Part time gig ideas for retirement?

[FiveDriver]

I maintain my professional Certifications, and I do Real Estate Appraisals for the Dept of Veterans Affairs. I only work 3 days a week and can generate a nice cash-flow, and still have time for recreational activities. I enjoy talking with the Vets that I meet, they have the most interesting stories to tell.

The VA is considered the Gold Standard of Appraisal work, and it took me a long time to climb up to that hilltop. My Certifications are renewable every 2 years -- I may continue this cushy gig until RMD's kick in.

 

[CoolRich59]

3 more gigs that I have considered that could work for OP:

1. Drive new cars between dealers that are being used for dealer trades.

Wow, a blast from the past. I used to do that in high school. That was a fun job. The plus (especially for a high school kid) was that they were usually nice cars.

 

[JoeWras]

Tax preparation. .... I did that for a few years. Takes only 160 hours of education + exams + bond + additional 20 hours per year to become/remain certified. Full work load possible (up to 40hrs week × 24 weeks) January - April, September - October. Light when quarterlies are due unless you work for a storefront. Then it's just February - tax deadline (so 10 weeks). My salary dropped to $25 an hour (15k yr) but that was fine.

gayl, sounds like EA, is that right?

Of course, the "Job replaced by robot" thread points to a site you can check. Says tax preparers have a 99% chance of being replaced by a robot. Ah, but they do know Congress and the IRS are involved, right?

 

[Pilot2013]

Gigolo is often brought up in this forum.

Now we're talking!!

 

[prose3589]

My mom retired and is an usher for the baseball cardinals. She loves it. She gets to meet people and watch good baseball. I would be miserable in August.

 

[jazz4cash]

We have vastly different definitions of reasonable.

I can't tell if you're saying 100 bucks is too high or too low. By the time you factor in self employment tax, zero benefits, wear and tear on equipment etc it seems reasonable.

 

[Red Badger]

I experience the occasional "wife swoop." That's enough of a side gig for me.

 

[GravitySucks]

Gigolo is often brought up in this forum.

Get off my corner.

 

[Sunset]

Mow grass. It's great exercise and if you have a good mower, you can make $60 an hour. Cash.

Not around here, it's more like $25 / hr.
Competition is the lawn companies with the $2,000 machines, and 3 guys who can do a large lawn in 15-20 minutes easy.

 

[Sunset]

...... my solution was to work an extra year or two at my regular job..... I was able to go part time and work from home. At ~$60/hr it was a lot better than finding something a small fraction of that rate.
........
Another year at your job might be worth 5 years or more of working something like you are talking about. ....

+1
Most jobs basically suck, in that some boss tells you what to do, in less time than it takes to be sure it's a great job.
Many people think some other job will be so much better, but end up hating it too as there is that boss telling them what to do again!

My view is also that it's MUCH better to work 1 more year at a high paying job, than to slog to work for 5 more years at some low pay job. Especially as at the low pay job, the boss has zero respect for you since anybody can do that job that requires no skill.

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

I can't tell if you're saying 100 bucks is too high or too low. By the time you factor in self employment tax, zero benefits, wear and tear on equipment etc it seems reasonable.

While I whole heartily agree with you. I just cant grasp these numbers. I remember working in 1983 as an armed guard for $6.50 an hour on the books.(side job) I thought it was good money. According to the inflation calculator, that $6.50 is valued at $15.96 an hour. I was offered a job off the books at $50 an hour. Quick math showed me if i was to be paid on the books I needed $100 and hour. Needless to say the number was/is so high I was talking to a dial tone after a few seconds. I'm sure the poster looking for a 100 an hour is worth double that. Its just my brains inflation calculator hasn't caught up to reality.

 

[iloveyoga]

I work about 10 hours a week for my son who has a heating and cooling business. It's been fun working with him and I have learned a lot about HVAC. We have gotten along very well and this helps to pay our insurance. I also have cleaned out my house via eBay and helped some friends get rid of their junk for a little cash.

In retirement I learned I don't mind working, just not like I did "downtown" for 34 years.

 

[kitesurfer2]

Had a friend in FL who drove a shuttle bus from a hotel to the airport for a couple of years in early retirement. $15 an hour and very interesting. Another friend tried Uber and also did not make enough $ to offset the wear and tear (on the car). He found the best time to work is when bars are closing, but he was too tired to keep that up! I know a manager at a tire company looking for box truck drivers, $15 an hour, to deliver tires to dealerships locally. He literally cannot find anyone to hire due to drug screens, credit checks and past driving records. A guy showed up last week for an interview wearing shorts and flip flops............

that would have been me! shorts, flops, drug screens
but, I can drive anything that I can start including backing a trailer through an obstacle course.

I did consider finding something prt time jut to kill time. but, I've not got there yet.

 

[flyingaway]

Had a friend in FL who drove a shuttle bus from a hotel to the airport for a couple of years in early retirement. $15 an hour and very interesting. Another friend tried Uber and also did not make enough $ to offset the wear and tear (on the car). He found the best time to work is when bars are closing, but he was too tired to keep that up! I know a manager at a tire company looking for box truck drivers, $15 an hour, to deliver tires to dealerships locally. He literally cannot find anyone to hire due to drug screens, credit checks and past driving records. A guy showed up last week for an interview wearing shorts and flip flops............

My car was crashed (and totaled) by an airport shuttle bus driving by someone in his 60s last October. He came out of parking lot with a stop sign, but he did not see my car.

 

[Clone]

I always thought that purgatory was driving the shuttle bus around the loop at the LAX airport.

 

[GravitySucks]

that would have been me! shorts, flops, drug screens
but, I can drive anything that I can start including backing a trailer through an obstacle course.

I did consider finding something prt time jut to kill time. but, I've not got there yet.

Either someone is going to have to develop a drug screen for marijuana better than showing someone smoked a joint sometime in the last month, or they're soon going to have to stop screening. Saw an article last month that said many small companies in Colorado and Oregon have stopped the practice.
Flip Flop screening works well.

 

[Walt34]

I always thought that purgatory was driving the shuttle bus around the loop at the LAX airport.

I would think so too, but a BIL does it at a VA hospital and likes it. The job even pays $11 & change an hour. He started out doing it on a volunteer basis and then when a FT driver quit they hired him.

 

[Hermit]

I sold my house in Virginia and moved to the Colorado mountains. I have been building my house for the last three years or so. It doesn't pay anything but I should save around $75k on construction costs. It is a lot of work, but definitely on my own schedule. It does not interfere with skiing at all. My house is also getting built exactly the way I want! I also live on the construction site in an old motor home that was given to me. Basically no housing costs and no commute. For me it isn't a bad gig, but I have been known to be a bit of a Hermit.

 

[euro]

+1
Most jobs basically suck, in that some boss tells you what to do, in less time than it takes to be sure it's a great job.
Many people think some other job will be so much better, but end up hating it too as there is that boss telling them what to do again!

My view is also that it's MUCH better to work 1 more year at a high paying job, than to slog to work for 5 more years at some low pay job. Especially as at the low pay job, the boss has zero respect for you since anybody can do that job that requires no skill.

Very good point!

 

[citrine]

I plan on doing what I do now in retirement....massage therapy 10-15 appointments a month gives me $800-$1200 in income, no rent since I work out of the home, just the therapy gel and laundry of sheets. We also do woodworking and odd handyman type jobs to bring in some extra cash.

 

[bclover]

lol,
for most of my life I had visions of owning my own bakery, sort of a family trait. anyhoo after I got laid off from mega corp I went to culinary school and.....they worked me like a Hebrew slave. lol.....

after I finished I realized one thing, owning your own restaurant is a lot of work so I got a p/t job working in a bakery. I get to bake without the hassle of the ownership.

I enjoy it. the only thing I probably dislike is the early mornings. I have to get up at 4:30 in the morning.

Now imo I've never heard of retirees having an issue with bosses. My dad worked at Home depot and loved it. first of all maybe it's an age thing but they found that the retirees were dependable, knowledgeable and polite. they treated him like a king, kept trying to get him to go full time.

My boss is the same. Maybe it's because they know we are retired and not going to take much crap off of anyone.

That is the great thing about working when you are FI. I do it because I want to. I love it because I have no responsibility but to show up and work

 

[Blue Collar Guy]

lol,
for most of my life I had visions of owning my own bakery, sort of a family trait. anyhoo after I got laid off from mega corp I went to culinary school and.....they worked me like a Hebrew slave. lol.....

after I finished I realized one thing, owning your own restaurant is a lot of work so I got a p/t job working in a bakery. I get to bake without the hassle of the ownership.

I enjoy it. the only thing I probably dislike is the early mornings. I have to get up at 4:30 in the morning.

Now imo I've never heard of retirees having an issue with bosses. My dad worked at Home depot and loved it. first of all maybe it's an age thing but they found that the retirees were dependable, knowledgeable and polite. they treated him like a king, kept trying to get him to go full time.

My boss is the same. Maybe it's because they know we are retired and not going to take much crap off of anyone.

That is the great thing about working when you are FI. I do it because I want to. I love it because I have no responsibility but to show up and work

If I ever make it to South Philly again, and I order a dozen Cannolis and Napoleons, you think you can "throw"me a rainbow cookie while I wait for you to put extra powdered sugar on them?. And please dont put too many knots in the string on the box, I still play Cats Cradle with it.

 

[brett]

How about a televangelist. Lost of money there and you could set your own hours.

 

[tmm99]

I recently started doing subtitle translations for TV shows as a freelancer. I am so happy that I've found this gig because I'm having such a great time with it.



I only take projects (TV shows) I am interested in, and I only do it part-time. There are no tight deadlines. I can do it from home and I set my own schedule. (Actually I have no particular schedule except to get the project done by the due date.) It's a great exercise for my brain and it keeps me entertained to no end.



I haven't decided how I will spend the extra money yet. I used to spend hours doing different things to keep me occupied, and now, this gig occupies that time and I am getting paid for it.



Life is good.

 

[braumeister]