Yaneek Page | No waiting for retirement: live the entrepreneurial dream now

QUESTION: I’m in corporate but don’t plan to stay for more than a few more years. I have a few registered businesses and God is also calling me into ministry. I need help organising my business life so I don’t fall into the scam of working and working and waiting for retirement that never comes. I’m just getting back on track financially but still not where I need to be. My corporate job doesn’t meet all my financial demands. I am gearing up to pursue further studies, and I am trusting God to help with provision of the funding needed for this. I’m talented and faith without works is dead. I’m nearing middle age and after caring for everyone else whilst struggling, I’m ready to be in my ‘Esther era’ in all aspects of my life.

– Ms K

BUSINESSWISE: Your question will resonate with countless mid-career professionals now struggling with a similar dilemma: “How do I build the life I want so I’m not waiting until retirement to finally live?”

Here’s the hard pill to swallow: prayer and positive thinking aren’t enough! You need to make drastic moves to avoid the scam of waiting for retirement to enjoy life. You need clarity, careful planning with numbers crunching, and courage to change. Here’s how I would begin, using faith as the foundation and action as the pillar:

1. Rethink the degree

Before rushing to further studies, I would stop and run the numbers. To retire at 55, healthy, financially secure and comfortable, how must I use the next 15-20 years? I would be wary of spending two of my most energetic years stressing and stretching myself to chase credentials that leave me in debt.

Consider this: the World Bank estimates that postgraduate debt in the Caribbean and Latin America has ballooned by more than 40 per cent in the last decade, while graduate salaries have increased modestly. When financed, these degrees take years to repay. And then there’s the opportunity cost of that investment.

You must therefore ask: Will this qualification boost income immediately after graduation, and by how much? What’s the tangible benefit to the business – expansion or profitability? Must you have this qualification, or can you hire talent to work for you? Have you carefully assessed the return on investment, guarding against new debt that delays freedom? Remember, in business you need to manage, not master, every area.

2. Choose one focus area and double down

You’ve outlined several competing priorities: full-time ministry, further studies, and building businesses. However, you cannot give equal weight to all and expect success. At some point, you must decide if your primary path ministry, entrepreneurship, or a blended model like we’ve seen with leaders such as T.D. Jakes, who built faith based enterprises with his pastoral calling. Trying to do it all at once is a recipe for burnout. Running yourself ragged is the opposite of living a high-quality life that you can actually enjoy. Pick the winner that can generate steady revenue the fastest and double down. Remember, scattered focus equals scattered results.

3. Define your best life in practice terms with real numbers

Here’s where we flesh out exactly what you are building toward so you stop running on autopilot. It’s time to write it down in detail and with clarity what early retirement would look like:

• How would you spend your mornings?

• Where would you live?

• What does your day look like?

You must decipher the amount needed monthly. Let’s call this your freedom number. It’s what the business must pay you after all expenses cleared. Then determine how much your primary business will need to generate, and whether ministry can fit into it. You can use AI to simplify and produce this in seconds.

4. Set serious exit milestones

I have been in your shoes before, and I know firsthand that walking out of corporate life into full-time entrepreneurship isn’t about taking a blind leap of faith. You must carefully construct a bridge you can cross with confidence. Whether it takes several months or as long as a few years, here are three milestones that make the difference:

• A savings cushion of six months of complete living expenses;

• Your primary business should be covering at least 80 per cent of your freedom number consistently, after expenses, because small revenue and anaemic profits won’t cut it; and

• All debt either cleared or under highly disciplined management.

I can’t stress enough the value of these safety nets or exit triggers. I have seen too many entrepreneurs ignore this to their peril.

5. Build joy into the journey

Perhaps the most profound step I would take is to stop waiting for “one day” or retirement, and build joy into my journey now. Finding comfort and creating happiness requires intention and practice, today. For example, assign a day each week for real rest. Dedicate one day a month for a new adventure. Live your bucket list. Or give yourself a ‘joy budget’, which is a modest set aside for something that makes you feel alive. Continue to nourish your body, invest in your health and take care of your mental health.

Gallup’s global well-being survey found that people who “budget for joy” by setting aside money for experiences rather than only expenses report 31 per cent higher life satisfaction – even when their income is modest.

If you don’t learn to create joy now, you’ll carry the same hustle and grind mindset into your next chapter, and instead of freedom you may feel imprisoned.

You mentioned being in your “Esther era”, which was powerful. However, Esther didn’t just pray. She prepared, positioned, and acted with courage at the right time. Your era will require the same! Faith, courage, preparation and bold execution.

Good luck and one love!

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Yaneek Page is the programme lead for Market Entry USA, and a certified trainer in entrepreneurship.

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yaneek.page@gmail.com