Hey Jim
Retirement plan is certainly something that I never seriously think about. And I have been a trainer for more than 7 years and I never really know how to save money. It would be nice to know that there is a retirement plan for trainers.
Great topic. I hope all the young trainers (which I am not!) will be moved into action by your post. The younger they are when they begin a regular retirement savings plan, the more comfortable they’ll be during retirement age. Compounding interest and reinvesting dividends over a few decades makes all the difference.
When I became self-employed my very astute accountant suggested I start a “Self-Employment Pension Plan ” (SEP), to which I’ve contributed ever since. There are other retirement products for self employed people–but at the time, the SEP worked best for my situation. I now also have a ROTH IRA. I deposit the maximum amount allowable every year into one of these funds, and try hard to get as much into the other one as well.
A message to young trainers: Start early and put a retirement plan in place for yourself (no load funds from Fidelity and Vanguard all have products for self employed people), pay yourself first and make it a goal to deposit the maximum allowable annual contributions. I strongly suggest setting up automatic deposits, too.
That’s my two cents from a “fossil” in the fitness industry. I plan on being fit and energetic enough to be a trainer when I’m 70, but I hope I’m sitting on the beach somewhere sipping a Mai Tai instead .
I would Definitely have to agree with you on this 100%…
I have seen so many people over the years that should be able to retire and go do the things they love to do most, but because of their lack of pre planning they are stuck out there working and slaving away at their crap jobs, when they should be home…Hell, most of them don’t even have a clue as to when they’ll even be able to stop working. I say this is DEFINITELY NOT going to be me…
Great post Jim. This not only applies to trainers but everyone. And, the younger you start the more you will have when you get close to retirement age. For myself, I started in this field late. This is my third career and didn’t start into the training industry until I was mid 40′s. Fortunately for me, I had a retirement plan in place since I was in my 20′s and will provide some security. But not as I am in my mid 50″s I am seriously considering how long I want to be training clients and it is not until I am in my 70′s. I am putting plans in place, working on a project for a recurring revenue that will be in place when I am ready to sell my current business.
I have a slightly different perspective on this topic. Agreed, we all need to manage our finances and prepare for the future. However, an area I feel many personal trainers are ignoring is their business itself – is it prepared for retirement or does it rely solely on you for it’s success?
I owned and operated a fitness company for nearly 15 years. In that time we not only had a viable personal training business but three other income streams that accomplished several things – two of which were additional revenue, which eliminated some of the pressure of relying solely on personal training revenue and it forced us to have manageable systems in place to not only operate each revenue stream effectively but (and this is the key) do so without being present 100% of the time – do you make money while you are on vacation?
The end result was I had a viable business that was marketable and sellable. Think about that for just a second. A personal trainer who began training in 1990 sold a company a couple of years ago that is not only still operating but actually serving many of the same clients.
So invest your profits? Yes. But you might also want to look at getting a little more out of your business. Just my point of view but hey as Paris Hilton’s BFF said, “I’m not a Rocket Surgeon.
1- Some people have had amazing success with i360 and we think it’s a great service. But we heard from several people that they just weren’t happy with the level of tech support they were getting. Therefore, we just weren’t comfortable promoting it any longer. You’ll notice we no longer do.
2- We wanted to customize our blog the way we wanted.
We want you to take the info and guidance from our products and services and create serious financial success for yourself. We want you to budget your time and money and make the most out of each one you choose to get.
And that budget should include things like saving for a rainy day and education. We want all of these things to create wealth for yourself. We want you to eventually gain a position where you work because you WANT to, not HAVE to.
By the way, everyone, if you haven’t already, make sure you listen to this interview I did with the financial planner that Pat, Nick, BJ Gaddour and I all work with.
@Tim -
Great posts – glad to see that the message is coming in loud and clear.
Tim, I agree with your concept, but do you have to choose one path to retirement or the other? I think you can commit certain resources to both a retirement account as well as creating a valuable business to sell – you know, having your protein bar and eating it too – and enjoy the rewards from each when the time comes.
thanks for the response. No, as I mentioned, you should concentrate on how best to handle your existing revenue stream. But as you said, it shouldn’t be the only thing you do@Nick Berry -
Jim-
Thanks man, somehow you are always able to address the topics I am thinking about currently. I don’t want to be a 70 year old personal trainer.
Wil
Hey Jim
Retirement plan is certainly something that I never seriously think about. And I have been a trainer for more than 7 years and I never really know how to save money. It would be nice to know that there is a retirement plan for trainers.
TC
Perth, Australia
Hi Jim,
Great topic. I hope all the young trainers (which I am not!) will be moved into action by your post. The younger they are when they begin a regular retirement savings plan, the more comfortable they’ll be during retirement age. Compounding interest and reinvesting dividends over a few decades makes all the difference.
When I became self-employed my very astute accountant suggested I start a “Self-Employment Pension Plan ” (SEP), to which I’ve contributed ever since. There are other retirement products for self employed people–but at the time, the SEP worked best for my situation. I now also have a ROTH IRA. I deposit the maximum amount allowable every year into one of these funds, and try hard to get as much into the other one as well.
A message to young trainers: Start early and put a retirement plan in place for yourself (no load funds from Fidelity and Vanguard all have products for self employed people), pay yourself first and make it a goal to deposit the maximum allowable annual contributions. I strongly suggest setting up automatic deposits, too.
That’s my two cents from a “fossil” in the fitness industry. I plan on being fit and energetic enough to be a trainer when I’m 70, but I hope I’m sitting on the beach somewhere sipping a Mai Tai instead
.
I would Definitely have to agree with you on this 100%…
I have seen so many people over the years that should be able to retire and go do the things they love to do most, but because of their lack of pre planning they are stuck out there working and slaving away at their crap jobs, when they should be home…Hell, most of them don’t even have a clue as to when they’ll even be able to stop working. I say this is DEFINITELY NOT going to be me…
Hi Jim,
Quick question – Is there any reason you decided not to go with the blogi360 you were promoting a while back?
Great post Jim. This not only applies to trainers but everyone. And, the younger you start the more you will have when you get close to retirement age. For myself, I started in this field late. This is my third career and didn’t start into the training industry until I was mid 40′s. Fortunately for me, I had a retirement plan in place since I was in my 20′s and will provide some security. But not as I am in my mid 50″s I am seriously considering how long I want to be training clients and it is not until I am in my 70′s. I am putting plans in place, working on a project for a recurring revenue that will be in place when I am ready to sell my current business.
Definitely need to have a plan and start now.
I have a slightly different perspective on this topic. Agreed, we all need to manage our finances and prepare for the future. However, an area I feel many personal trainers are ignoring is their business itself – is it prepared for retirement or does it rely solely on you for it’s success?
I owned and operated a fitness company for nearly 15 years. In that time we not only had a viable personal training business but three other income streams that accomplished several things – two of which were additional revenue, which eliminated some of the pressure of relying solely on personal training revenue and it forced us to have manageable systems in place to not only operate each revenue stream effectively but (and this is the key) do so without being present 100% of the time – do you make money while you are on vacation?
The end result was I had a viable business that was marketable and sellable. Think about that for just a second. A personal trainer who began training in 1990 sold a company a couple of years ago that is not only still operating but actually serving many of the same clients.
So invest your profits? Yes. But you might also want to look at getting a little more out of your business. Just my point of view but hey as Paris Hilton’s BFF said, “I’m not a Rocket Surgeon.
@DC -
DC,
Great question. Here is the answer:
1- Some people have had amazing success with i360 and we think it’s a great service. But we heard from several people that they just weren’t happy with the level of tech support they were getting. Therefore, we just weren’t comfortable promoting it any longer. You’ll notice we no longer do.
2- We wanted to customize our blog the way we wanted.
Jim
@shama -
Shama,
We want you to take the info and guidance from our products and services and create serious financial success for yourself. We want you to budget your time and money and make the most out of each one you choose to get.
And that budget should include things like saving for a rainy day and education. We want all of these things to create wealth for yourself. We want you to eventually gain a position where you work because you WANT to, not HAVE to.
Jim
@Tim -
Tim, I could write a novel here, but I’ll sum it up: Couldn’t agree with you more
We’re doing our best to get the entrepreneurial trainers to really see the light. Congratulations on your success!
Jim
By the way, everyone, if you haven’t already, make sure you listen to this interview I did with the financial planner that Pat, Nick, BJ Gaddour and I all work with.
http://patnickandjim.com/personal-training-business/early-retirement-for-personal-trainers/
@Tim -
Great posts – glad to see that the message is coming in loud and clear.
Tim, I agree with your concept, but do you have to choose one path to retirement or the other? I think you can commit certain resources to both a retirement account as well as creating a valuable business to sell – you know, having your protein bar and eating it too
– and enjoy the rewards from each when the time comes.
Nick
Nick,
thanks for the response. No, as I mentioned, you should concentrate on how best to handle your existing revenue stream. But as you said, it shouldn’t be the only thing you do@Nick Berry -
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