It's never Too Late For A Second Act

How to start something new late in your career and still protect your retirement.

- Kathy Kristof

Thinking about starting a business later in your career? The statistics can be off-putting: Some 20 percent of small businesses fail within their first year, according to the Small Business Administration, and only about a third survive 10 years or more. In most cases, that means you may be facing financial failure just as you’re ready to stop working.

“You have to know your own money and have your own financial security, or you are taking an unnecessary risk,” says Ilyce Glink, a friend and fellow personal finance journalist. Glink was 51 when she started Best Money Moves, a financial-advice employee benefit company based in Glencoe, Illinois, and she knew whatever she did to launch her new business had to not derail her family’s retirement prospects.

But as a serial entrepreneur, who’d previously started a communications agency and a media company, Glink had an idea of what to expect in terms of startup costs and payoffs—and how to avoid draining her retirement savings. So if you’re thinking about starting something new, follow her example.

Know your numbers