Reluctant retirees turn ‘Interpreneurs’ for fortunes in later life

The Internet is offering an important financial lifeline to reluctant retirees according to a new report from Birmingham Midshires’ Life 2 campaign. The latest report has found that one in ten over-45s is now self employed and that this group is increasingly turning to the Internet to grow their businesses.

Seven per cent of over-45s surveyed claimed that they are solely reliant on the Internet to make money and form business relationships and at least 40 per cent of the self-employed over-45s say that the Internet is important to their business, a strong indication that the UK looks set to follow the US, where 25 per cent of small businesses in the US are entirely online.

The report further fuels recent debate that affluent early retirement may be a myth, with an estimated one million baby boomers struggling to find work because of their age*. In addition to those relying on the Internet to grow their business, almost two thirds (60%) of the over-45s surveyed had traded on eBay at least once.

The Life 2 report has also found that 14.5% of the over-45s claim Interpreneur status, people who use the Internet for earning extra money aside from their day job. The report found the Interpreneur group tend to be very affluent, predominantly male, living in London and the South East.

The findings come from Birmingham Midshires’ Life 2 report. During 2007, Life 2 will examine different aspects of the lives of over-45s and will challenge traditional perceptions of this age group.

Jason Robinson, director of savings operations at Birmingham Midshires said: "Our Life 2 research shows that the Internet has gone some way to help people overcome the age barrier in employment that many face as they get older. As an online financial services provider, Birmingham Midshires has long seen an increasing number of older people managing their finances online and it seems that this extends to making money as well as saving it.”

Other key findings

Almost one in ten men (9%) aged over 45 years rely on the Internet to make money and form business relationships. This figure falls to 5 per cent amongst women.

Twelve per cent of the over-45s in London are solely reliant on the Internet to make money and form business relationships, the highest of any region.

Amongst the over-45s, men and women were almost equally as likely to have traded on eBay (61% versus 59% respectively). The Midlands was the eBay capital with 71 per cent of those surveyed having gone online to trade on eBay. This was closely followed by the over-45s in the West Country (70%).