‘Make the jump!’ 70-year-old encourages retirees to ‘keep busy’ and bring in extra cash | Personal finance | Finance
Working until retirement may not be for everyone, but it could be a great way to earn some extra money. The financial benefits aren’t the only good thing about it, and Brits could gain in other ways too. Express.co.uk spoke exclusively to Derek Myers, a 70-year-old man living in Cornwall, who started his own consultancy and works until retirement.
Mr. Myers was primarily motivated by a desire to move from the full-time job he was accustomed to to a part-time job from home.
He explained: “I didn’t want to go to the office – it was three hours away and I wanted to work from home.
“That’s the main reason I became self-employed, simply because it works well for me.
“It keeps me busy, it gives me something to do. It’s not every day of the week and it’s not full.
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“That’s the good thing with all of this. I might decide next year that I just want to pack everything up and go on vacation.
“If you have that window open, you can decide exactly what you want to do.
“Once the pandemic is over, things will get easier, and people will be able to do some of the things they love again.
“Part of me thinks I won’t stop, but I’ll get to the point where I want to go on vacation and have that luxury.
“It’s the same for a lot of people. Once you start self-employed, you have a bit of extra money. It could mean that instead of going on two vacations, you could rather say in four.
“Flexibility is the positive thing.”
Some people may feel opposed to self-employment due to the perceived financial instability of this method of working.
But according to Mr. Myers, there can be benefits to working this way, especially as people get older.
He added: “A lot of people who decide to become self-employed worry about the first few months where they don’t necessarily have any income.
“But if you have a pension, then you know you’re going to have something to lean on. You might not have to budget as much and it might be easier for you to get into it.
“People are afraid to take that leap, especially if they have nothing to lean on.
“But there are plenty of people who are independent and earn a good living! If someone takes the leap, they might as well.
There have been challenges navigating self-employment, however, especially during the pandemic.
In Mr. Myers’ line of work – export sales – not being able to travel has been a difficult prospect to consider. However, he remained optimistic about the future.
He concluded: “It’s been a bit more difficult as a freelancer recently, especially in my work with travel.
“It’s all well and good that the government is removing restrictions, but once you get to the other end, countries have their own set of rules.
“For two years, it has been difficult to endure the pandemic and take care of yourself, but to keep in touch with customers. But there are many ways to talk to people and we can overcome some logistical challenges.
“When things reopen, and they eventually do, it will be a lot easier.”
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