Over 55, Unemployed And Not Enough Alternatives
As reported by the U.S. Labor Department, September, 2010 statistics show that among the 14.9 million jobless, upwards of 2.2 million are 55 and above, and nearly half of these have already been jobless 6 months or longer. The rate of unemployment in the 55+ age group is an all time high 7.3%.
As the many weeks without an income drag on many of these forced early retirees are draining their savings accounts and 401(k) retirement accounts, and borrowing heavily from family and friends. Traditional medical health care plans are being dropped for catastrophic plans which cover just health care emergencies. Leisure travel is out of the question. Even important extended family situations like weddings and funerals are now being passed up if air travel and hotel stays are involved.
With Social security retirement income still years away many Boomers are running out of resources to continue to pay their home loans and health care expenses, or to help their children and grandkids, some of whom may also be without a job, with living and college expenses.
If you are in this boat and if borrowing from your 401(k) is necessary to keep the boat afloat, the experts advise that you find out about the ways to minimize the tax hit and penalties, which run at 10%. The rules for withdrawal are complicated and they come with a host of seen and unforeseen consequences so it will be well worth your time to investigate.
Another thing worth investigating is how you can turn your work and life experience, your hobby, or your special interest into a home based business. Starting an online business is a viable idea. Just about everyone is an authority about something. Consumers from across the globe browse the internet everyday for special information, and they are willing to pay money for it too. Most people tend to underestimate their knowledge, but think back. Wouldn’t you pay to leapfrog your knowledge about your own special interest – if you could get the real benefit of somebody else’s many years of experience?
It will not cost you anything to do the initial research to gauge the marketability of your special knowledge. And if you establish that your knowledge is marketable the cost of putting your new business online, top to bottom, can be measured in a few hundred dollars and not the thousands it would take to get started with a conventional brick and mortar or office kind of business.
A successful home based business doesn’t just have to be about information either. People are buying everything online – from toothpaste to trotting horses. You can earn cash selling hard goods and tangible products individually or in a niche store. Virtually all the most important vendors, and a number of smaller ones too, offer what are called affiliate programs, that you can register with for free. You get paid a commission on each sale from your website. All the bookeeping and backoffice stuff is done for you. You don’t manually handle any products and you don’t warehouse or ship anything. The websites that give the consumer unique and valuable information regarding the things they want to buy tend to do well, even in the most competitive niches.
There is a world of opportunity to replace a lost income with an internet business. The cost of entry is low enough to make it practical for almost everybody. With some brain work, a little enthusiasm, and the right mentoring starting an online business could be the early retirement problem solver.
