We still perpetuate the stereotypical myth that business owners will retire at 65 to play golf in Florida for the rest of their lives. That’s the Ozzie & Harriet dream of retirement that we grew up with.
It does not fit the 21st Century. It does not fit this generation. It does not fit CEOs today.
In fact, most BabyBoomer CEOs have no intention of retiring ‘per se’ . They are redefining ‘retirement’ on their own terms. Do they want retirement or reinvention? I think the new trend is reinvention. When you look at the numbers from Kauffman Institute for Entrepreneurship you see that the fastest growing group of new business starts are by people aged 55+. BabyBoomers are lining up to say:
They are not selling and exiting their businesses to sit in a rocker by the lake or to play golf every day. There’s a new definition of retirement emerging for these sophisticated entrepreneurs. For them, exiting the business they built with the financial independence to live the lifestyle of their dreams has taken on a new, more vital, vibrant definition. One that does not accept actuarial definitions of mortality.
These newly financial independent CEOs are pursuing reinvention in their ‘retirement’ from their corporate role. These CEOs are reinventing themselves in new ventures, adventures, avocations which are central to their core values.
These new pursuits in lieu of retirement or part-time retirement have a major impact on their exit strategy, investment and tax options, as well as on both their timeline to exit and their reinvention timeline.
Serial entrepreneurs are familiar with this cycle. They have reinvented themselves after the sale of each of their businesses, often multiple times. But for those CEOs who have created and built just this one business, which is the cornerstone of their wealth, this reinvention is a new concept.
Financially they must get out if they are to profit from the business they built. But they are not ready to occupy that rocking chair all day. They have more ambitions and dreams to fulfill.
That’s where reinvention becomes the heart of their own transition from CEO to freedom in executing their exit strategy. Reinvention is the new retirement for BabyBoomer CEOs.
Kerri Salls
Exit Strategist
