NO RETIREMENT FOR THESE BOOMERS
Retirement "boring" and "discusting"

By Frank Luba, The Province         Print Version (PDF)  Published October 18, 2007

Vancouver contract-management professional and developer John Cowan doesn't plan to retire at 65 so he can spend time gardening.

 "I couldn't think of anything more disgusting, to be honest with you," says Cowan, who is 51 and in the middle of that group known as baby boomers --those born between 1946 and 1964.

A report released today by BMO Financial Group indicates that, like Cowan, many boomers expect to keep working when they hit retirement age.

The conclusion comes from an Ipsos Reid survey of boomers who have either retired early to start their own businesses or plan to do so.

Fifteen per cent of the survey group even say they intend to keep operating their businesses until they die. They're not going to be coasting, either, the study says.  Some 12 per cent indicate they are or will be working more than 40 hours a week, although 44 per cent are or plan to spend between 26 and 40 hours a week at work. Cowan decided to become an entrepreneur two years ago, when the forestry company for which he was a senior manager was bought.

"I viewed it as an opportunity to pursue, with some risk, some interests that I'd had for some time," he says. Cowan, a principal in the Osborne Group and owner of Decourcy Management, can't imagine retiring. "I would be bored. I need something to do. I have energy that has to be released on an ongoing basis."

Judy Brooks is 43 and at the youngest end of the boomer curve.  But her latest venture, Blo, is her second business after her partnership in Proactive Resolutions, a conflict-management company.  Blo, in trendy Yaletown, isn't a hair salon but a "blow-dry bar."  "All we do is wash, blow and go," says Brooks.
She's not surprised some boomers aren't going gently into that good night of retirement.

"People of our age category are different than my parents were when they were in their 50s and 60s," she says. "I think we feel differently.  "All my 50- and 60-year-old friends still think they're 40," she says.

"If they're guys, they think they're 20."

That enthusiasm is valuable for an entrepreneur.

"We have enough youth and passion to drive businesses and lead people," says Brooks.

"When you balance that with a little bit of experience and wisdom, then it becomes pretty powerful."

Frank Luba is a writer for The Province. He can be reached at fluba@png.canwest.com