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January 24, 2015 by Mark Whittaker

Can Boomers Thrive in a New Age Economy?

Boomers as entrepreneursThe recession that started in 2008 knocked tens of thousands older Americans out of their jobs, and seven years later that displacement continues to ripple through the Baby Boomer generation.

The average length of unemployment for workers over 55 continued to lengthen in 2014, stretching to 54.3 weeks in December, according to the AARP Public Policy Institute. That’s up from 45.8 weeks in December 2013. Meanwhile, the average length of unemployment for those under 55 dropped to 28.2 weeks in December, down from 35.2 weeks a year earlier.

The same report says there were 230,000 older “discouraged” workers in December. In 2007, that number was just 53,000.

There are a number of forces working to keep older Baby Boomers from finishing the careers they expected to have when they began working. The recession squeezed middle management out of many industries, and those jobs aren’t likely to return. Entire industries have been disrupted, even disabled, by technology, and some jobs simply don’t exist anymore. Undeniably, age discrimination plays a role.

There are other changes afoot that affect everyone, not just Baby Boomers. Author Seth Godin, in his “The Icarus Deception,” writes about the end of the industrial age and the failure of the social and education institutions of that age to prepare us for a new economy. The industrial age rules — study hard, memorize what you’re taught, pass your tests, work hard, and you’ll be successful — don’t necessarily work. Ask any displaced Baby Boomer. The new “connection economy” allows everyone to bring their own individual art to the world, Godin suggests.

All of this suggests displaced Boomers should abandon any desire to fit back into a crumbling, industrial-age workplace and adopt an entrepreneurial approach to their remaining working years. In this, there is hope.

It turns out that entrepreneurship in modern America is not just a game for the young in Silicon Valley. From Time.com in March 2013: “Still, start-ups in some industries, such as biotech and business software, gain an edge from the experience that comes with a founder’s age. According to research by Vivek Wadhwa, an academic and tech entrepreneur, and the Kauffman Foundation, the average age of successful start-up founders in these and other high-growth industries was 40. And high-growth start-ups are almost twice as likely to be launched by people over 55 as by people 20 to 34.”

Entrepreneur.com, citing the Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity, reported that in 2012, nearly 25 percent of new businesses were started by people 55 and older. In 1996, it was 14 percent.

Many Boomers are eager to start their own businesses. In 2011, The MetLife Foundation said that 25 percent of Baby Boomers surveyed hoped to start a business or nonprofit within five to 10 years.

So, for Baby Boomers who have been disenfranchised from the workplaces they were trained to serve, there is reason for optimism. With a little Googling, it’s easy to find examples of successful, older entrepreneurs, including Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s, and Harland Sanders, who founded Kentucky Fried Chicken with his first Social Security check. Remember, there’s no rule that says an entrepreneur has to start a multi-million-dollar company. For older Americans, making a living and creating a few new jobs might be enough.

The end of the industrial age offers another form of hope for older workers, according to Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, who, at this writing, is about to turn 75. According to a June 2013 article on Entrepreneur.com, Slim told CNBC.com, “When you have an industrial economy like in the past where people … do a lot of physical work and people live less years, it’s OK to retire at 65,” Slim told CNBC. “When you have a society of knowledge and experience and information, at this age is where you are at your best. It’s [foolish] to retire at this age. And you don’t have the physical work, and you have the intellectual work and you are in your best in your 60s.”

Baby Boomers have lots of work experience to apply to an entrepreneurial venture. What other resources will they need? Some training about how to start a business. Some cash. And encouragement and courage to break the industrial-age mold that formed them.

Filed Under: Mark's Blog, Slider

June 2, 2012 by Mark Whittaker

Sign up now and get ‘Changing Careers After 50: 12 Key Lessons’

Changing Careers After 50: 12 Key LessonsAre you thinking about changing careers even though you’re older than 50? You’re not alone. Plenty of Baby Boomers, including me, have shifted gears to find new, meaningful work. “Changing Careers After 50: 12 Keys Lessons” provides some tips for over-50 career-changers. Sign up for SunsetChasing.com updates, and I’ll send you a free copy.

Here’s the sign-up form, and I promise I won’t share your e-mail address or any other information you might provide with anyone or any other business.

Filed Under: Promotions, Slider

May 6, 2012 by Mark Whittaker

Career-changer aims to help boomers in ‘third stage’

Stuart Himmelfarb
Stuart Himmelfarb
Stuart Himmelfarb has been studying the baby boomer generation, and what he’s learning is the foundation of his new career — running an organization to engage Jewish boomers with their cultural and religious communities.

“I consider myself an extremely fortunate guy because I’m able to embark on this initiative, which not only connects me to the Jewish community, but also fires up my entrepreneurial zeal. We see an incredible opportunity to understand what boomers are doing, thinking feeling at this stage of their lives,” the 60-year-old New York City resident said.

The new organization, called B3/The Jewish Boomer Platform, was born from research conducted by Stuart’s business partner, David Elcott, the Taub Professor of Public Service at New York University’s Wagner School. The research indicated that while the organized Jewish community has many initiatives for young people and for the geriatric community, there was nothing focused on baby boomers. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Profiles, Slider

April 13, 2012 by Mark Whittaker

Chef cooks up new career in real estate

Reid Weinbrom
Reid Weinbrom
For a short guy, Reid Weinbrom could hit you really hard on the football field. He wasn’t athletic-looking, but he put every ounce of effort he could muster into our neighborhood football and basketball games.

Reid wasn’t much fun to block or tackle, I remember, because he just wouldn’t give up. That was 40 years ago in our suburban York, Pa., neighborhood. He sometimes was the butt of jokes because of his size and because he stuttered, a problem he conquered with hours and hours of practice in front of a mirror at home.

Now Reid, 56, puts that same kind of effort into his three-year-old career as a real estate agent in his hometown. Listen to him talk about his new job: “I love it. I absolutely love it. I love the competition. It’s a real contact sport. I love it. I love pitting myself against the best agents there are here in York.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Profiles, Slider Tagged With: chef, real estate, Reid Weinbrom

April 9, 2012 by Mark Whittaker

Educator adds podcaster, video producer, web designer to resume

Jane Bluestein
Jane Bluestein
Jane Bluestein is a teacher, education consultant, author and speaker, but to advance her work she’s creating new careers for herself — web designer, podcaster, video producer and e-publisher.

Jane, 60, has written books and lectured around the world about adult-child relationships and their effect on motivation, discipline, learning and teaching. By almost any measure, she’s been successful.

But the market for education consultants has slowed as school systems struggle to find money for pencils, papers and to heat their buildings, let alone for professional development. So the Albuquerque, N.M., resident is putting her impressive reservoir of energy into learning some new skills and building her online marketing efforts.

“This is the first time in about 25 years that I don’t have any speaking engagements. I have no paid work right now. So the podcasting and website, email marketing, all these other projects I have going on — all started earlier — now have taken on a slightly different sense of urgency.”

She’s optimistic that that the demand for her consulting and speaking engagements will increase eventually, but in the meantime, “I’ve needed to look for other ways to get my message out there. And that has created, in essence, a new career for me.” [Read more…]

Filed Under: Profiles, Slider Tagged With: e-books, Jane Bluestein, online marketing, podcasting, web design

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Sunset-Chaser Profiles

Stuart Himmelfarb

Stuart Himmelfarb has been studying the baby boomer generation, and what he's learning is the foundation of his new career -- running an organization to engage Jewish boomers with their cultural and religious communities. "I consider myself an … Read the Article

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