How’s That Retirement Planning Going?
“A good job should lead to security in retirement. I ask Congress to enact new safeguards for 401(k) and pension plans. Employees who have worked hard and saved all their lives should not risk losing everything if their company fails.”
– President George W. Bush, State of the Union Address, January 29, 2002
The collapse of a large company, such as Enron brings out many tales, but none motivate action more than images of workers now left with little or nothing in the way of retirement plan benefits. In response, President Bush requested legislation in 2002 to help employees in the future against such catastrophic losses.
Nevertheless, that safety net once in place for long term employees in exchange for years of company loyalty has been torn to shreds. We now witness the abuse brought about through the alliance between large corporations and government as more and more of our American jobs export oversees.
A river of greed cascades from positions of power to drown the common worker in the white waters of insecurity and lack of confidence. The belief that years of work and company loyalty secures your financial stability at the end of a working life is more wishful thinking, than an expectation for most of us.
So this is why I believe that each of us MUST consider relying more and more on our own independent efforts to secure our retirement. We must start preparing and training for new income streams as an act of self preservation. This could include securing second incomes by starting a home based business or joining an internet money making opportunity. The mindset has got to be restructured so that while you are still expecting a good outcome, you’re also preparing for the worst (just in case)…
Enter, Your Retirement Cashflow Solutions, Plan B
Self employment implies that someone works for themselves. These types of individuals are referred to as either entrepreneurs or business owners.
In fact, there are several forms of self employment that anyone wanting to work for themselves can pursue, such as:
Entrepreneurship / The Small Business Owner – An “entrepreneur” is a small business owner of a traditional business model. Lately however, this term is taking on a broader meaning, to include those people pursuing the newer online business models, which leads me into the next category:
The Online Business Owner – A newer term used for this group is, the “Webpreneur”. These online entrepreneurs work for themselves, but earn ALL of their income online. These businesses develop using newer methods of marketing, such as online advertising, online retailing and online services, to name a few. Then there’s the term:
The Home Business Owners – The home business owner is another niche of entrepreneurship. These business owners run legal and official business models with the exception that the business location is within their own homes and they do not commute to ‘brick and mortar’ offices away from the home.
The Freelancers – The freelancer does not officially or legally run a business entity, but is still considered to be self employed. The freelancers generally works under a contract with several different clients and may provide various services. He sometimes may work from a home, or on a temporary basis, may also work from a particular client’s business location.
The Independent Consultant – The independent consultant also usually works as an independent contractor on a per-project basis and may consult his clients on various business matters. Essentially the same as a freelancer, the independent consultant often manages his freelance jobs in a manner more likely to resemble running an official business. In fact, some independent consultants form companies structured as sole proprietorship or partnerships as opposed to simple freelancing without a business entity.
The Investor – Some individuals resist working for others as they enjoy the self employed life and choose to earn their incomes strictly through investing in other businesses, projects, or opportunities such as the stock market and forex markets.
The Partnership – It is really not necessary for a business owner to actually own their own solo-business to be considered self employed. In fact, many self employed people own businesses with one or more partners and share the risks and responsibilities under this type of protective entity.
The Owner / President / CEO / Stockholder – This group of people are a composition of a combination of several of the other types of self employment. The difference being that they tend to gravitate towards larger corporations, or organizational models. It may consist of one owner in a large private company, or several owners at various executive levels, or simply a group of stockholders owning a company (some of whom
“So, How Tight Is Your Leash??”
Author: Ana Hernandez
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