No such thing as retirement

Another regular reader of Entrepreneur’s Helpline, Ruben David of R.T. David Financing Corp., sent a letter last Feb. 3 in reaction to the article on entrepreneurship and retirement. The ensuing phone conversation between us was quite enriching that I requested his permission to share his letter with our readers.

"I should like to add my two-centavos worth of experience on this matter. When I moved to this middle-class place in the early 1950s, there was a group of us who held executive positions in government and private businesses. We were then in our late 30s and rather successful in our individual callings.

"I was then a rising star in advertising and public relations. Later that year, I established my own ad and PR agency with the House of Aguinaldo as my core client. Soon, the business became one of the hotshot agencies at the time.

"I was a tad tipsy with my entrepreneurial success in business and, very much later, in a partnership with Victorias Milling. I also put up a customs brokerage outfit, which was an instant success since VMC was one of the biggest import-exporters in the country.

"Then Ninoy Aquino was assassinated and the economy collapsed. That happened when I was 65 and I, together with my neighbors and colleagues in this place, decided to retire. We were 10 in the group.

"But I was restless and put up a small lending outfit from the proceeds of the sale of my business after I read of the success of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, which was engaged in micro-lending to housewives and other individuals who cannot borrow from the banks because of stringent requirements. That was in 1987. It was a one-man job but I thoroughly enjoyed it because I managed to utilize once again my entrepreneurial pursuits.

"My business flourished but, in accordance with government regulations, all lending companies had to convert into financing companies with a paid-up capital of several million pesos where it used to be only P100,000. My office, which started as a sort of hobby, had to expand and to be computerized.

"I have three of my children now helping me in the business. My borrowers number more than 2,000 and most of them are wives of overseas workers, bank employees, and small businessmen.

"In the meantime, all my friends and neighbors who retired from active work are now completely retired in the other world. I am 84 years old now and enjoying thoroughly my December years. And I still run one hour a day! So physically and mentally, I am in the best of health."

Mr. David has not only become an entrepreneur after retirement; he has turned into a social entrepreneur–doing good while doing well. His post-retirement enterprise provided (and still provides) financial support for the entrepreneurial poor who are not being attended to by mainstream financial institutions. He is helping the entrepreneurial poor grow their enterprise to create jobs for the non-entrepreneurial poor.

But the real story of Mr. David can be found in the reason for his current mental and physical state. He is 84 years old. He runs one hour a day. He is physically and mentally in the best of health. The conversion with him was very coherent. After a while, I had a chance to talk with one of his sons who reported that Mr. David still comes to the office and still enjoys his enterprise.

It is like a hobby to him. Hobbies being stress removers, his enterprise is a stress remover, not a source of stress. Given the fact that stress shortens life and that one gets stressed when one dislikes what he/she is doing or not doing, people who merely retire after employment are the best candidates for stress, if not death itself.

Mr. David’s letter is, thus, quite reassuring for our readers. It validates our claim that it is possible to become an entrepreneur after retirement from employment. He is a perfect example of someone whose long life and post-retirement enterprise are sources of fulfillment. As we have said, the day entrepreneurs die is the day they really retire. The secret lies in liking one’s preoccupation. And entrepreneurship after retirement is indeed a viable option as Mr. David has more than proven.

The most inspiring and the best part of all is that he is enjoying what he is doing while helping others fulfill their own entrepreneurial dreams. Clearly, doing good while doing well is a great way of extending one’s life. Try it!

(Alejandrino J. Ferreria is the dean of the Asian Center for Entrepreneurship of the Asian Institute of Management. For further comments and inquiries, you may contact him at: [email protected]. Published "Entrepreneur’s Helpline" columns can be viewed on the AIM website at http//: www.aim.edu.ph).