Managing Money

If you believe in the traditional view of retirement, life after 65 should be filled with trips to the golf course, martinis by the pool and plenty of TV time. Setting aside the question of whether such a life would be healthy or fulfilling, it is clear that few of us will be able to afford it. Read More

As many boomers know, trying to keep your career moving forward after 50 can be a frustrating experience. Aging stereotypes are just part of the story, but, they are an important part.

In a recent report titled “A New Vision for Older Workers: Retain, Retrain, Recruit”, Dr. Ros Altmann goes so far as to say that, in the U.K. most women find their careers grinding to a halt at age 45. Men get another decade of career growth before reaching a plateau, but, even they find it difficult to advance after age 55. Read More

Even if we care less about “things” after turning 60, we still get the impulse to go shopping occasionally. If this sounds familiar, you’ll love Groupon!

Maybe it’s for a new dress or pair of shoes in preparation for a stylish night out on the town. Or maybe it’s treating friends to a fancy dinner so you can all catch up and swap life stories. Or maybe it’s for a day all to yourself relaxing and getting pampered at a spa.

The problem is that you want to stay frugal, too, since you have bills to pay and necessities to budget for. And it can be hard to find a business that has a deal going on right now, or at least wait until a shop nearby holds a sale. This is where the organizing and searching power of the Internet comes in handy. Read More

One of my biggest fears for the baby boomer generation is that we have taken the concept of retirement too seriously. Many of us still believe in the notion that retirement should be a time for living off your savings, relaxing and “aging gracefully.”

Now, a new study by The Pew Charitable Trusts, says that the majority of baby boomers may finally be rethinking retirement. Most people surveyed said that they didn’t plan on retiring, in a traditional sense. Instead, they said that they wanted to continue working, either in their existing job or in a new career.  Read More

What is retirement planning? It’s a simple question, right? Doesn’t everyone know that getting ready for retirement is all about putting enough money away so that we can live comfortably on our investments? At least, that’s what we have been told. For decades, our employers have reminded us to max out our 401K. Read More

People reaching retirement age today are under huge financial pressure. Since, on average, we will live longer than any previous generation, our savings will need to last decades. In addition, many of us find ourselves in the position of looking after our aging parents, while living on a pension. Read More

When I asked the 44,000 members of the Sixty and Me community what was preventing them from starting a business, by far the most common response was “I don’t have a business idea.” As I mentioned in part 1 of this series, the first step to take when starting a business is to examine your own strengths. But, what next? Read More

Most people think that successful businesses start with an idea. They don’t. Successful businesses start with a person. More specifically, they begin when a person recognizes his or her unique talents and sets out to improve the lives of others.

If this seems obvious, think about the number of people who never start a business because they “can’t think of an idea” or “don’t know where to start.” Many of these people could become successful freelancers, small business owners or entrepreneurs, if they examined themselves before looking for ideas. Read More

Does the way we think about words like “retirement” and “bingo” change our behavior? Could aging stereotypes even have an impact on how many of us decide to start a business after 50?

According to a 1996 study by John Bargh, and published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, there is reason to believe that they do. As a result, it is more important than ever for us to redefine retirement and provide positive examples for each other of what we can accomplish in our 50s, 60s and beyond. Read More

People like simple explanations to difficult problems. We know that relationships are complicated but we like to believe that “love conquers all.” We understand that starting a business requires passion, discipline, value creation and luck, but, it’s so much more pleasant to believe that if you “do what you love the money will follow.”

The problem is that half-truths are often more destructive than lies. They wrap our desires in a warm blanket of believability and prevent us from making rational choices. Nowhere is this truer than in the myth of the successful hobby-business. Read More