Welcome to Retirepreneur, a dynamic digital community for executives 50-ish and older, who are striving for a smooth segue from full-time job to part-time gig.
Retirepreneur is for forward thinkers and doers who yearn for a more satisfying encore career chapter, designed on their terms, doing work they truly enjoy.
Ready to jumpstart your encore career? Enter your email address below for tips and tools to speed up and enhance your journey …
The Retirepreneur Story
I’m Donna Kastner, founder of Retirepreneur and our story begins in early 2009, when the concept first hit me.
The economy was in a tailspin and layoffs were escalating, as companies made dramatic cutbacks to weather this storm.
While layoffs impacted all generations, the heaviest toll happened for those age 50 and older. With three decades of work experience, these career warriors were often at higher compensation levels and within ten years of the finish line.
As they watched their 401K savings plummet, dreams of a happy retirement were vanishing. Keep in mind, many had substantial family obligations – with kids heading off to college and parents navigating elder care challenges.
Talk about stressful situations – on a scale from 1-to-10, this was easily an eleven.
As this age 50+ crowd scrambled to find their next job, few were advancing to the interview stage. Having launched several successful start-ups, I thought self-employment might be the better long-term solution for this group, so I purchased Retirepreneur.com and I started pitching in to help.
After dozens of coaching conversations with job seekers (aka, My Hundred Cups of Coffee Tour), I realized 90% saw self-employment as the riskier path. They wanted a job with benefits and stability. Most managed to land a job, but it took eighteen months or longer and salaries were lower. The stability goal proved to be more elusive, as quite a few would experience at least one more income disruption before age 65.
Retirepreneur Pause & Pivot
For the next several years, I put Retirepreneur.com on the back burner, while I focused on growing my consulting practice. Then one day, I had a breakthrough that prompted me to give Retirepreneur a reboot.
The epiphany: We needed a much tighter micro-niche focus.
While there were a couple of entrepreneurial success stories back then, I now realize I was sweeping too wide. This DIY/Retirepreneur path isn’t a fit for everyone.
Fast forward to today, we’re zeroing in on Pre-Retirees who are still employed, but dreaming about a future transition from full-time job to part-time gig. They don’t want to work longer at full-throttle. Nope, instead, they’re craving a more graceful and gradual downshift where they blend work and leisure pursuits.
This encore chapter might be something they enjoy well into their seventies. For some, even longer.
Who is Retirepreneur best for?
- Retirepreneur is for professionals with business acumen and experience in fields where demand is high, but the supply of qualified job candidates is low.
- Retirepreneur is for self-starters and lifelong learners, 50-ish and above, who with limited direction and coaching can advance well on their own.
- Retirepreneur is for executives who enjoy what they do so much, they’d love to stay engaged to some degree in their field beyond traditional retirement age.
- Retirepreneur is for people who would like to boost their retirement nest egg with income from a part-time consulting gig.
Intrigued? Does this sound like YOU?
If so, join me right now and let’s explore this exciting next chapter together…