The New Year is Coming - Start Planning Your Second Act Now (Here's a List of 10 People Who Did It to Inspire You)

Americans celebrated Frank Sinatra's 100th birthday this past weekend. My Dad  is 20 years behind, about to celebrate his 80th year on this Earth. He's also an avid Sinatra fan.  

I bring this up because it's not inconceivable that by the time my kids are near 80, getting to 100 will be a breeze. Which means the idea that you might have a second, even third career later in your life is all too realistic.

I wrote about this years back in a book, Age Smart, co-authored with a friend of mine, Jeff Rosensweig, a professor of economics at Emory University. We posited that as people live longer, career trajectories would be altered. Why get ready to retire when, at the age of 50, you still feel like a thirty-five year old?

I look to my own Dad for inspiration. His story of trekking to the U.S. from China with a young family in tow and no job or home is captivating enough, but add in that he did this at the age of 40 and I'm pretty astounded. I've known people at his age who felt life was cast already. 

So as you look to the new year and plan to make whatever leap you've always wanted to make - whether it's starting a new company, a new profession, a new job - remember that you're never "too old" to do it.  

And for some inspiration, here's a random sampling of some men and women whose late time was prime time. As Blue Eyes would croon: "I did it may way." 

1. Colonel Harland Sanders started his Kentucky Fried Chicken franchise at the age of 62. 

2. Arianna Huffington was 55 when she started HuffingtonPost, now part of AOL/Verizon. 

3. Vera Wang entered the fashion world at 40. 

4. Warren Buffett didn't really start his conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway until he was 35. 

5. Bryan Cranston was already 44 before he landed the lead in Malcolm in the Middle and 52 when he really broke out in his landmark role as Walter White in Breaking Bad. 

6. Stan Lee developed the Marvel Universe at 39 with the creation first of "The Fantastic Four." 

7. Charles Darwin was 50 by the time he published the seminal "On the Origin of Species" which changed our view of the universe and life forever. 

8. JK Rowling was 32 when she published "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone" after years of relative poverty and single motherhood. 

9. Ray Kroc was already 52 before he bought his first McDonald's restaurant and grew it into the biggest fast food giant. 

10. Julia Child was nearly 50 before she wrote her first cookbook, launching her into the kitchens of women everywhere. 

If you like this article, you'll love my new podcast, Radiate, featuring interviews with CEOs, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders. You can click on new episodes on iTunes, SoundCloud or on my website. www.betty-liu.com. Here is the RSS feed too. And please don't forget to REVIEW the podcast or contact me at [email protected].