Retirement is a double-edged sword. Being your own boss is freeing, uplifting, less stressful, and full of options. However, on the other hand, not having a daily routine can eventually become a humbling experience, leaving some people feeling a little lost and at a loose end.
With so much time to fill, most senior citizens – if they haven’t done so already – take out a pen and a piece of paper and make a note of their outgoing expenses, so that they might have an accurate idea of their weekly or monthly disposable income. Invariably, this leaves some people thinking they could find ways to spend their time earning extra money.
Whilst some people of retirement age may be entitled to certain benefits that could see their income increase (for example, see info on what benefit claims veterans are entitled to), not everyone is entitled to the same financial help.
This means that we must turn to creative ways to supplement our income, without necessarily coming out of retirement and being chained to the unbearable drudgery of office hours once more. So, what are the options? Well, as it turns out, means of making money in your retirement are plentiful.
Let’s look at a few of the more common options.
Gardening services
This is a popular service in which anybody with green thumbs stands to make money.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, what with the speed of modern life, many homeowners do not have as much time as they might like to spend on their lawns, flower beds, and potted plants. This is where someone with an eye for a healthy garden and time on their hands can help.
Advertising can take the form of social media, with a simple well-designed account including pictures and a description of the available services helping to get the side-venture up and running.
Of course, once other residents see what a good job you’ve done, requests for weekly maintenance in the neighborhood are sure to pour in.
Buy and sell from the comfort of your own home
There is an art to buying at low prices and selling at high prices.
But if you think you’d like to make a go of it, you can purchase items in bulk on eBay that will always be in demand (for example, toilet paper, diapers, pet food) and sell those same items at a higher price. It’s all about spotting demand in the market.
You could even start an online store via eBay, selling items bought in mystery bulk sales – these pallets of goods can be bought relatively cheaply, and you don’t know what you’re going to get (sort of like all those TV shows where people bid on the contents of locked storage facilities before seeing what they’ve won). This is a higher risk but a lot of fun if you have the disposable income and the time to burn on your hands.
Other ideas are available too, like dog walking, house sitting, and floristry. Once you start to look into it, the possibilities are endless.
