A life question for the older nuts

[Joe Dupre']

Do the music thing and go on Youtube and OD on Dave Ramsey videos. He'll guide you into making the most of the money you make. His car-buying advise alone will save you $100K + over the rest of your lifetime. $100K plus interest makes a really nice addition to a nest egg. Me and my geezer lunch buddies have what we call the "Rocking Chair Test". Picture you and your wife sitting in rocking chairs on your front porch if you are lucky enough to live into your 90's. You really can't do much anymore. Health may be OK but not great. Looking back on this period, will your reaction be a sad" Dang, I wish I would have taught music when I had the chance." ? You'll have to make that call. Talk to the man in the mirror.

 

[PABonsai]

Please tell me that is for a handful of employees too.

Dude, through my employer a family pays $1400 a month. No that's not for a handful of employees! And that $1400 is actually AFTER the company pays for the employee, so just dependents are $1400.

 

[Starfox]

I say go for it although that alone is probably terrible advice but most of the additional has already been covered in other posts.

For me it's the what if factor as well, if you can sensibly plan it and it's within your means to do so and more importantly it is what you want to do then give it a go. At least you can say you have tried and if it doesn't work out you have a good fall back option or you maybe can retrain to something else.
We recently had to pull out of plans to start a business here which would of changed a heck of a lot for us but in the end costs were just too high, it's disappointing and even if the decision is really out of our hands the what if? remains today. We still contemplate it and wonder if we can still do it in a more sensible business climate. Maybe, who knows but this time round our hands are tied and if yours are not then that is a good sign going forward.

In a year or two I'll be in a similar situation except I have few skills to fall back on that I actually want to do again and I'll be damned if I am going to be sitting in the same deadbeat, low pay job wondering what if?
I'd much rather be doing a deadbeat, low pay job on my terms.

Life does not always throw these opportunities at you and nobody else but you can make it work and as an added bonus you have the wife already onside which is even rarer.

 

[leatherback]

Not much older than you. But a friend of mine has for the last 4 years eased out of the fixed position in my department and started for herself. Initially she dropped from 5 to 4 days working for the uni. The 1 day a week was used to get certified etc (So becming the best professional in her intended field). After a year or two she got all the paperwork organized and founded her business, reducing worktime at uni to 3 days a week, and spending 3-4 days a week on her company. This ensured she had a basic income & employer subsidized health insurance. Some 6 months ago she quit fully as she saw that there was enough work & money to be made to cover her bills, and now she is very happy with the choices made.

In short: You do not have to go black and white. Start small, while also earning money through a larger business as an consultant employee. If in 12 months you see that guitar lessons, bonsai or whatever starts to become financially interesting, grow that effort and reduce the other. If you are good at what you do now, your future employer will want you and thus you can propopose part-time options. (Then again, I work in the Netherlands, where it seems I am the last one on a permanent contract ,sometimes)

 

[JudyB]

I have thought about auditioning for pit at the local playhouses. I'd wager it would be gig pay just like teaching and performing. I'm right in the middle between Nashville and Knoxville.

There is lots of work where you are, stage handing work is more reliable than acting work lol... And you can sort of work when you want, at least in our local, you can turn work down when you don't want to work. So you can work on your own terms.

 

[penumbra]

I am 70 and I have been working for myself for the past 26 years or so. I would never look back and second guess myself with "what if". Certainly there are and will always be concerns about the future and questions about past choices, but you can only be free if living in the present. Past regrets are bars we erect around ourselves that immobilize us and "worry" about the future holds us in stasis much the same.
The biggest part of your equation it seems, would be your relationship with your wife. Don't know you or anything about your relationship, but it sounds to me like you have what it takes. If you feel that way, listen to your wife and don't look back. There is a whole new world for the two of you. Every day for the past 30 years I have been so grateful for my wife's support, steadfastness and of course her love.
Be modest but be great together. Best wishes.

 

[rockm]

Please tell me that is for a handful of employees too.

Sorce

you've never had COBRA (Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act) health insurance after you have had a layoff? A grand a month is about right for one person from my multiple experiences with layoffs/health insurance over the years. If you have a family, fudgeddaboudit...

 

[sorce]

A grand a month

Sad.

Sorce

 

[PaulH]

Please tell me that is for a handful of employees too.

Afraid not. Employees are a separate business expense.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Do the music thing and go on Youtube and OD on Dave Ramsey videos. He'll guide you into making the most of the money you make. His car-buying advise alone will save you $100K + over the rest of your lifetime. $100K plus interest makes a really nice addition to a nest egg. Me and my geezer lunch buddies have what we call the "Rocking Chair Test". Picture you and your wife sitting in rocking chairs on your front porch if you are lucky enough to live into your 90's. You really can't do much anymore. Health may be OK but not great. Looking back on this period, will your reaction be a sad" Dang, I wish I would have taught music when I had the chance." ? You'll have to make that call. Talk to the man in the mirror.

Practicing Dave Ramsey budgeting is why we are in a position currently that I can afford to take some time off to contemplate my next steps rather than panicking into another dead end job.

 

[just.wing.it]

Become a bail bondsman......or sell your body.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

Become a bail bondsman......or sell your body.

Funny you should say that. I worked with troubled youth for over ten years and I always thought I'd make a good PO. However, in my quiet moments I think of other things like what sort of need there might be for a non profit to help felons acclimate back to society. You'll always hear counselors say that they love working with people who want to help themselves, but that may be 1 client out of 100 if they're court ordered or mandatory. I always wondered if guys that did hard time and then got out and honestly wanted to get those jobs and get back their voting rights and try a semblance of normal would need outside help to get there.

 

[Dan92119]

I would say that since there is supposed to be a recession within a year, take the job, see if you can live off your wife’s income and save as much of yours as possible! That way if you get laid off again you will have the savings to try teaching music. If the music doesn’t work out then you have enough to make it through the recession and get a different job when the recession is over.

 

[bonsaichile]

The pluses and minuses have already been mentioned, so I'll stick to cautions. If you intend to pursue music instruction as a way to make a living, you need to approach it as a business. You don't need to have a MBA to do this, but it would be helpful to write a semi-formal business plan. You can buy a book on this, or not. By writing it down you will force yourself to be specific about what it is you are going to do, how many hours you will do this or that to acquire additional customers expressed as Plan A, Plan B, C, D, etc. Nobody else has to ever see it, but it will help you organize yourself and make your efforts more focused. Nothing is more counterproductive than traveling down the road for some time to find yourself saying to yourself, "OH SHIT, I didn't think about that!" Having a business plan will allow you to constantly update and tweak it as some things prove better or worse than expected. There is no such thing as a business plan that is right on the money and just needs to be followed once written. Having one forces you and your wife to acknowledge realities, refine specifics as progress is made or not made, and develop alternatives ASAP when appropriate. It also allows you two to agree that the costs and achievements are worthwhile. Every small business owner will tell you that the spouse shares your success or failure whether or not they have any active part in the endeavor. If you are not both pulling the wagon willingly, it will tear your marriage apart. A written business plan continually recombobulated by both you and your wife will serve as a good way of not ever surprising each other with an, "I didn't know about that...". Like getting real quotes on insurance, beforehand...

As to making money in bonsai, the old saw, "Want to make a million dollars in bonsai? OK, first, get two million dollars." Bonsaiists are a lot cheaper than outsiders may think. Buying materials at retail and making a profit on it is hard enough, but buying at wholesale means paying for inventory which can tie up cash and may or may not actually be profitable anyway. Or, even just break-even. Do one thing at a time. Spend money and time acquiring more music customers. For extra money, working on weekends or nights at some ordinary job where others don't want to work could be helpful.

You can do it! Plan Ahead...

women seem to be invisible for you, huh? He did say his wide has been running her own music school successfully for about a decade. She clearly knows how to run a business. No need for OP to reinvent the wheel here.

 

[cheap_walmart_art]

He did say his wide has been running her own music school successfully for about a decade. She clearly knows how to run a business. No need for OP to reinvent the wheel here.

True that. Her teaching career is nothing to sneeze at. I'd wager she's the number 1 private instructor in our area and has two other teachers under her schools umbrella. Business plan, tuition, online auto pay, yearly recital schedule - she's really put it together. I couldn't be more proud of her.

 

[LanceMac10]

True that. Her teaching career is nothing to sneeze at. I'd wager she's the number 1 private instructor in our area and has two other teachers under her schools umbrella. Business plan, tuition, online auto pay, yearly recital schedule - she's really put it together. I couldn't be more proud of her.

She got a sister?

Be glad that you have some options as you seem to be pretty intelligent and are trying to have a long-term plan.

Can only echo @rockm and @PaulH and say that you need to make sure there is some dough handy when you get to your dotage...…

.....or sell your body.

Google "gimp suit" if your motivation wanes during a rough patch.....


good luck in the days ahead!!!!

 

[Tentakelaertje]

No life experience on that part whatsoever as I'm still quite young and in uni, but one of my roommate just wrote his master thesis on the self-employed and pensions and here's the tip he gave me: if you go work for yourself, envision and calculate the lifestyle you want to live when you are done working and be sure to put enough money away for you to uphold that lifestyle.

 

[River's Edge]

Couple of thoughts in tune with this conversation! Age 72, worked in both corporate and self employed.
If considering self employment assess two key aspects!
Debt Load currently and Savings available if things do not work out as quickly as forecast!
If the first is low and the second is high, go for it!
Also a simple family conversation with the question, how will we manage if one of us is unable to work for a bit, or for quite a while?
By now you probably have guessed i would vote for thorough preparation prior to solo flight! I know it is a huge factor to have a stable, financially positive business venture already operating. However, it relies on one persons health and personal skills primarily. Not having dependants is another plus as well! Couple that with debt free and some savings and away you go!

 

[Bolero]

I've always been Self-Employed, 60 years worth, Highs are Higher, Lows are Lower...Just put your mind to it, work hard, research a lot.. Operating money is always an issue...use your Wife's Assets to your advantage.....

 

[Bonsaidoorguy]

Thanks for the reply. To be clear the bonsai part would be just gravy unless something really took off. The main income would be teaching music, which my wife has been very successful at for well over a decade. I'd basically be coming into her already established business.

Health insurance is something we are trying to figure out. At this point I would have to provide for my own health insurance whether I remained jobless, started teaching, or took the contract work I mentioned earlier. At the moment we can find something through the healthcare marketplace - catastrophic but still affordable monthly and its something at least.

The need of healthcare for my family and myself has kept me tied to my job. I've thought of trying a different prospective options, but the thought of no coverage (my wife has medical issues) is horrifying. I just keep hoping that here in the United States we can step up like the rest of the developed world and provide healthcare for all our people so that people aren't chained to a job because of coverage. Our children deserve it.