Older Americans Shun Retirement to Start Companies

[oldtoyota]

The online version of this article is entitled: "Older Americans Shun Retirement for Risky Startups."

The *paper* version of the article is entitled: "For many, the age of entrepreneurship begins at 65"

The first title seems more accurate and the second title seems misleading.

After I read this article, I got the sense that the people interviewed are playing roulette. This first guy has sunk everything he has into his business at an age when he may not earn it back:

"“It is a huge risk,” said Kinsey, now 67, owner of North Florida Medical Solutions Inc. in Gainesville. “I have sunk everything I have into it the last two years. I have put myself out on the line.”

Older Americans such as Kinsey are increasingly shunning retirement to start companies because they see job opportunities limited after age 55, don’t have enough savings to retire comfortably or want to work for themselves."

I know reporters can twist words around and have had it done to me, so maybe this next guy was more prepared than the reporter made him out to be. The way the article is written, it sounds like this guy didn't do his research (scary):

"Bruce Fischler, 63, of Plantation, Florida, lost a housing-related job in 2012 after home prices slid in the region and foreclosures surged.

He formed a drug company with the hopes of commercializing a university patent for a treatment for osteoporosis, only to find that running clinical trials would take an “enormous amount of money,” which will probably be impossible to raise."

I feel bad for these folks. They could either have saved more throughout life, planned their retirement better or at least researched their potential companies more before starting them.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-08/older-americans-shun-retirement-at-65-for-risky-startups.html?source=imwsitlnk0000001

[SwordGuy]

Why should you feel sorry for people who choose to be ignorant and choose to act on that ignorance?

I feel sorry for people whose livelihoods and assets are lost through no fault of their own.

For people who choose to be stupid - nope.

[Jamesqf]

I feel bad for these folks. They could either have saved more throughout life, planned their retirement better or at least researched their potential companies more before starting them.

Why should you feel bad for them?  The point is not that they haven't saved, or planned their retirement, it's that they've tried retirement and don't like it.

I am tired of boating,” said Schmoke, who started his business in the Boca Raton research park. “I don’t play golf. I am in good health. I want and have the energy and need to do something. We can have a positive effect and probably make a little money too.

When they face considerable discrimination in the job market, what's the alternative? 

If you are laid off from a decent job, if you start your own business you don’t have to worry about the biases of any personnel office as it looks over applicants’ resumes...

[DocCyane]

I think at this age it would be wiser to consider starting a business that may not be glamorous or take on the world, but requires little start-up costs and has a good chance for success. A house cleaning company comes to mind. Pet sitting. eBay flipping. Etc.

[Ian]

While this will presumably work for a few, given the high failure rate of new companies, I'd think over the entire population this will only exacerbate the problem of destitute elderly. How much, it's hard to say, but it can't help.

[Paul der Krake]

Just going to leave this here...

http://www.theonion.com/articles/encouraging-economic-report-reveals-more-americans,34814/

But seriously, what are these people thinking?

[oldtoyota]

I think at this age it would be wiser to consider starting a business that may not be glamorous or take on the world, but requires little start-up costs and has a good chance for success. A house cleaning company comes to mind. Pet sitting. eBay flipping. Etc.

Agreed.

[oldtoyota]

Why should you feel sorry for people who choose to be ignorant and choose to act on that ignorance?

I feel sorry for people whose livelihoods and assets are lost through no fault of their own.

For people who choose to be stupid - nope.

It's hard to know if they *choose* to be stupid or if they just did not come across the information. I think the problem for some people is that they never knew to look for what they didn't know. If they don't know the info exists, how do they find it? Cognitive blindness.

[MrsPete]

This is nuts. 

Putting everything you've saved into a new business . . . at an age when you don't have time to earn it back?
Thinking your business "may" employ 150 people within four years, but having no reason to think this is true.
Making this choice due to a "lack of jobs".

What I'm reading:  We aren't prepared for retirement, and age bias in the work place is a real thing, so we're willing to take foolish risks rather than downsize our finances. 

[oldtoyota]

I know. It's gambling.