Working After Retirement: 6 Fulfilling Ways to Bring in Income

When you’re interested in working after retirement, you want to find opportunities that are fun, lucrative, but still allow you to relax and enjoy your golden years. Although you could take a full-time job or start a new career, this list offers creative ideas that can make your golden years more adventurous.

1. Room for Rent
Airbnb.com is a service that allows you to rent out your home — or part of it — to tourists. If you have a spare bedroom, renting it out is a great way to bring in some extra income. Though you will need to stay on top of your housekeeping, you’ll be able to meet new people from all over the world. If you’re concerned about having a bad renter, don’t worry: You can require that all tenants have been positively reviewed by at least one host.

2. Start Freelancing
Freelancing will allow you to offer services based on your experience — right from the comfort of your own home. You can either create your own consultant website that includes a portfolio of your work, and contact friends or former colleagues to let them know about the services you’re offering, or sign up for an online platform that connects freelancers with jobs, such as Elance or oDesk. Create a profile that lists your areas of expertise — such as writing, design, web coding, or anything in between — and you may soon be matched with potential job opportunities.

3. Survey Says…
Taking surveys, focus groups, and participating in paid studies are great ways to make a little extra money without losing all your free time. There are various websites, such as MySurvey.com, that offer paid surveys.

4. Embrace Your Inner Animal
If you’ve always loved animals but never had a chance to work with them in an official capacity, consider doing so when you’re retired. You can partner with a dog-walking agency, for instance, which not only brings in the money, it keeps you active. Consider starting your own pet-sitting business or getting a part-time job at a pet store or veterinarian’s office.

5. Become a Tour Guide
Do you know your city by heart and love to interact with people? A part-time job as a tour guide might be the perfect way to bring in some cash. This job may be seasonal, but that flexibility often works well with a post-retirement schedule. Working as a tour guide for a museum, winery, or historical site are also fun options that are also educational.

Working after retirement can be an exciting proposition. You don’t have to take on just any job. Look for something fulfilling that matches your personal interests and still leaves you with free time to enjoy your post-retirement years.

6. Rentable Storage Space

Another way to take advantage of unused space around your house is through Neighbor.com. Created in 2017, Neighbor.com calls itself “the Airbnb of storage” by allowing hosts to rent out unused space to people who can use it for extra storage. The company offers a $25,000 renter guarantee and $1,000,000 in liability protection for hosts on their platform. Hosts can also view a renters profile, message them, and find out what they want to store before approving them to rent. The company is not location-limited and operates in all 50 states.