Jobs For Retired People: Supplementing Your Savings to Live Your Best Life + Retire Early?
This article, “Jobs for Retired People” is the second article in ourNew Series: The New Rules of Retirement.
Jobs for Retired People? Doesn’t retired mean “NOT WORKING?” Maybe, but maybe not! In our Series – The New Rules of Retirement, we are exploring what it means to re-define retirement to fit your needs and lifestyle.
In our last article, we discussed how the “Average American” close to retirement age these days might not have as much saved as they would like. We also did some math to discover what amount of side income might be needed for the majority of Americans to still “retire” when they wanted to.
In our case study, the “Average American” with the most average of savings might need an extra $1,295 a month to live the lifestyle they envisioned in retirement.
Retire Early???
Some of these side gigs might even allow you to quit your job earlier than you thought possible. We have heard stories of people LOVING their side job so much, and actually making good money from it, that they were able to retire from their full-time job early.
Side or Part-Time Jobs for Retired People
The Best Side Jobs for Retired People & People Saving Extra For Retirement
This article will help you to find a fun or creative “Side Job” / “Side Hustle” / “Part-Time Work” or another source of passive income to help you retire or save more for retirement.
A few things to keep in mind:
- First, these are jobs to supplement your retirement savings. They may or may not be HUGE money makers – often they are just a way to make some extra income.
- Second, they are meant to also be enjoyable and creative! Yes, they are still work, but with a retirement flavor and happy attitude. Some keep you active or challenge you mentally. Others are creative, and some even keep you social!
- Finally, you can start these jobs before you retire. Use them as a second job to give your retirement savings an extra boost. In addition, many of the passive income generating jobs take some time to develop. That means the earlier you begin them, the more you can sit back and just maintain them later.
Side Job Category One: Jobs that Keep You Active
Pet Sitter / Dog Walker
Listen, retirement is not getting any cheaper or any easier. Everyone thinks they have enough saved for retirement as they near their golden years, however, the truth of the matter is that majority of people have nowhere near enough money saved. This is likely why you’re looking for a side job in retirement. Either that, or you’re just plain bored.
Either way, becoming a pet sitter or dog walker is a great opportunity to make a little extra money.
Sites such as Wag! or Rover make it easy to do this. You’re probably already going to a morning walk anyway, so why not bring a furry friend with you and get paid to do it. If you’re really feeling adventurous, you could let the furry friend sleep over and get paid even more.
You could earn several hundred dollars a week all by just living as you normally would, but having an awesome four-legged companion with you. (From Austin with TheLogicofMoney.com)
Handy-Person
If you are good at fixing things, there are a lot of people that are not, and they need your help. People all over need help with small house projects and light outdoor work.
Becoming a “handyman” or “handywoman” might be as simple as making some quick business cards and passing them out to everyone you know. It is a great word-of-mouth, referral business, for those with a solid network of friends, family and co-workers. If you need help finding people to help-out and are comfortable online, services like TaskRabbit, can point you towards people looking for help.
Category Two: Jobs that Keep You Social
Vacation House/Room Renter
Tom Blake, from ThisOnlineWorld, suggests Airbnb as a way to stay both active and social in retirement while making extra money. He includes this in his list of “The Best Gig Economy Jobs – Make Extra Money On The Side.”
Airbnb allows you to make your house, or a room in your house available for rent to travelers. You can make decent side-income renting your home if you live in a well traveled area.
Tom mentions Airbnb is a great way “to make use of any extra space you might have in your home (in case you haven’t downsized) as well as meet new people!” Many of our friends have great Airbnb stories from both sides of the service. It’s a unique travel culture that can provide exciting experiences to an otherwise quiet retirement.
Drive for Uber or Lyft
Uber and Lyft are good ways to make a little extra money while interacting with new people. If you are in a touristy town and like to talk up your local hot spots and events, then you will find your happiness with a driving service.
On the other hand, driving services can also work out for people that don’t like to constantly chat (or drive around tipsy people late at night). Everyone needs trips to the airport, especially in the quite early mornings. Moreover, if you really aren’t feeling social, Uber Eats allows you to drive around food instead of people.
Category Three: Jobs that Keep You Creative
Selling Crafts – Online or In-Person
Craft Fairs are still hot! If you like to craft, you can tour your state (and beyond…) selling your creations. Makers Markets, Junk Stocks, Fundraising Craft Fairs, State Fairs and Flea Markets abound and are fun for all involved.
For those of you like enjoy selling online, the popular markets include Etsy, Artfire and Bonanza. To learn more about how to sell on Etsy and everything it entails, I recommend this article on Successfully Simple Sisters.
If you need help with setting up an online shop, hop onto a site like Fiverr and search for “help with etsy shop” or something similar. You will find freelancers that will help you get started!
Freelance Writer
For those of you that like to write, look into becoming a freelance writer. Online publications (and some local in print ones) are always looking for people to add valuable content to their sites for their readers. We suggest reaching out to the smaller ones you might already read first.
In addition, you can find places to write for by searching for “best sites for freelance writing” or something similar. Here is one article we found to start you off. Insert your specific area of interest to make it more relevant. For example, “best sites for music freelance writing.”
Category Four: Jobs for Retired People that Keep You Busy
Taking Surveys
If you are looking for a way to make money on the side that doesn’t take a whole lot of effort, then taking surveys is a fun way to pass your time. You can sit on the couch, listen to music or the TV, and provide your opinions to people who want them.
Popular online survey sites include Pinecone Research (which I did for a couple years and loved!), Opinion Outpost, Inbox Dollars, and the National Consumer Panel.
If you want to take this one into the “real world,” then look for paid opportunities for participating in Focus Groups and Health Studies.
Category Five: Jobs for Retired People that Keep You Challenged
Start a Blog
Oh boy, if you are up for the challenge, then try starting a blog! People actually do make money from their blogs these days – especially niche blogs. However, there is a steep technology learning curve, if you are not already very comfortable creating online.
Blogging can be a great way to generate passive income. Typically, you can make good money after years of effort, lots and lots of writing, and much search engine optimizing. If you enjoy learning and writing more about a subject you are already passionate about, then you will love blogging. On the other hand, you will also have to find learning about blogging interesting, because half of your time will be devoted to that.
Tutor or Teach
Both in person and online, tutors and teachers are in demand. If you have a field of expertise or passion for helping a certain age, then start there. This is a great business to grow by word-of-mouth if you have a decent network of friends and family to reach out to, but there are also businesses that can bring you students. Tutoring centers exist both online and in physical locations and are always looking for qualified help.
If you have graduate degrees in certain areas, you can look into teaching at your local universities and community colleges as an adjunct professor. Certain fields are always looking for people with Master’s degrees and beyond to teach both online and in person classes.
Jobs for Retired People Conclusions
There are so many opportunities to create the kind of retirement and work-life you want in our new economy. The New Rules of Retirement say you have the creative power to shape your life.
You can work and play at the same time with these part-time jobs.
We will be continually adding to this list. We would also love to hear your suggestions and what has worked well for you. Please email us or comment below.
