Start an Encore Career

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Free as a (snow)bird

Salary is certainly important when you seek an encore career. But other factors, such as flexibility, can be more valuable.

Six years ago, when John E. Johns retired as a pharmacist with a national drugstore chain, he figured he'd pick up part-time work during the six months he lives in Cocoa Beach, Fla., each year. Then CVS made him an offer he could not refuse: Johns could work half of the year in Florida and the other half in Sea Isle City, N.J., where he and his wife, Pat, live during the summer.

Pharmacists are in huge demand, and CVS actively recruits older workers because "it's good for business," says Stephen Wing, of CVS. "Our customers like turning to older employees for advice, and they set a good example for our younger employees with their excellent customer-service skills."

CVS employees who work at least 20 hours a week are entitled to benefits, including health insurance. The snowbird program, which started a few years ago with a handful of employees, now has more than 1,000 participants, ranging from retail clerks to pharmacists and managers.

Johns, 67, takes full advantage of the CVS benefits package. He maxes out his 401(k) contributions and participates in the health-insurance plan. That's a big help because Pat, 62, isn't yet eligible for Medicare. The extra income also pads the couple's retirement kitty, which took a hit during the bear market of 2000–02.

But Johns says he works mostly because he wants to. "Pat and I really love our life," he says. "We follow the sun."

On their own

Some mature workers forsake corporate life altogether. "Boomers want to work in a different way, doing something they love," says Jeff Williams, founder of Bizstarters (www.bizstarters.com), which helps 50-plus entrepreneurs plan, launch and develop businesses. Many are Web-based enterprises because the Internet gives even the smallest new business immediate access to national and international markets.

Since 2000, people ages 50 to 62 have been the fastest-growing group of new entrepreneurs. The 50-plus crowd now accounts for about half of all small-business owners, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.

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Harry Huhndorff, a former design engineer with Energizer, is one of them. Huhndorff retired in 1993 at age 55 with a lucrative early-buyout package. But after six months, he got bored. When a former colleague mentioned that a manufacturing firm needed help with a design project, Huhndorff created his one-man consulting business.

He works about 20 hours a week, accepts only projects that interest him, and spends the rest of his time playing tennis and flying his Piper Comanche 250 with his wife, Karen. His advice for anyone thinking about consulting: "Always tell customers what you can do. Never pretend you can do something you can't."

Aside from enjoyment and income, a business offers tax advantages. If you don't have any employees (other than a spouse), you can set up a solo 401(k) and contribute up to $46,000 in 2008 ($51,000 if you are 50 or older). You can also deduct health-insurance and long-term-care premiums.

About six months after Jay Franklin first retired, he decided to try his hand at a new industry that connects cash-strapped business owners with private lenders. After four years of ups and downs, he quit.

Franklin's next reincarnation hearkened back to his contacts in the paper industry, where he had spent much of his career. He signed on to represent a paper supplier and sell to local printers. But the product wasn't competitive, and his old contacts were long gone. He knew the gig wouldn't last long.

Eventually, Franklin discovered that work was becoming less important. He learned to relax and turned into a professional spectator at his grandchildren's athletic events. Along the way, he bought a boat -- it seemed like the thing to do -- then sold it.

A decade after his first retirement, Franklin has finally settled into a routine of going to the gym in the morning, playing golf in the afternoon and occasionally cutting a business deal on the side. He's content now, but offers this advice to future retirees: "Prepare to retire. It's a huge transition."

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