Unemployed? Have you thought of direct selling?

An interesting article in the Independant discusses how 50+'s are cashing in on opportunities offered by "direct selling" companies to boost their earnings or supplement their retirement income.

Direct selling is face-to-face selling outside a normal retail environment, either on a one-to-one basis or at specially held parties. Companies such as Betterware, Herbalife and Avon use direct sellers.

It is certainly big business. The industry is worth £2bn annually to the UK economy with more than 400,000 people selling products this way. Direct sellers can often earn more money by recruiting other people to sell products too, and then earning commission on the sales their recruits make. 

The Direct Selling Association (DSA), the trade body that represents the UK's major direct selling companies, has seen a 29 per cent increase in recruits aged over 50 in the past year. The DSA estimates there are currently 120,000 direct sellers over the age of 50 in the UK, compared with 93,000 in 2009/10.

Recent statistics have shown that unemployment is falling, but over-fifties are struggling to get back into work, with 44 per cent of unemployed at that age having been out of work for more than a year.

According to the DSA, the majority of direct sellers spend little more than a few hours per week and earn under £1,000 a year. However, about 30,000 people direct sell full-time with many earning £50,000 or more, although incomes of more than £100,000 are not unheard of.

Read the article for tips on what to do and what not to do if considering this option,

Should older drivers be screened?

Not according to a new position paper from the European Federation of Psychologists' Associations, which concludes that age based population screening is not only 'ethically questionable, but actually has greater economic costs than benefits for society, particularly when the proportion of the older population is increasing'.
They claim that firstly older drivers generally do not have more accidents and secondly, according to research literature, aged based population screening does not produce the desired safety benefits. Indeed, they argue that screening tends to take drivers who have never had an accident off the roads. "These people potentially lose their independent mobility for no reason. This is a serious issue as mobility has been linked to quality of life and psychological health'.


So what does Age UK have to say about this and of course our politicians? Abandoning screening would save considerable amounts with minimum social costs according to these studies.

How old is old?

This really is an 'old' perennial but we keep seeing new data on the topic. Daniel Bates has a fascinating article in the Daily Mail online and claims that middle age does not stop until you are 70! You might also be intrigued or indeed horrified to look at the youtube video that appears in the online version of the article.