Retirement Boredom

When I fully retired from my 45+ year career with Micropac, I realized that I had to use the sudden “gift” of time in order to add challenge to my retired life. During the course of examining what interests I have that I actively pursue, I realized that I did not necessarily want to devote all of my time to further study of history. My father and I shared a keen interest in military history with a focus on WW II. Since his passing, I have continued reading military history, but found that I needed to expand the scope of my interests. What could I possibly create that might have relevance to my life as it now unfolds? As I have described in previous blog posts, I am wheelchair bound and essentially homebound. I realized that the life transition that I am experiencing is widely experienced by others in our “Boomer” generation. I created “SafeHarborPathways.com” as a platform for interaction regarding the challenges that we all face as we experience life transitions.

Since I created Safe Harbor Pathways, I have experienced another epiphany. Writing essays for SHP, while fun and, perhaps useful, it does not completely satisfy my need for the challenge of creation. With SHP, days pass where I experience writer’s block or question the value of blog topic subjects. Once again, I found myself in the quagmire of wasted or unfulfilling time. Now what do I do? During the visit with a close friend, he made the comment that it would be great to settle on a method in which we could realize a moderate level of passive income. The “light bulb” was switched on in my brain…another “Aha!” moment. I began to explore the idea of creating an online resale store that addresses the needs of those of us that are retired and aging. For me, a 79 year old disabled geezer, starting an online company was incredibly daunting. So, of course, that is exactly what I undertook!

On March 16^th, I began the creation of an online resale store that focuses on products that are in demand by an aging generation. As I began, I did research on the most logical format for a small company in which my partner and I can, over time, build a passive income through the use of online resources. I settled on a Limited Liability Company. With that decision, I began to travel the road of state and federal tax and legal formation requirements. I began exploring the types of products that we would initially offer. Which manufacturers should we use for supply sources? How would we market our online store? What would be required in terms of tax and legal compliance? What entities exist to provide services so that we do not handle or ship inventory? How do we manage cash flow and bookkeeping functions? What online platforms are available so that we can make inroads with market penetration? What is our beginning market definition? Etc. Etc. Etc.

We find ourselves, at a month into our project, continuing to learn about the resources available, the challenges that we confront, and the ability to measure progress against the calendar of 2026. Our expectations for “going live” are now becoming more realistic as the days and weeks pass. The downside of this effort is that we are learning that creating an automated online store has many challenges with a corresponding upside that these challenges can each be overcome with patience, research and persistence. There is another aspect to this project for which clarity has occurred. We each, in our own ways, create life transitions that add the umami to the flavors of life. Join us at Safe Harbor Pathways as we continue down our path to the creation of passive income while enjoying the challenges that we will continue to confront. It seems to me that retired boredom is now a non-issue. “YAY !!”

bill@safeharborpathways.com