More Gigs to Start in Retirement
"Consulteering" Offers a New Way to Look at "Rewirement"

Is a "Micro-Enterprise" Right for You?

OnaWhimIn previous posts, I've discussed everything from part-time work to volunteering to starting a business in an effort to keep busy and supplement retirement income in your later years.

Another creative option is something called a "micro-enterprise." Chris Farrell, author of the book Unretirement, tells RetirementRevised.com, "micro-enterprises allow you to work from home, take advantage of technology, not touching your retirement savings and using just a little money to experiment.” Another plus of a micro-enterprise is, if you have a new business idea you can“find out if there really is a market–if there is, then you can commit more resources and perhaps round up more money,” says Farrell.

Mark Miller, who writes RetirementRevised.com, cites the stories of several individuals who have started successful micro-enterprises. He also points out that the new sharing economy offers micro-enterprise opportunities through such services as Uber because Boomers make little or no investment while generating modest income. This could be an attractive way to supplement retirement income, as long as you realize dabbling in a micro-enterprise is not the same thing as creating a business with the intention of making it a full-time, going concern. Says Farrell, “What a micro-enterprise allows you to do is buy a lifestyle–it’s not about creating a business with a five-year exit strategy.”

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