Money Archives – Unretirement Project

Retirement Planning: 5 Reasons to Have a Stop Working Date

June 19, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

park bench sitting, retirement, retirement planning, encore career

There’s an excellent read over on the Considerable blog titled, “How long will you be able to work?” Regardless of your current age, one of the questions that individuals should ask themselves is, “When would I like to stop working?” Picking a possible retirement date – and I do mean possible – allows individuals to have a starting point in their retirement planning. And that planning date is important for several reasons:

Think about a Plan B just in case you need to retire before the date you’ve chosen. Let’s say you’ve decided to stop working at age 70. But something happens when you’re 65 and you might need to retire sooner. I hear stories of individuals retiring early to care for their health or the health of a family member. What does a Plan B look like? And can you kick it into gear should you need it?
Consider having two dates: a part-time date and a full-time one. Instead of going from fully employed to fully retired, does it make sense to think about a phased strategy? You could transition to part-time at 65 and then fully retire at 70. Of course, I’m just throwing out ages here. You have to decide what makes sense for you. This could also make a lot of sense when trying to coordinate your retirement and your spouse or partner.
Use a retirement date to map out the transition to an encore career. I know several people in their 40s who work insane hours and travel a lot. They love their lifestyle right now but at some point, want to find a different pace of work. Selecting a retirement date (or dates as in #2) could help with planning an encore or second career. Especially if that next career involves getting some additional education or a certification.
Reflect on how your retirement date impacts savings and spending. It goes without saying – but I’ll say it anyway, our decision to slow down or stop working impacts our finances. When retirement planning, we do have to think about how the bills will get paid and we can maintain our lifestyle. In fact, we might want to consider making some lifestyle decisions well in advance, so we can get used to them.
Get yourself mentally ready for a change. I’ve always been a person who needs a full-plate of activity. I am getting myself ready for retirement to be a major change. It’s one of the reasons we started this blog. As you think about an approaching retirement date, ask yourself if you’re ready. Do you need to think about starting a hobby? I’m not joking. I do believe many people retire without a plan and get bored.

It’s very easy to simply pick the government’s age for collecting Social Security as your retirement date. But if I had a dollar for every person who turned 62 or 65 and said, “I’m not ready yet.” I would be retired right now. LOL! No one is holding you to that date. It’s simply a placeholder for planning.

And retirement planning is important.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby somewhere in North Carolina

Your 5 Day Plan to Use Instagram in Unretirement

June 12, 2019 by Keith Lauby Leave a Comment

We have been showcasing the use of social media sites to help with marketing in your encore career. Whether your goal is to work as a freelancer or you plan to extend corporate work, social media can play a significant role. Demonstrating your skills with these platforms could make you a more marketable employee. So far, we’ve talked about Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. If you haven’t check them out, you can find them here:

Your 5 Day Plan to Using Facebook

Your 5 Day Plan to Using LinkedIn

Your 5 Day Plan to Using Twitter

You might be wondering why you should pay attention to Instagram if you’re already using one or all of the social channels we’ve already covered. You will see as we explore Instagram, there are some very unique aspects to this medium. As such, there are many users who spend hours on their accounts – – far more than any other site. So, as any fisherman or marketer will tell you, you need to be where your audience is!

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a free photo and video sharing app where subscribers can upload graphics and share them with their followers. Instagram launched in 2010 and quickly grew in popularity with more the 1 billion registered users as of May 2019. They were acquired by Facebook in 2012 and are arguably the most popular social media site in operation.

The reason for the popularity? Images! The main focus of Instagram is visual, and this has attracted a huge amount of creativity. It allows users to get a glimpse of the lives of their favorite celebrities and engage with beloved brands at the same time they enjoy vacation and children photos from friends and family.

You can sign up for Instagram easily and, like all other social sites, it’s free to create an account.

Your 5 Day Plan to Learning Instagram

DAY 1 – Download the Instagram App. The whole idea behind Instagram is to quickly and easily share images and video you capture with your mobile devise. For that reason, it’s easier to use the mobile app which is available for iOS or Android.

DAY 2 – Start Following. Like most social sites, you have a feed that will showcase the people and brands you follow. At the bottom of your screen you will see a magnifying glass so click on that. Here you can enter names of people you know and follow elsewhere or topics you find engaging – like retirement. Just like with Twitter, hashtags will bring users with similar interests together. If you find an image you like, click on it to launch a window with all the posts within the hashtag. From here, you can immediately follow them simply by clicking “Follow” or click on their user name to see everything they’ve shared. After a short while, clicking on the magnifying glass will give you recommendations on people and brands to follow based on your interests and likes.

Day 3 – Engage, engage, engage. Social media is all about engagement and Instagram is no different. Now that you have people, brands and hashtags to follow, you are bound to find photos and videos you really like. If so, go ahead and click on the “heart” under the image. That will tell the person – and Instagram – that you like it. You can also post a comment by clicking on the “word balloon” or you can “heart” other peoples’ comments. Pay attention to the hashtags that your followers share. If you like their content, chances are good that their hashtags will lead you to others who share similar – but different – images.

Day 4 – Post a Photo. By now, you should be pretty comfortable getting around the app. You found some people to engage with and you want them to interact with you. It’s time to post a photo! Once you have a subject, take 2 – 3 photos at different angles. At the bottom of the Instagram app is a plus sign – clicking on that will bring up your camera roll where you can choose the best image to share. Click on the image then click “Next”. This will take you to an editing screen where you can quickly edit the shot before posting. Or you can quickly apply a “filter” which applies a preprogrammed set of attributes to your image. For now, just keep it normal and click “Next” again. In this screen, you can say something about the image (don’t forget hashtags), tag people, and add location information before sharing.

Day 5 – Set Audience Goals. To be really successful at something, we need to have goals. As you can see with Instagram, like most social channels, success is centered around growing your audience. And growing an audience takes more following, posting and engaging. You can make your goal to follow 5 new people every day and follow one new hashtag every week. Set aside 20 minutes every morning to like images and share comments. And don’t forget to snap some photos and share them as well. Remember, there aren’t any shortcuts for this so just schedule the time. Before you know it, you will have a fun and engaging audience!

BONUS! Repost for Instagram. You may have noticed that Instagram differs from most social platforms in that they don’t easily allow you to share other people’s images. The idea behind Instagram is to informally let others get to know “the real you” through pictures. So, they want you to share YOUR pictures. Fortunately, enterprising app developers have created independent apps that will allow you to repost what other people share. Just look for them wherever you download your mobile apps.

Instagram has set itself apart from other social platforms by creating a unique and exciting ecosystem and remaining true to their brand. That should be a lesson for all of us! Another thing to know is that 80% of Instagram users follow a business brand. That shows the power of Instagram in brand marketing. Just think what it can do for your personal brand in Unretirement!

Your 5 Day Plan to Using Twitter in Unretirement

May 8, 2019 by Keith Lauby Leave a Comment

This is the third installment in our series about using social channels to help with marketing yourself when working as an independent contractor during retirement. First, we discussed the benefits of using Facebook to expand your audience. Then we talked about LinkedIn and how you don’t have to be looking for a new job to benefit from sharing and writing articles there.

Today, I want to look into Twitter and see how it can help you in unretirement.

What is Twitter?

Twitter launched in March of 2006 so, by now, many of us probably have an account. Twitter describes itself as an online news and social networking site. It has also been called a microblogging site. Did you know:

Over 330 million monthly active users worldwide share “Tweets” of 280 characters or less (that’s double the number they started with).
The average Twitter user has 707 followers.
66% of brands with 100 or more employees have a Twitter account.

500 million Tweets are sent each day – that’s 5,787 every second! In addition, Twitter is the number one platform for government leaders. Even in unretirement, you should really appreciate that kind of activity.

How do you create a Twitter account?

If you don’t have one, perhaps the most difficult part of creating a Twitter account is getting a unique name. That’s because there can only be one of us in all of Twitter. So, if your name is John Smith, chances are pretty good that someone has already claimed that.

If the name you select is already taken, Twitter will immediately prompt you to select another. You may have to do this a few times so don’t get frustrated. Keep in mind that your ultimate goal here is to grow your followers. So, if you have to get creative with your Twitter name, think of something that is memorable and makes people want to learn more about you. For example, Unretirement Project wasn’t available when we created a Twitter account for this blog, so we chose @UnretirementPro instead.

Once you have your name, you will be asked for a brief bio and link to your website (if you don’t have a blog, use your LinkedIn profile). Again, share information that people will want to engage with. You want the Twitterverse to follow you and click on the link you share.

Finally, you will want to upload an avatar photo so others will recognize you when you show up in their Twitter stream. If this is to promote your side hustle, you can use your business logo. Just don’t skip this step! There are many users who just ignore connection requests from people who don’t have a profile picture.

There are a couple of good resources that can guide you in creating an impressive Twitter profile:

5 Simple Tips for a More Impressive Twitter Profile

How to Make a Perfect Twitter Profile: A Complete Guide

Your 5-day Plan Being a Twitter Pro

Now that you have an account, let’s talk about the 5-day plan to learning more about Twitter.

DAY 1 – Hashtags. These days, most social sites use hashtags. But Twitter is where it all began. Simply put the # symbol in front of key words or phrases (with no spaces) to create a searchable hashtag in a Tweet. A hashtag serves two big purposes – 1) if someone is interested in a topic, they click on a hashtag and they might find you and your Tweets and 2) if they like your Tweet and profile, they may start following you. Do a search for #retirement or #retirementplanning and see what I mean.

DAY 2 – Write a Post. In the bottom right of your phone is a circle with a quill pen. Or, on your browser, a button can be found on the top that says “Tweet”. Clicking on it will launch the composition screen asking, “What’s happening?”. Just start typing your message here and share whatever you like. You can attach a link to great content (like this article). And don’t forget to add your hashtags. Along the bottom of this screen will be buttons to add photos, videos, GIFs, or polls.

DAY 3 – Start Connecting. Like most social sites, Twitter is happy to make recommendations on who to follow. Just click on the magnifying glass at the bottom of your phone or check out the section titled Who to Follow in the top-right of your browser. Just look for the Follow button next to their user name. And be sure to click on a hashtag you like and follow a few people who share your interests. You might even want to start with this great account – @UnretirementPro

DAY 4 – Get to Know Your Audience. Again, like other social sites, Twitter wants you to know about your audience and what they are saying to and about you. At the bottom of the home page on your phone is a bell so click on that. In your browser dashboard you can see the bell next to “Notifications” in the upper left screen. This will show new followers, post comments, and mentions about you. From here, it’s very easy to follow back those people who interact with you.

DAY 5 – Engage, Engage, Engage. As you scroll through the Tweets on your home page, you will probably find something interesting. At the bottom of each Tweet will be icons. If you like the Tweet, click on the Heart to let the person and their followers know. If you want to comment on the Tweet, click the comment balloon icon to launch the familiar composition screen. The two arrows icon is used to Retweet – that is, share someone else’s Tweet with your followers. You will find that, the more you engage, the more you grow your follower audience.

BONUS! Twitter clients. The Twitter site has improved a lot over the years, but you might be saying to yourself, “There’s got to be an easier way to view and engage with information.” And there is. Test drive a Twitter client such as HootSuite or Tweetdeck to help you organize information.

Twitter remains a very popular social channel – one that just can’t be ignored. The large number of active users can help you quickly grow an audience. And be sure to share all of your other social accounts with your Twitter followers. They just might want to connect with you everywhere!

Encore Careers – Part Two: Figuring Out What to Pursue

May 1, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby 5 Comments

encore career, careers, career path, encore career path, Unretirement

In the first post in this series about encore careers, we talked about what an encore career is and why you might want to start thinking about one as part of your unretirement journey. As a quick refresher, encore careers are jobs or careers that happen later in life. They often fulfill different needs than the jobs we have early in our career. So, an encore career might be something that aligns with a passion you’ve had over the years or possibly just something to get out of the house and make a few bucks.

Once you decide that you want to pursue an encore career, the next logical step in the process is to figure out what you want to do. Remember when you were in high school and everyone started asking, “What are you going to do when you graduate?” Well, think of this similarly but the question becomes, “What are you going to do when you retire?”

I would suggest that the first step toward figuring out your encore career is to take inventory of your knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs). Even if you change jobs and industries in your encore career, you’re going to want to choose something that you’re good at. So, think about the skills you’ve collected.

It might even make some sense to prepare an “unretirement” resume. Instead of saying to yourself, “I don’t need to maintain a resume anymore. I’m going to retire in a few years.” Maybe it’s even more important now. Use your resume as a way to discover and showcase your encore career skills. In addition, take a moment to ask yourself, “Of all my skills, which ones have a mastered as a result of being older.” There a reason you should do this that will become more apparent as you read on.

Now, some career coaches might tell you that ideal encore careers for older people are in the areas of people management and coaching. Let me dish out some tough love here. Your age, your desire to become a coach, and your skills in communication, empathy, and listening are three different things. I’m not saying that older people can’t become coaches – they certainly can. And I’m not saying that older people don’t have the skills to become coaches – they might. But making the assumption that because you’re 50 or 60 automatically makes you a people person…sorry, no.

Your encore career should be something that you’re interested in, that fulfills a need for you, and that you’re good at. You might say, “I’ve spent my entire career coaching employees and the last thing I want to do in my retirement is coach employees. I want to take care of animals because they don’t talk back.” And to that I say, good for you.

Another option might be simply tweaking the job you have right now. Maybe you’d like to do the same thing you’re doing right now just less. Or maybe your current job has two primary functions and you’d like to focus on one of them. It makes me think of a marketing manager who is responsible for marketing, public relations, and social media. Maybe for an encore career they want to focus solely on social media.

After you conduct your skills assessment, hopefully, this will point you in a direction. It might shed some light on skills you want to acquire before you retire. This allows you to put a plan in place to gain experience and knowledge over time. You can do things at your pace and within your budget. It also gives you time to think about how you’re going to transition into your encore career. Will you be able to just change jobs? Or is there an interim job that will make the transition easier?

There’s one other thing to consider. As you think about your work experience and skills, along with where you want to go with an encore career, consider how you would answer the question, “Why do you want to take a job where you’re overqualified?” While companies might not come right out and say it, you know that there will be recruiters and hiring managers thinking this. As you’re planning your encore career, plan an explanation for your encore career. This will demonstrate to prospective employers (including your current one) that you’re focused, planful, and detail-oriented.

Encore careers can be a wonderful, fulfilling part of your unretirement journey. Start thinking about it early and put a plan in place to get there.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the island of Maui, HI

Encore Careers – Part One: What They Are and Why You Might Want One

April 24, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby 3 Comments

encore career, encore career path, retirement, Unretirement, retirement planning

One of the most common questions people ask themselves when they’re thinking about retirement is “What am I going to do?” We spend the majority of our lives identifying with a job, whether that’s one that happens in Corporate America or at home (as in being a stay at home parent). When those things stop, we have to figure out how to answer the question “So, what do you do?” Even when we hear people say, “I’m retired.” it seems like the next question is “Well, what did you do?”

Figuring out how to answer the question about what you do isn’t simply to satisfy others. It’s also for ourselves. Every time someone asks, “What do you do?” does it cause you to pause? I know lots of people who are saying they’re not ready to retire. They say that they want to still contribute but maybe not 40+ hours a week.

One option available to us as we’re thinking about our retirement (and unretirement) is an encore career. It’s defined as a job or career that happens later in life to provide both purpose and money. According to Encore.org, some of the most promising fields for encore careers are in the non-profit sector, management services, and services for aging persons. The older generation is also currently the largest freelancing group.

Encore careers can be related to your existing career or they can be something completely different. Either way, if you’re considering an encore career, you will want to plan a transition to the new role. Keith’s career path is a perfect example. While it happened when he was younger, it demonstrates how you can transition from the role you have today to a new (and different role). Here’s a summary of his experience:

College degree in Wildlife Biology
Animal care specialist for a zoo
Duckmaster for a hotel chain (position was 50% animal care and 50% public relations)
Marketing coordinator for hotel chain
Marketing manager for safety products company
Marketing manager for HR company
And now he works with me.

You can see how he transitioned from working with animals to working in marketing. You can also see how he accepted positions of greater responsibility along the way. And you can see how he transitioned to HR-related companies. Now this took several years. Which is why if you’re considering an encore career, you don’t want to wait until you’re a couple of ~~days~~ years from retirement.

The second part of this transition to think about is salary and benefits. Again, I mentioned that Keith’s path happened when he was younger, so he was able to earn more money and benefits. But as we’re transitioning to an encore career, we might have to adjust our expectations. It’s possible the encore career we’re considering doesn’t pay as much as we made during our peak earning years. It might not be full-time, so we won’t get benefits like health insurance. But our encore careers might serve a different purpose.

Encore careers might help us keep our minds fresh. They could allow us to work for an organization we’re passionate about. Oh, and yeah, maybe we can make a few dollars too. Before you start looking, ask yourself, “Do I want an encore career? Why or why not?” You can also check out Encore.org or the Encore.org LinkedIn group for some additional information.

We all know that our work lives can bring tremendous satisfaction or incredible heartburn (or even just plain boredom). It’s important that we have the right job with the right company. The same holds true when we’re considering an encore career. You didn’t make the decision about where you’re working right now in a silo. Don’t make that mistake with this one. In part two of this series, we’ll talk about how to find your encore career.

Image captured by Sharlyn Lauby while exploring the island of Maui, HI

Make a Checklist of Your Wishes For Your Family

March 6, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

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For the last decade of my father-in-law’s life, every time we visited him, he would find an hour to chat with us about his final wishes. It was never on the first day or the last. It was never over dinner. But at some point, he would find a few moments to talk about what he wanted his final days to be like and how he wanted his matters handled by family when he was gone.

Keith and I came to expect these little chats every time we visited him.

Now that we’re getting older, we’re trying to figure out when we should start having those chats with people. First of all, it’s a great reminder that if you haven’t already thought about the executor of your estate…now’s a good time. And don’t let that term intimidate you. Whether you have $1 or $1M, somebody is going to have to handle your final affairs.

AARP Publishing has a book out titled, “Checklist for My Family” by Sally Balch Hurme, J.D.. This 250-page book outlines ten areas of our life that we might want to consider documenting. Some of them are very predictable like life insurance, investments, and real estate. Others are more surprising such as items to destroy, rewards programs, and pet care.

I’m sure for many, the task of handling a person’s final affairs is given to a child. Keith and I have an interesting dynamic to consider because we don’t have children. I found this book to be something that we could complete and leave it in a place for the executor of our estate to review. I love that everything is in a single book, so our executor only has to find one thing – the book. And we can keep the book in a safe place or mail it to our executor.

The book has two parts. The first part is my “to-do” list. This is where I need to review items, make decisions about how I would like things handled by family, etc. The second part is where I document those decisions. Looking back, my father-in-law was quite the planner and there were plenty of things he forgot to tell us. This book reminds me that while there are several major decisions to make, there are lots of smaller decisions to consider as well.

If I have one criticism about the book, it’s that the author doesn’t put enough emphasis on technology. The book does reference digital assets, but most of us have multiple social media accounts, emails, etc. and at some point, somebody will be given the task of deleting my digital life. In future editions, I could see technology being a separate chapter versus just a few pages.

At some point in time, we have to start making plans for our final days. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I don’t want to rush those decisions. Having a checklist for family that I can pick up and put down at my leisure makes me feel in control. And isn’t that want we’re trying to do – be in control of how our affairs are handled.

What We Are UP To – February 2019

February 27, 2019 by Sharlyn Lauby Leave a Comment

Chinese lanterns, koi lanterns, koi, Chinese New Year, Unretirement Project, February

Watching | Chuck

> Or should I say rewatching. The TV series Chuck, starring Zachary Levi, is one of my favorites. In honor of DC’s Shazam (starring Zachary Levi) coming out in April, we decided to rewatch Chuck. Still excellent after all this time.

Reading | Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

> I’ve heard for years that the Harry Potter series is reading for all ages. So, I finally broke down a picked-up Harry Potter book number one. I must admit it grabbed me immediately! I can see this being a series that both Keith and I will enjoy and want to chat about.

Remembering | Fort Lauderdale

>We were in our old stomping grounds early in February for client meetings. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed visiting some of our favorite places. But OMGosh, the traffic! We actually we’re held up in traffic one afternoon because nine police cars apprehended someone (guns drawn) on the I95 highway. I love you Fort Lauderdale, but I don’t miss that.

Working On | Travel

> I’ve been home for a couple of months and, while I love being home, I’m looking forward to spring travel season. I have trips planned to some places I haven’t been to lately – like Oklahoma City, Salt Lake City, and St. Louis. It should be great fun to get out and explore.

Feeling | Ready to move!

> While moving your household is never fun, can I tell ya that I’m ready to move! We’re still a few months away but becoming incredibly conscious that a move date will be soon. In February, we drove by the construction site recently and saw a pile of baseboards in the house. Stuff is happening!

Planning | Ace Your Retirement

> Keith and I ran across a billboard on the Florida Turnpike promoting AceYourRetirement.org. It’s a (chatbot) digital retirement coach sponsored by AARP and the Ad Council. Takes less than 5 minutes to answer some questions about where you are in your retirement planning and offers some suggestions. No registration required.

Loving | Girl Scout Cookies

> I was a Girl Scout so I appreciate the frenzy that is “cookie season” in February. Typically, we just pick up our Girl Scout cookies in front of the grocery store. But no one was selling! I couldn’t believe it. But good news! The Girl Scouts have gotten smarter and allow people to set up small storefronts to sell cookies online. I was able to support my friend’s children, no matter where they live.

Geeking | MasterClass

> I’m sure you’ve heard of MasterClass. It’s an online education portal with programs from famous people. Like Annie Leibovitz teaches photography. And Gordon Ramsay teaches cooking. We decided to sign up for a year and test it out. I’m currently listening to Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman talk about economics. Absolutely fascinating.

What’s UP with you?