I am convinced that financial stability in retirement requires more than receiving standard government pensions and many people reach retirement age too financially insolvent to actually retire. Additional pensions, significant savings or some form of ongoing entrepreneurial revenue is needed to help people survive in retirement without undue financial stress. I have been exposed to and have seen how retirees struggle and I write this to raise awareness about this issue and to offer some suggestions to those concerned about their futures when they reach this time of life.

I recently attended in our community a weekly trade fair where I viewed a number of retirees sitting at tents and behind tables selling their wares to consumers – through conversations I learned that several were doing this in an attempt to maintain at least a subsistence level of monthly income to help pay their rent, costs of prescription drugs and other basic monthly costs.

Doing some research on this recently, I learned that standard Canadian pensions (CPP and OAS) at the rough maximum a married couple can expect to receive if both people worked their lives through, nets them collectively about $22,000 per year. Now, if you were born in 1958 or later, you also don’t collect OAS until you are 67 – not 65 any longer. This contributes to the need for many of the elderly to work to later years in life in order to survive retirement financially – as the average retired middle-class couple owning their own home, require statistically, approximately $40,000 per year to live comfortably. Supporting this, a recent Bank of Montreal survey shows 59% of respondents stating that they will have to supplement their pension incomes through continuing to work after retirement.

It is difficult for many in low to mid level salaried positions without company pensions to expect to be comfortable in retirement unless they initiate some significant entrepreneurial action or personal savings program of their own years before retirement is reached – in fact, I wonder why we call it retirement any longer at all – it’s become just a shifting for most to other jobs. So this is my raising of the awareness part of this article – Take Action!

Build things you can sell online, become a sales affiliate for some direct selling organization, try consulting in some capacity, start an online business of some sort (YouTube content creator, shopping portal, online publishing or editing, freelance writing, website creation, etc.). There are any number of things a person can do to build that additional nest-egg one will need as one leaves the primary work-force – and your best energy years for this are now!

There are many “on the side” opportunities one can take to build a second income stream prior to retirement. The key is to do it – If you don’t try or fear to try, you may potentially be looking at some very bleak retirement years ahead. Don’t let that happen to yourself.

Think about your skills, what you have to offer the world that people may be interested in purchasing and find something to do that can both fill a passion and earn some revenue for you. If at all possible, find something that ultimately can earn you revenue without having to work too hard for it. Something that has the potential to earn you significant revenues for your effort – not something that just trades your time for money.

About Dan Grijzenhout: Dan has lived a successful entrepreneurial career for over 30 years. He has been a consultant, entrepreneur, investor and business owner and is now using this knowledge to create a series of “no charge to the consumer” videos on YouTube in an attempt to help others prepare for retirement financially through pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors of their own. You can find Dan and his videos in this series about Entrepreneurship and Retirement Preparedness on his website at howtoguru.club and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DanGrijzenhout123

About Dan Grijzenhout: Dan has lived a successful entrepreneurial career for over 30 years. He has been a consultant, entrepreneur, investor and business owner and is now using this knowledge to create a series of “no charge to the consumer” videos on YouTube in an attempt to help others prepare for retirement financially through pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors of their own. You can find Dan on YouTube at http://YouTube.com/DanGrijzenhout123 on Google+ at http://google.com/+DanGrijzenhout123 and on his website at http://howtoguru.club

Author Bio: About Dan Grijzenhout: Dan has lived a successful entrepreneurial career for over 30 years. He has been a consultant, entrepreneur, investor and business owner and is now using this knowledge to create a series of “no charge to the consumer” videos on YouTube in an attempt to help others prepare for retirement financially through pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors of their own. You can find Dan and his videos in this series about Entrepreneurship and Retirement Preparedness on his website at howtoguru.club and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DanGrijzenhout123

Category: Business Management
Keywords: entrepreneurship, home business, work at home, earn extra money, retirement, retirement planning,