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It used to be that you had a job for life, but today it’s not unusual to have a portfolio of jobs and at least two career changes.
Instead of retiring and collecting a pension like our parents did, many of us are taking control of our career journeys at an age where others might be looking to retire.
A wealth of experience
Bambi Price is a strong believer in nurturing the talent and experience of senior Australians. Her website War on Wasted Talent connects employers with mature-age professionals wanting to maintain employment as they age.
“The over 50s is now the fastest growing entrepreneurial group in Australia and 34% of young Australian firms are led by senior entrepreneurs,” says Bambi. “Older people are bringing a wealth of knowledge to small businesses. Experience and the right mindset are so important.”
Bambi, 66, started her own business in the aged-care industry after quitting her IT job in Melbourne when she was 50. Over the years, she has built up a network of professionals that she can now tap into for advice, assistance, or just to bounce ideas off.
Sue Ramsay and Lisa Walker, both 58, are friends from Swinburne University and have spent most of their careers in the fashion industry, either teaching or in retail. When running their fashion store in Melbourne with huge overheads, commercial leases and insurances was no longer financially viable, they decided to adapt to online marketing.
“We started going to monthly entrepreneur meetings with Bambi and found they were incredibly helpful and supportive,” says Sue. “We began to network, share our problems and swap ideas. We started communicating with people in similar situations to us.”
War On Wasted Talent helps people over 45 overcome barriers to finding work, changing careers or starting their own business. “It’s almost like a dating site only it’s matchmaking employers with employees,” says Price.
Beating the income squeeze
According to the 2020 Australian Seniors’ 100 Year Lifespan Report, most Australians (82.3%) feel it is important to be able to fund their own retirement. More than half (56.1%) say they want more control over this last life chapter and 51.5% want to be able to support a higher standard of living.
More than three quarters of the 5,000 over 50s surveyed (75.9%) believe society is underprepared for a life expectancy of 100. With superannuation accounts experiencing high market volatility and the Age Pension falling well short of the cost of living, many retirees are finding themselves in an income squeeze.
But it’s not just finances that are keeping us at work. Trish and David are both in their early 70s. Trish works part time in a gift shop in Sydney and David runs a publishing business from home. They say funding their own retirement is vital to their quality of life.
“If we stopped working now and relied on the pension or our super, we couldn’t afford the lifestyle we want,” says David. “I still enjoy working. I have been upskilling as I go along and have a good handle on social media. It’s important to keep learning no matter what your age.”
Because David publishes tourism material, things ground to a halt during COVID lockdowns. But now he says things are mostly back to normal and business is looking up.
For more than a decade, Lisa, 67, has run a guesthouse on the NSW South Coast. To help cover costs, Lisa lets out her spare rooms, advertising on AirBnB and other travel booking sites. “Guests pay $240 a night and enjoy the run of the house. They can bring their dogs, too. I like the company. In the warmer months and during the holidays I have guests every week.”
Supplementing your income
If you’re retired and working on a casual or part-time basis, you may be able to take advantage of the government’s Work Bonus incentive.
People on the Age Pension can generally earn up to $300 per fortnight ($11,800 per year) before it affects your pension entitlement. The bonus amount is on top of the pension income test free area of $204 per fortnight, so a single pensioner can potentially earn up to $504 from paid work per fortnight.
Another way to supplement your income is through consulting. If you’re an expert in any field, there could be people willing to pay for your counsel. Starting a blog or setting up an online course on anything from creative writing to cooking classes is easier than you might think and can attract marketing opportunities.
“Not everyone is suited to running their own business,” says Price. “But after years of experience and practical knowledge, our value to others is often far greater than we realise.”
Three years ago, Leonora enrolled in a Certificate 111 course in community services at Goulburn TAFE. She was 74. “I was the oldest person in my course, but we had a very supportive teacher, and I didn’t really think about my age,” she says. “I didn’t see it as something that would prevent me from doing what I wanted.”
Now, at 77, Leonora works as a residential healthcare support worker three days a week. “I’m not ready to retire,” she says. “I’m doing this work because I enjoy it. It’s quite diverse and very rewarding.”
Tips for starting a small business
So, you’re looking to start a small business to keep you busy in retirement. This step-by-step guide courtesy of Bambi Price will help get you get started.
- Ask yourself, what is the world missing? What could be improved? If you can find a gap in the market that no one is taking advantage of you could be on to an original idea.
- Explore creative and innovative opportunities.
- Use family and friends as idea generators.
- Build a prototype, show it to 100 people and listen to their feedback.
- Upskill, ensure you learn the business and technical skills to engage in start-up activities.
- Participate in entrepreneurship education and training.
- Network with like-minded people.
- Employ or take on a mentor.
- Protect yourself. Many legal issues businesses discover could have been avoided if the right advice was sought in the beginning.
