3 Side Gig Ideas to Earn Money During Retirement

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No matter how far you are into your retirement, it’s always nice to have a little income on the side. You won’t find jobs listed below, but rather opportunities you can use to help boost your income while you enjoy your leisure time.

Sell Items Online

If you’re the type of person who enjoys hunting for bargains at thrift stores and garage sales, you could be making money online by flipping the deals you find. Flea markets, swap meets, thrift stores, and plenty of local businesses have hidden gems that could earn you a profit by reselling it online on eBay. It helps to have expertise in the items you will be flipping and an excellent camera to show your potential customers your finds. This side-gig does require a bit of planning and logistics in mailing your package and managing your eBay storefront.

If you’re less inclined to flip items you’ve found at a reasonable price, you can try selling any homemade goods online. Etsy is a marketplace for everyone to sell their handmade goods. Are you an accomplished woodworker or knitter? You could have an online store up and running as soon as you have ten items to populate your store. If you want to get rid of a bunch of stuff you have around the house locally, try creating a listing on your local Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace. These two services will connect you with local buyers who are buying (and selling) just about anything. Think of Craigslist as the classified ads of the internet and hyper-local.

Trading

For a hands-off approach in earning cash, consider trading an option. You should speak with a financial advisor before beginning any investment, as there are plenty of ways to make a profit passively through the market. Every investment comes with some inherent risk, but some more than others. If you are risk tolerant you might consider setting aside a small sum to trade penny stocks and see how well you do in the small-cap market. However, this should never be your primary form of investment. You should have a diversified portfolio of ETFs, bonds, and stocks. A financial advisor can assist you with the ratio according to how risk tolerant you are with your investment funds.

Transcription & Writing

If you’re a pretty good typist and enjoy listening to conversations, you might consider online transcription. It’s possible to earn $15-$25 an hour working as a freelance transcriptionist. This option is great for anyone with medical or legal experience, as transcribing those assignments typically pays more. For former teachers, freelance proofreading and writing is a great option to earn money on the side. Services like Proofread Anywhere offer free courses to help you get started and pay for a freelance proofreader can be upwards of $17 an hour. Small jobs like this are great for paying for everyday purchases that you don’t have to use your retirement funds to cover. Most of these jobs are at your leisure, so whenever you have free time, you can sit down and earn money.