Well, I almost retired.....
Maybe it isn't so bad. When I told my boss, I was asked if I would consider working from home. I took them up on the offer, and I now work via email and phone from my home. You may want to try this. I suspect it won't last for long since the old motto...out of sight, out of mind is often true.
Then the economy crashed and as we all know I am not exaggerating....and I was kind of glad I kept my job....hard to see the old 401K decrease like that...but now I am hearing pay cuts for all at my level, forced vacation, and potential cuts to 401K contributions....should I just cut and run?
I will post again, but things don't look good. Businesses are failing like crazy and I don't want to be the one who turns out the lights....
Stay tuned....more to follow
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Friday, April 11, 2008
Protecting the Future through Franchising
One method of preparing for early retirement is to think of retirement not as the end of working, but rather as the beginning of a new style of work. For my husband, that meant quitting his "career" job and starting his own business. The choice then became do we start your own business from scratch, or do we franchise. We decided to buy a frachise.
We didn't expect to rich, but we did get a proven business plan and support in getting started. Had we started a business on our own, we might have made more money, but we might have gone broke as well....We opted for what we decided was a lower risk method of starting our own business. With franchising you will give the franchisor a % of the revenue and have to follow their rules, but you will also be able to look before you start at the likely outcome, have a support network when you are starting, and reduce the risks facing startup businesses.
I kept my day job while my husband worked the startup. We thought we would do this for 1 year, but it has been about 5 years. In fairness, I could have quite 2 years ago if I wanted to, but neither of us wanted to be trapped into working full time for years to make less than we use to make. We decided to wait, build retained earnings and business volume, expand the business, and then retire when we could work the business as we wanted.......not work to survive.
Owning a franchise has been an interesting experience. It is rewarding and frustrating all at the same time. It has enabled us to start our own group insurance program (a personal requirement for early retirement), shelter some income, and to live in a community we wanted to retire in. There were stressful times in the beginning when we kept putting money in, not paying ourselves....which was not the goal.......but now we are looking at a building business that has the potential to pay a reasonable return without the requirment for excessive hours by both of us. My advice to those thinking about this method of early retirement is that it takes more money and time than you will be told during your due dilligence...but if you have the heart and choose the right opportunity franchising can be rewarding. Look long and hard. Ask qustions of the franchisor. Think about your personality........Do you like working with the public? Do you like sales? Can you and your spouse work together? Can you live with the rules of the franchise? We decided that for us the criteria were....no food, no weekends, and no business that was only profitable with the two of us there all the time. What do you want to do? There are great websites for evaluating franchises....spend time.....explore.....and then spend more time.
We didn't expect to rich, but we did get a proven business plan and support in getting started. Had we started a business on our own, we might have made more money, but we might have gone broke as well....We opted for what we decided was a lower risk method of starting our own business. With franchising you will give the franchisor a % of the revenue and have to follow their rules, but you will also be able to look before you start at the likely outcome, have a support network when you are starting, and reduce the risks facing startup businesses.
I kept my day job while my husband worked the startup. We thought we would do this for 1 year, but it has been about 5 years. In fairness, I could have quite 2 years ago if I wanted to, but neither of us wanted to be trapped into working full time for years to make less than we use to make. We decided to wait, build retained earnings and business volume, expand the business, and then retire when we could work the business as we wanted.......not work to survive.
Owning a franchise has been an interesting experience. It is rewarding and frustrating all at the same time. It has enabled us to start our own group insurance program (a personal requirement for early retirement), shelter some income, and to live in a community we wanted to retire in. There were stressful times in the beginning when we kept putting money in, not paying ourselves....which was not the goal.......but now we are looking at a building business that has the potential to pay a reasonable return without the requirment for excessive hours by both of us. My advice to those thinking about this method of early retirement is that it takes more money and time than you will be told during your due dilligence...but if you have the heart and choose the right opportunity franchising can be rewarding. Look long and hard. Ask qustions of the franchisor. Think about your personality........Do you like working with the public? Do you like sales? Can you and your spouse work together? Can you live with the rules of the franchise? We decided that for us the criteria were....no food, no weekends, and no business that was only profitable with the two of us there all the time. What do you want to do? There are great websites for evaluating franchises....spend time.....explore.....and then spend more time.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
OK...I am just like all of you......
If you are going to retire you start thinking about easy money or having enough money. Why not blog and get money? Why not write your inner thoughts and get paid?
So my second step in the early retirement process is to put ads on this blog.....Will it work? I suspect, you dear reader, are the key......Was it easy to add Googgle AdSense to this blog.?...It was simple as can be. But does that mean I will get money? Who knows.........
I love the web and spend time on the web. I can't remember all the times I go to an add found on a web site. How did people live without the web? Do I go to ads? I am not sure. Now I will think about this.......hummmmmm. I did today and found it an interesting experience.
I will let you all know....Do people read this stuff? I did...and .....I saw ads for reviewing products, taking surveys, and linking to other sites....... but do I want to spend my time on this type of stuff?...I don't think so. I would rather work to define intersting content and tools for those of us trying to figure out retirement and the next steps in our life.
A few ads that help those of us with our retirement goals and activities seems reasonable so....Why not?
If you are going to retire you start thinking about easy money or having enough money. Why not blog and get money? Why not write your inner thoughts and get paid?
So my second step in the early retirement process is to put ads on this blog.....Will it work? I suspect, you dear reader, are the key......Was it easy to add Googgle AdSense to this blog.?...It was simple as can be. But does that mean I will get money? Who knows.........
I love the web and spend time on the web. I can't remember all the times I go to an add found on a web site. How did people live without the web? Do I go to ads? I am not sure. Now I will think about this.......hummmmmm. I did today and found it an interesting experience.
I will let you all know....Do people read this stuff? I did...and .....I saw ads for reviewing products, taking surveys, and linking to other sites....... but do I want to spend my time on this type of stuff?...I don't think so. I would rather work to define intersting content and tools for those of us trying to figure out retirement and the next steps in our life.
A few ads that help those of us with our retirement goals and activities seems reasonable so....Why not?
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Decision Time
We all think about retiring and all the things we are going to do.....
We prepare for years, but I did not expect the actual decision to be so difficult. The decision seems so final....
Will the money last?
Will I get bored?
Can I get health insurance?
What will I do with my time?
Am I serious.....?
All these and more cause me to delay. I have done the calculators and can convince myself that I can't afford to retire or that I have more than enough......hum......what to do.......
We prepare for years, but I did not expect the actual decision to be so difficult. The decision seems so final....
Will the money last?
Will I get bored?
Can I get health insurance?
What will I do with my time?
Am I serious.....?
All these and more cause me to delay. I have done the calculators and can convince myself that I can't afford to retire or that I have more than enough......hum......what to do.......
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