While you may have planned well in anticipation of your golden years, you may still want to learn how to generate extra income in retirement. Luckily, there are plenty of work from home job opportunities for retirees. No matter what skills you have, you can earn extra income by sharing your talents with the workforce. Here’s a few suggestions to start.
While you may have planned well in anticipation of your golden years, you may still want to learn how to generate extra income in retirement. Luckily, there are plenty of work from home job opportunities for retirees. No matter what skills you have, you can earn extra income by sharing your talents with the workforce.
Here are a few work from home jobs for retirees to help you start your new employment adventure.
Become a consultant
During your career, you mastered a craft or committed to a specific field of expertise. Even though you may not want to continue to work a traditional 9 to 5 job in your industry, you may still want to spend a few hours each week sharing your talents and expertise. The good news is that you can leverage your expertise, network, and industry knowledge into a part-time, work from home gig.
If this sounds appealing to you, you can start by reaching out to your previous employer to see if they need your help. You can also reach out to other companies in your field that would benefit from your talents and performance excellence.
To determine your consulting rate, you can divide your pre-retirement salary by the number of hours you worked per year. You can then factor in additional health care costs and benefits. Since you are offering your services as a consultant, be open to negotiation with your potential clients. Once you’ve had the opportunity to work a bit as a consultant, and establish your value, you can always renegotiate your payment amount.
Edit or write content for companies or entrepreneurs
Companies and entrepreneurs are always in the market for writers and editors. There are often opportunities to help improve and expand the existing content of any number of companies. If you have a background in writing or editing, or you enjoy the English language, you could make money crafting content at home.
To get your freelance gig in motion, check out this list of companies who often hire writers and editors.
Make an impact with future generations
Retired teachers and professors have the ability to help mold young students’ lives. Helping students improve their grades, or prepare for SAT testing, can make a huge impact on future generations. If you want to earn an extra income in retirement, you can continue building the minds of the future right from your dining room table.
You can start by reviewing sites like Tutor.com and WyzAnt to find students who have needs that match your skill set. Your pay range may be dependent on the subject you choose to teach. If you are knowledgeable in a few areas, then you can market your services as an educator in a variety of subjects. Once you’ve determined your preferred area of tutoring, you can narrow down your clientele to fit that expertise.
You can also choose to educate students around the world. VIPKID offers the opportunity to teach the English language to children in countries like China and Korea. With flexible hours that can accommodate a variety of schedules, VIPKID may be the perfect solution if you want to tutor.
Watch a traveler’s home
Do you love traveling or changing your scenery every once in a while? House sitting is a great option to make extra cash in retirement without committing to ongoing part-time work. There are property owners all over the world who need house sitters to keep an eye on their home. Whether you watch your neighbors’ home or travel to Australia to live on the beach for a week, house sitting opportunities are everywhere.
Sites like Nomador help you connect with people in need of someone to watch their property. For a small annual user fee, you can connect with people around the world who want to pay for your services. Providing you with both flexibility and adventure, house sitting may be the perfect way to see the world while making some extra money.
Help coach your favorite activity
There are countless ways to coach individuals. If you’re not athletically inclined, you could consider becoming a career or life coach. If you have an understanding of what it takes in order to achieve success, career or life coaching is an opportunity that may be right up your alley.
To find your first coaching engagement, you should start by reaching out to your friends and family with your career transition news. Build your clientele based on word of mouth and the recommendation of clients who have benefited from your services. Coaching will allow you to focus your entrepreneurial efforts on assisting others with personal or professional achievement. This may assist in giving you a higher sense of purpose post retirement.
Keep records for small business owners
Every business, small or large, benefits from the services of a bookkeeper. More often than not, a small business fails at success because they were not keeping accurate records of their finances. Encourage the success of small businesses in your area by offering your skills as a bookkeeper. If you are a former accountant or have worked in this capacity previously, your expertise may be just the help they’re looking for.
As a retiree, you may be able to offer your services at a rate that is more amenable to entrepreneurs. Some business owners avoid outsourcing their bookkeeping due to price tag intimidation. Taking on multiple clients will enable you to generate an income that supports your desires. It will also allow you to provide quality bookkeeping to small businesses in need of the extra help. It is a mutually beneficial situation when you can earn the income you need while providing owners with a service that is within their budget.
Assist business owners with their everyday tasks
A new career opportunity that has presented itself in the last decade is that of a virtual assistant. While the title may be intimidating, the position is simple. A virtual assistant is an individual who completes administrative assistant work from the comfort of their home.
Entrepreneurs are turning to virtual assistants (commonly abbreviated as VAs), because of the benefit of outsourcing part-time work. VAs are usually paid on an hourly basis and are not compensated with any sort of benefits package. Between the reduced overhead of not providing office space, hourly pay, and offer benefits, business owners see the value of a VA.
If your past career incorporated working in an office environment, you are probably qualified for VA work. With entrepreneurs from all fields using VAs, you can market your skill set to businesses that fit your interests and skills.
There are numerous ways to promote your new career. You can customize your LinkedIn profile, create a Facebook business page, or use word of mouth to market to your network. Using these means will help you connect with entrepreneurs who have an interest in the opportunity to work with a Virtual Assistant.
Take care of pets
Do your furry friends out number your human friends? If you love the company of an animal, becoming a dog walker or pet sitter is a viable income option during retirement. If you‘re a pet owner, you understand that maintaining a full-time career and having a pet is a challenge at times. You can help ease the stress of other pet owners by offering your services while they’re at work.
If you have a pet-friendly abode, you can bring your work to your living space. While dog walking or pet sitting isn’t 100% a work from home job, it has a minimal commitment that you can take almost everywhere.
Start by letting your friends and family know you’re willing to watch their animals. If this doesn’t provide enough opportunity, you can sign up for sites like Rover.com and Fetch.com. These sites help pet lovers, like you, connect with pet owners in need of assistance. Before you know it, your entire calendar will fill up with pet sitting jobs.
Blog about your favorite topic
Most likely, you’ve heard a rags to riches story of a blogger who hit it big within the industry. After hearing these stories, you may have dabbled with the idea of launching your own blog. If your blog never materialized, retirement is the perfect opportunity to actually give it a try. Now that you don’t have to worry about your career taking up all of your time, you can devote a few hours a week to building the blog you always imagined.
There’s plenty of internet space that allows you to share your ideas and vision. Blog about what inspires you and enables you to provide insight to others.
Blogging has the potential to increase your income in retirement. It can also help you build a community of like-minded individuals. Start by finding some Facebook or online groups that you can connect with to begin building your blogging empire.
Even if you don’t make a cent from your blog, writing regular posts will enhance your creativity. Blogging will enable you to build relationships with people you never imagined connecting with.
Sell your stuff online
Selling your unused items has never been easier. Tapping into Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, and sites like Poshmark enable you to sell from the comfort of your home. Using these virtual networks, you are able to sell any items that you are ready to purge from your home.
There are opportunities to join Facebook groups that have members who will purchase your discount buys. If you happen to stumble upon a specific brand while out shopping, you can upsell the item online for a profit. If shopping is one of your favorite past time activities, this is a way that you can profit from your sometimes costly habit.
“One man’s trash is another man’s treasure” has never been a more valid statement. It seems that a market exists for almost any knick-knack, style of clothing, or piece of furniture that exists. Retirement is a time in your life that you may start to downsize your lifestyle. Take advantage of the growing community of online sales and make a profit from items that no longer serve your needs.
The bottom line
There are an abundance of work from home opportunities for retirees. As retirement costs rise, it may be beneficial for you to seek ways to gain an extra stream of income. The additional income will provide you security. It will assure that you can live your retirement years exactly as you desire. Even if you feel as though your finances are secure in your golden years, continuing to work may fill a void. If you are seeking a new purpose or looking for daily activity, a new career opportunity will provide you with fulfillment.
Partnering with a financial planner can help you determine how this extra income plays a role in managing your wealth. Additionally, the guidance provided by a financial planner can help you evaluate where you may be expending excess funds and help you adjust.
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