Last updated on March 29th, 2020 at 03:07 pm

You are considering retirement, you are a typical “Type A” personality. What will you do when you retire? Lots of people have a vision of sitting on a beach with a drink admiring the sunset. If that’s your goal and you achieve it, great.

I think the reality is that while other type personalities can gain satisfaction from a sedentary retirement, Type A personalities need more stimulus. So here is my story.

I built a good business

I built a good business, we serviced customers on a nationwide basis. Lots of employees, facilities, trucks etc. It was a busy time for many years. The responsibilities were significant. Because my company was small by comparison to our competition and other corporations, I was able too know all of our employees.

The welfare of my employees was important and I knew that if I could not make payroll that someone with a child may not have food or school supplies. It was a responsibility that I took to heart. Fortunately for me, I handle stress very well and frankly nothing is better for me than a challenge.

During the 15 years that I owned the company and companies prior to that, a good challenge was just what I needed regardless of where it came from. The business involved managing hazardous waste. I had to work with bureaucrats at all levels which was in some cases a real challenge.

I had a plan

My plan was to sell the company, stay on for a while to make sure the employees were well taken care of and that the business would endure after I left and then to “retire”. Sounds like a good plan, right? It happened exactly as I had planned including he company that I wanted to sell to.

Employees are well taken care of, the company is doing very well and growing while I was their employee and participated in the growth and transition process. I was expecting to stay for a few years, I stayed for 8 years. About year 6, I told my supervisor that it was time for me to give notice.

He wanted two years notice and I thought that was fair. So he was given two years notice. That time went by fast, frankly I was not counting down, it was a distant thought until about a year out when I had to work on the relocation part of my plan. I had decided to move out of California for so many reasons, the same ones you see in the news.

I had purchased my retirement home a few years earlier along the Mississippi Gulf Coast and we visited it periodically to tend the garden and add things to the property. Even with all of this activity, I did not have retirement as a top of mind thing.

I started something a year out

A year before I actually left the company, my son and I were talking about what I could do after I left the company. He suggested starting a blog, actually this blog. I thought it a good idea and tried to focus on what I knew which was a lot about finance, real estate and a life time of experience with various things.

I learned journalism in high school and typing as well. I was on the school paper and year book staff. Frankly I love to write and i am a fast typer. The blog was great, I would work on it on the weekends and after work. We talked about setting it up to make money but had not gotten around to it.

Finally the time was close and the company decided that since i was leaving there was no need to keep the office and staff at that location. As it happened my leaving was coordinated by a movement of the staff to Arizona and the management staff to work from their homes.

As I left California driving my truck and towing my 5th wheel, the office that i spent the last few years in was closed up. Most retirees can probably go back to their former office and have lunch with colleagues, not so for me even if I lived in California.

Like so many other events in my business life, I looked at it as a benefit to many employees particularly the ones who could work from their homes. One moved his family to Mississippi just a few miles from where I live.

At this point, I am located at my new home on a bayou (river) with a boat House on two acres. It’s beautiful. I can sit on my elevated deck and see all of the boat traffic. My boat is in the boat house at the end of my pier.

Beautiful home, boat etc. etc.

You would think that since I have the toys and a beautiful home, I should be satisfied with just lounging around, driving my lawn tractor and talking with the neighbors. I do all of those things of course and they are pleasant but my Type A brain will not rest. After years of challenges, I needed to creat some if they were not coming my way.

I created KEYLADDER.COM. This is not a commercial for KEYLADDER, although you are free to explore my site. My son and I decided that I could do my best by directly helping people who wanted to invest in residential rental property where I have considerable expertise. We created KEYLADDER to do that.

In addition to creating KEYLADDER, I became a real estate agent, something I wanted to do for years. My passion was not to sell real estate but to have a better connection with the industry through the license and exposure to other real estate professionals.

Soon I obtained the first clients

Soon, I obtained my first clients who were friends that had the finances but not the knowledge to invest. I put together several groups and we acquired residential rental properties that met the groups goals of income and ROI/

I spend hours creating the analytical tools required to spit put the right property. I had to create an entire business since what I do for the clients is to put them into a business including create an LLC and help get the property transferred to their LLC. From scratch, I created a successful business after months of working hard for many hours of the day.

without even realizing it, I was back to work on a full time basis. This time working from my home and spending time with that stranger I call my wife. That’s another thing you will realize, you have a partner (if you do) who has been with you for years, in my case nearly 40 who I have spent little time with.

Consider that you spend much of your life traveling to work, working and traveling home. Your weekends are tied up with the tasks of life, shopping for food, fixing things etc. You spend little time with your wife. After 40 years it’s still a wonder that I did not know things about her.

Its been a journey

My journey from working an intense job to retirement to an enjoyable business was only partly planned as I mentioned above. I had given little thought to what I would actually do after retirement because I knew that something would come along.

I did not want a full time day job managing employees and dealing with all of the issues that are now part of business. I had learned enough to start and run good businesses and thought that it was time to pull the plug on that phase.

Working my KEYLADDER business

Working my KEYLADDER business leaves me with time to water the plants and sit on the deck for a break. I can take my wife to the store when she wants to go (I do have physical appointments but I can schedule them to fit my time). I call what I do as a way to tame my inner Type A. Just enough activity to satisfy my need for creativity and responsibility and enough time to smell the roses.

My advice to any Type A who is contemplating their retirement plans, do yourself a favor and find something to do prior to leaving your full time employment. Think outside of the box, that’s hard. Something that you know about but have never pursued at length.

In my case, I have invested in residential real estate for decades. At any one time, I had many properties in various states even in Spain. I learned much with those properties. My own company required facilities across the country so I had to find the property and negotiate the lease and maintain them.

All of these activities were aside from providing customer service and I never looked at them as a business opportunity. I assessed my knowledge and found that I had expert level experience so now I offer it to others. Perhaps you too have something to offer in a way that does not restrict your movements or tie you down to a specific location.

I can travel while working my business. Much of what I do is at my home office and on the phone. My Strategic Partners do the legwork at the actual properties (I go to some). Consider your skill set, search the internet for similar businesses and start a small business that can satisfy your Type A.

Please read my other blogs

Please read my other blogs, I discuss a wide variety of topics. If you are thinking of retiring in a warm beach setting, consider the Mississippi Gulf Coast. Go to my real estate site LoganAndersonLLC.com If you are considering visiting, you may want to stay at one of our Strategic Partners vacation rentals Christies Gulf Beach Rentals