I read a lot of material every month on how the Boomers are approaching the period of life after age 50.
And what I’m seeing reported in virtually every major newspaper and magazine is that more and more Leading Edge Boomers are showing a willingness to take a calculated financial risk with some of their retirement savings in order to launch a business or nonprofit that’s built around work they really enjoy doing…and in some cases have been yearning to do for years.
The latest example of major media coverage of this topic is an op-ed column in the August 13, 2007 issue of Time magazine (page 54).
The author, Dan Kadlec, starts by saying: “Money experts warn it’s a bad idea” to use some of one’s retirement savings to start a new venture.
But Dan also reports that about a third of self-employed people over 50 didn’t strike out on their own until after age 50.
So, there are a whole lot of experienced, talented, smart people who are carefully considering how to utilize a bit of their retirement savings to achieve true satisfaction in their work by bringing to life their long-thought-about business or non-profit venture.
The real food for thought in Dan’s piece comes at the end, where he says: “If you overdo things, you’ll risk your financial security. So be careful. But remember there are other risks in play too, like the risk of losing your sense of purpose and missing the chance to do something that excites you”.
