Definition
It's more than a word. It's a mindset. It might be who you're becoming.
re · tire · pre · neur
noun | Federal Trademark Registered April 2025
A purpose-driven professional who reinvents life after 55 by launching a business, monetizing decades of expertise, or building something meaningful — without risking retirement security.
"You're not starting over. You're starting from experience."
— Curt Roese, CPA | Founder, Retirepreneur
The English language has always evolved to describe new kinds of people doing new kinds of things. Solopreneur emerged to describe someone building alone. Intrapreneur described someone building within a company. These words didn't exist until the behavior they described became common enough to need a name.
Retirepreneur describes something that's happening right now, at scale. Millions of professionals in their 50s, 60s, and 70s are leaving corporate careers — not to stop working, but to build something on their own terms. They're launching consulting practices. Creating courses from decades of expertise. Building coaching businesses. Starting the thing they always wanted to build but never had the time.
The word didn't exist before because this generation didn't exist before — at least not in these numbers. 4.1 million Americans reach retirement age every year through 2027. Most of them aren't done. They just need a different framework.
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Not a hustle-culture story No "rise and grind." No overnight success narratives. The Retirepreneur path is systematic, realistic, and built for people who have already earned the right to do things deliberately. |
Not a passive income fantasy Second-act businesses require real work. The advantage is decades of expertise that creates a head start most 25-year-old entrepreneurs don't have. That's the edge. Not automation promises. |
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Not retirement from contribution Retiring from a corporate job is not retiring from impact. Most people in this demographic have more to contribute — to clients, communities, and the people they can teach — than at any point in their careers. |
Not for people who need a guru Retirepreneurs don't need inspiration. They need frameworks, data, and honest guidance from someone doing the same thing. Peer-level. CFO-lens. No hype. |
Most second-act businesses fall into one of three models — or a combination.
Consulting
Apply your expertise directly to client problems. Project-based or retainer. High income potential per engagement. Best for professionals with specific, implementable knowledge — finance, operations, HR, legal, technology, strategy.
Income range: $5,000–$50,000+ per project
Coaching
Guide people through professional or personal transitions using your experience as the framework. One-on-one or group. Ongoing relationships with recurring revenue. Best for professionals whose value is perspective, pattern recognition, and personal transformation.
Income range: $500–$3,000/month per client
Course / Cohort / Community
Package your expertise into teachable frameworks — online courses, cohort programs, or membership communities. Highest scalability. Best for professionals whose knowledge can be systematized and taught to many people at once.
Income range: $197–$1,997 per student
Three things converged to make second-act entrepreneurship viable at a scale it never was before.
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The internet removed the barriers to entry A consultant, coach, or course creator with 30 years of expertise can reach their ideal client from a home office. No storefront. No staff. No large capital investment. The infrastructure exists and costs less per month than a car payment. |
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AI compressed the learning curve Building a newsletter, creating content, developing a course — tasks that once required a full team can now be executed by one experienced professional with the right tools. The solo operator has never had more leverage. |
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The financial reality demands it The median Baby Boomer has $194,000 saved. At a 4% withdrawal rate, that's $7,760 a year. An extra $3,000–$5,000 a month from a consulting practice doesn't just improve retirement — it transforms it. The math makes entrepreneurship a strategy, not just an option. |
"A Retirepreneur doesn't retire from life. They retire into purpose."
Americans 55+ launch 25% of all new businesses and succeed at twice the rate of younger entrepreneurs. Experience isn't a liability. It's the edge.
You might be a Retirepreneur — or becoming one — if any of these are true.
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→ You have 20+ years of professional experience and wonder why no one is paying for it directly |
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→ You're approaching or past traditional retirement age and full retirement feels wrong |
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→ You want calendar freedom — work that fits your life, not a job that owns your schedule |
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→ You're interested in consulting, coaching, or teaching but don't know how to package what you know |
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→ You need supplemental income in retirement but won't gamble your savings to get it |
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→ You want to build something that's genuinely yours — not a job, not a side hustle, but a business with your name on it |
Retirepreneur is a newsletter and decision-support platform built for professionals 55+ who are monetizing their expertise through consulting, coaching, or course businesses. It was founded by Curt Roese — a CPA with 40 years of financial leadership experience who enrolled in a master's program in entrepreneurship at 62 and launched Retirepreneur at 63.
The platform is built on one principle: document the path in real time, not from the finish line. Every newsletter, tool, and resource is grounded in what's actually working — not theory, not inspiration, not hustle culture.
CFO-lens. Conservative projections. Peer-level guidance. Still building.
Join the Newsletter
Every Tuesday at 9am, the Retirepreneur newsletter delivers practical guidance on monetizing expertise, building a consulting or coaching practice, and navigating the transition from corporate career to second-act business. Written by a 63-year-old CPA doing it in real time.
Subscribe Free →No spam. No hype. Unsubscribe anytime.
Still Building.
Curt Roese, CPA | Founder, Retirepreneur® | M.S. Entrepreneurship, University of Florida