The Wall Street Journal published a major feature on July 4, 2026 exploring what it is truly like for Americans to retire and launch a business later in life — and TAP CEO Jane Veron contributed key insights on the risks, realities, and opportunities facing later-life entrepreneurs.

The piece by journalists Anne Tergesen and Veronica Dagher profiles five real entrepreneurs who blurred the line between retirement and business ownership. Their stories range from a 68-year-old microgreens grower in Idaho to a former software executive who bought a Vermont screen-printing shop to a 58-year-old who invested in an indoor golf simulator franchise in Texas.

What TAP CEO Jane Veron Shared

Jane Veron contributed an important caution for aspiring later-life entrepreneurs: starting a business always carries financial risk, and those risks are amplified at older ages. Entrepreneurs who invest retirement savings into a new venture can put their long-term financial security at risk if the business doesn't perform as expected.

Jane also highlighted the importance of exit planning — a step that many small business owners overlook. For older entrepreneurs with shorter time horizons, having a clear plan for how to transition or sell the business is especially critical. Building a business is building an asset, and owners should make sure they are positioned to realize the value of what they have created.

Five Portraits of Later-Life Entrepreneurship

The WSJ article profiles five entrepreneurs navigating the intersection of retirement and business:

• Margo Clayson, 68 — retired in her late 50s, then launched The Mighty Microgreen in Idaho after a college course required her to write a business plan. The business generates supplemental income as the couple lives largely on Social Security.

• Rob Perry, 68 — a former software marketing executive who bought a 30-year-old screen-printing shop in Vermont with his partner after retiring at 63. Working 40-hour weeks, Perry describes the satisfaction of mastering a physical craft — but notes that finding a successor as he approaches 70 has been harder than expected.

• Roger Smith, 58 — a former engineering executive from Texas who invested in a Back Nine Golf indoor simulator franchise, describing himself as "semiretired" while working 15 to 30 hours a week.

• Mike and Peggy Gibbs, 78 and 76 — a California couple who launched Pacific Grove Cares, a nonprofit focused on restoring neglected public spaces, after winding down a youth entrepreneurship camp they ran for two decades.

What This Means for Small Business Owners

Entrepreneurship is not just for the young. The number of entrepreneurs between 55 and 64 who incorporated new businesses grew 22% over the past decade — far outpacing overall population growth. But ambition and experience alone are not enough. Later-life entrepreneurs need financial preparation, operational support, and a plan for what comes next.

That is exactly what TAP provides — free expert consulting in finance, operations, marketing, and strategy, available to small business owners at any stage of their journey.

Read the full Wall Street Journal article here.

Apply for free TAP consulting today.