Non-career, part-time, post retirement jobs (55, alcohol, retired, friend)
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Where there was a lot of discussion about what side hustle sounds like etc. and some good ideas but not a whole lot of personal or direct second hand experience.
To clean it up a bit I thought I'd start a jobs thread. One that doesn't exclude jobs that
are really a continuation of what you did before but now part time or consulting but is
more about non-career jobs that seniors do.
I've heard second hand about the driving cars back and forth for auto dealers and am going to ask around about that soon.
I've read a couple of forum members are going to try driving for Uber.
One was working part time in a library - which is a dream job but with so many volunteers and people who love libraries I think the field must be quite competitive!
I am working as a wine associate in a very large liquor and wine store (about 80,000 square feet), and I love it. I applied at age 62 after my husband was laid off, and although I am not a wine expert (my qualifications were memberships in three wine clubs, working for an alcoholic beverage magazine 30+ years ago, and about a dozen years in retail), to my surprise, I got the job -- about 20 hours a week -- and I just love it! There is no pressure, as it is not really sales as it much as it is making suggestions and giving a very short "beginners overview" to people who Know "nothing" about wine. Most customers, however, already know what they want or prefer to browse by themselves or they just need directions to locating a specific wine. There is also some physical work involved -- display work and restocking shelves -- which means lifting cases of up to 40 pounds. (I am fortunate in that I am still in very good health.)
Even though, as I said, I am not an expert -- my knowledge is probably about a 7.5 on a scale of 1 to 10 of people who drink wine -- I can help about 95% of the customers who come into the department, and for the remaining 5 percent, I can ask my co-workers, unless I'm by myself. Most of my co-workers have been in the wine business in some form or another for up to 40+ years (including two former sommeliers), and they are very nice with sharing their knowledge with me and "taking over" customers who want more advice than I am able to give.
The only downsides are (1) that it only pays about $3.00/hr. over minimum wage, and (2) is that it does involve working weekends and some late evenings.
I don't think I'd mind weekends as a retired person, not sure. If you traveled during the week it might be less crowded at destinations.
I think the trade off of minimum wage vs. low stress would be fine for me. Your work environment in terms of people sounds really great.
I would have loved to taper back on my old job. It was just too hard and too stressful to continue at the ever increasing pace with ever increasing pressures. I briefly considered retiring early and getting a less stressful job. I ruled out that idea after very quick consideration. First when I retired I wanted to be free, to be able to travel and to be able to set my own schedule. I never understood the idea of working for something to do and as an excuse to get out of the house. I have way too many other interests. I could not see any financial advantages. If I worked a few more months in my end of career job I would earn more than years and years in a part time low paid job.
My friend does pet-sitting in our large neighborhood, and she is always busy. She doesn't need the money so she donates most of that income to Smoky Mountain Service Dogs. She makes considerable money, but it takes a lot of time. The good part is if she wants to travel, she just doesn't book any clients for that time, and refers them to other pet-sitters. She makes $20 a visit to go to the home, feed, walk and play with the dog/cat in the owner's home. Some well socialized small dogs she takes to her home where she has a dog and 2 cats. She charges $35 a day for that, and the owner provides the food. She is often caring for a couple of dogs in her home and taking care of two or three others in their homes at the same time, so it really can add up. Last year she was able to donate over $15,000.
Another friend is a drummer and plays in a band that does paying gigs. They mostly play stuff from the 60's, 70's and 80's.
Where there was a lot of discussion about what side hustle sounds like etc. and some good ideas but not a whole lot of personal or direct second hand experience.
To clean it up a bit I thought I'd start a jobs thread. One that doesn't exclude jobs that
are really a continuation of what you did before but now part time or consulting but is
more about non-career jobs that seniors do.
That's strange because there's been an ongoing discussion for the past month on that very topic:
I don't know why that didn't show up in the search. or I missed it.
Anyway! This is more - please add to the list of potential jobs not so much a discussion of whether or not you want to get out of the house or not.
The pet sitting thing sounds ideal for a pet lover like myself. But I do worry about carrying some sort of insurance or bond. The professional pet sitters seem to. I would not want to be sued because someone's overweight pet just happened to croak while under my care and regardless of my care.
I love that she does it to donate the money - that's special and wonderful.
An avocation that is a good pick for a part time "job" is to learn how to trade stocks, bonds, currencies, commodities, and index funds. As an individual speculator, you are a fly on the back of a huge elephant. You can easily take a ride without influencing the elephant one bit.
However, it comes with a big caveat. You must invest a lot of time learning about cause and effect in whichever market you participate. You will be playing with the big boys. They want you to fail. I recommend that you don't do this unless you are willing to invest a lot of time educating yourself.
The benefit is that you can do this totally on-line, you decide when you want to be in or out so you can be out whenever you want to do something else.
I'm very fortunate in that my consulting work is an extension of the different careers I had during my 9-5 life. The transition, and need for reinventing myself have been so seamless that although I do part-time work in health care, and adult education, it's as if I'm still working full-time....except I'm not. For a workaholic like me, it's just a perfect fit!
I work off and on for Williams-Sonoma. The money is nothing but I love the 40% employee discount at all the WS stores.
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