Will “baby boomers” actually retire these days… or retire to another job?

Coming into the adult world back in the 60–70’s, how many of us thought about retirement? I know, I know, we were always told to save money, to look for the retirement plans and insurance when we looked for jobs, but did we listen, did we do it?

I am not sure what ‘retirement” is these days, but I never saw myself as doing it, nor being able to afford it anyway. Money came in and went out pretty quickly and when you believe a “trust me speech” and it does not materialize, there isn’t much to do except forge on.

This is one reason we started selling online. It supplemented our income and gave us great freedom. Except that Deb makes her primary items so she is usually in her craft room, crafting. I have been adding to our “drop-off” care by selling vintage items and our sales have been picking up but with impending “retirement” we are going to have to pick up the game substantially.

I’ve made a number of acquaintances online since we started and looking at these folks makes me confident that the income is out there, but I may have to start selling new stuff and that is not as much fun. Of course, seeing the old PayPal account grow would be fun, but…..

So, what to sell? A friend in Chicago has a thriving business from helping liquidate estates but he and his wife are licensed auctioneers and appraisers. They’ve got leg up on the business and have offered me a position with them for West TN but that is not comfortable.

Another friend in Kentucky sells smoking paraphernalia. A LOT of paraphernalia because he has paid for a house and makes a full time living with it, but I am not a smoker, nor do I have the contacts and sources.

In East TN there is a couple that buys store pulls by the truck load. This is what is pulled off the shelf by retailers for a wide variety of reasons. Some could be expiration dates, product line change, new product coming in that needs shelf space, etc. They cannot sell the expired products on ebay (or at least it is iffy) so they sell that through a brick and mortar store, but the other stuff sells around the world. That sounds a little interesting.

We currently sell OOAK (One of a Kind) vintage items from our own belongings, our parents, auctions and yard sales. Fun, but replenishing the stock can be as involved as selling. Yard sales require a lot of running around and auctions can really kill a day while you wait for your items of interest to come up.

Decisions, decisions.

(Steve Mills)