Instead of retiring, imagine starting your own online business and working from anywhere in the world, just like those pesky millennials.
Believe it or not, Aussie baby boomers are expected to contribute an additional $11.9 billion to Australia’s GDP in retirement ventures, specifically by starting online businesses.
A new report released by the NBN network sampled 1200 seniors in April this year and from that, found that two-thirds of them were already going online to earn and income or supplement a current income.
“More than half of them are using the internet to pursue passion projects – that’s relatively high but it’s not all about money,” said Dr Alex Maritz, La Trobe University professor of entrepreneurship.
The research found 14,000 new businesses were expected to be started by baby boomers – more than double the start-up rate of their Gen Y counterparts.
The Silver Economy report revealed retirees were embracing technology with 67 per cent going online to earn a dollar, 58 per cent used the internet to pursue passion projects from home and 37 per cent were jumping online to connect with their community through volunteering.
“It’s a myth that retirees aren’t tech savvy,” Dr Maritz said.
As for why baby boomers were eschewing lounging on a beach enjoying retirement in favour of kick starting a start-up, Dr Maritz said: “We know that seniors are either pushed or pulled into entrepreneurship. When they see an opportunity out there where they can utilise skills they already have, they’re often compelled to still participate in the workforce.
“They’re also pushed by necessity – we’ve seen that a lot of things are changing in the way the government are funding retirees so by necessity these people are pushed into entrepreneurship and have no other option but to supplement their income.”
From July 1, over the next six years, the age at which you can qualify for the pension will rise by six months every two years.
That means by 2023 the qualifying age will be 67.
“Australians are living a lot longer than we were 30 to 40 years ago,” Maritz said.
“Many retirees are not ready to hang up their working boots (and) are jumping online…in the hope of bolstering their retirement earnings and staying active.”
Last weekend’s Australian Leadership Retreat also revealed that in the next decade or two, half of the world’s four billion jobs would be eliminated by technology.
“We’re living longer and there are a lot more seniors so purely by default there will be more start-ups,” Maritz said.
“Some of them are doing it to purely create an income and others are doing it to keep mentally stimulated.”
Maritz offered the following advice to retirees who may be contemplating starting an online business: “You must be true to yourself and willing and able to be self employed because not everybody is an entrepreneur. There’s a lot of uncertainty and risk involved.”
He also recommended connecting with like-minded individuals, i.e., other entrepreneurs who weren’t necessarily in their own age bracket.
“We found a lot of these 60-plus-year-olds can contribute to the benefit, value and impact to the start-ups of young people,” he said.
“They’re generally more capable with superior managerial skills because of their experience.”