Retirement Part Four

As you can see a business could be one way to achieve a larger passive income than what we now have. But what exactly is a business?

This is how Wikipedia defines a business:

A business (also known as enterprise or firm) is an organization involved in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers.[1] Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit or state-owned. A business owned by multiple individuals may be referred to as a company, although that term also has a more precise meaning.

The etymology of "business" relates to the state of being busy either as an individual or society as a whole, doing commercially viable and profitable work. The term "business" has at least three usages, depending on the scope — the singular usage to mean a particular organization; the generalized usage to refer to a particular market sector, "the music business" and compound forms such as agribusiness; and the broadest meaning, which encompasses all activity by the community of suppliers of goods and services. However, the exact definition of business, like much else in the philosophy of business, is a matter of debate and complexity of meanings.

That is a great description but really doesn't tell us much. Anyone can start their own small business. A business requires an investment of time as well as money and statistically most small businesses fail within the first two years of operation. And don't forget you are getting older each year. This could eventually produce a passive income for you if the business survived the first few years, but if it didn't then you stand to loose your life's savings and maybe even your home. A retired person does not have the luxury of being able to start over, they just do not have the years left.

If starting a business is not the answer then what is?

You could stay at home doing what ever and being content to live on your pension and having what you have and being limited to what you are able to do. If that is the way that you are comfortable with the that is great and I commend you.

One of my grandfathers did just that he retired and sat in his rocking chair, smoked his pipe and waited for death to take him. That was pre television era, today he would probably sit in front of a television smoking his pipe. That was what retirement mention to him. He never passed on any knowledge he had acquired through out his working career to any of his grandchildren. He just sat there on his porch and watched the world pass by.

On the other hand my other grandfather was active and always learning new things right up until the day he died. Yes he did get to experience a little bit of the television era, which made the news come alive foe him. He would always end the day by watching the late night news before retiring to bed. He tried to pass on his knowledge to his grandchildren, though it was not until years later that I was able to understand some of the things that he taught me. Today some of my core values can be traced back to what he taught me. One thing he told me and i would like to pass it on to you is "You only live once, so make the most of it", "how do you want people to remember you?".

That is something to think on. Now what can we do to make our lives more abundant?