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I find your suggestions to make extra money in retirement bizarre, in the sense that only a tiny few would make things to sell, and often the many hours involved in making items would hardly equal a profit, along with not that many items would sell, and making items people actually want to buy at a profitable price is iffy.
Yes, there are craftsmen and artists who make things and set up booths at art fairs, but this is tiny few.
And not everyone is into 'baking' or crafts or welding or has access to space to grow vegetables.
I really don't think that making money in retirement is as you state "only limited by your imagination" and "only limited by initiative" in terms of selling things. I find it preposterous, and your suggestions applicable to the tiniest of number.
Flipping houses has potential, but not many have expertise or resources to do so financially and knowledge-wise and ability to carry out complicated rehab tasks.
Last edited by matisse12; 02-12-2016 at 05:21 PM..
As I see it, a "fixed income" paid to you on a regular basis is better than "no fixed income"...as in, if you don't get up and hustle every day, you don't get paid!
Reminds me of the people who resent Social Security being called an "entitlement." They should be glad it's an an entitlement - that means the government is obligated to pay it to those who are entitled to get it.
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Originally Posted by TheShadow
I've always wondered about the term "fixed income". Fixed by what? J
I disagree. I was born in 1967. My wife in 1969. No one has ever given us a thing in our life. Paid for under graduate and graduate school out of my own pocket (parents paid my health insurance). Worked since I was 14. Have never had any sort of windfall from anything. 2 kids and my wife left her job to be a stay at home mother. Lived in LA, Chicago, Minneapolis, and now Cleveland of which only Cleveland is a low cost market. However, my wife and I save as much as we can. We don't live like monks (unless you mean Thelonius Monk, who traveled the world, which we definitely do). However, we never buy anything on credit and skip buying the little things that don't make a person happy anyways. And guess what. We are debt free (including owning our house outright), have a strong long term cash reserve, cars paid for, kids college funds almost full, and fully funded IRAs and 401k since we started working in 1991. Was it easy? No. Were there low value temptations? Yes. Did we fall for them occasionally? Yes. But for the most part we don't and are able to live and save on my income alone. Now I'm considering retiring at age 48. Did I run the numbers? Yes. Are we glad we live in a low cost but culturally rich market like Cleveland? Yes. Do I worry about fluctuation in the stock market and the impact on my IRA and 401k? Yes. However, we made hard choices and stuck to them and now we are in a position to reap our rewards. Other people make different decisions and reap their rewards. That's life.
When I do retire we'll get in more foreign travel, biking, running, climbing, skiing, fly fishing, and backpacking than we do today. Can't wait.
My guess is you fit into what I described in #2. Especially with all the expenses you described.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BayAreaHillbilly
My guess is you fit into what I described in #2. Especially with all the expenses you described.
Not sure what you mean by #2 - 'win big in the private sector' but that isn't us, unless you mean we had great parents that taught us the true value of a dollar, worked hard, made tough prioritized choices (including making the choice to move from a very high cost city to a very low cost city with good public schools), and kept what we earned. If that was what you meant then, yes, we won big.
I know not everyone has been as lucky as us. Some have family in cities that have become extremely high cost, some have student debt, an illness that has set them back financially and career wise, some have had misfortune or been laid off. Totally get it. But I also know that lots of people make little choices that add up to preventing them from doing what they really want in life. Ah, that car is only $499/month. I can afford it! I deserve to got out to eat multiple times a week! My kids just have to go to private or parochial school! All of these nickels and dimes add up. We chose to keep those nickels and dimes.
Stonepa, may I ask what some of your expenses were and what your highest salaries were?
I'm thinking #2 means you have a very good paying job.
I know all about frugality. But I also would like to hear a few more specific details about how a family of four:
-- lived off one salary
-- during some years lived in LA, Chicago, and Minneapolis, before Cleveland
-- built a strong long term cash reserve
-- traveled the world
-- fully funded college funds for 2 kids
-- fully funded IRAs and 401k (does that mean fully funded mean maxed out allowable contributions for all you working years? )
-- have a paid off house by 48 (you paid this off speedily, while you were also maxing out retirement accounts)
…and your considering retiring at 48.
I'm curious about the salaries you had while you were doing all of the above.
I find your suggestions to make extra money in retirement bizarre, in the sense that only a tiny few would make things to sell, and often the many hours involved in making items would hardly equal a profit, along with not that many items would sell, and making items people actually want to buy at a profitable price is iffy.
Yes, there are craftsmen and artists who make things and set up booths at art fairs, but this is tiny few.
And not everyone is into 'baking' or crafts or welding or has access to space to grow vegetables.
I really don't think that making money in retirement is as you state "only limited by your imagination" and "only limited by initiative" in terms of selling things. I find it preposterous, and your suggestions applicable to the tiniest of number.
Flipping houses has potential, but not many have expertise or resources to do so financially and knowledge-wise and ability to carry out complicated rehab tasks.
I'm so glad you find me and my friends and neighbors bizarre and preposterous. Those were merely examples, and they are ACTUAL examples of people I know personally. The opportunities for making money are limited for those without imagination and willingness to try. If a retiree lives in a retirement type community there are numerous opportunities without ever leaving their neighborhood. I could think of dozens of other examples of ways to make extra money, all being performed right here among my friends and neighbors RIGHT NOW so not theoretical, but your mind is obviously closed to those ideas, so I won't waste my breath. I never intended to say that these activities would be a person's sole support, but certainly they could supplement the "fixed income" that folks are getting from SS and their other resources.
Edited to add: The "many hours involved in making a product" are hours that the retiree has on their hands anyway, and the actual production of crafts and even baking is FUN for the maker. So it is definitely more profitable to spend 3 hours to make an embellished purse to sell for $35, or a wrought iron birdbath for $85, than to sit and watch TV or spend $50 at the golf course. There are many other avenues to sell other than craft fairs too. Some of my friends produce custom items to order, sell things on consignment to boutiques and even wholesale to local retailers. The granola lady has a "subscription" service and sells her granola to her subscribers on a monthly basis. My petsitting friends are so successful that they have to turn away folks because they get too many requests and they don't have the time to fulfill the need.
Last edited by TheShadow; 02-13-2016 at 11:32 AM..
... Just because your income is primarily from SS, doesn't mean you can't make more money. Even without a traditional job, you can boost your income in many ways. You can make jewelry and purses, or toys, and sell them at craft fairs or on ETSY. You could grow vegetables, or herbs, or even cut flowers and sell them at the farmers' market.
I am a vendor in a Farmer's Market. I do not make much money doing it, but I do not need to make any money from doing it, my pension is plenty for us. We grow most of our food and we sell the surplus: Honey, maple, fiddleheads, eggs, lard and a selection of herbs. Many of the vendors that I rub elbows with do it as their primary source of income to support their families.
Quote:
... You could buy at garage sales and flea markets, upcycle, and resell all sorts of products. You could purchase an inexpensive home, fix it up and flip it, or rent it out and receive ongoing income.
Residential rentals were our primary investment portfolio when I was on Active Duty. They can be a very good investment, income source and tax-shelter.
We have looked at a few properties that have been on the market around here, we have been debating whether to go back into it or not. With my pension we could afford to buy another Tri-plex or Five-plex, if we decide to go that direction again.
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... You can do so many things to make extra money, even donating plasma can pay $75 at some blood banks and you can donate weekly. People babysit, dogsit, housesit, drive their elderly neighbors, all for small remuneration, but it adds up. My petsitting friend made over $10,000 last year, and donated it all to service dog charities. Another makes homemade granola and baked goods and sells them to the neighborhood. Another neighbor, a retired executive, likes to use his welding skills to make beautiful home and garden objects for sale. The possibilities are limited only by your imagination.
We have a neighbor who attends church with us, she moved here from Boston 5 years ago. She has 2 or 3 house-cleaning contracts down in Boston. She drives the 4 hours to Boston once a week, to clean houses. She stays in Boston overnight and she returns up here the next day. She makes enough cleaning houses in Boston, to support herself living in Maine. She owns a nice home on a few acres. She has dinner with us regularly, it is amazing to see how much she can earn in the city, on a 2 day trip. She has no other sources of income.
My SIL's twin also does housekeeping. She restricts her jobs to a particular gated community of very high income clients about a half hour from her home. She makes more doing houses a couple days per week than she did when she worked full time prior to retirement (typical office jobs with no retirement bennies). Her clients are also very neat and tidy people, so her housekeeping duties are not at all of the gross type. Just the normal kind of deep cleaning you do in your own home. She also does live-in house sitting for her housekeeping clients and their neighbors (all her jobs are word of mouth in her selected area) So she gets to do "mini-vacations" in multi-million dollar homes. Not too bad!
I am a vendor in a Farmer's Market. I do not make much money doing it, but I do not need to make any money from doing it, my pension is plenty for us. We grow most of our food and we sell the surplus: Honey, maple, fiddleheads, eggs, lard and a selection of herbs. Many of the vendors that I rub elbows with do it as their primary source of income to support their families.
We also know people who sell everything from handmade soaps and lotions to beautiful wood carved objects, paintings, quilts, eggs, honey, special seasoning mixes (bbq rubs, jerky spice, etc), and numerous other items to supplement their income at our local farmer's market here in our retirement community. Once you make a customer from someone in a farmer's market situation they will buy from you directly in the future by e-mail or phone. Often they end up becoming your best salespeople when their friends ask them where they got whatever it was they bought. People around here love to share their great finds with their friends. The farmer's market is often just for the exposure to new customers and to sell the surplus leftover from direct sales. Always include a business card with contact info with every purchase.
Last edited by TheShadow; 02-13-2016 at 12:21 PM..
I plan on retiring at 65 and after taking a few months off, I would like to work a part time job. The thing is it has to be a flexible job where I can take time off in weeks if I want to travel for a bit. Might be hard to find something like that and if I don't so be it.
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