Tag Archives: encore careers

Third Age education: Later-life learning

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By Aaron Hector, Doherty & Bryant Financial Strategists

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

Have you ever wanted to do or learn something, but never seemed to have the time? With commitments to family, friends, your career and hobbies, it’s easy to see how life can get away from you.

The term ‘Third Age’ refers to the stage in life after which you have retired and your children are independent. This is the stage at which you become liberated and finally have extra time.

It’s back-to-school season for our youth this fall – but why not for you too? Let’s look at some options for lifelong learning opportunities available during your third age.

First, it doesn’t have to be expensive! There are a number of low-cost to no-cost education options available. Seniors are offered discounts on many different products and services; including reduced bank fees, transit passes, discounted meals and even tax breaks. Perhaps the single greatest of all such discounts is the offer of free tuition – which has been extended by many universities here in Canada. If you consider that one year’s tuition can cost over $10,000, then a four-year degree could equal $40,000 in savings. Of course, you don’t need to commit to a four-year degree; you could get plenty of enjoyment from taking a single personal interest course.

Seniors and the Lifelong Learning Plan

The cost of various student fees, class materials, and textbooks are generally not free. For seniors on a strict budget, or for those who are trying to keep their net income below the Old Age Security (OAS) clawback threshold ($73,756 for 2016), taking advantage of the Lifelong Learning Plan (LLP) could be a suitable option to pay for these supplemental education costs. Continue Reading…

How executives can survive sudden job loss

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Amazon.com

By Bill Treasurer

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

The transition of a leader’s career from the top of the crest to the other side can actually be a beautiful thing. This is the time when your wisdom is ripest, when the bulk of your legacy has been established, and when your influence has left a tangible and positive mark.

At this stage of your leadership career, you are a leader in full. It’s worth noting that the leadership influence of many leaders became fully expressed late in life. Benjamin Franklin was 70 when he signed the Declaration of Independence (Samuel Whittemore was 81). Ronald Reagan was 69 when he became president, and 77 when he left office. Golda Meir became Prime Minister of Israel when she was 71. Dr. Ray Irani, the CEO of Occidental Petroleum, is currently 75 years old, making him the oldest Fortune 500 CEO.

While your leadership career may span many years, the current average retirement age in the United States is 62. Given that average life expectancies have been steadily growing, figuring out what to do with all that accumulated leadership wisdom and influence before you retire, will help soften whatever butt-kicks may come when the gates of your career close. (By butt-kicks, I mean embarrassing and humiliating moments in your leadership that serve as a starting point to discover your strengths and values, and become better).

Butt-kicking tips for senior leaders

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Findependence — Free at last from the corporate chains

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businessman with handcuffsFriday July 29th will be a day that I will remember for the rest of my life. After thirty-eight years, I finally packed in my banking career. I suppose my co-author Jonathan would call this my Findependence Day!

To be honest, it will take some getting used to as my banking job played an important role in my life. It provided financial security for my family and gave me a good reason to get out of bed most mornings.

My career, like most careers, had its good and bad points. Overall though, it was a good ride and one that I will miss to some degree, but I had to leave in order to publish Victory Lap Retirement and create my blog.

Banks really don’t like it when employees write books or blogs because it might not align with the story that they are trying to convey. Banks get nervous when employees stand out and don’t fit in, when employees invent something that is outside the approved message.

Banks are very protective of their brand. They want the customer experience to be the same in every branch across the country. They want every employee to talk, walk and act the same. They desire a high degree of predictable sameness, as it’s easier to control.

Why banks still sell the old version of Retirement

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Happy (Financial) Independence Day!

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Depositphotos_8101987_s-2015To all our American readers, the Findependence Hub wishes a happy  Independence Day, or  as we like to say around here, Findependence Day.

Bloggers are fond of building posts around the July 4th celebration, and several are using the phrase Financial Independence Day. For instance, a year ago Forbes.com published a blog titled Financial Independence Day for Millennials.

In fact, on June 21st, 2016, Richard Eisenberg of Next Avenue and Forbes.com did just that, re-running a similar piece entitled How to Declare Your Financial Independence. And he did make an explicit reference to Findependence Day, more on which below.

This weekend’s Motley Fool Money podcast, as it was a year ago, is titled Declare Your Financial Independence. It features interviews with authors and radio personalities Dave Ramsey and Clark Howard. Continue Reading…

Some Early Stage Encore Career Observations and Recommendations

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A metal toggle switch with plate reading Change and Same, flipped into the Same position, illustrating the decision to work toward changing or improving your situation in lifeBy Michael Drak

Special to the Financial Independence Hub

I started my own encore career back in February 2015;  here are some of the things you might want to consider when planning your own encore career:

Should you tell your boss you plan to leave and start an Encore Career?

Bosses can start to act a little funny after you tell them you plan to leave the company at some point in the future. For some reason they believe that you are no longer fully committed to your job and that your performance will start to slide as you focus on getting ready for your new career.

This can cause some friction, so it’s best to make sure you have the bulk of your encore job preparation completed prior to dropping the bomb, just in case. In my own situation within three months of having declared I was planning to leave I was pleasantly surprised to receive a buy-out from the company. Was it a coincidence? Who knows, but I’d rather receive a payout versus a gold watch any day, plus it provided me with some liquidity until my new business starts generating a profit.

Do as much advanced preparation as you can prior to leaving your job

My original plan was to tell everyone that I was leaving in two years and during that time learn to run a blog and start working on my retirement book. Getting bought out accelerated things. In hindsight, it might have been better to have started the book and other projects prior to making the announcement.

 Have a safety net in place so you can sleep at night Continue Reading…