Making Money While in Retirement: 4 Ways to Make Extra Income
The word “retirement” usually conjures up images of people not doing much of anything, enjoying life in the slow lane, and filling their days with routine, low-intensity activities.
If this isn’t your idea of an ideal retirement, you’re certainly not alone!
It may not be talked about that often, but many retirees are in a great position to start a ‘side hustle’ and bring in some extra income. With decades of experience and a lot of extra time on your hands, there’s plenty of great ways to make money in retirement.
Here’s a short list of some of our favourites…
Starting a Small Business
In this post-digital age, starting a small business is easier than ever! Some of the best modern entrepreneurs started with nothing but a good idea and an internet connection, and these days essential business tools that allow you to accept card payments and generate professional invoices are much more accessible than in times gone by.
Digital-oriented businesses like freelance copywriting and selling stock photography can offer an exciting way to spend your retirement while making extra income, but if you’re not particularly tech-savvy, there are still plenty of more traditional small business options, such as tutoring, cleaning, or dog walking / pet sitting.
Hiring Out your Car
After retirement, many people have much less use for their car than they did in their working life. If the daily commutes and school runs are behind you, and you’re now only using your car a handful of times a week, then hiring out your car could be the perfect way to make a little extra money through retirement.
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Services like Hiyacar have cropped up in recent years to make hiring out your vehicle quick, easy, and safe. All the drivers who use this service are verified, vetted, and usually reviewed before they’re able to get behind the wheel, and many services offer features like GPS tracking and remote locking for added peace of mind.
Start Reselling Something You’re Passionate About
If you have specialist knowledge on a certain kind of item, then reselling on Ebay and similar sites is another great way to make money from home, and have a lot of fun while you’re at it!
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Vintage clothing, antiques, books, toys, and collectibles are just some of the most popular things you can ‘flip’ through online ecommerce platforms.
If you have a particular interest that allows you to recognise rare and valuable items where other people might not, try scouting for these things wherever they’re sold second-hand. You may be surprised at how little it will cost for people to part with their treasures, and how much profit you can make from them!
Become an Airbnb Host
If you’re travelling a lot, or you’ve simply got some unused space in a home that you own, then becoming a host on Airbnb could be another great side-hustle for your retirement.
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Airbnb is a massively popular accommodation marketplace that allows hosts to rent out either their whole property or a specific portion of it to holidaymakers, travelling professionals, and anyone else who might need somewhere to stay.
Most hosts pay a 3% flat fee on the total cost of bookings, and with all guests having public reviews on their profiles, you’ll be able to be as selective as you like with who you allow to rent your property.
Final Thoughts…
Whether you do it for the money or the excitement, we hope this list has given you some inspiration to make extra money in retirement. Remember, this is just a small fraction of the ways retirees can nurture a side hustle – there could be something even more perfect for you just a quick Google search away!
