People 50 and Older Increasingly Working for Themselves.

As a counterpoint to the Hollywood fiction of In Good Company, Carol Elliott tells about the older workers who do not survive corporate shakeups and find themselves out of work and decide it is time to do something different with their lives. According to a 2004 study by Rand Corp., about 5.6 million workers age 50 and older are now self-employed, and Elliott tells the story of a couple of these, pointing out, among things, that cheaper technology makes setting up a home office more feasible than years past, but that whatever business the older entrepreneur chooses, the rules are the same as for anyone else: "Follow your calculator, not your heart."

Source: "Boomers in business" South Bend Tribune (March 6, 2005)