Calculate Your Consulting Rate After Retirement: A CFO's Formula
Jan 21, 2026
Most professionals over 55 make the same costly mistake when launching their consulting practice: they divide their old salary by 2,080 hours and call it their rate.
That formula ignores the invisible paycheck (benefits worth 30-40% of salary), the reality of billable hours (you'll bill 1,000-1,200 annually, not 2,000), and the self-employment tax that just doubled.
The result? You're leaving 30-40% on the table and subsidizing clients with your retirement savings.
This video reveals the CFO-approved three-step formula that fixes the problem: calculate your baseline using (Target Income × 1.5) ÷ 1,000 hours, research your market position against boutique firms (not Upwork), and test using close rates as your diagnostic tool.
You'll discover why a 70-80% booking rate means you're underpriced, how problem-scale pricing works (crisis consultants charge $250-400/hour while bookkeepers charge $75-125/hour—same expertise, different problem magnitude), and the special considerations every 55+ consultant must understand about Social Security earnings tests, health insurance bridges, and S-Corp tax strategies.
Watch now to stop guessing and start calculating. Your decades of pattern recognition are worth premium rates—but only if you price them correctly from day one.
