Encore careers for retirees are becoming increasingly popular. People in their 60’s, 70’s and even 80’s are opting for a second career rather than fading away in the garden or on the golf course. A survey by the Employee Benefits Research Institute found that as many as 74% of workers are planning to start a second career after they retire. Why? Wasn’t 40 plus years of work enough? Actually there are a number of good reasons and the digital revolution has made this the perfect time to do it.
Bio scientists working on combating the effects of aging are confident that within 20 years, human life expectancy will reach 110-120 years. The advances in medicine and overall health improvement that will accompany this also mean that we can expect to be more fit and active in old age. So how do we fill an extra 30 or 40 years of retirement never mind fund it? Encore careers for retirees might well become a necessity rather than a choice. In a digital world this is going to involve acquiring new skills.
Why Encore Careers For Retirees Is Even A Thing
Right now there are plenty of fit and healthy people close to or in retirement who either cant afford to or just don’t want to stop being productive in some way. Pension pots have taken a battering in recent recessions making a continuing income necessary for some. Others lucky enough to have a substantial nest egg find themselves at retirement age but with plenty of fuel left in the tank. They would prefer to maintain some form of income producing activity. In many cases this may be something – passion project for example – that has been sidelined for years by a full time career.
Encore careers for retirees can readily be built on the Internet in these digital days we live in. For people looking to maintain a semi-retired lifestyle, online business models like affiliate marketing and e-commerce are ideal. In affiliate marketing – selling ready-made products for commission – products and services can be found in almost any niche. A bit like a franchise, the business and it’s market are already there. E-commerce is more like a traditional business taken online. With both there is no need to store and deliver products and no need for specialised premises or equipment.
The digital economy offers encore career options beyond starting a digital business. There’s a widely acknowledged digital skills gap, which has created massive opportunity for anyone with relevant skills. Online advertising and marketing consultants are in huge demand. Digital education is the biggest growth Industry on the planet. Businesses need help in a wide variety of areas: Website design, blogging, copywriting, image and video creation, advertising and social media to name but a few. All of these are ideal encore careers for retirees.
Second Careers In A Digital World
As mentioned previously, to take part in this digital gold rush involves up-skilling . Retirees are in a fortunate position here as they have time on their hands for learning. Better still, there’s no need to “go back to school” as a mature student. There’s be little point anyway as traditional education is also pretty far behind the digital business curve. A better bet is to join a private organisation formed by successful digital entrepreneurs.
The Six Figure Mentors (SFM) and Digital Experts Academy (DEA) platform delivers digital education, training and mentoring. They also offer turnkey digital business systems and a high profit affiliate business built in. Stuart Ross and Jay Kubassek who had individually built 7 figure online businesses formed SFM and DEA 8 years ago. Run as a private membership community, they have helped thousands of individuals to transition to the digital economy. A high percentage of SFM and DEA’s membership come from the baby boomer generation, many of whom are encore career retirees. Some have used the resource to create online affiliate and e-commerce businesses, others to start related consultancies and agencies.
Leveraging Communities
The world of internet or virtual business is attractive not just to encore career retirees for a lot of reasons. To begin with its faster, easier and less expensive to start than a bricks and mortar business. Secondly it can be run from anywhere the Internet can be accessed. Thirdly a lot of the business can be automated creating a lot of time freedom. Add a global customer base that never sleeps and the quite incredible reach and targeting that’s only possible with internet marketing
If you’re new to this – and most of us are – it can be quite a handful to get your head around. That’s why learning the ropes (and earning as you do) as part of a community makes sense. SFM and DEA members access live and recorded training at there own pace. They are able to attend live events and liaise or collaborate with fellow members on and offline.
To receive the SFM’s free 7 part video series and learn more about how they can help you start a second career visit the link below. Enter your best email on the following page and you’ll get the videos daily over the next 7 days.
