3 Ways Seniors Can Make Extra Money

seniors make extra money

We spend our entire adult life working, gaining experience, and becoming experts in our field. When we retire, we often find ourselves wanting something more or to keep working. The good news is that when we reach retirement age, it doesn’t need to mean that we no longer have a way of making an income or contributing to society and the economy.

There are plenty of ways that seniors can still earn some extra money without even having to leave home or go to an office. Here are a few ways that seniors can make some money, even after retirement.

Tutoring

If you’re asking yourself “What can I do to earn some extra income when I move into assisted living near me?”, then this is a great option for you. No doubt over your career you picked up an enormous amount of knowledge and many different skills. These skills could translate into a teachable subject that you can offer to tutor people of all ages.

For example, if you were a manager for much of your career, perhaps you might start mentoring younger businesspeople about your knowledge of business and leadership. Even better, with the popularity and rise in the adoption of Zoom and other video conferencing apps, you no longer have to teach or tutor in person.

If you’re looking to make an even bigger contribution, you might even expand this enterprise into consulting work for local businesses if you have skills in demand. There are likely plenty of skills that you have to offer new business owners, even if just for a few hours each week or month.

Selling Your Crafts

If you’re skilled with your hands in the art of knitting, crochet, sculpting, painting, baking or any number of other crafts or skills, you could offer your wares for sale at markets and fetes around your area that happen quite frequently on weekends. Depending on what you make, some local stores might be willing to sell your crafts on consignment for a percentage of the sale.

If you’re more tech-savvy, nothing is stopping you from offering them on online marketplaces too, like Etsy or Facebook Marketplace.

Housesitting or Babysitting

If you’re mobile, a nice way of earning a bit of extra income is to offer your services to care for pets or homes while the owners are away on holiday or business, or to even offer your services as a babysitter. Housesitting, in particular, is a good way to make a bit of extra money and the responsibilities aren’t too difficult to handle.

Often it will just require feeding the family pets and perhaps taking them for a light stroll and just looking after the home, watering the plants and garden, and helping with the upkeep of the place for the duration of the owner’s trip.

Making some extra money as a senior can feel daunting at first, but if you have the right skills and a bit of motivation, it shouldn’t be difficult to find a niche that suits your time, energy, and abilities.

Gretchen Walker
Gretchen is a homemaker by day and writer by night. She takes a keen interest in life as it unfolds around her and spends her free time observing people go about their everyday affairs.