Boomer finds security in self-employment

By Farnoosh Torabi, Special to amNewYork | amSmallBusiness@gmail.com

October 8, 2007

To best prepare for her golden years, 53-year-old Nancy Thiel put in her two- week notice.

Realizing her future would be more secure (and fun) working on her own, the architect and interior designer left Selldorf Architects in New York last year, where she was the director of interiors, and established her own business.

"I feel like going on my own now; I can help set up my future and know that I always will be able to work," says Thiel. "You have something you can carry into your future and you don't have to worry about retirement."

These days, baby boomers like Thiel, concerned their Social Security and pension payments will be insufficient, are starting up their own businesses.

"Boomers are turning to entrepreneurship for two primary reasons. One, and the most obvious, is money," says Rieva Lesonsky, editorial director of Entrepreneur magazine and author of Start Your Own Business. Plus, as Thiel says, working alone lets her be more creative. "Everyone can think, 'I can work at Home Depot or the public library [when I retire],' but our generation needs stimulation." Lesonsky concurs. "Retirees aren't willing to be 'put out to pasture.' Since life expectancy is longer, they don't want to sit around and knit for 25 years," she says. "They're starting businesses to take some type of control over their lives."

Thiel says her finances are her biggest concern for the retirement years, and hopes that by going out on her own, she can earn more down the road. For now, she's building her client list mainly through referrals. The biggest incentive as of now, she explains, is the flexibility of her schedule and catering to just a few clients.

"Now that I'm working on my own, I really enjoy getting to know my clients and understanding how they move through the world intellectually, but also how they use their spaces," Thiel said.

One of her favorite projects is helping to create the Cirque de Soleil theatre at Disney world several years ago because it combined movement and design. "I used to choreograph people moving through space. Now my whole philosophy is I choreograph the space people move through."