Becoming self-employed? Here’s the #1 critical question you MUST be able to answer

By Neil Patrick

Whether you are setting up business as a sole trader or a company, there's one critical question you must be able to answer.

Last week, I was contacted by a former colleague from the financial sector. She had just lost her job in the latest corporate reorganization. Her reaction to job loss was positive. She was embracing it as an opportunity to convert all those years’ experience and acquisition of skills into a self-employed variant of her former job. I immediately agreed to help her anyway I could.

About the same time, I was sent a business plan for a start-up financial business. I was asked to provide my reactions and suggestions as to how the plan might be improved. The plan was ambitious and innovative. It embraced and aimed to capitalise on the financial, technology and media changes that are transforming the world.

At first, these two events might appear to have nothing in common. But as I examined both situations I realised that both were dependent upon getting to grips with exactly the same question.

It’s a very simple question to ask but a very hard one to answer perfectly. In a single sentence though, it frames the challenge for every new business venture. Being able to answer it clearly and precisely sets you up for success. Even if you cannot answer it precisely, trying to do so will instantly reveal the weaknesses in any business plan.

So what is the question?

It’s this:

“What problem do we solve for whom, and how?”

That’s it.

Time and time again when I see new business proposals, whether they are corporations or individuals, they fall apart when examined with this question.

Often it’s a variation of the age old business failure that arises because the business owner is looking to sell what they want to make or do, rather than making what people want to buy.

Today, attention spans are getting ever shorter. If you cannot articulate what problem you solve in a couple of sentences, you will struggle to get attention. And no attention means no sales. And no sales means your business is dead.

So not only must you be able to answer the question, you also have to be able to express it in a way which demands attention and interest from the people you seek as customers.

In a start-up, this can be the difference between getting investment and withering on the vine. In the case of sole traders, it’s the difference between having a queue of eager customers and an empty diary.

Why do so many people get this wrong? 

Employers don’t teach us how to be entrepreneurs

Experience of working for a large corporation provides plenty of experience and learning. But it’s not usually the sort of learning that equips you to be successful in your own business venture. Suddenly your specialist expertise itself is less important than your ability to get others to pay for it. 

When you are self-employed, before you can start work, you must obtain it

In a normal job, our employer provides a regular pay cheque. And depending on its size, we cut our cloth accordingly. When we have a job, the work is just there. We normally don’t have to actually create it. In a normal job, what’s critical is the quality of our work. When you work for yourself, how much you earn depends on how much work or business you attract. What’s critical is the quantity and frequency of our work. 

Problem solving for others is different to problem solving for an employer

In a normal job, we may very well require problem-solving skills. But these problems are internal to our employer. The problems are given to us to tackle. When we work for ourselves, the problems are not given to us. We have to identify them in other people’s lives. So these problems are external. And before we can solve them, we have to have a solution that our customers find more attractive than the alternatives.

Knowing the answer to the number one question helps us focus our actions on doing the right things to drive business success. It means you have a business proposition which people actually want and are willing to pay for.

Not being able to answer the question means your business isn’t going anywhere, until you can…

Our retirement plans are ruined…and why this may be good news

By Neil Patrick

We all know the way our careers were supposed to go. Roughly speaking.

We’d get a bunch of qualifications, start work, change employers maybe four or five times, work hard, get promoted and then at around 50 or so have a comfortable cruise towards our retirement at 65. Then we’d be able to relax and enjoy the next 20 or so years.

We’ll that’s all gone now for most of us.

I’m sorry to say that it doesn't make much difference what your employer or financial advisor recommends. If you are a baby boomer in the US, UK and much of the EU, unless you’ve been so successful (or lucky) in your career that you are sitting on a very large pension fund, this version of our life story is a fairy tale.

You probably know this.

In the US, some 82 percent of workers aged 50 and older say it is at least “somewhat likely” they will work for pay in retirement, according to a poll released in October by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research at the University of Chicago. Almost half of boomers polled now expect to retire later than they previously thought - on average nearly three years later than what they thought at age 40.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg. People have a habit of being unduly optimistic when thinking about their financial position if it’s much beyond the next year or so. It’s a combination of hope and difficulty in facing up to harsh realities.

Some of the other statistics emerging in the US are really horrific.

One in 6 reported having less than $1,000 in retirement savings and 1 in 4 working respondents aren’t saving for retirement outside of Social Security. Some 12 percent of non-retired people reported borrowing from a 401(k) or other retirement plan in the past year. Though 29 percent reported at least $100,000 in savings, some find even that’s not enough.

“All too often, people have a lump-sum illusion. They think, ‘I have $100,000 in my 401(k),’ and they think, ‘I’m rich,’” “said Olivia Mitchell, a retirement specialist who teaches at the University of Pennsylvania.“But it doesn’t add up to much. It certainly is not going to keep them in champagne and truffles.”

Make no mistake this isn’t a blip, or a phase. It’s a demolition of the life expectations of a generation. 

You can go searching for people to blame if you like. There are plenty who must carry at least a portion of the guilt. Personally, I think it’s more important to invest our energies in something more productive and positive.

Like working out what to do about this.

The good news is that humans are much more resilient and adaptable than we sometimes give ourselves credit for.

And when we are confronted with difficulties, we often respond in much more creative ways than we expect.

I have a friend who is 60. Two or three years ago he was on the face of it, doing well in his career in sales. He was the Sales Director for a booming manufacturing business. And much of that success was down to his drive and natural flair at finding clients and keeping them coming back for more. He’d be in his office every morning from about 7am, then from about 10am would be hunting down new clients and working on developing relationships with the current clients.

He was very, very good at his job. And the business was growing largely due to his abilities to win new orders and contracts. But I knew a different side. I knew that he was locked in a war with his boss. There was a huge power and personality fight going on. And this was steadily sapping my friend’s motivation and strength.

His stress levels were through the roof.

In the end he became ill. Very ill. He developed diabetes. He lost weight. He looked like a shadow of the man he used to be.

But he did the most sensible thing he could. He quit his job.

For a while he looked around for other jobs. But at 60, you guessed it, there was no-one interested in hiring him into the sort of job he just left. Especially since he’d quit at it.

Fast forward to today. I had a beer with my friend a couple of weeks ago. He looked strong and fit. He had recovered the twinkle in his eye and the infectious grin that he always used to have. He was happy and healthy again.

He hadn’t been hired into a new job. He’d created his own.

He was always great at DIY. And he loves doing it. He’s simply taken his hobby and turned it into his job. And by doing great work and looking after his customers better than almost any tradesman I ever met, he has far more work stacked up than he can actually do.

He's happier than he’s been for years. He has a job he loves and the customers are queuing up round the block.

Is he worried about his pension and retirement?

I doubt it, I really do.

Baby boomers fueling wave of entrepreneurship

By Matt Sedensky

In a mix of boomer individualism and economic necessity, older Americans have fueled a wave of entrepreneurship. The result is a slew of enterprises such as Crash Boom Bam, the vintage drum company that 64-year-old Glay began running from a spare bedroom in his apartment in 2009.

The business hasn’t made him rich, but Glay credits it with keeping him afloat when no one would hire him.

"You would send out a stack of 50 resumes and not hear anything," said Glay, who had been laid off from a sales job. "This has saved me."

The annual entrepreneurial activity report published in April by the Kansas City, Mo.-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation found the share of new entrepreneurs ages 55 to 64 grew from 14.3 percent in 1996 to 23.4 percent last year. Entrepreneurship among 45- to 54-year-olds saw a slight bump, while activity among younger age groups fell.

The foundation doesn’t track start-ups by those 65 and older, but Bureau of Labor Statistics data show that group has a higher rate of self-employment than any other age group.

Part of the growth is the result of the overall aging of America. But experts say older people are flocking to self-employment both because of a frustrating job market and the growing ease and falling cost of starting a business.

"It’s become easier technologically and geographically to do this at older ages," said Dane Stangler, the research and policy director at Kauffman. "We’ll see continued higher rates of entrepreneurship because of these demographic trends."

Paul Giannone’s later-life move to start a business was fuelled not by losing a job, but by a desire for change.

After nearly 35 years in information technology, he embraced his love of pizza and opened a Brooklyn, N.Y., restaurant, Paulie Gee’s, in 2010. Giannone, 60, had to take a second mortgage on his home, but he said the risk was worth it: The restaurant is thriving and a second location is in the works.

"I wanted to do something that I could be proud of," he said. "I am the only one who makes decisions and I love that. I haven’t worked in 3 ½ years, that’s how it feels."

Some opt for a more gradual transition.

Al Wilson, 58, of Manassas, Va., has kept his day job as a program analyst at the National Science Foundation while he tries to attract business for Rowdock, the snug calf protector he created to ward off injuries rowers call "track bites."

Though orders come in weekly from around the world, they’re not enough yet for Wilson to quit his job.

"At this stage in my life, when I’m looking at in the near future retiring, to step out and take a risk and start a business, there was some apprehension," Wilson said. "But it’s kind of rejuvenated me."

Mary Furlong, who teaches entrepreneurship at Santa Clara University and holds business startup seminars for boomers, says older adults are uniquely positioned for the move because they are often natural risk-takers who are passionate about challenges and driven by creativity.

There can be hurdles.

Though most older entrepreneurs opt to create at-home businesses where they are the only employee, even startup costs of a couple thousand dollars can be prohibitive for some. Also, generating business in an online economy is tougher if the person has fewer technological skills.

Furlong said many who start businesses later in life do so as a follow-up to a successful career from which they fear a layoff or have endured one.

"The boomers are looking to entrepreneurship as a Plan B," she said."

Antoinette Little would agree.

She spent 20 years at a law firm, starting as a legal secretary and working her way up to manage the entire office. The stress of working 80 hours or 90 hours a week and always being on call started taking a toll.

After being diagnosed with an enlarged heart, she said, "The doctor told me either quit or you’re going to die."

Little took a series of culinary classes and found a new passion, opening Antoinette Chocolatier in Phillipsburg, N.J. She misses her previous career and, though the store is now in the black, the profits aren’t robust. Still, she says she is having fun making chocolate, particularly when children press their noses against the glass doors to the store’s kitchen.

"I’m my own boss and you get to eat your mistakes," she said. "How bad could it be?"

Most boomer businesses are not brick-and-mortar establishments like those of Little and Giannone.

Jeff Williams, who runs BizStarters, which has helped Glay and thousands of other boomers start businesses, says most older entrepreneurs want to make a minimal investment, typically less than $10,000, to get off the ground.

He classifies about 40 percent of his clientele as "reluctant entrepreneurs" who are turning to their own business because they can’t find any other work.

Williams said owning a business also gives older adults the flexibility they desire and a sense of control while remaining active.

"To suddenly leave the corporate world and to be sitting around the house all day long? This is an alien concept to boomers," he said.

Glay says he needed the paycheck, but starting his business was also about keeping his mind engaged. He had worked for the same record company for 23 years when he was told to meet his boss at an airport hotel, where the bad news was delivered.

Though Crash Boom Bam hasn’t come close to replacing an annual income that crept into six figures, Glay says he’s busier than ever now, between the business, regular drumming gigs, and part-time work at a bookstore and a wine-tasting event company. Sitting among shelves full of drums and their shimmering chrome, he is reflective thinking about what his business means.

"The satisfaction of doing what I’m doing now is much greater, but the money is less," he said. "Even if it’s not making me a millionaire, I know what it’s doing for my head. There’s no price you could put on that."

Matt Sedensky, an AP writer on leave, is studying aging and workforce issues as part of a one-year fellowship at the AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, which joins NORC’s independent research and AP journalism. The fellowship is funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and supported by APME, an association of AP member newspapers and broadcast stations.

This post originally appeared here:

http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/money/57010864-79/business-older-glay-job.html.csp?page=2

Baby boomers reinvent their careers in the art world

inS By Jennifer Forker Associated Press One was a stockbroker, another a computer whiz. There's a therapist and a small-business owner. Each retired from a traditional career and launched into another in the arts.  "Do I still have nightmares about the other (job)? Yes," says Bill Sanders, a Steamboat Springs, Colo., ceramics artist who is retired from the lumber and wood flooring business he owned for 20 years. He says he still wakes up sometimes in a cold sweat worrying about whether some shipment is making it to a job site on time. Then he realizes he doesn't need to worry about that anymore.  These days, Sanders, 64, keeps to the outdoors - he skis during the winter and volunteers for the U.S. Forest Service during the summer - and creates his artwork, which includes dishware, decorative pots and sculptured horses.  He learned the basics of ceramics as a teenager living in Southeast Asia. He kept at it while growing his Honolulu lumber and flooring business to include eight employees and more than $1 million in inventory by the time he sold the company in 1997.  Then, he and his wife, Barbara, also an artist, moved to Colorado, and he turned to his lifelong love of ceramics more intentionally.  "Clay is kind of cool. It's just dirt," says Sanders. "If you don't like what you did, you just throw it back in the bucket and then you can make something else."  Jennifer O'Day, 61, of Austin, Texas, is a former stockbroker who says her mixed-media artwork nourishes all her senses.  "It really sharpens my ability to see visually and perceptively and I think tactilely," says O'Day. "It's not just about my mind and my hand accomplishing something. It engages that whole mind-body-soul thing."  She was born into a business-oriented family, so that was in her blood, she says. The art she nurtured.  "I wanted to do something that was closer to the bone and less about the money," O'Day says about the portraits she now assembles.  It's not just about my mind and my hand accomplishing something. It engages that whole mind-body-soul thing," she says.  There's one aspect of her old stockbroker life that she sometimes misses: engaging with clients.  Geri deGruy, 59, also enjoyed her previous career, as a therapist in private practice, although it was emotionally gruelling working with many of her clients, who were abused women. "Toward the end of my practice, there was a feeling sort of like PTSD," she recalls. She turned from being a therapist to the textile arts, which required that she slow down.  "I started seeing form differently. I started seeing repetitive patterns," says deGruy, who creates small art quilts and mixed-media collages. "My eye was developing, my seeing was changing."  She still works every day.  "Always our time is short - we never know," deGruy says. "I have that urgency every day. I don't want to waste this moment. I don't want to miss this opportunity to play with color."  Judy Hoch, 72, of Salida, Colo., finds parallels between her former career, as a computer engineer, and her current one as a jewellery maker.  "Jewellery making is just engineering on a very small scale," she says.  Hoch spent a dozen years at IBM, where she became a senior engineer and earned two patents, then moved into a computer software job, from which she was laid off in the early 1990s.  "I had to do something after that," she recalls. "Going back to work in high tech when you're 50-something, it wasn't a real good idea. It wasn't going to work."  She took jewellery and metals classes at a Denver-area community college and got hooked. She relies on her mechanical engineering training when fusing metals or cutting stones.  "It's a lot of fairly sophisticated measurements," Hoch says. "There are so many technical things . Engineering is a very useful skill to have."  While she describes her years in high-tech as fun - "like working with puzzles" - jewellery-making taps her creative energy.  "You spend a week away from it and you get terrible withdrawal," she says.

This post originally appeared here: 

http://www.mercurynews.com/real-estate/ci_23387850/start-new-career-an-artist-these-baby-boomers

6 Ways to Land a Job When You’re Over 50

By  Kerry  Hannonin

Are you kidding? Save for retirement? Seriously, there are far more pressing financial issues–like making ends meet right now and clinging to your current job, or worse, finding one, which I will help you with in a minute.

Financial advisors recommend socking away a whopping 15 percent of pay for retirement. Easier said then done.Backburner, baby.

The 2013 Retirement Confidence Survey published Tuesday by the nonprofit, nonpartisan Employee Benefits Research Institute once again told us what we already knew–workers and current retirees are less confident than ever in their ability to live comfortably in retirement.

That’s in large measure because most of us have no idea what that might cost.

Plus, retirement planning rarely has the pull of, say, saving to scoop up a vacation home on a lake, or socking money away for a sojourn around the world.

Few of us run the numbers about what we might really need to save in order to be able to stop working. We guess. We don’t seek out financial advice. We turn the switch. We wring our hands.

We justify our unrepentant lack of gumption to save and even think about saving to the rotten hand we’ve been dealt by the economy.

We need to save for living expenses today, not lock it away for the future. I hear this all the time when I talk to 50 + workers looking for a career transition, a new job, hope.

That’s what EBRI found: Asked to name the most pressing financial issue facing most Americans today, both workers and retirees are most likely to identify job uncertainty (30 percent of workers and 27 percent of retirees), debt and making ends meet (12 percent each). Just 2 percent of workers and 4 percent of retirees identify saving or planning for retirement as the most pressing financial issue.

The ‘what else can I do’ solution: We accept it. We’ll just keep working and never retire.

The age at which workers expect to retire has risen. In 1991, just 11 percent of workers expected to retire after age 65. In 2013, 36 percent of workers report they expect to wait until after age 65 to retire and 7 percent don’t plan to retire at all.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with that idea. I am a big fan of working not only for the money, but the mental engagement, at any age. And there are lots of ways to make that a reality with part-time, contract, seasonal gigs, and simply, more flexible options.



But the truth is my friends in their late 50s, who are out looking for work, tell me about roadblocks all the time.

They blame their age. And there’s more than a grain of truth to that.

But as I write in Great Jobs for Everyone 50+, there are jobs out there. And in my recent New York Times article, A Gray Jobs Market for All Ages, I highlight some jobs to ride the age wave.

There are plenty more to add to the list I mention there-senior fitness trainer, patient advocate, home modification pro and senior move manager. New ones are coming on line every day, but you need to look around you and use your imagination. And you probably need to add some skills and certifications to qualify for these positions.

Start now and ask: What goods and services are in demand by an aging population? What ways can those of us in our 50s, 60s and 70s tackle those needs for the 80 and 90+ set?

First, look to fields that are growing. These include healthcare (think a broad definition here), education, nonprofits, and even small businesses are eager to snap up an experienced worker who brings leadership, proven management, and problem-solving skills to the table every day.

The enthusiasm of youth only goes so far.

If job worries are what’s keep you from saving for retirement, here’s what to do.

1. Get physically fit. Employers worry about your future health. No need to blast out a fast mile, but when you are in shape, you exude vibrancy, energy. It’s positive juju. The real issue is not age, but oomph, curiosity, confidence and a desire to keep learning.Hiring managers are concerned that you may have age-related health problems, or are likely to, and that will be a problem if you take too much time off for sick leave. And, there’s the nagging issue that you’ve got an “expiration date,” and you’re not in it for the long haul.

2. Ramp up your techiness. Employers think you’re a Luddite. This is nonnegotiable. “Googling” should be a verb you use frequently. The best way to show a potential employer this is to have a social media footprint. That means a LinkedIn profile, an active presence in discussion group. LinkedIn can help you get job leads and seek advice. Stay active. Join alumni and industry groups. Build your professional network. A Facebook page and a Twitter account are often smart too, depending on the kind of job you are aiming for. In general, though, employers want a variety of ways to check you out beyond your resume.

3. Play up your knack for working with the younger set. Employers think you’ll bristle about taking orders from a younger boss who is probably making more than you. This is the time to weave your narrative about your mentoring skills. Use real examples of how you’ve worked successfully with younger colleagues and sought their reverse mentoring help with technology challenges and more. You demonstrate your willingness to learn and ask for help from someone younger, and how that relationship has worked in tandem with you coaching them on leadership and management strategies.

4. Spin your flexible nature. Employers think you won’t be open to change. You need to speak up about your flexibility in terms of management style, your technological aptitude, and your knack of picking up new skills. One of the biggest raps we 50+ get is our stubborn refusal to try new ways of doing things.

5. Find someone you know to hire you. Employers want someone else to vet you. People want to employ people they know, or someone they know knows. This reassures them that someone else trusts you. No one will tell you this straight out, but it’s true.

6. Seek out workplaces where you feel comfortable. Employers want you to “fit in”. Remember interviewing is a two-way street. Many employers want to hire someone who will be right for the culture and play nicely with others. If it’s a workplace filled with younger workers, and you really aren’t keen on the vibe, then move on.

If you really want to get motivated to save for retirement, I recommend you try out the Livingto100.com calculator. This tool, from the founder and director of the New England Centenarian Study, Dr. Thomas Perls, helps you estimate your life expectancy.

I discovered that my life expectancy is 93. Egads. But then again, my Irish grandmother lived to 98.

Looks like I’d better save even more for retirement.



You can follow me on Twitter, @KerryHannon I’m the author of Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy … And Pays the Bills (John Wiley & Sons), available here www.kerryhannon.com. Check out my column at AARP. My weekly column at PBS’s NextAvenue.org is here.

http://kerryhannon.com/?p=2857

How to get the edge over younger job applicants

By Exertus

For some reason, people sometimes think that there is a certain cut-off point for applying for new jobs or changing the direction of their careers. Individuals that have obtained senior positions in their previous companies are too afraid to apply for new job opportunities because they might feel their age is a disadvantage.


This article is here to tell you that your age is nothing but a valuable number in the journey of a job search.

The scarcity of job opportunities as a senior might have occurred because this ‘generation’ wasn’t computer literature or did now show enough passion for their field of expertise. Well, we are here to tell you that the 20-something job search exclusivity is something off the past.

At the end of the day, it is about combining what they are doing right with your wisdom and years of work experience to get that perfect job.

Career coach and author of ‘Achieving the Good Life After 50: Tools and Resources for making it happen”, Rene Roseberg is against the notion of unemployed individuals over the age of 50 not being able to get any work. In reaction to this stigma Renee had the following to say:

"Discrimination is not necessarily the reason people over 50 can’t find work. Ms. Reid’s job search approach may be the real reason she remains unemployed. In my experience many job hunters in their 50s, 60s and even 70s land good jobs. They contact people and build relationships, even when job openings do not exist". – Rene Roseberg

Follow these Job Searching Tips to cancel out the competition:

Know Your Value

Don’t even begin to think that being over 50 automatically means that you are past your working prime. Fifty is the new thirty and the senior workforce is part of an exclusive market that’s high in demand. As a senior job hunter you should know your value, understand that companies are looking for experienced workers and will highly value your expertise. Don’t downplay your talents, skills and achievements just because others aren’t mentioning it.

Re-evaluate Your Motivation

Your motivation for getting a job has most probably changed a bit from when you were 20. Back in the day your biggest motivation was probably to get money in order to move out of the house or buy your own car. Now you might be interested in a particular job purely because you are passionate about the business. Ask yourself these important questions so that you can present yourself in a truthful matter and know which jobs to apply for.

Knowing your reasons for becoming employed will allow you to better prepare for your interview and give a clear indication of your expectations.

Be an Eager Beaver

When applying for jobs alongside the ever so excited youth, you have to match and exceed them on all levels possible. As a senior job hunter you already know that you have the relevant experience and wisdom that comes with working for an x amount of years, but are you as excited about it as they are?

Try to come across positive, full of energy and passionate about the position without trying too hard. There is a certain level of enthusiasm that goes along with maturity. You don’t have to dance around and sings songs to be noticed, but showcase your fresh opinion on matters and your willingness to learn by being open to new challenges and opportunities.

Stay with the Trends

One of the most important factors of modern day job search is being on top of the trends. If you are still waiting for the Saturday newspaper in order for the latest jobs it will take ages to become employed. There are numerous job board and job sites online that brings you the latest job openings in your respective fields. With online tutorials and free study guides, it’s never too late to start learning.

Make sure that you are completely computer literate and accustomed with social media and internet trends. You don’t have to have a profile on every single platform, but make sure you know what they are about. Even if you think these platforms aren’t relevant to your position, they are the main platform for modern day communication and every company needs to communicate.

Join the Networking Age

When it comes to networking you most probably know a lot more influential people than the average graduate. Use this to your advantage and contact old friends and acquaintances about possible job openings and references.

In the digital age networking has become rather important and prospective employers want to know how far your influence reaches. This influence is determined by your following on social media platforms such as Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin. Linkedin can be seen as an online resume where the job seeker can showcase their skills and valuable connections.

Fight the Stereotype

Another great tip when it comes to job hunting, is fighting the stereotype of ‘being old’. Don’t try and act young, but don’t be the obvious cynical senior by debating every topic and judging anything and everything that is different from you and your beliefs.



http://www.exertusjobs.co.uk/blog/over-45s-vs-younger/job-search-20/?goback=.gde_3984352_member_237412883

Almost Half of UK Citizens Cannot Afford to Retire - New Research

By Marketing VF Ltd Published: Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2012

Market research company SurveyCompare has released a new infographic showing nearly half of UK citizens asked do not expect to retire when they reach retirement age.

 The infographic cross-sections its data to show how men and women have different expectations, how different kinds of employment produce different retirement plans, and how plans change with age.

Agnese Geka of SurveyCompare says, "We did this research because we could not find anything like it out there. We wanted to make clear to people that across the UK men and women are feeling the pinch financially regardless of their background, and are uncertain about their working future and maybe they should start thinking about additional income sources sooner."

The infographic shows the UK government's plans to raise the retirement age from 65-68 for men and from 60-65 for women, even though in the UK the 'health' expectancies for men and women are 63 and 65 respectively. Men degrade more rapidly than women but will be expected to work for longer under these plans. Protest groups have been set up to lobby the government on this, such as 68istoolate.org.uk.

Responses to SurveyCompare's question 'Will you continue working past the age of retirement?' demonstrated the rise in recent years of people working from home, and those becoming self-employed.

The research shows 20% of men and around 16% of women expect to either work part-time or turn self-employed when they reach retirement age. More men than women expect to be able to retire - 24% vs 19% - and seeing as 42% of those not retiring are compelled to continue working by financial insecurity the difference of 5% is possibly a question of unequal pay.

The future certainly looks less certain for women, with 41.6% unsure about their prospects compared to 32.4% of men. Only 11.6% are confident of staying on with their employer as an older worker compared to 16% of men. It's a cold world out there.

Although it's no surprise around 50% of under 25s don't know much about their retirement plans that uncertainty remains at around 40% until you come to the 55+ age bracket. Geka says, "We all know Parkinson's Law, which says work takes as long to do as you have to do it. Our research has shown this is the same with retirement plans. For whatever reason, whether it's because they can't afford to or because they aren't inclined to, people don't think ahead to retirement."

A constant of around 10% throughout all the age groups expect to continue working for the same employer when they reach retirement age. The same is true of those planning to take on part-time work, suggesting work ethic does not change dramatically as people get older. Those working two or more jobs can't imagine retiring ever, and those in long term unemployment find it harder to imagine themselves working as a senior citizen than being retired.

Retirement plans come down to either habit or necessity. Those with pHds don't imagine themselves retiring, in fact 56% will continue writing academic papers well into their senior years, usually as a lifestyle choice.

On the surface those in work are the people most able to afford retirement, but even then it doesn't look like they are earning enough currently to consider retiring. Government figures shows in 2012 employment is up but the number of hours being worked is down, meaning the increase of part-time workers and working from home increases.

According to the SurveyComare research, 37% of those polled work full-time and 21% part-time. But of each group only 10% would definitely retire and around 35% didn't yet know, again with financial reasons being cited. The research suggests perceived wealth is relative: everyone feels they could do with supplementing their income.

So why don't people expect to retire? That is the question SurveyCompare is asking. The stand-out reason is financial, and this is driving more into working from home to maximise and monetise their time. But there are a combined 20% who either don't like the idea of stagnating or who wish to continue using their personal experience and skills. These make up part of SurveyCompare's demographic, people looking to earn some money at their convenience while engaging with something relevant to their interests.

SurveyCompare.net offers people the chance to earn money with paid surveys on their chosen subject. The SurveyCompare service is free and is using by tens of thousands of people around the world. As survey panellists these people play a key role in market research and their opinions influences companies to develop new products and services.

Read more here:http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/24/4934184/almost-half-of-uk-citizens-asked.html#storylink=cpy

Why you have what it takes to be a great entrepreneur

By Neil Patrick

The last few days I have been guilty of doing what I criticise others in the media for doing i.e. focussing too much on all the bad news (well there has been a lot of it to cover!)

So by way of restoring the balance, here’s a great video featuring Phil Poje of Tech Orchard. He’s a very calm character, but don’t let the measured delivery fool you. He’s got real passion under that cool façade.

Here he talks about why our generation has what it takes to succeed in business and how you can go about organising yourself to create a business you absolutely love... and which rewards you not just financially, but emotionally too.

His thoughts mirror my own almost exactly. If you feel that your mid-life years are a time to re-assess your future, then you will take inspiration from his comments about why you already have so much potential to succeed.

In my view, if we can’t expect the economy, our investments or our employers to look after us, it is time to take matters into our own hands. Creating our own independent income streams for ourselves is the best possible way to do this.

What are YOUR career prospects after 40?

By Neil Patrick

This morning I dug out a report undertaken for the Third Age Foundation, entitled  ‘Past it at 40?’, looking into the causes of workplace ageism and discrimination. You can find it here:

http://www.thirdage.org.uk/researchbbk.html

Whilst the research was designed to inform policy makers and promote debate, it is just as relevant to individuals in my view. We need to understand what we are up against and most importantly, how to respond. As you will know from my other posts, I am a strong advocate of self-help and have limited faith in government and quasi- governmental bodies’ ability to solve these problems for us at the individual level.

The report was published ten years ago in 2002, so you might justifiably ask ‘is it still relevant?’ Sadly, I’d say that little has improved and that in fact, the onset of recession has aggravated the situation , so things are actually getting worse. Apart from recession, the coalition’s understandable focus on youth unemployment means that mature workers are not likely to see much in the way of government priority for intervention.

The most interesting insights in this report come not from the job seekers who are understandably frustrated, depressed, worried and feeling helpless, but from the employers who reveal some of their attitudes to this subject..

But let’s start with a quotation from a jobseeker in his fifties:

‘A few years ago, I applied for a job and was interviewed. There were three people in the room, all in their mid-twenties. I felt uncomfortable  - they talked about this ‘new, dynamic company’. It wasn’t said directly, but I could feel they were trying to discourage me a bit. I don’t mind if I’m surrounded by younger people, I was willing to learn and be as flexible as possible. As the interview went on, I felt I wouldn’t fit in. They said, ‘Don’t ring us, we’ll ring you’ -  and they didn’t.’

Now I confess I know nothing about this person, the job in question or the firm concerned. But that really doesn’t matter. Just read between the lines of the above quotation. First the interview panel were all in their mid-twenties - therefore their individual management experience was unlikely to be more than 5 years or so and less if they were graduates. The comment about a ‘new, dynamic company’ is code in my view. It means, ‘we are a hyped up bunch who like to work and party hard and don’t really want slower, uncool mature people in our ranks.’ It’s a fact that younger workers tend to like to blur their work and social activities together. They are generally unmarried, do not have children and therefore often like nothing better than to continue their work relationships on a social environment out of office hours. And let’s face it, why would they want a more mature person in their ‘gang’?

Another couple of employers’ responses more or less confirm my prognosis:

‘Some industries are younger, and an older person may not feel comfortable and will look out of place. They probably would not enjoy the job either.’

‘In this industry (banking) you are middle-aged at 33!…There is a perception that if you are old (sic) and have not moved on, then you cannot be good.’

I find these comments quite shocking. ‘You will look out of place’ - what does that mean? And why is someone over 33 ‘middle-aged’? What we are hearing here I think is that what we look like is a requirement for some jobs. If we don’t look young, we may not be an attractive employment proposition to some organsiations…

Whilst I find the above comments depressing and outrageous, my experience does confirm that mature people can genuinely feel out of place in some work environments. I have seen many of these where in the attempt to create a ‘fun’ working environment which motivates young staff, firms create instead a puerile one which really only appeals to a juvenile’s outlook. And who creates these environments? It is of course the same twenty-somethings who interviewed the job seeker I quoted first. It’s therefore more or less inevitable that a more mature person will feel out of place. So whilst this isn’t ageism per se, the work environment is shaped and determined by younger people to reflect their own outlook and preferences.

Worse still, the situation becomes a self-perpetuating circle. The young staff shape the work environment to match their outlook and appoint people who are attracted to it. So more of the staff are younger and the environment becomes dominated by a form of youth culture. The older and more senior managers see that this environment is appealing to the majority of their staff and so are reluctant to upset the arrangements to suit a minority – i.e. the more mature workers. And so the cycle perpetuates.

The key point I am making here is that no amount of government or legal interventions can really hope to tackle this sort of ingrained organisational behaviour. It is a form of ageism for sure, but how could you ever legislate to change it?

All of this leads me back to one of my core mantras, which is that once we get past 40, we are taking an extreme risk with our lives if we assume that we can just carry on working in the same careers that we engaged in during our twenties and thirties. For reasons I’ve described above, I do not believe that employers’ reluctance to hire older workers will recede anytime soon. So it is absolutely essential that you have a plan B for the second half of your working life.