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Old 01-18-2016, 05:18 AM   #41
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Not retired, but was on the cusp. I had consulting work before Megacorp job, during, and after, which leaves me with varying opinions of consulting. For me, consulting $$$ were usually at least 2x the Megacorp wage. This point has been mentioned, that setting your fee high tends to chase the bad clients away. It also chases away previous employer most times, I believe.

You can always say no. It's better to lay out expectations at the beginning, in writing. Only 10 hours per week, put it in the agreement.

My experience has been that you can find a related field, or one that utilizes your skillset. If you've had enough of medical Megacorp, maybe biotechnology would rejuvenate. If you were good at writing or analysis, it's not so difficult to apply to other industries and get an intellectual boost.
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Old 01-18-2016, 09:46 AM   #42
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I suppose what I am saying jabbahop is that I do basically consider consulting to be a mistake.

...

Sorry for the bit of a rant but I've seen a lot of this. In my case, I retired in my early 40s and really had no choice but to see it in a different way. You can't keep consulting for 30 plus years. You have to take a whole new view of what life is about and what defines you as a person.

Retirement above all should (in my not so humble opinion) be about NEW.
I agree with you but it is not all or nothing. IE there are lots of ways to get intellectual stimulation and doing a bit of consulting in your field does NOT preclude exploring new, stimulating activities.

Now, to your point, I think many retirees see themselves as one trick ponies who have gone to pasture and don't consider it viable yo follow your example. Or, they have plans to do all sorts of "if I only had time" activities but then frer retiring they realize putzing around the house is really all they have the motivation or interest in doing.

No harm, no foul! That works for them.

It sounds like you and I have a similar philosophy. I am doing a few hours of consulting each week but since retiring at 42 4 years ago I've spent a year sailing the islands with my family, I've bought a vacation beach house to rent out (and use, of course), I've taken professional bread and pastry classes at a French culinary school, I've spent time learning Spanish, I've hired a master coach to help me become a competitive tournament chess player (tying for 2nd place in a recent state championship!), finished the 1st draft of my first novel, taken free online classes, oh, and helped my mother learn how to live as a widow and am raising my school aged kids.

And I'm just getting started, as I'm only 46 now. :-)

So, consulting a bit doesn't preclude anything. Motivation and imagination is required, though.

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Old 01-18-2016, 11:27 AM   #43
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For those of you who are consulting for fun and profit, are you just hanging out your virtual shingle (LinkedIn, etc.) and waiting for offers to come in; or, are you working with any kind of agency to beat the bushes for you?

My very limited experience was that I would need to market myself to find the kind of gigs that would be both interesting and lucrative enough to get my attention; but, I do not enjoy the sales and marketing aspect of consulting. So, that has dissuaded me from pursuing this. And, I have not found any agencies that are interested in working with someone who only wants very limited billable hours.

In short, I am very interested in continuing to do some consulting; but, it just does not seem practical for me.
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Old 01-18-2016, 12:13 PM   #44
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The conundrum is this. A business compares your rate for part time to a full time junior employee. The temp agency goes with what the client wants. The client usually wants a body in the seat.

Lucrative consulting is not that. Your challenge is to self identify as an expert who gets a premium rate and does not require hand holding.

Your contact list built over the years is a good asset. Call people. It's that simple.

LinkedIn is OK, but there is a lot of noise. Temp agencies are helpful, but what they add to your rate can be an impediment.
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Old 01-18-2016, 12:17 PM   #45
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For those of you who are consulting for fun and profit, are you just hanging out your virtual shingle (LinkedIn, etc.) and waiting for offers to come in; or, are you working with any kind of agency to beat the bushes for you?
Personally, I have a long term stable of clients that I have worked for/with on a consulting basis for 20+ years, so I don't bother to try to sell. And these days, I really don't care to do much paid work anymore.

There are placement firms that sub out contractors (consultants) based on what you are good at providing, but I have never used them. I know some people that have, though, but most assignments are for extended periods of time.
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Old 01-18-2016, 02:28 PM   #46
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The type of work I do is in a very small field and we all know one another so my clients find me. I have not gotten even 1 client from Linked In.
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Old 01-18-2016, 03:31 PM   #47
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I'm not a very active LinkedIn member, but having a searchable resume there did the trick, and I added 24K gold client last year, if you catch my drift.

Thinking that potential clients look at your network and the types of posts you may have initiated or responded to...
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Old 01-18-2016, 04:08 PM   #48
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What's creative about doing what you already know how to do? ....
So it follows that DaVinci , Picasso, Michelangelo were all uncreative, sure the first piece of art was creative, but after that it was just cranking out repeat, repeat, repeat.

Sorry, but I've been doing creative stuff all my working life, and now in retirement, I'll still do it for pay. I also do it for my own private use.

Creating something new out of nothing but imagination and skill is to me being creative.
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Old 01-19-2016, 03:10 PM   #49
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For those of you who are consulting for fun and profit, are you just hanging out your virtual shingle (LinkedIn, etc.) and waiting for offers to come in; or, are you working with any kind of agency to beat the bushes for you?

.

Linked in is very useful for people who knew me or knew of me before to find me now - it is like the Yellow Pages used to be on an international basis. I have a website that has not once brought a customer in, but has served as a "reference point" for people who met me somewhere or heard about me somehow. Almost everything I do is because of word of mouth; I put almost no effort into selling - I don't enjoy it and I'm not good at it. And so far the mix of work/play/interesting experiences has been fine.


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Old 01-19-2016, 04:13 PM   #50
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What's creative about doing what you already know how to do? Why is there this seeming belief that intellectual stimulation comes from doing what you did before?
...
If you want to be intellectually stimulated, challenged or creative, do something NEW and yes you can do that just for FUN.
I enjoyed reading your perspective on the decision concerning going back to what you did for a living before retirement. I'm inspired by the diverse things you've found. So far (2 years), I got first level paramotor pilot certification (but don't think I'll pursue that any more), I'm scheduled for another open water sailing certification, and I've learned how to use Sketchup (to design my own deck and design my woodworking projects). All stuff I'd never have had time to do working, commuting and raising kids.

You've got a good point about peoples' tendency to continue with what they know. You can certainly be good at something and hate it at the same time. Noodling just a bit more on why one spends their time like they do is probably something most of us would benefit from; there may be a discovery that finding a way to continue the old job isn't a path toward fulfillment. I didn't like the politics, the deadlines, the daily commute and things like that, but here's the contrast: I liked the actual work.

I'm not consulting, but I'm doing a little bit of the same kind of thing I did when working. This time, on my own schedule, and with nobody to report to. Right now I'm working on an Android app, all by myself. It's a puzzle. Sometimes it's frustrating, sometimes invigorating, but people put together puzzles for fun. I can imagine you at the kafenion, leaning over a puzzle. But you gotta want to do it. I don't expect to make any money from my app, and I'm in no hurry to get it done. But it is a skill I used in my career, yet it's like building a puzzle, and I like puzzles. I wouldn't want to do it 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, but when the urge strikes me, using those skills is still fun.
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Old 01-20-2016, 06:10 AM   #51
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So it follows that DaVinci , Picasso, Michelangelo were all uncreative, sure the first piece of art was creative, but after that it was just cranking out repeat, repeat, repeat.

Sorry, but I've been doing creative stuff all my working life, and now in retirement, I'll still do it for pay. I also do it for my own private use.

Creating something new out of nothing but imagination and skill is to me being creative.
Maybe I didn't make my thoughts on the subject clear enough Sunset. If Picasso retired from his job, would you expect him to continue painting or would that be 'not retiring'?

When you retire, you have an OPPORTUNITY to do anything you want. Why not learn to fly or sail as Sengsational is doing? Why stay in your comfort zone and spend those 10 hours a week or whatever, doing what you have already spent years doing? You have a chance to do something NEW with your time, how you choose to use that time is of course completely up to you.

All I am suggesting is that there are alternatives and in my opinion, doing more of the same is a missed opportunity. You don't have to agree, I'm just saying give it a thought.
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Old 01-20-2016, 06:40 AM   #52
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Sengsational, I agree about using past skills for a new use. I'm certainly not suggesting that we should all stop using our reading skills or any other basic skills we have. At one time since retiring, as I have said, I designed and sold decks. My sales skills are as natural to me as breathing. But selling decks is not the same as selling multi-million dollar computer based control systems which is what I did in the latter part of my working career. I used my basic sales skills but to do something far more fun for someone who enjoys creating a design for something. It was the designing part I enjoyed, the sales part was just like breathing.

Suggesting looking at something new rather than consulting that is pretty much an exact continuation of past work, is not an either/or thing necessarily. Your example of your app interest is an excellent example of doing something new while using some past skills to do so.
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Old 01-20-2016, 07:24 AM   #53
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As a retired IT guy, I still enjoy figuring out IT issues. I set up a home theater for my brother in law over xmas. Some IT like troubleshooting involved. He paid me in beer. So, I guess I was consulting!
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Old 01-20-2016, 07:40 AM   #54
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I can see consulting for "fun" if you enjoyed many aspects of the job. Not everyone retires because they hate what they are doing. I like my job and some aspects of it are more like a hobby. I just want to have more flexibility which is why I plan to retire.

One of my brothers, a retired CPA and Investment Banker, really enjoys working with numbers. He also likes to help people. So he volunteers helping low income people with their tax returns. Through that he was asked to teach a community college course on personal finance basics. Now he is consulting with them on expanding their finance curriculum. No pressure, getting some money, and able to control how much time he wants to spend on these - that is the type of consulting I wouldn't mind doing when I retire.
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Old 01-26-2016, 05:48 PM   #55
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I am also doing something I never did before and that is teaching a college class. About 6 months after I retired I was offered the opportunity and took it. I love it and also do a little consulting in my past field.
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Old 01-26-2016, 08:34 PM   #56
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I consult with 2 local wineries; but I still make about 150 gallons/year for myself; it keeps the "artistic juices" flowing. Educated as an engineer and spending 35 years of 10+hour days, as an operation management guy, there is not to many things I haven't seen. It is rewarding just to comfort someone who makes a mountain of a molehill, or light a fire under someone who needs replace the finger in the dike with a stronger patch repair.

Some of the best things in life are free and are simply right under our noses, if we just slow down and take the time to notice.
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Old 01-28-2016, 12:04 AM   #57
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Maybe I didn't make my thoughts on the subject clear enough Sunset. If Picasso retired from his job, would you expect him to continue painting or would that be 'not retiring'?

When you retire, you have an OPPORTUNITY to do anything you want. Why not learn to fly or sail as Sengsational is doing? Why stay in your comfort zone and spend those 10 hours a week or whatever, doing what you have already spent years doing? You have a chance to do something NEW with your time, how you choose to use that time is of course completely up to you.

All I am suggesting is that there are alternatives and in my opinion, doing more of the same is a missed opportunity. You don't have to agree, I'm just saying give it a thought.
I appreciate that, I don't feel that I lose anything or any opportunity as I work approx 7 weeks in the entire year.

I would lose more time if I slept in 1 extra hour each day.

However, you are totally correct in that folks can get in a rut or pattern of behavior, and maybe I need to think am I one of those folks.

It might be time for me to learn to play the piano, as I'm saving skydiving until I'm 80 in case I don't succeed
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Old 02-01-2016, 12:26 AM   #58
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I have done some consulting in my line of work in the year I have been on the bench. Some of it was simply to boring to continue.

I help out a friend and get paid when we get a contract. That is fun.

I have two patents up my sleeve but to what end? I might publish the results after the kitchen remodel is done just for grins. Cheaper than patents anyway.

I might do more training courses again for another friend, but his business is way down (oil and gas, y'know).

It may be only a waste of energy.

I am inclined to pursue my hobbies and be a metal artist and follow my DW around the country as she goes to quilting retreats and classes.
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Old 02-01-2016, 12:27 AM   #59
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There have been interesting opportunities at the local technical colleges, but they won't talk to me without a MS.

Screw them.
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Old 02-04-2016, 05:57 PM   #60
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There have been interesting opportunities at the local technical colleges, but they won't talk to me without a MS.

Screw them.
That surprises me. There are lots of non-masters lecturers at community colleges and even universities (myself being one). Your field must be one that has a glut of qualified instructors.

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