People traditionally sacrifice the things they want to do while they are still working and plan to do it all when they retire. The problem is that now they are looking to retire and finding they can't afford to even sit around the house and do nothing. Over 70% of us are living paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to miss one. They were told for years that they would need less money when they retired and are shocked to realize they need as much or more as they did when they worked. How can they even think of retiring?

The trends these days are that people are much more active later in life than they were. The phrase 60 is the new 40 is taking off with the biggest demographic trend in the world, Baby Boomers. There are over 78 million Baby Boomers in the U.S. alone.

As a group, Boomers are not content to just sit at home. They have been putting their travel dreams on hold "until we retire." They have been putting their hobbies on the back burner for "when I retire." According to the statistics, they have been putting their plan to pay for retirement on hold "until I retire," as well. Over 80% do not have more than $25,000 in savings after over 20 years of tax favored saving accounts such as IRAs and 401(k)s.

As medical advancements add years to our lives, most have not saved enough to put living in those years. If you were to have an income of $50,000 per year, you would need a nest egg of over $1 million earning 5% to supply that. Anything less and you start trading off either living on less or eating your principal. If you start using your principal, you set up a race to see which runs out first, you or your money.

The purpose of the savings accounts is to replace the income you were receiving while you were working. The key word is income. There is a way to create the income you need to live on and still do the things you've always wanted to do. It's building a residual income with a home based business.

There are two types of income. The first is called linear income where you trade one unit of work for one unit of pay. This is what you receive on your job. When the work stops, the income stops as well. The second type of income is residual income where you do the work once and you get paid many times for it. An author receiving royalties from writing a book is an example.

Many financial consultants are now seeing the advantages of how developing a residual income stream through a home based business can be an important part of a retirement income plan especially if you are starting later in life.

Once you have this income stream in place, you can either continue to grow it or you can retire whether that's at 65, 45, or even 25.

Whether you are just starting your life or if you are at retirement age right now, look at whether a home based business is right for you and your plans. It can make your golden years really shine.

Rick Rule enjoys helping put more gold in their golden years so they can enjoy life more fully. To find out more, visit his site at www.StartLateFinishWealthy.com