aren't.  No one has called asking for this individual to bring their extensive knowledge to bear on the problems of the day. 

If you have a desire to keep one foot in the door and hope to take on some contract, board work, or even work on a volunteer basis, it is important to let the world know BEFORE you retire that part of your retirement plan includes continuing to work.  You cannot expect your colleagues to know that you do not plan to fully retire.  During the last year of work, it would be advisable to set the stage for the next phase of your life by informally conveying what your interest is going to be in continuing to contribute.

Otherwise you may find yourself sitting in a very quiet house, waiting for calls that are not going to come

Volunteering - Not as Easy as You Think

Many retirees want to "give back" and see the volunteer sector as a good place to do that.  For many, the perception may be that if they just show up, the organization of their choice will jump at the chance to have them as a volunteer.  However, the reality of modern day volunteering may present them with quite a shock.  Why so? 

First of all, they may discover that, instead of welcoming them with open arms, there is a selection process in place that involves an application, reference checks, and an interview.  That almost sounds like the workplace they have just left!  In some instances, this process may lead to rejection as a candidate.  I know because that happened to me.  I went through the process for an organization that I thought was a perfect fit for me.  They didn't agree.  I got screened in at the application stage, went to the interview, and then received a rejection letter.  I was devasted because I had never for a moment thought that I wouldn't be given one of the 20 slots (out of 50 people being interviewed).  To make matters worse, I then found myself wondering what it was they didn't like about me. 

Secondly, let's suppose that the person does get through the recruitment process and is assigned a role.  Many organizations do ask for a time commitment, say six months or a year.  I volunteered at our local hospital and, based on a discussion with the Volunteer Coordinator, was given an assignment (one afternoon per week) on the Continuing Care ward.   As a home-based business person, I wanted more social contact and told the Volunteer Coordinator this.  My assignment sounded promising except that the other volunteers that were supposed to work with me, either didn't show up or quit.  I ended up working alone.  Also, for some reason I still don't understand, the hospital staff, including the nurses, were quite unfriendly.  None of them even remembered my name, even though I was on their ward an afternoon a week for a year.  I did enjoy helping patients with lunch and socializing with them but in the end I did my one year stint and then decided that it wasn't for me.  Of course, one of the nice things about being a volunteer is that you can quit if you decide it just isn't working.

So...some advice.  Think carefully about what kind of volunteering you want to do, identify what your expectations are, check out the relevant organizations carefully, and realize, that if they do have a selection process in place, you just might be screened out.  In the end, one of the luxuries retirees have is time and if this time can be dedicated to the volunteer sector, it can be a win win situation so go for it with your eyes wide open.

Researching Family History

My husband's father spent a number of years in retirement researching his family's history.  He left behind when he passed away, a large database of information.  When my husband retired, he picked up the torch and has done more research using several internet-based genealogical sites to assist in the process.  On our recent trip to Ireland, we visited the small town where both his father's parents came from, Lorrah.  It's fine to have a detailed database of dates of birth and death and marriage, but it made this history seem so much more real to walk on the main street, visit the postmistress for a short discussion on whether there were any Conroys left, and to see the four historic religious buildings in town (in varying states of decline), one of which dates to 540 AD!

Through his research, my husband has discovered a number of cousins, one in California, one in Tennessee and one in Northern Scotland, that he now keeps in touch with.  No wonder so many people as they move into later life and retirement, place a priority on doing this kind of research.  It involves challenges, mysteries, great finds, and maybe even new friendships.  Best of all, once documented, the output can be shared with anyone who has an interest in the family and provides the next generation with a sense of where they have come from.

Maintaining Friendships

Further to an earlier post, I wanted to report on our recent trip to Ireland.  We attended the wedding of a good friend's daughter in Clifden, Ireland.  We made the decision to do so based on the long standing friendship between my husband and his friend, Hugh.  They attended the University of BC together and have remained good friends every since.  We had a wonderful time in Ireland, spending most of the week in the Clifden area.  Ballynahinch Castle Hotel was amazing (see photo), and it was wonderful to have a chance to meet so many of the attendees at the wedding over the weekend at the hotel.  We also were able to spend high quality time with our friends.

The night before returning from Ireland, we stayed at an airport hotel.  In the dining room, who did we run into but the newly married couple!  It was a good chance to talk with the newlyweds post the event.  Hugh's daughter made a point of letting us know how happy her father was that we had come and that it meant alot to him that we had attended the wedding.

Research confirms that having strong social networks among family and friends is correlated with being happy in retirement.  This means being prepared to give people a priority.   In attending Hugh's daughter's wedding, we were putting this principle into practice.