Saving money for a comfortable retirement is extremely crucial, but it isn’t always easy. Although you may have Social Security, a 401(k) and/or Roth IRA, there are always chances that you will end up outliving the savings.
Moreover, with inflation at record levels, your savings may not go as far as they used to. In fact, an October 2022 survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute found that 1 in 4 retirees are spending more than they can afford. Thus, it is important to create additional streams of retirement income.
One way to generate income is to get a full-time job. But if your age doesn’t allow you to work full-time, there are still plenty of options that can help you make extra money in retirement.
Many part-time gigs are available that allow retirees to make some extra money by working just a few hours a week. Moreover, it isn’t important for you to have any technical skills or prior work experience to perform these part-time gigs. Let’s take a look at some of the ways to make extra money in retirement.
Ways To Make Extra Money In Retirement
Here are some of the most popular ways to make extra money in retirement:
Teaching
Online teaching and tutoring have gained more prominence after the COVID-19 pandemic. If you have credentials, you can consider teaching grade school, high school or college students. Another interesting option you might consider is, you can share your experience or information on the internet to make extra money.
For instance, there are sites that allow retirees to teach their peers almost anything, including how to create a website, how to apply for Social Security online and more. Other similar sites that can help retirees are Udemy, Varsity Tutors, Skillshare and Chegg Tutors.
Freelancing
Retirees with experience in a particular field might also consider freelancing or consulting. To start, retirees can use their network to let everyone know that they are available to work part-time for specific projects.
Separately, many websites are there that help people hire freelancers and help freelancers find appropriate jobs. Some of the more popular freelancing websites are: Upwork, Guru, Fiverr and Freelancer.
Rental Income
This is one of the easiest ways to make some extra money, but for this, you must have a rental property. Though you may have to invest some money in the maintenance of the property you plan to rent, it could help you to make some real money for the foreseeable future.
You can find a tenant using your own network, and/or you can also use the internet to find one. Nowadays, an Airbnb is one of the most popular ways for property owners to make additional income. Airbnb hosts, on average, make around $924 per month, according to Priceonomics. You can also rent out your garage for storage space.
If you don’t have a spare room or garage, you can also rent out your car to make some extra money. Again, there are many sites that can help you with this, such as Turo. These sites allow you to list your car as a short-term rental.
Investing
Investing your hard-earned money could also ensure a steady flow of income during retirement. Several investment options are available, but not all are risk free. The safest option is investing in CDs, but the interest rate is very low. Another option is Annuities. Although Annuities are complex to understand, they do offer a monthly paycheck.
Bonds are also a popular investment choice. To lower the risk, retirees can invest in bonds from the federal government, states, municipalities and corporations. Many categories of bonds are tax-free as well.
Investing in stocks is also an option, but it’s risky as well. Retirees, however, can lower the risk by investing in dividend stocks. Dividends stocks are comparatively more stable and offer a steady flow of income as well.
Other Ways to Earn
If the above options don’t apply to you, or you need some more side income, there are more ways that can help. One such way is offering pet services. You can offer pet sitting services in your home or sign up to walk dogs. Dog walking, in fact, is one of the best-paid side hustles, and it offers health benefits as well.
Retirees who are crafty can also make some money by selling homemade items. Several apps are available that can help you with this. Another way is by selling used clothing and accessories. Again, you can get help online, such as from Depop or Mercari, or have garage sales to sell the stuff you no longer need.
Bottom Line
The above ways to make extra money in retirement might appear easy, but you need to remember that it could take some time before you really start building momentum. Moreover, not all these ways might suit you.
It is possible that some may not meet your social status, you may not feel like doing them, or your time schedule doesn’t allow you to. Thus, it is important that before picking up a part-time gig (or gigs) you need to take into account your abilities, likes and dislikes, as well as the time you can dedicate to it.
This article originally appeared on ValueWalk
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