This is an exciting time for working women!  We are exploring flexible career options this month with two brilliant authors, Flex Career Expert, Kathryn Sollmann and Encore Career Expert, Nancy Collamer.

I’ve been fortunate to have designed a flexible career both when my daughters were young, and later when my step-father and mother needed me to step in as the Designated Caregiver®. I actually built an office onto my home and saw clients there. I later moved back to the corporate office while my daughters were in school, but ten years later when I was  47, I retired from my financial planning career to work virtually from home again to launch Smart Women’s Empowerment and Smart Women’s Coaching so I could write, speak, and teach women how to create prosperity and while living their purpose.

If you want to spend more time with your children or be available for aging parents or an ailing spouse and feel that your only option is to take a hiatus from your career, think again!  Kathryn Sollmann says, “Any time out of the workforce comes at a big price:  a woman loses up to four times her salary each year she’s out of the workforce.”  As a financial advisor, I can attest to this. Kathryn will be sharing how time out of workforce it affects not only your Social Security, pensions, and retirement savings, but also your confidence and ability to get back into the workforce later. Kathryn will discuss many new options, so don’t miss her show!

If you’re planning for retirement or already at ‘retirement age’ but want to continue working—whether to supplement your income or to stay mentally and physically active—veteran career coach Nancy Collamer shows how to identify your favorite interests and expertise and repackage them into more than fifty ways to earn income.

I’ve always advocated that you want to retire to something rather than from something, by working at something you love during retirement — something where you can again make a difference, perhaps your legacy.  Plus, earning just $10,000 a year in your encore career is equivalent to having an extra $250,000 in your retirement account.  You may be thinking, “How can that be?”  It’s because you really shouldn’t be taking more than 4% from your portfolio if you want it to last for 30 years or more.  So you would need $250,000 earning 4% to provide you with an additional $10,000 in retirement income. Now ask yourself, which is easier:  Earning $10,000 doing something you love or trying to save another $250,000 so you can retire?

This is your chance to explore your options. It’s your opportunity to learn from two very smart women!  Get ready for some exciting shows.  Please help us share Smart Women with other women in your life.  Invite them to visit www.joinsmartwomen.com so they can receive this ezine and get free access to the Smart Women’s Academy!

Katana Abbott, CFP®, is a Retirement Coach, founder of the Smart Women Companies, and the host Smart Women Talk Radio with over a million subscribers.  For over 30 years, Katana has shown women how to take charge of their life and finances and believes it’s never too early to plan for expected and unexpected events like retirement, encore careers, moving abroad, or preparing for long-term care.  She has written several books, created a financial literacy course, and is a popular speaker. Katana has been honored by NAWBO as one of Detroit’s Top 10 Business Women, receiving the Breakthrough Award. To download her new ebook, The Five Biggest Money Mistakes Women Make and How to Fix Them, visit www.katanaabbott.com